Truck Owners in Maryland Truck Accidents

Due to the various regulations and laws surrounding trucks, there may a host of different people who are liable if involved in a truck accident. The following is information on the role of the truck owner and when they may be liable. To learn more, call and schedule a consultation with a Maryland truck accident lawyer today.

Involvement of Truck Owners

The owner is responsible for what they do with the truck. This means that if an owner chooses a driver who is not well trained or credentialed then an employer can be held liable for hiring someone who was not qualified to perform a task and then allowing that person to perform the task.  You would have to prove that the employer had knowledge of hiring someone with poor credentials or qualifications which may be difficult to do.

An owner can also be held responsible for putting into service a truck or other large vehicle that has poor maintenance and repair history, such as problems with the truck that have been ignored or have not been properly and timely fixed, repaired or maintained. An owner can also be held liable if he is the one who does the scheduling of the truck, and how many stops are scheduled, how many rest periods are scheduled if any. These could play into the theory of the case if the driver is overworked or fatigued and due to that state is involved in a motor vehicle collision.

Is The Truck Owner The Same As The Driver?

Sometimes the driver can also be the owner of the truck but if it’s a tractor trailer or a box truck or a tanker truck, than most likely the driver doesn’t own those large commercial vehicles and then you will need to do some investigation as to the correct identities of all of the involved entities to pursue your case against.

Truck Owner Liability

The owner can be liable for failing to maintain the truck, failing to repair the truck, failing to hire a qualified driver, failing to train a qualified driver. They can be responsible for loading the truck improperly or failing to secure or balance the cargo that the truck will be transporting.  The owner of the vehicle can be responsible for tasking the driver with picking up cargo that they’re not supposed to be carrying such as hazardous material if he’s does not have a hazmat license or certification

Logo Liability

Logo liability involves a complicated relationship amongst multiple parties. In general logo liability arises when one person leases the truck, one person owns the truck, and one person rents the truck but they are not using the truck for the same purpose that is represented on the logo of the truck Logo Liability is intended to bar licensed carriers from trying to immunize themselves from liability by leasing truck to third policy. The goal of this is to protect, so it’s when a driver remains the carrier’s statutory employee as long as the carrier’s logo is displayed even if the driver may not actually be operating under the carrier’s authority at the time of the collision. .