Long Island Truck Accident Lawyer

Our truck accident lawyers can help people injured in crashes involving tractor-trailers, semi-trucks, delivery vehicles, and other commercial trucks on roads throughout Nassau and Suffolk County.

Commercial truck accident cases differ from standard car accidents in critical ways: the injuries are often more severe, multiple companies may share liability, the evidence is more technical, and the insurance coverage is usually more substantial.

William Mattar Accident Lawyers can represent truck accident victims throughout Nassau and Suffolk County. Our attorneys bring the regulatory knowledge and investigative resources these cases demand: FMCSA compliance analysis, ELD and black box data interpretation, carrier liability tracing, and the ability to go head-to-head with corporate defendants and their insurers from day one.

Have questions? Call (516) 444-4444 for a free case evaluation.

How a Truck Accident Lawyer at William Mattar Can Help after a Long Island crash 

A trucking company has a legal team working for them before the ambulance leaves the scene. Their attorneys are preserving what helps them and managing what doesn't. Their insurer is building a defense while you're still in the hospital. If you don't have someone moving just as fast on your side, the evidence landscape shifts before your claim even gets started.

• We go after the evidence the carrier doesn't want you to have. ELD data that shows hours-of-service violations. Maintenance records that reveal deferred brake repairs. Driver qualification files with lapsed medical certifications or failed drug tests. Trucking companies aren't eager to hand this over. We send spoliation letters immediately and pursue the records aggressively — because the strongest truck accident cases are built on what the carrier was hoping no one would ask for.
• We trace liability beyond the driver. The person behind the wheel may have caused the crash, but the motor carrier that pressured them to skip rest breaks, the maintenance shop that signed off on a defective inspection, or the cargo company that overloaded the trailer may share responsibility. Each liable party may carry separate insurance coverage, and we pursue every one.
• We match the resources on the other side. Trucking companies and their insurers are well-funded and experienced at defending these claims. Our firm brings accident reconstruction professionals, commercial vehicle regulatory knowledge, and three decades of motor vehicle litigation experience to push back at their level — not from underneath it.

Call (516) 444-4444 for a free evaluation. Our truck crash attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, so there is no cost unless we recover compensation.

Who Can Be Held Liable in a Long Island Truck Accident Case?

One of the most important differences between truck and car accident claims is the number of potentially liable parties. In a car crash, liability usually falls on one or two drivers. In a truck accident, responsibility for who may be liable in a truck accidentmay extend across an entire chain of companies and contractors.

• The truck driver. Speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, and hours-of-service violations are among the most common forms of driver negligence in commercial vehicle crashes.
• The trucking company (motor carrier). Carriers are responsible for hiring qualified drivers, enforcing hours-of-service compliance, maintaining vehicles, and ensuring proper cargo loading. When a carrier pressures drivers to skip rest breaks or cuts corners on maintenance, the company may bear direct liability for the resulting crash.
• Maintenance and repair providers. Third-party shops that service commercial trucks may be liable if negligent repairs or missed inspections contributed to the crash.
• Cargo loading companies. Improperly loaded or unsecured cargo can cause rollovers, jackknifes, and shifting-load accidents. The party responsible for loading may share liability when cargo issues contribute to a collision.

Identifying the liable parties early in the case matters because each may have separate insurance coverage. Our accident attorneys trace liability across the transportation and corporate chain to pursue fair compensation and hold the liable parties responsible through each insurance company after a truck accident after a Long Island crash.

Key Evidence in a Long Island Truck Accident Case

Truck accident cases depend on evidence that is technical, time-sensitive, and often controlled by the trucking company rather than by you. Preserving it early is critical because carriers may overwrite electronic data or repair damaged vehicles before your legal team has a chance to review them.

• Electronic logging device (ELD) data. Federal law requires most commercial drivers to use ELDs that automatically record driving hours, rest periods, and vehicle location. This data may reveal hours-of-service violations, falsified logs, or patterns of fatigued driving.
• Driver qualification files. FMCSA regulations require carriers to maintain files documenting each driver's license status, medical certification, employment history, road test results, and drug and alcohol testing records. Gaps or violations in these files may establish negligent hiring or retention.
• Vehicle inspection and maintenance records. Carriers must conduct regular inspections and document all maintenance performed on their trucks. Deferred repairs, missed inspections, and known mechanical defects that weren't addressed create strong evidence of carrier negligence.
• Event data recorder (black box) information. Many commercial trucks are equipped with event data recorders that capture speed, braking, throttle position, and other vehicle dynamics in the moments before and during a crash.
• Cargo documentation. Weight tickets, bills of lading, and securement records may show whether the truck was overloaded or improperly balanced at the time of the collision.
• Police reports, witness statements, and scene evidence. The responding officer's report, witness accounts, photos, surveillance footage, and physical evidence from the crash scene all contribute to establishing what happened and why.

Our attorneys act quickly to send spoliation letters to the trucking company and its insurer, preserving electronic data and maintenance records before they can be overwritten or destroyed. The sooner you contact a William Mattar truck accident lawyer, the stronger your evidentiary foundation can be when determining fault in a Long Island truck accident after a crash.

FMCSA Rules That May Affect Your Long Island Truck Accident Claim

Many commercial trucks operating on Long Island highways are subject to federal safety rules enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Violations of these regulations may serve as powerful evidence of negligence in a truck accident lawsuit.

Hours-of-Service Rules

FMCSA regulations limit property-carrying drivers to 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty, within a 14-consecutive-hour window. Drivers must also take a mandatory 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving. When carriers pressure drivers to exceed these limits or drivers falsify their logs, fatigue becomes a serious crash risk.

Electronic Logging Device Requirements

The ELD rule applies to most motor carriers and drivers who are required to maintain records of duty status. These devices automatically track driving time and rest periods, making it harder for drivers to falsify logs. ELD data is among the most valuable evidence in a truck accident claim because it may reveal whether the driver was in compliance with hours-of-service rules at the time of the crash.

Vehicle Maintenance and Inspection Standards

FMCSA requires carriers to systematically inspect, repair, and maintain all commercial vehicles under their control. Pre-trip and post-trip inspections, periodic maintenance schedules, and documentation of all repairs are mandatory. Brake failures, tire blowouts, and lighting defects that result from deferred maintenance may establish carrier negligence.

Drug and Alcohol Testing

Federal regulations require pre-employment, random, post-accident, and reasonable-suspicion drug and alcohol testing for commercial drivers. A driver who tests positive or refuses testing may not operate a commercial vehicle. Carriers that fail to enforce these requirements may face direct liability after a truck accident.

Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle on Long Island

Commercial trucks share Long Island's roads with millions of daily commuters, and the resulting crashes can be predictable. 

The Long Island Expressway carries heavy tractor-trailer traffic between Queens and Riverhead. Sunrise Highway and Route 110 see constant delivery vehicle activity serving retail and industrial corridors in Nassau and Suffolk County. The Northern State and Southern State parkways, while restricted to passenger vehicles, funnel traffic into interchange zones where commercial trucks merge from connecting highways, creating crash-prone bottlenecks during peak hours.

These collisions involve a range of truck types and accident scenarios, each raising different liability and evidence questions. Our attorneys handle cases involving:

• Tractor-trailer and semi-truck accidents. The size and weight disparity between an 80,000-pound loaded tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle makes these crashes among the most devastating on Long Island highways.
• Delivery truck and box truck accidents. Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and other delivery vehicles operate on tight schedules throughout Nassau and Suffolk County residential and commercial areas. These drivers face pressure to make frequent stops quickly, which may contribute to distracted driving, failure to check blind spots, and unsafe backing.
• Garbage truck and municipal vehicle accidents. Garbage trucks making frequent stops on residential streets create hazards for other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Claims against municipal waste haulers may involve government entities with shorter filing deadlines.
• Construction vehicle accidents. Dump trucks, cement mixers, and flatbeds traveling to and from Long Island construction sites carry heavy loads on roads that weren't designed for their weight. Overloading, unsecured cargo, and wide-turn collisions are common factors.
• Tanker truck accidents. Tanker trucks carrying fuel, chemicals, or other hazardous materials pose additional risks, including spills, fires, and explosions that expand the scope of injuries and environmental damage.

Regardless of the vehicle type involved, our attorneys apply the same approach: identify every liable party, preserve the evidence that matters, and build a claim that reflects the true severity of the crash and its impact on your life.

Damages in a Long Island Truck Accident Claim

The injuries in commercial truck crashes tend to be catastrophic. An 80,000-pound tractor-trailer hitting a passenger vehicle at highway speed produces the kind of damage that changes the trajectory of someone's life — and the compensation available should reflect that, especially when understanding common truck accident injuries.

Beyond no-fault PIP benefits, a truck accident claim may pursue:

• Extensive medical costs not covered by no-fault. Emergency trauma care, multiple surgeries, ICU stays, long-term rehabilitation, prosthetics, and ongoing specialist treatment. Truck crash injuries, like severe TBI, spinal cord damage, crush injuries, internal organ damage, and burn injuries, can require years of follow-up care.
• Permanent income loss. When injuries prevent you from returning to your occupation, the claim accounts for what you would have earned over the remaining arc of your career. This is particularly significant in cases involving younger workers or people in physically demanding jobs.
• Pain and suffering. The physical reality of living with catastrophic injuries, combined with the psychological weight: chronic pain, PTSD, depression, loss of independence, and the daily awareness that your life before the crash is no longer available to you.
• Loss of enjoyment of life. Hobbies, family activities, physical capabilities, and personal milestones that the injury took away.

In cases where the carrier or driver acted with gross negligence — knowingly dispatching a fatigued driver, ignoring documented maintenance failures, falsifying inspection records — New York law may also allow punitive damages designed to punish conduct that goes beyond ordinary negligence.

Our attorneys work with medical specialists, life-care planners, and economists to project the full long-term cost of your injuries so that the claim reflects reality, not an insurer's cost-containment formula.

Filing Deadlines and Evidence Urgency in a Truck Accident Claim

New York's filing deadlines apply to truck accident claims the same way they apply to any motor vehicle case: three years under CPLR § 214 for a personal injury lawsuit, 30 days to submit a no-fault application, 90 days to serve a notice of claim if a government entity is involved, and two years from the date of death for wrongful death actions. Every case is unique and an experienced Long Island personal injury attorney should examine the case to determine the applicable time limitations.

In truck cases, though, the real clock starts ticking the moment the crash happens. ELD data may be overwritten after a set retention period. Carriers may repair or scrap the truck. Driver qualification files may be updated. Maintenance logs may be altered. Every day that passes without a preservation demand is a day the trucking company's legal team has to manage the evidence landscape to its advantage.

This is why we act on day one. Spoliation letters, subpoenas for electronic data, and formal preservation demands go out as early as possible because the strongest truck accident cases are built on evidence that was locked down before it was lost. 

FAQs for Long Island Truck Accident Attorneys

Speak With a Truck Accident Lawyer Today After a Long Island Crash 

A truck accident on Long Island may leave you facing injuries that change the course of your life, medical bills that outpace your income, and an insurance process that feels designed to minimize what you're owed. The trucking company has lawyers working for them from day one. You should too.

William Mattar, P.C. can handle Long Island truck accident cases from the first phone call through resolution. We have an office in Jericho, and our attorneys can serve Nassau and Suffolk County residents directly. Our phones are always answered.

Call (516) 444-4444 to speak with a Long Island truck accident lawyer. The consultation is free, available 24/7, and comes with no obligation. No Fee Until We Win℠.

Past performance does not guarantee future results, including financial results or client satisfaction.