Responsibility for a truck maintenance failure usually falls on the trucking company, but the driver, a repair shop, a parts maker, or the company that owned the trailer can share the blame. Federal law places the core duty to inspect, repair, and maintain every commercial truck on the motor carrier that controls it. When a poorly maintained truck causes a crash in North Dakota, more than one party may be at fault. An experienced North Dakota truck accident attorney can trace the failure back to whoever let it happen and hold each of them accountable.
What Federal Law Requires of Trucking Companies
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), every motor carrier must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain every commercial truck under its control, or arrange for someone to do it. The word systematically matters.
A company cannot simply wait for a part to fail on the highway. It has to follow a real schedule and keep its equipment in safe and proper operating condition at all times. That includes the parts most likely to cause a serious wreck when they fail, such as brakes, tires, steering systems, suspension, axles, wheels, and rims.
The rule that sets this maintenance duty applies to interstate carriers that move freight through and across North Dakota, and North Dakota applies the same core safety standards to trucking companies that operate only within the state. When a company skips scheduled service, ignores a defect it already knew about, or keeps a worn truck earning miles instead of pulling it in for repair, it breaks that duty. A crash that follows from failed brakes or a blown tire can be the direct result of this breach of duty.
Common Maintenance Failures That Cause Crashes
Not every mechanical problem leads to a lawsuit, but certain failures show up again and again in serious truck crashes. Understanding them helps explain how a maintenance lapse turns into a collision. Examples include:
- Brake failures from worn pads, leaking lines, or systems that were never adjusted correctly
- Tire blowouts caused by bald tread, under-inflation, or tires kept in service long past their safe life
- Steering and suspension defects that make a loaded truck hard to control
- Burned-out lights or missing reflectors that leave a trailer nearly invisible at night
- Coupling and hitch failures that let a trailer separate from the cab
When any of these traces back to neglected upkeep rather than a sudden and unforeseeable event, the party responsible for maintaining the truck may be on the hook for the harm that followed.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Maintenance Failure
More than one party can be legally responsible when bad maintenance causes a crash. Sorting out who did what takes an investigation into service records, ownership, and repair history. The parties who may share the blame include:
- The trucking company, or motor carrier, which holds the primary duty to inspect and maintain its fleet and can also be responsible for the actions of its employees on the job
- The driver, who is expected to inspect the truck before and after a trip and report defects rather than drive a vehicle known to be unsafe
- A repair shop or mechanic that performed careless or incomplete work, or missed a problem it should have caught
- A parts manufacturer, if a defective brake, tire, or other component failed and contributed to the crash
- The owner or leasing company that furnished the truck or trailer and failed to keep it in safe condition
Because the evidence often points to several of these parties at once, identifying each one early is what makes a full recovery possible.
How Maintenance Records Become Evidence
Federal law does not just require maintenance. It requires proof of it. A motor carrier must keep a record for each truck that identifies the vehicle, shows the inspections and repairs that were due, and documents the date and nature of the work actually performed. Those records have to be kept where the truck is housed or maintained for one year, and for six months after the truck leaves the carrier’s control.
In a crash case, the paperwork can show whether the company followed its own schedule or let a known defect ride for weeks. The catch is that evidence disappears fast. Trucks get repaired or sold, and electronic data gets overwritten in the ordinary course of business. Acting quickly to send a preservation letter is often what keeps the maintenance history from vanishing before anyone can review it.
How North Dakota’s Fault Rules Affect Your Recovery
North Dakota follows a modified comparative fault rule. You can still recover money as long as your share of the fault is not as great as the combined fault of everyone else who caused the crash. Generally, if you are less than 50 percent to blame, you can recover but your award is reduced by your own percentage of fault.
North Dakota also applies several liability, which generally means each responsible party pays only for its own share of the harm rather than the entire amount. That is why it matters to identify every party that contributed, from the carrier to the repair shop, so no portion of your damages goes uncollected.
Time Matters When Pursuing a Truck Accident Claim
In most injury cases, North Dakota gives you six years to file a lawsuit, although a claim brought by a family after a death generally must be filed within two years. Claims involving government entities have much shorter deadlines. Missing the deadline can end an otherwise strong case before it starts. It is best to speak with an attorney as soon as possible to avoid missing a deadline.
Talk With a North Dakota Truck Accident Lawyer
If a poorly maintained truck caused your crash, the trucking company and its insurer are already working to limit what they pay. At Pringle & Herigstad, P.C., we have represented injured North Dakotans in Grand Forks, Minot, and across the state since 1909, and we know how to dig into maintenance records and hold every responsible party accountable. Contact us for a free consultation. We work on contingency, so you owe no attorneys’ fee unless we recover for you.