UPS Accidents

UPS has over 100,000 trucks in its fleet, which is growing daily. The shipping giant is locked in a never-ending battle with its main rival FedEx, Fighting to keep its market share top in the United States. At the same time, UPS is dealing with a critical driver shortage that keeps it from hiring the experienced drivers that it needs to operate its trucks safely. The result is that these large vehicles can be a danger to other drivers on the road. UPS has several different types of vehicles in its fleet. Most UPS trucks are the large brown box trucks with which you have become familiar. In addition, the company also has over 27,000 truck tractors that it uses to make larger deliveries. Anytime you are driving through San Antonio neighborhoods or out on a highway trip, you might see numerous UPS trucks on the road. Wyatt Law Firm takes on complex truck accident cases, and we get successful results for our injured clients. Some case results include:

• $10,250,000 for wrongful death claim following a fatal truck crash
• $2,400,000 for multiple injuries when a truck driver turned in front of oncoming traffic
• $1,300,000 for a client who needed neck and back surgery after a truck accident

These results do not guarantee what we can obtain for you, though we will always fight for the maximum compensation you deserve, given your circumstances and losses. Contact our UPS truck accident attorneys to learn more right away.

UPS Accidents Have the Potential to Cause Serious Injury

In its latest filing with the Department of Transportation, UPS reported over 127,000 drivers on staff. These drivers log a total of over 3.5 billion miles per year. An overwhelming majority of these trips got completed safely and without incident. However, when UPS accidents happen, there is a high statistical likelihood that someone will be injured. At the very minimum, drivers of other Passenger cars will suffer extensive property damage. UPS reports its accident totals on a rolling 2-year basis. In the most recent report that covers the 44 months before September 2020, UPS drivers were involved in nearly 3,000 accidents. One thousand seventy-nine of these accidents involve some injury. UPS drivers were involved in 79 fatal accidents during this period.

UPS Makes Huge Profits from its Business

UPS often cuts corners in the name of profits. In its most recent fiscal year, UPS reported over $100 billion in revenue. The company is profiting from the boom in online shipping and the transition of the United States retail industry. UPS made over $12 billion in profit in one year. The money that UPS should spend on maintenance and driver training comes from its bottom line and can reduce its profits. Federal inspectors have pulled UPS trucks off the road during vehicle inspections at an alarming rate. UPS trucks fail these inspections roughly 10 percent of the time. UPS drivers are ordered off the road in roughly one out of every 100 inspections.

Common Causes of UPS Truck Accidents

Here are some of the common causes of UPS accidents:

• Inexperienced drivers making mistakes
• Employing unqualified truck drivers or failing to terminate those who exhibit dangerous tendencies
• Fatigued drivers being on the road when they should have stopped to rest.
• Improperly maintained trucks used on the road.
• Careless cargo loading causes trucks to roll over or lose control
• Drivers speeding because they are trying to make deliveries on time
• Drivers who are focused on finding their way when they are in an unfamiliar area
• Distracted drivers who talk or text on their cell phones while driving
• Trucks are sent out onto the road and inclement weather because UPS wants to keep to its delivery schedule

How to Win Your UPS Truck Accident Case

Before receiving financial compensation from UPS and its insurance company, you must prove that the truck driver was to blame for the accident. The legal standard in UPS truck accident cases is negligence. The definition of this critical legal term is that someone failed to use the reasonable care expected of them under the circumstances. All the examples above are instances in which the truck driver or the trucking company was potentially negligent. You need evidence that this is what the truck driver did to help prove your case. After proving that the truck driver acted unreasonably under the circumstances, you must demonstrate that their actions caused your injuries. Even if you had a pre-existing condition, you can still receive financial compensation if your UPS accident worsened your condition. Given the potential financial stakes of your case, you must not take proving negligence for granted.

UPS Must Follow Trucking Regulations at All Times

Like every other trucking company, UPS is subject to federal regulations that govern the industry. These rules touch on practically every area of the trucking business. UPS must pay careful attention to these regulations because violating them can lead to enforcement action and a civil lawsuit when someone else suffers an injury in an accident. If you proved that UPS violated federal regulation, it might be evidence of negligence per se that can send you straight to the process of measuring your actual damages.

You Can Sue UPS Directly for a Truck Accident

Unlike many other trucking companies, UPS does not categorize its drivers as independent contractors. UPS drivers are direct employees of the company. When you have suffered an injury in an accident with a UPS truck with a driver on duty, you can sue UPS. The trucking giant maintains a comprehensive insurance policy to cover damages its drivers cause. UPS has its truck accident insurance with the giant company Liberty Mutual. UPS maintains up to $5 million in coverage for each accident. However, this is not a lot of money when you have suffered a severe injury in a truck accident. The good news is that you can go after UPS directly when insurance proceeds are not enough to cover the accident damages. Since the company is large and has billions of dollars in liquid cash, it has more than enough assets to pay for your injuries. Many truck accident settlements and verdicts are over $1 million.

UPS and its Insurance Company Play Hardball with Truck Accident Victims

However, you can expect Liberty Mutual and UPS to play hardball any time you have suffered an injury in an accident and seek financial compensation. Any money you get for your accident injuries can come from Liberty Mutual, and UPS has accounts. Simply stated, they do not want to pay you. If you want total financial compensation for your accident, you must fight for it. Waging a legal battle against UPS requires an experienced attorney familiar with the company and with truck accidents in general.

Your Financial Compensation in a UPS Truck Accident Case

If you are successful in your legal battle against UPS, you will be legally entitled to receive your full damages from the accident.

• Truck accidents tend to produce more compensation than regular car accident cases because:
• Trucking companies like UPS have more insurance coverage than the average passenger motorist
• Trucking companies themselves have more capacity to pay damages because they have the necessary assets
• Truck accident injuries tend to be more severe because of the size disparity between the truck and the car involved in the accident.
• Juries are more likely to assess punitive damages when there is a corporate defendant.

What You May Recover in a UPS Truck Accident Case

Here are some of the elements of your UPS accident damages:

• The complete cost of your medical treatment
• Other medical expenses, such as prescriptions and necessary medical equipment
• The cost of care when you need help with activities of daily life
• Property damage to your vehicle
• Lost wages when you are unable to work, or you cannot do the type of work that you did before the accident
• Pain and suffering for both your physical and emotional discomfort after the accident
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Permanent scarring and disfigurement
• Embarrassment and humiliation

Some UPS accident lawsuits get brought as wrongful death cases. Dozens of people each year die in UPS truck accidents. When that happens, your family can file a wrongful death lawsuit. A wrongful death case seeks compensation for your family’s own injury, which is the loss of a loved one in a tragic accident that was someone else’s fault. Wrongful death cases usually have high damage amounts because of the severity of the personal injury.

Your Attorney Helps You Value Your UPS Truck Accident Claim

Valuing your personal injury case is one of the most important things your attorney can do for you. When juries make compensatory awards in the millions of dollars, you cannot afford to be wrong with the amount of money you seek. If you do not seek it, you may not get it. UPS is counting on the fact that you may not know what your case is worth when you settle it. When you hire an experienced personal injury lawyer, this is not a worry that you should have in your case. Many prospective clients ask whether they can get punitive damages from UPS. In many cases, when you see that the jury has awarded millions of dollars to a plaintiff, punitive damages are included in that amount. When the UPS driver for the trucking company has acted particularly egregiously, the jury may decide to send a message to UPS. Juries often take issue with the actions of large companies that show a conscious disregard for the well-being of others. Angry juries have hit trucking companies with huge verdicts. Cases against UPS are no exception. However, most lawsuits against UPS do not result in the award of punitive damages.

UPS Cases Can Be Highly Contested by the Defendant and the Insurance Company

UPS lawsuits can be hard-fought cases, given the amount of money on the line. UPS and its insurance company have used various questionable tactics to keep their liability low. From your perspective, you can act to protect your legal rights when you hire an experienced lawyer who knows how to handle these specialized cases. It does not matter that UPS is a trucking behemoth with seemingly unlimited legal resources that it can bring to bear. All it takes to fight them is a knowledgeable lawyer with the commitment and resources of their own to secure full financial compensation.

How a UPS Truck Accident Lawyer Helps Your Case

You should hire an experienced lawyer as soon as possible after a UPS accident. Here is what your UPS accident attorney can do for you:

• Investigate the circumstances of your UPS truck accident and assemble the evidence that you will need to prove that the trucking company should be held liable
• Work with experts to come up with the appropriate evaluation of your UPS accident injuries
• File your claim for compensation with UPS’s insurance company or a lawsuit with a court
• Negotiate a potential settlement that would pay you for your damages
• Argue your case to a jury if you are unable to work out a settlement agreement

Call a San Antonio UPS Truck Accident Lawyer Today

At Wyatt Law Firm, we fight for truck accident victims to receive their full financial compensation. We are not afraid to take on large companies like ups when their actions have harmed you. If you do not bring your Firepower to the legal table, UPS may get away with what they did to you. To take the first step in the legal process, call us today at (210) 340-5550 or send us a message for your free initial consultation. We provide our legal services to you on a contingency basis, and we will not ask you for a retainer, nor will we send you hourly bills so long as your case is pending. Unless we help you win your case, you do not owe us anything.

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