Presented by the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, the annual “Winning Truck Wreck Cases” seminar took place on August 10, 2026, and provided attendees with crucial knowledge pertaining to truck accident law. Guests listened to a variety of speakers within the industry, including other attorneys, mediators, safety advocates, medical professionals, and mechanical experts.
Each guest speaker shared critical information that can help plaintiff truck wreck attorneys. For those that were unable to attend the seminar but still wants to expand their knowledge of trucking litigation, below is a brief recap of each speaker’s session.
Maxey M. Scherr: Risks of Brain Injuries in Truck Crashes
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are common in truck wrecks. During her session, attorney Maxey M. Scherr divulged the different ways these injuries manifest and how to legally prove a TBI has impacted a victim’s life.
In truck crashes, the size, weight, and momentum of the truck creates a TBI risk. Inside the skull, there are areas that have thorny bone ridges and protuberances. When an impact occurs, the jelly-like substance of the brain bounces around and hits these areas, making specific regions of the brain vulnerable to localized trauma. As a result, multiple impacts to the skull lead to multiple injuries.
TBIs are often considered an “invisible injury” where victims have symptoms, but a CT scan comes back normal. For this reason, it can be hard to connect all of someone’s symptoms to a brain injury. Because of this, the way the attorney conducts their intake can determine the true value of the case. Asking questions regarding how the crash happened, questions to reveal brain dysfunction, and speaking with the family to ask if they’ve seen any changes and how daily life has been affected all help to put together the story of how a TBI has impacted the victim.
After determining a TBI occurred based on anecdotal evidence, the attorney must acquire medical proof of the injury. A CT scan can rule out emergencies but not the presence of a TBI, and MRIs only detect injuries to brain tissue. However, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) maps the brain’s white matter pathways by tracking the movement of water molecules; this imaging makes it easier to see and understand the presence of a TBI. Courts have also determined that the use of DTI alone can diagnose a TBI, and therefore it is important to support the use of DTI in every case where it’s appropriate.
From that point, it is crucial to utilize several experts to show the extent of the affect a TBI has on a victim’s life. Doctors, TBI life care planners, psychiatrists and neuro-radiologists can all help to paint the full picture of your client’s injury.
David W. Craig: Visibility Issues
When taking on truck wreck cases, it is not uncommon to hear truck drivers claim the collision is not their fault because they could not see due to an adverse weather event. Although the claim that they could not see should not prevent you from seeking full compensation for your client, it is important to assume a jury won’t automatically agree that this is not a valid excuse.
David’s presentation delved into the nuances of visibility issues as a result of weather conditions, covering the range of weather conditions that professional drivers encounter while behind the wheel and their impact on visibility, providing attendees with the knowledge necessary to take on truck wreck cases where visibility is a primary factor.
For professional drivers, visibility is a crucial component of doing their jobs safely. When drivers encounter conditions that reduce visibility and choose not to adhere to guidelines for safely operating their vehicles in those conditions that are clearly outlined in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Manual, it creates a risky environment for everyone on the roads. Professional drivers should have a thorough understanding of these guidelines so they can determine when the conditions are too dangerous to continue. Furthermore, David included the results of a survey he conducted asking professional drivers about the types of visibility challenges they had faced and how they handled those scenarios.
89% of participants said they had faced at least one visibility challenge, and 57% thought that these hazards only created a medium or low risk. The adverse condition where drivers received the least help from their employer and saw the least amount of standardization for handling it was bright light/glare. For snow or rainstorms that cause visibility issues, only 20% said they pull off the road, and only 35-45% said they would slow down. The survey ultimately found that there is a lack of standardization for industry-wide safety behaviors in these scenarios, and drivers mostly rely on their experience and confidence rather than taking proper safety precautions.
Zach Cahalan: Crash Victims Must Drive Truck Safety Changes
Truck crashes are a national crisis, with truck wreck deaths increasing 58% nationally since 2009. Executive Director of the Truck Safety Coalition (TSC) Zach Cahalan spoke about how the status quo within the trucking industry is what’s truly killing Americans every day. With over 5,000 truck crash deaths annually and the fact that one-fifth of trucks currently driving should be marked out-of-service, there is a culture of acceptance that these accidents just happen.
The current requirements for drivers and motor carriers in the industry are severely lacking. There is no minimum number of driving hours required to earn a Class A CDL, you do not need to know the FMCSRs to open a motor carrier business, the minimum amount of liability insurance that is mandated is only $750,000, and 90% of motor carriers are unrated. This lack of real enforcement has made it easy to utilize loopholes and create a baseline of cheating in the trucking industry, including fudging electronic logging device hours, chameleon carriers, and much more.
For the most part, all truck safety advancements have happened because victims chose to share their stories. TSC supports victims and advocates for change in the industry, and every victim drives action. That is why TSC asks attorneys to encourage their clients who are victims of truck wrecks to speak up about their experiences to help push further change and keep everyone on the roads safe.
Gary McMinoway: Mechanical Issues in Truck Crashes
A truck wreck can result from a variety of factors, ranging from driver error to mechanical problems. If a wreck results from mechanical issues with the vehicle, it is the responsibility of the driver and the motor carrier to ensure that the vehicle is in safe working condition before it is on the road. In his presentation, President of GL Mechanical LLC Gary McMinoway walked attendees through the most common mechanical issues found in truck wreck cases and discussed the importance of hiring a forensic inspector for these cases.
The FMCSRs state that professional drivers must understand each part of their vehicle and conduct thorough pre- and post-trip inspections to guarantee safe operation. When a mechanical issue is present during inspection, drivers and motor carriers are required by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to repair the issue before driving.
However, lack of proper inspection can lead to catastrophic wrecks, and oftentimes detrimental mechanical problems are not discovered until after the crash. While police officers may conduct an inspection at the scene of an accident, they are not fully equipped with the knowledge necessary to fully determine the cause of a wreck. To get the full picture of what caused a truck crash, a mechanic who specializes in forensic vehicle inspection needs to analyze the truck.
A forensic mechanic is properly trained in commercial vehicle inspection and will fully understand how each part of the vehicle works, what can cause mechanical problems in each part of the vehicle, and help paint a full picture of what caused an accident. Moreover, they are focused on the inspection itself and uncovering the truth rather than what the plaintiff or defendant side wants the outcome to be.
Michael Cowen: Framing the Trucking Case
Truck wreck cases are far more complicated than passenger vehicle accident cases due to how many people or parties may be liable for the wreck. During his session, Nationally Recognized Truck Accident Attorney Michael Cowen shared that because of how complex these cases are, attorneys must frame them in a way that helps the jury understand the trucking industry and the complexity of these cases.
The difference between truck wreck cases and those only involving passenger vehicles is the nature of the trucking industry and the size of a commercial motor vehicle. Professional drivers must meet certain requirements to receive a CDL, and there are many safety factors laid out in the FMCSRs that must be considered. Sometimes, drivers must work up to 14-hour days, wait long periods for cargo loads, travel through hazardous conditions, and spend detention time technically still working without pay. These aspects of the industry impact driver performance and contribute to liability for a wreck.
In Cowen’s session, he described that plaintiff’s attorneys must frame the trucking case in a storytelling format to help jurors conceptualize the different moving parts behind the wreck, as well as who the real “villain” of the story is. The driver is liable, but the trucking company is also liable for their employees, the brokers and shippers they use, and their equipment.
Bad trucking companies often prioritize their profits over safety, which can lead them to cut corners when hiring brokers and shippers and encourage drivers to do the same when conducting equipment and load inspections. These companies may also do anything they can to escape justice for their actions, including covering up the cause of a crash. Following the money upstream and proving corporate gross negligence can be a pivotal aspect of your case.
Scott A. Faultless: Claims Against Freight Brokers After Montgomery
There are several parties involved in the freight transportation cycle, including the shipper/consignor, freight broker, motor carrier, and receiver/consignee. The role of the freight broker has become more prevalent since the 1970s, helping to connect cargo to motor carriers for transportation and arranging said transportation for compensation. Brokers do not take possession of cargo and do not provide transportation. During Nationally Recognized Truck Accident Attorney Scott A. Faultless’ presentation, he broke down the role of the broker in truck wrecks and how the law has changed to allow attorneys to sue brokers when they are found liable.
Historically, it has been difficult to prove a broker holds liability for a truck wreck because they were protected by a safety exception in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), which preserved the safety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles. However, the recent Supreme Court case Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC has altered this precedent. Now, state tort claims alleging negligent hiring by brokers are not preempted by the FAAAA, allowing states to retain authority to enforce safety-related duties to protect the public.
While the Montgomery case did not determine whether the FAAAA preempts negligent claims against brokers for intrastate shipments, whether the FAAAA preempts claims against shippers, and whether negligent retention claims are viable under state law or the standard of care for proving a claim, this change in precedent allows attorneys to pursue a case against the broker when reasonable to do so. If a client’s case is not worth more than the liability limits available from the motor carrier involved in the crash, choosing to go after the broker can create complications and delays in the case. It is best to take this route with your case if the value of the case warrants it.
Cedar R. Abadie: Improving Mediation Outcomes
Every case deserves empathy and care, and mediations that reflect that can lead cases to more positive outcomes. Mediation is a conversation, not a courtroom, and it is National Trucking Mediator Cedar R. Abadie’s belief that they should be treated as such. In her session, she discussed how positive mediation outcomes are based on trust and civility, and it is the job of all attorneys involved to conduct mediation with those characteristics in mind.
Mediation begins long before the parties involved are in a room together. It’s crucial to activate the mediation process as early as possible, building the foundations of the mediation with resolution in mind, all materials prepared, and everything relevant on the table to allow for trust. Both parties should also choose a date far in advance, so everyone has time to prepare for it.
Abadie begins with pre-mediation calls to retrieve all the necessary context the mediator needs to know, which can help to iron out some issues before mediation has started. She often has individual conversations with each side of a case to better understand the needs of each one and avoid unnecessary conflict.
For both parties, it is important to follow that activation with actionable communication, crafting the demand letter with credibility in mind, focusing on the facts of the case over rhetoric. Credibility is the only leverage that multiplies, and combining activation and credibility turns mediation into something you engineer. When you remove the animosity of the conflict, mediation can be a constructive conversation.
David J. Fletcher: Determining Medical Fitness for Commercial Drivers
All professional drivers must be cleared by a medical professional as medically fit to operate their vehicles before they can begin driving. However, bad trucking companies that are more focused on getting drivers on the roads than safety will find ways to circumvent the systems in place. In Dr. David Fletcher’s presentation, he discussed the process of the DOT medical examinations and what attorneys need to prove a driver is medically unfit.
When investigating a driver’s medical fitness, a DOT medical card is not the end of the investigation. There are many ways a driver can receive that card without actually being medically qualified. The card only tells you the date of the examination, the certifying examiner, and the duration of the certification.
Attorneys must look specifically at the certification of the physician who issued the exam, the driver’s functional fitness, and any continuing oversight regarding the driver’s health. They must also determine what the driver disclosed, what records were reviewed, the examiner’s reasoning, and the driver’s function at a later date. This is why it’s crucial to get the “long form”, or the amalgamation of all the records associated with this driver that are relevant to their medical fitness. Combining that with an assessment of observed driving function and what is in the examiner’s file can help with reconstructing the impact of medical fitness on a truck wreck.
Save the Date: Winning Truck Wreck Cases Seminar 2027
The Embassy Suites Noblesville Indianapolis conference center has been booked for next year’s seminar, which will be held on August 9, 2027, and hosted again by Craig, Kelley & Faultless in tandem with the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association.
Injured in a Truck Wreck? Craig, Kelley & Faultless Can Help
Attorneys at Craig, Kelley & Faultless are prepared and have the experience to help victims and their loved ones involved in commercial vehicle wrecks through every aspect of their case. Both David W. Craig, Scott A. Faultless are board-certified in truck accident law by the NBTA, accredited by the American Bar Association. The firm also has a rapid response team—including investigators, reconstructionists and mechanics—that is sent to the scene of a wreck to collect evidence as soon as the firm is hired.
Their team-centered approach puts client needs at the forefront, and several attorneys will work on your case to achieve the best possible outcome.
Reach out for a free case consultation today at (317) 434-3520 or online.
David W. Craig is board-certified in truck accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, accredited by the American Bar Association in Truck Accident Law. He sits on the Board of Regents of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys. He is the managing partner and one of the founding partners of Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC. He is recognized as a Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer and Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Indiana by the National Trial Lawyers, as well as a Top 50 Indiana lawyer by Super Lawyers. David is the author of Semitruck Wreck: A Guide for Victims and Their Families and It’s Never Been Easier to Hire the Wrong Attorney, both written to help people navigate what comes next after a tragic wreck. He also hosts the podcast After the Crash, where you can gain valuable information about the dangers involving semis and large trucks that do not follow safety protocol regarding speed, weather conditions, maintenance upkeep, etc.
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