We are New Jersey Commercial Truck & Semi-Truck Accident Lawyers
Holding negligent trucking companies accountable, navigating complex federal safety violations, and protecting injured victims in Passaic, Bergen, and Northern New Jersey since 1922.
A collision with a fully loaded, 80,000-pound commercial tractor-trailer, semi-truck, or 18-wheeler is a catastrophic, life-altering event. Because of the massive disparity in size and weight, occupants of smaller passenger vehicles bear the absolute brunt of the physical devastation. As you struggle to recover from severe orthopedic trauma, spinal injuries, or brain damage, you are immediately pitted against a multi-billion-dollar trucking corporation and their aggressive, rapid-response insurance defense teams.
At Raff & Raff, LLP, we have protected injured New Jersey residents and their families for over a century (1922–Present). e know that commercial truck accident litigation is entirely different from a standard car crash. Led by our Managing Partner Stephen T. Raff, Esq.—recently honored as the Passaic County Bar Association’s Distinguished Lawyer of the Year— and Certified Civil Trial Attorneys Michael S. Raff, Esq. and Daniel A. Levy, Esq., our trial team prepares every auto negligence case from day one as if it is going to be decided by a jury. We refuse to accept cheap, fast settlement offers that fail to cover your future medical care, lost income, and long-term rehabilitation. We prepare every single trucking case from day one as if we are presenting it to a jury, forcing corporate carriers to respect your claim.
We represent injured clients strictly on a contingency fee basis under our No Recovery, No Fee Guarantee. This means you do not pay us a single dollar out-of-pocket, and we only collect a legal fee if we successfully win a financial settlement or jury verdict on your behalf.
Navigating Complex Federal Trucking Regulations & Corporate Negligence
Select a category below to discover how we audit federal driver logs, preserve digital black-box data, and establish corporate liability:
Driver Fatigue & Hours of Service (HOS)
Auditing FMCSA Driver Logs
To maximize corporate profits, trucking lines frequently pressure their drivers to meet unrealistic delivery deadlines. This leads directly to severe driver fatigue, slow reaction times, and catastrophic highway collisions.
- The Defense: Commercial truck drivers are strictly governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Under federal Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, drivers are legally capped in the number of hours they can operate without taking mandatory rest breaks. We audit the driver’s electronic logs, toll receipts, fuel purchases, and GPS coordinates to prove they violated federal driving limits to manufacture a liability case against the carrier.
Preserving “Black Box” (ELD) Telematics
Immediate Spoliation Defense
Following a crash, commercial trucking corporations immediately dispatch their own private accident reconstruction teams to the scene to manipulate, secure, or even legally delete critical electronic data before you can hire an attorney.
- The Defense: We immediately issue a formal, comprehensive Spoliation of Evidence letter to the trucking line. This legally obligates them to preserve all electronic telematics data, including the engine’s Electronic Control Module (ECM) and Electronic Logging Device (ELD). This “black box” provides undeniable proof of the truck’s pre-impact speed, braking duration, throttle position, and steering angles.
Multi-Party Corporate Liability
Navigating Multiple Targets
Unlike standard auto accidents, commercial trucking lines utilize complex corporate structures designed to insulate themselves from liability, shielding their parent company behind independent contractors or leasing brokers.
- The Defense: We conduct deep-dive corporate audits to identify all negligent entities involved in your crash. This includes the trucking carrier, the vehicle leasing company, the loading broker (if an improperly balanced cargo caused a jackknife), or the maintenance contractor (if defective brakes or tire blowouts caused the crash), ensuring we tap into all available insurance policies.
Serious & Catastrophic Injuries Resulting from Truck Collisions
Because of the extreme physics involved in a loaded tractor-trailer impact, commercial truck accidents routinely result in catastrophic, life-altering orthopedic and neurological trauma, including:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): Concussions, diffuse axonal injuries, cognitive deficits, and permanent neurological impairment.
- Spinal Cord Trauma & Paralysis: Herniated discs, spinal fusions, cervical whiplash, permanent nerve root compression, paraplegia, and quadriplegia.
- Orthopedic Fractures & Joint Tears: Compound fractures, shattered joints, torn rotator cuffs, and ligament tears requiring complex surgical reconstruction.
- Amputations & Crush Injuries: Severe crush trauma from structural vehicle intrusion, leading to surgical or traumatic limb loss.
- Internal Organ Damage: Thoracic trauma, internal bleeding, and lacerated organs from heavy, high-velocity seatbelt-restraint impact.
Your Step-by-Step Action Plan After a Tractor-Trailer Collision
- Prioritize Your Physical Health: Seek immediate emergency medical care. Go to the nearest trauma center (such as St. Joseph’s Level 1 Trauma Center in Paterson) to document your physical injuries and secure diagnostic imaging.
- Ensure Law Enforcement Files a Report: Contact the local police department or New Jersey State Police. Make sure an official accident report is generated documenting the commercial carrier, the truck’s USDOT number, and any initial police citations issued to the driver.
- Take Detailed Photos of the Scene: If you or a passenger are physically able, take photos of the final resting positions of the vehicles, tire skid marks, road conditions, and the commercial logo/signage on the side of the cab and trailer.
- Do NOT Speak to Corporate Investigators: Do not speak to insurance adjusters, sign quick-settlement releases, or give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s private investigator. Contact an experienced attorney immediately.
Rooted in Paterson to Serve Passaic, Bergen & Northern New Jersey
Our central office on Church Street in Paterson is located less than a 5-minute walk from the Passaic County Courthouse Complex, where all local commercial truck negligence lawsuits are filed, litigated, and decided.
Our region is bordered and bisected by some of the most heavily congested and dangerous commercial trucking corridors in the eastern United States, including Interstate 80 (I-80), Route 46, Route 3, Route 17, the Garden State Parkway, and the New Jersey Turnpike.
We maintain a deep familiarity with the judges, administrative timelines, and local court procedures of the Law Division. We routinely represent commercial truck accident victims receiving critical trauma care at major regional healthcare hubs throughout Northern New Jersey, including:
- St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (Paterson – Passaic County’s premier Level 1 Trauma Center)
- The Valley Hospital (Paramus / Ridgewood – directly adjacent to our Bergen County office footprint)
- Hackensack University Medical Center (Hackensack – Bergen County’s leading trauma hub)
- Morristown Medical Center (Morristown – serving our Morris County accident clients)
- Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (Livingston – serving our western Essex County clients)
- St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center (Wayne)
- Clifton Urgent Care & Local Medical Centers (Clifton)
- Holy Name Medical Center (Teaneck)
- Jersey City Medical Center (Jersey City – serving our Hudson County clients)
Frequently Asked Questions About NJ Commercial Truck Accidents
Commercial truck accident cases are vastly more complex than standard car crashes for three reasons: first, they are heavily governed by strict federal safety codes (FMCSA regulations) that require specialized audit procedures; second, the physical injuries are routinely catastrophic, requiring long-term medical projection models; and third, they involve multi-million-dollar corporate insurance policies with aggressive legal teams designed to fight and delay your claim. Defending your rights requires a seasoned trial attorney who understands how to navigate these technical barriers.
Under New Jersey’s commercial negligence standards, liability can extend to multiple corporate entities depending on the facts of your crash. This includes the truck driver (for fatigue, reckless driving, or DWI), the trucking carrier (for negligent hiring, training, or HOS violations), the cargo loading broker (if an improperly balanced or overloaded trailer caused a jackknife), the maintenance contractor (for defective brakes or tires), or the vehicle leasing company. We conduct comprehensive corporate discovery audits to target all available insurance policies.
You must act immediately. Commercial trucking lines are not on your side; they routinely dispatch private investigators to the crash scene within hours of the collision to secure evidence and build their defense. Furthermore, federal regulations permit trucking companies to legally destroy, overwrite, or purge driver logs and electronic data after a set period if a formal Spoliation of Evidence demand is not filed by a licensed attorney. We issue these demands within hours of being retained to lock down your evidence.
We represent injured clients strictly on a contingency fee basis under New Jersey Court Rule 1:21-7. This means we cover all upfront costs of your litigation—including hiring accident reconstruction experts, obtaining telematics data, securing medical records, and paying court filing fees. You do not pay us a single dollar out-of-pocket, and we only collect a legal fee if we successfully win a financial settlement or jury verdict on your behalf.
Protect Your Recovery. Protect Your Future.
Do not allow a massive trucking corporation or their insurance carrier to delay your medical treatment, downplay your pain, or underpay your claim. Speak face-to-face with an experienced, award-winning Northern New Jersey trial attorney via a secure Zoom meeting. We will analyze your police reports, review your medical files, and outline a clear, aggressive strategy to secure your future.
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