What to Do Immediately After a Truck Accident in Michigan

A commercial truck was involved, someone is badly hurt, and you need to know what to do after a truck accident and in what order. A collision with a semi, box truck, or dump truck starts a process that an ordinary passenger-car crash does not, so Michigan truck accident claims follow their own path. Whether you are the injured person or a spouse or adult child reading this on their behalf, the first two weeks matter more than they seem.

Much of what determines the outcome of a truck case is not in your paperwork. It sits in records the carrier controls, and those do not stay available forever. The account you can preserve now is the part of the case you can still shape.

Harris Altman, PC handles commercial truck claims from both sides at once: the no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) benefits with the applicable no-fault insurer and the third-party claim against the commercial defendant. We are a Michigan firm that files suit when a fair resolution does not come through negotiation.

What Should You Document at the Scene of a Truck Crash?

Michigan law requires the driver in a crash that injures or kills a person or causes apparent property damage of $1,000 or more to report it immediately to the nearest or most convenient police station or police officer, as set out in MCL 257.622. In plain terms, a serious crash is reported to the police immediately, and the responding agency creates the official record. What a commercial vehicle adds is a second layer of identification a passenger car does not carry.

Where it is safe, capture the following at the scene:

• The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) number and the carrier name lettered on the cab door.
• The tractor and trailer unit numbers, which are frequently registered to different companies.
• Any placards or visible cargo on the trailer.
• Wide-frame photographs of the truck’s final resting position and the full lane geometry.
• The responding agency and the crash report number.

This record belongs to you, and it is the part of a truck case you can secure without anyone’s permission before it is contested. A lawyer can use the USDOT number and the report number to identify the carrier’s insurer and open a claim without delay.

When Should You Get Medical Care and Notify Your Insurer?

A medical evaluation on the day of the crash or the day after creates the first dated, objective link between the collision and your injuries. Delaying treatment creates a gap in the file, and explaining that gap later rarely helps your claim.

The first is a filing deadline. Under MCL 500.3145(1), you generally have to file a PIP lawsuit within one year of your accident. That deadline moves if written notice of your injury reached the insurer within that year, or if the insurer already paid PIP benefits for the injury.

The second is a recovery limit. MCL 500.3145(2) says you can’t recover benefits for any loss incurred more than one year before the date your lawsuit was filed in court, what the statute calls the date the action was commenced. That date means when a lawsuit is filed, not when a claim or demand for payment reaches the insurer.

What PIP actually pays is not automatic. Coverage depends on the medical tier selected on the policy under MCL 500.3107c. A driver who coordinated no-fault benefits with Medicare, or who opted out of PIP medical coverage, may have reduced or removed PIP medical (allowable expense) benefits. Wage loss, replacement services, and funeral benefits are governed separately and aren’t affected by that election. Your declarations page shows which coverages apply, so review it with us before assuming a medical bill or lost paycheck is covered.

How Long Does a Trucking Company Keep Driver Logs and Black Box Data?

Federal law sets the floor for how long a trucking company has to keep the records that often decide a truck case. Under 49 CFR 395.8(k), a motor carrier must retain each driver’s records of duty status and supporting documents for at least six months, and under 49 CFR 395.22(i) a backup copy of electronic logging device (ELD) records must sit on a separate device for the same six months. The plain reading is that the federal floor is six months, and nothing in the regulation obligates the carrier to hold this material any longer.

In an ordinary car crash, most of the proof stays within reach. In a truck case, much of it sits inside the carrier’s own systems on that six-month clock. Inside that window is the material that shows how the truck was operated:

• Hours-of-service and ELD records
• The engine control module or event data recorder download
• Dispatch and load records
• Driver qualification and drug and alcohol testing files
• Maintenance and inspection history

A written preservation demand sent to the carrier and its insurer puts them on notice to preserve this material, and sending it early works better than sending it late. A demand is a request, not a guarantee. Carriers can still lose, overwrite, or fail to preserve records even after one goes out. You can send a preservation demand yourself. When we send it, we can get it out immediately, document that it went out, and follow up if the carrier does not comply. The preserved record is also what later supports a claim. What a truck accident claim can be worth is a separate question from the steps in front of you now.

What Should You Avoid Saying to the Trucking Company’s Insurer?

A commercial carrier’s claims operation and its investigators can begin work within days of a reportable crash, often while you are still in treatment. A request from that caller is not an obligation, and a polite decline that refers the matter to counsel is a normal, available response.

You are under no obligation to agree to any of the following on that first call:

• A recorded statement to the other side’s insurer
• A broad medical authorization covering your full history
• An early resolution offered before your treatment has a known endpoint
• An estimate of how badly you are hurt while you are still being evaluated

A recorded statement can commit you to an early version of events, and an early offer may not account for ongoing treatment. Routing that first call through our firm means our attorneys field those questions for you.

When Should You Bring an Attorney Into a Truck Accident Claim?

A claim against a motor carrier involves a commercial insurer and a retained investigator from the very beginning, which is not the case in an ordinary two-car claim. That difference makes timing its own question.

Several signals point to involving a semi truck accident lawyer in Michigan sooner rather than later:

• A commercial vehicle was involved at all
• More than one company may have a role because the tractor, trailer, and cargo are frequently held separately
• The carrier or its representative has already made contact
• Treatment has no known endpoint
• The six-month federal record window is running

Once counsel is involved, the preservation demand, the records request, and the contact with the carrier move off your plate. That is the practical change a truck accident attorney in Michigan makes in the early weeks, well before any question of filing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Michigan Truck Accidents

How Long Do You Have to File a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Michigan?

Most truck accident lawsuits in Michigan must be filed within three years of the crash under MCL 600.5805(2). That third-party deadline is separate from the one-year written-notice clock for no-fault benefits, so the two should never be treated as the same date. Exceptions can shorten or lengthen the window, so have your specific timeline reviewed early.

What Should You Do If the Truck Driver Left the Scene?

Reporting the crash to police as soon as reasonably possible is the first step. That report supports your case, but it does not start your uninsured or underinsured motorist claim on its own. You file that claim by contacting your own insurer directly. Written notice within a set time frame is often required too, so check your policy or contact us to confirm your deadline rather than assuming it lines up with the police report. Michigan’s hit-and-run laws cover those steps in more detail.

Does It Cost Anything to Have a Truck Accident Case Reviewed?

No. Our consultations are free, and we handle truck accident cases on a contingency fee, which means no fee is owed unless we recover compensation for you. That structure lets you have your case reviewed without any upfront cost.

Start Your Free Michigan Truck Accident Review Before the Six-Month Evidence Window Closes

In the first weeks after a commercial truck crash, the evidence that decides the case moves further out of reach every day. Harris Altman, PC handles the no-fault PIP claim and the third-party claim together, works directly with the carrier, and moves to preserve the six-month window before it closes. A free consultation costs nothing, and representation is on a contingency fee, so no fee is owed unless we recover.

Call 248-540-3100 or use our contact form to start that preservation demand.