Trucking companies are required to keep a record called a driver’s qualification file (DQ file) for every truck driver that is working as their employee. Trucking companies must maintain this record appropriately. Failure to do so will result in a truck driver qualification violation and can result in serious repercussions for both the company and the truck driver as well.
Every DQ file should contain the following:
If any of the above factors are missing from the DQ file, a company can get fined for DQ violations. Anyone who gets into a truck accident should contact an accident attorney to help them investigate the driver and the company. When an attorney examines the DQ file, they can analyze whether it contains all the necessary paperwork in it or whether the trucking company was trying to cut corners during the hiring process.
When trucking companies knowingly hire unqualified drivers, or even when they don’t take the necessary precautions to ensure the driver has all the necessary qualifications, they are liable for any accident that the employee gets themselves into. When getting a regular driving license to drive an ordinary vehicle, a person must go through different levels of testing, and this can even take years to accomplish. For vehicles as large as trucks, and other commercial locomotives, even more precaution is required because of how much more difficult these automobiles are to drive around.
Anyone who is injured in a truck accident should make sure to contact a truck accident attorney to help them get through the legalities of the case that will occur before a person can receive their settlement from the proper insurance carrier. Injuries can be expensive to treat and hardly anyone has the funds on them to cover the thousands of dollars it will probably take to recover fully.
If the driver and the trucking company were highly negligent and the amount of damage they caused to a person was very serious, a person may be able to take legal action against them on top of making their insurance claim. Litigating against them can increase the chances of punitive damages being granted. The last thing anyone needs to deal with after a truck accident is the legal paperwork and the financial losses that come alongside the physical and emotional pain. Hiring an attorney ensures a person will have a trusted advisor guiding them through the entire process and with an attorney a person can rest assured they are getting the most compensation that is possibly available for their case.