Founded in 1907, the United Parcel Service — better known as UPS — offers supply chain management services and package delivery options. Best known for its shipping, UPS delivered 6.3 billion packages and documents in 2020 alone.
With so many of the distinctive brown trucks and uniforms on our streets, however, it is not surprising that UPS truck accidents happen at a rate of 8.95 accidents per 100,000 miles driven some years.
Between March 2020 and March 2022, that amounted to 2865 accidents, including 68 fatal collisions and 1035 resulting in injury.
Being in a UPS truck accident is a frightening experience and dealing with a large corporation such as UPS can be daunting. Even determining who the liable party is can be challenging if you haven’t spoken to a truck accident lawyer.
If you have been in a collision with a UPS truck, which is actually known as a UPS package car by UPS, contact FVF. Our legal team is here to offer education and information you can use to make the choices you need to make for your future.
How Do UPS Truck Accidents Commonly Happen?
UPS drivers face considerable pressure to deliver packages on time, and they are carefully overseen by the company. UPS trucks have sensors that monitor every movement a driver makes, from the moment he or she unbuckles a seatbelt to the second a truck door is opened.
Despite UPS stating its commitment to safety and their integrated training program, there are many reasons why UPS drivers may be in an accident:
- Not adjusting driving for the weather
- Lack of adequate training and experience
- Distraction caused by dispatch communications or by looking for directions
- Fatigue caused by a busy delivery schedule
- Violation of hours-of-service (HoS) regulations
- Speeding
- Driving under the influence
- Poor cargo loading or distribution
- Distraction caused by a lack of air conditioning, making temperatures inside uncomfortable at times
- Inadequate maintenance of trucks
- Failure to obey traffic rules
UPS does have rules for its drivers to reduce traffic accidents. For example, UPS drivers are discouraged from backing up. However, traffic collisions still do happen and what appears to be an “accident” may in fact have been a preventable event, though it is often challenging to tell at the scene what caused a crash. There may in fact be multiple parties or even other motorists at fault as well.
Before making any decisions about your case or agreeing to any version of events, it is advisable to speak to an experienced truck accident attorney.
Attorneys work with accident reconstruction experts, investigators, and other professionals to determine the cause of an accident.
If you file a claim, your attorney can also use subpoenas to secure security video footage, witness testimony, UPS company records, data from the “black box” of the UPS package car, and other documentation to determine who may be liable.
What Kinds of Injuries Are Common in UPS Truck Accidents?
UPS truck injuries vary widely, from collisions that result in minor injuries to crashes that cause permanent, life-altering, and even fatal injuries.
Because the size of UPS trucks is larger when compared with passenger cars, the occupants of smaller cars are especially vulnerable. Common injuries can include:
- Head injuries, including TBI (traumatic brain injuries)
- Spinal cord and back injuries
- Cuts, bruises, and lacerations
- Broken bones, including compound fractures
- Soft tissue injuries, including sprains, strains, and whiplash
- Facial injuries, including dental and eye injuries
- Injuries to the hands, arms, legs, and feet
- Crushing injuries
It is important to always get a full medical evaluation soon after a UPS traffic accident, especially if you may have hit your head or been thrown about the inside of your car.
Serious brain injuries may not be immediately obvious but can be life-threatening. If you or someone else at the scene is seriously injured, call 911.
Even if you think you may have been fortunate enough to walk away without injury, get a full medical evaluation as soon as possible to rule out hidden injuries.
What Kind of Recovery Might Someone Injured in a UPS Truck Accident Be Facing?
Every car accident involving a UPS delivery vehicle is different, so there is no one formula or dollar amount which applies in all cases.
Your financial recovery will depend on the extent of your injuries, the liable parties, whether any law violations caused your accident, and the financial losses you have suffered.
Other factors can also help determine the strength of your case and its possible outcomes.
Some recoveries involving UPS truck collisions amount to five or six figures, while other cases result in millions paid to injured parties. Speaking with an experienced attorney about the specifics of your case can help.
An experienced attorney may be able to give you a sense of how much your case may be worth, though no attorney can guarantee any specific outcome.
You can expect UPS to try to limit its liability if you have been injured. After a collision with a UPS truck, it is not unusual to be contacted by UPS or their insurer.
A claims adjuster may even try to secure a recorded statement from you, and this statement may even be used to limit how much recovery you may be offered.
For example, if you automatically answer “I’m fine” if an adjuster calls and asks “how are you?” to start the conversation, UPS and their insurer may use your innocuous answer to allege you were not seriously injured and try to deny your claim.
For this reason, it is best to work with an attorney before speaking with UPS and their adjusters.
Another challenge with financial recovery in UPS traffic accident cases is that UPS is a large company.
UPS does hire most of their drivers and does not outsource or contract work out to the extent that other delivery and e-commerce companies do, which means if a UPS employee causes your car accident you may have a claim against UPS, as they are liable for the actions of the on-duty behavior of their drivers.
However, if a driver was not on-duty, you may not have a claim against UPS. For example, if a driver made an unscheduled stop, was on a lunch break, or running a personal errand, UPS will claim it is not liable.
In some cases, a third party, including a contractor hired to handle maintenance on UPS vehicles, might be partly liable for your injuries. This may mean you have a claim against a third party and potentially not against UPS.
If you have been injured in a UPS truck accident, proving liability and finding all liable parties can be complex, as can determining financial recovery you may be eligible for.
The process of recovery, we at FVF have come to realize, begins with a thorough review of your situation and solid education.
By educating you about your rights and the laws which could impact your claim, we have found we may provide a clearer picture of your claim, your options, and what financial recovery can look like.
By supporting you with strong information, we aim to ensure you have the knowledge to make the right decisions for your future.
What Kind of Medical Costs Might Someone Who Has Been in a UPS Truck Accident Face?
Medical costs will depend on the type of injuries you sustain and the severity of your injury, as well as your healing process. A spinal cord injury, for example, can cost $32,240 to $1,156,400 in the first year alone.
When considering your medical costs, it is important to consider total expenses, including future medical needs and the care you may need. In general, after a collision with a UPS vehicle, you may need to pay for:
- Hospital stays
- Visits with specialists
- Dental care
- Follow-up visits
- Future medical costs
- Medical devices, such as prosthetics, wheelchairs, splints, and other medical supports
- Medication
- Occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other supports
- Counseling or therapy to deal with the trauma of the accident
In addition to these costs, it is important to keep incidental costs in mind, too. You may need to pay for transportation to medical appointments, for example, or may need to lose time at work while getting care.
If you have an ongoing or permanent injury, you may face increased medical insurance costs in the future, too. In addition, keep in mind that inflation and medical advances can mean that your future medical costs may be higher if your injury is expected to continue to require treatment for years.
Getting a full medical evaluation after your car accident can help you secure a diagnosis and treatment plan, which can help prepare you for medical costs.
An experienced truck accident attorney has also worked with many car accident survivors and may be able to help you understand ongoing and future medical costs, as well.
In addition to medical costs, keep in mind your UPS package car accident may result in additional financial losses as well, including property damage. Your car may be damaged and may require repairs or even replacement.
Anything of value you may have had in your vehicle, such as your phone, jewelry, cameras, or any other valuables, may have been damaged or destroyed in the crash and replacement costs can be considerable.
Seeking financial recovery can help pay for these costs as well as other losses you may suffer. If you cannot work due to your injury, for example, seeking financial recovery can help replace some of the lost income.
For a serious injury, financial recovery can also help address any home support or any home or car modifications you may need to make for accessibility.
An experienced attorney can help you determine the full costs of your injury and help you understand what options you have for getting recovery for these expenses.
How Can Victims of Such Car Accidents Seek Financial Recovery for Their Property and Personal Damages?
After a traffic crash involving a UPS truck, you may think your best option is to contact your insurance agent, but this is not always the case.
You may have a claim against UPS, the UPS driver, and other liable parties in your case, which allows you to seek financial recovery for your losses.
Before you sign any paperwork with an insurer or UPS, you may want to learn about all the options which can help you pay for lost income, medical bills, and the other costs you can incur.
To find out more about how you can pursue financial recovery, contact FVF. Our legal team focuses on educating clients, so they can make the appropriate decisions for their future.
In a free, no-obligation, and no-pressure consultation, we can look at the facts of your case together and discuss whether you have options for a lawsuit or other solutions.
Our goal is to help you get the fairest financial recovery possible, so you can focus on healing from your injury without worrying about finances.
What’s the Process of Seeking Financial Restitution?
The claims process begins as soon as your truck accident occurs. As soon as you are injured, exchange insurance information with the UPS driver and get the contact information of any potential witnesses.
Get medical help or emergency medical assistance if you need it and follow all treatment suggestions so you can heal as fully as possible.
If you decide to seek financial recovery, the process will generally begin when you contact a truck accident lawyer experienced in truck and UPS cases.
In a consultation, your attorney at FVF will educate you about your rights and explain whether you may have a claim. If you continue with your lawsuit, your attorney will take care of many of the steps, including:
- Determining all liable parties and gathering evidence. This can include speaking with you about your case and getting any medical reports related to your case. Your attorney will also document damages and determine how much your claim may be worth.
- Filing the lawsuit. Filing a summons formally lets all defendants know of the lawsuit so they have a chance to respond. A summons also outlines what you are claiming in your case and any recovery you are seeking. If defendants respond and seek to have the claim dismissed, your attorney will address these responses.
- Discovery. During this stage, all parties are gathering and sharing information related to the case. Your attorney may subpoena UPS to get copies of the driver’s records and other evidence. They may work with an accident reconstruction expert or get any surveillance footage that may show your accident. The exact steps will depend on your injury, but the goal is always to build the strongest case for you. Discovery is often the longest part of a UPS personal injury claim, lasting months, over a year, or even multiple years.
- Preparing you as needed. As part of the discovery process, attorneys may use depositions as well as written or oral statements. This may mean you must answer questions posed by the defendants. Your attorney will prepare you for this process and will keep you updated about your lawsuit as well, so there are no surprises. If you have questions at any point during your UPS claim, your attorney can provide answers and information.
- Negotiating. As soon as a lawsuit is filed, negotiations begin, and it is not unusual to get settlement offers. Defendants may offer a financial recovery in exchange for you not pursuing the claim further. Your attorney will review any offers with you so you can make an informed decision, and your attorney will also negotiate or engage in mediation with the other parties, if needed, as everyone tries to reach an agreement.
- Trial. If the parties in a lawsuit cannot reach an agreement, the case may go to trial. Both sides will present their case and a judge and jury will decide whether to award financial recovery to the plaintiff. Even after a trial, however, parties may choose to file an appeal.
Since the process of filing a claim is involved, it may be advantageous to contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after a UPS accident.
The UPS driver will quickly inform UPS of the accident and the company’s significant legal resources will immediately be engaged in reducing liability for UPS.
If you have been injured, contacting an experienced attorney allows your attorney to start quickly securing evidence and to start protecting your ability to get financial recovery.
How Can Having an Attorney Like FVF Help You Get the Money You Deserve?
When you have been injured by a large company such as UPS or by one of the company’s employees, an experienced and dedicated attorney can make a big difference.
As you focus on your medical needs, an attorney can be taking care of the legal details, ensuring every legal requirement is fulfilled for a successful claim.
There are specific differences when it comes to filing a lawsuit against UPS.
The company has considerable resources to fight the claim or to delay it to pressure plaintiffs to accept a recovery that may be less than they deserve. Experienced attorneys, like the team at FVF, are familiar with the strategies defendants use.
They are prepared for pretrial motions to dismiss a lawsuit and other strategies and they know which steps to take to counter these efforts on the part of defendants.
Another consideration with UPS lawsuits in particular is the immense amount of data UPS has access to about the crash. Since UPS tracks driver behavior and what happens in the package cars so closely, after an accident they have access to vast amounts of data, which helps them mount a defense.
An experienced attorney can work to get this data shared as part of the discovery process, leveling the playing field.
An experienced attorney is important if you are facing a lawsuit with a large company such as UPS. UPS wants to protect their reputation, and they also want to limit any financial recovery they need to pay out.
The less a large company pays out in lawsuits, the better their profit margins and the happier their shareholders.
Your attorney, however, works to build the strongest case so you do get the recovery you need to pay your injury bills.
Your attorney can also help with the complexities of a claim, such as reviewing any offers UPS makes and communicating with UPS on your behalf.
We are values-driven at FVF. Our main focus is on people, which is why we work to educate clients about their rights and the laws which could affect their cases.
Our more than eight decades of combined experience not only helps clients as they pursue financial recovery, but our years of negotiation and trial experience also ensures we have the answers when you have questions.
Since we focus on people first, our staff provides compassion and care during some of the most difficult times our clients face. It’s one reason why our clients recommend us and give us perfect reviews on Google, Yelp, and Avvo.
Our track record shows how we have passionately pursued fair recovery for those who have been injured.
We understand the financial and emotional distress a serious collision with a UPS truck can cause and we’re tireless negotiators to help our clients get the financial resources they deserve.
We’re also willing to go to trial when that is the best option for securing the financial recovery our clients need.
If you have been injured by a UPS truck, you may be facing a major US corporation in your lawsuit at a time when you need all your focus to be on your health and rebuilding your life after a serious injury.
That means you need an exceptional and highly experienced legal team in your corner, working on your behalf so you have the best chance at recovery and also the space to work on healing.
To work with experienced attorneys who are truly committed to your case, contact FVF for a free, no-pressure consultation today.
