How commercial truck accident claims work in Georgia: an overview

A Georgia truck claim follows the same basic path as a car claim: evidence, treatment, demand, and suit within the two years allowed by O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Three things make it different. Federal safety rules create records and standards, more parties may be responsible, and larger insurance requirements may apply. The records have short retention periods, so the first days matter. Since July 1, 2024, Georgia also limits when an insurer can be named directly in the suit.

What sets a truck claim apart

Feature	Car claim	Truck claim
Rules of conduct	State traffic law	State law plus 49 C.F.R. Parts 390 to 399
Possible defendants	Driver, owner	Driver, carrier, owner or lessor, shipper, loader, shop, manufacturer, broker
Required insurance	$25,000 and $50,000 for injury	$750,000 and up for interstate for-hire carriers, by cargo
Key records	Report, photos, phones	Duty status records, ELD and engine data, qualification file, maintenance, testing
Suing the insurer directly	No route in an ordinary claim	Only in the situations in SB 426, for causes accruing on or after July 1, 2024

Georgia applies federal rules to some intrastate operations through its own regulations. In Onsite Communication Services v. Gooch, A26A0424 (2026), the court applied Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-16-4-.01 as it stood in 2021 and treated the company there as a motor carrier under the statute. The current rule should be checked for a given case.

Who can be liable

• The driver, for operating the vehicle.
• The carrier, vicariously and, since Quynn v. Hulsey, 310 Ga. 473 (2020), possibly directly for hiring, training, and supervision. See motor carrier liability.
• An owner or lessor, depending on the arrangement and on federal limits.
• A shop, for negligent repair. See third-party maintenance.
• A loader or shipper. See cargo securement.
• A broker. A 2026 U.S. Supreme Court decision addressed preemption of these claims. See broker and shipper liability.
• A manufacturer, for a defective part. See defective vehicles.

A jury divides fault under § 51-12-33, and each defendant owes its own share, as multi-defendant strategy explains.

Why the first days matter

Federal retention periods are short, and they run from various starting points.

Record	Rule	Retention
Records of duty status and supporting documents	49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1)	At least 6 months from the date of receipt
Maintenance records	§ 396.3(c)	1 year, and 6 months after the vehicle leaves the carrier's control
Driver vehicle inspection reports	§ 396.11	3 months from when the report was prepared
Periodic inspection report	§ 396.21	As that section states
Driver qualification file	§ 391.51	Duration of employment plus 3 years, with exceptions for some items

So a duty log might be lawfully discarded months after the carrier received it, unless a duty to preserve arises. Engine data and video have no such regulatory period and may be lost on repair or return to service. A preservation letter asks the carrier and others to keep identified evidence. In Georgia, a duty to preserve can arise once litigation is reasonably foreseeable, and a court can impose sanctions, as evidence preservation covers. A carrier may send its own response team soon after a crash, so a person should not wait to get help with this.

The insurance picture

49 C.F.R. § 387.9 sets minimum financial responsibility. For a for-hire interstate carrier of nonhazardous property with a vehicle of 10,001 pounds or more, the figure is $750,000, with $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 for specified hazardous materials. Carriers may carry more, and some may have excess coverage. Section 33-3-28 lets a claimant request a sworn disclosure, and insurance details are on the catastrophic damages page.

An insurer’s position can be raised in the suit only in specific cases. Under SB 426, for causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 2024, a plaintiff may join the motor carrier’s insurer under §§ 40-1-112(c) and 40-2-140(d)(4) only where a related motor carrier is insolvent or bankrupt, or where personal service cannot after reasonable diligence be made on the driver or the carrier. Older accruals follow prior law, under which Sapp v. Canal Insurance, 288 Ga. 681 (2011), and later cases applied the direct action statutes. A risk retention group has been held outside them under federal law, in Reis v. OOIDA, 303 Ga. 659 (2018).

The stages

1. Immediate. Medical care, a crash report, identifying the truck’s markings and DOT number, and a preservation letter.
2. Investigation. The public carrier record, witness statements, and the scene. See driver-side investigation.
3. Treatment. Care proceeds on medical need, and a serious injury may call for a life care plan.
4. Analysis. Who owes what, and what is the coverage?
5. Demand. A § 9-11-67.1 offer applies to a motor vehicle collision, if an attorney prepares it before the answers.
6. Suit. Filing, service, and discovery. See records discovery.
7. Resolution. A settlement or a trial. See settlement timeline and trial procedure.

Injury, death, and public-entity dates

The two-year period under § 9-3-33 covers injury. A death claim has two years, with tolling limits on the wrongful death deadline page. Vehicle damage has four. A public entity’s truck brings notice periods, and those can be as short as six months.

Section 46-7-12 should not be relied on for intrastate carriers without checking its current status, since Georgia’s motor carrier provisions are now in Title 40.

Where a person starts

In the first week, get the carrier’s name and DOT number from the crash report or photos, and ask a lawyer about a preservation letter. The other deadlines come later, and evidence can be lost well before they arrive. How truck claims differ from car claims sets the two side by side.

Sources

• Official Code of Georgia Annotated, November 2022 public release: §§ 9-3-33, 9-11-67.1, 33-3-28, 40-1-112, 40-2-140, 51-12-33
• Senate Bill 426 (2024)
• 49 C.F.R. § 387.9
• 49 C.F.R. § 395.8
• 49 C.F.R. § 396.3
• 49 C.F.R. § 396.11
• 49 C.F.R. § 391.51
• Quynn v. Hulsey, 310 Ga. 473
• Onsite Communication Services v. Gooch, A26A0424
• Sapp v. Canal Insurance, 288 Ga. 681
• Reis v. OOIDA, 303 Ga. 659

This page was last reviewed in November 2026 for general information. Laws and court decisions can change after that date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.