Truck accident settlement calculator
Truck accidents tend to settle higher than car accidents — the mass involved produces more severe injuries, and federal law requires commercial carriers to carry far more insurance than a private driver. Estimate your range below, state-aware.
Estimate your truck accident settlement
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Your estimated settlement
$215,000 – $302,500
- Medical expenses
- $35,000
- Lost wages
- $10,500
- Pain & suffering
- $157,500 – $245,000
- Vehicle damage (not subject to contingency fee)
- $12,000
- With attorney (33% fee on injury portion):
- $148,010 – $206,635
- Multiplier used
- 4.5x – 7x (Severe injury (surgery, hospitalization, residual impairment))
- Carrier's federal minimum coverage
- $750,000
This is an estimate, not a guarantee. Your attorney may calculate differently based on your specific facts.
Why truck accidents settle higher than car accidents
A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh 20 to 30 times more than a passenger car. The same impact speed that produces whiplash in a car accident more often produces fractures, surgery, or worse in a truck collision — the severity bands the calculator above uses start one notch higher than the car accident calculator's for that reason.
| Injury / case type | Typical pain & suffering range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Soft tissue, no surgery | $20,000 – $70,000 | Jury Verdict Research |
| Fracture, no surgery | $40,000 – $120,000 | Jury Verdict Research |
| Surgical injury, single procedure | $100,000 – $400,000 | Jury Verdict Research |
| Multiple surgeries, permanent impairment | $300,000 – $1,000,000+ | Jury Verdict Research |
| Catastrophic (TBI, paralysis, death) | $1,000,000 – $10,000,000+ | Jury Verdict Research |
The carrier's insurance minimum, and why it matters
Federal regulation (49 CFR § 387.9) requires commercial carriers hauling non-hazardous freight in trucks of 10,001 lbs or more to carry at least $750,000 in liability insurance. Smaller fleets need $300,000. Carriers hauling hazardous materials other than oil must carry $5,000,000. These are federal floors, not caps — many carriers carry umbrella policies well above the minimum.
Why this matters to your case: a catastrophic injury can produce a settlement value far above a small carrier's $300,000 minimum. Finding out what coverage actually applies — the carrier's policy, any umbrella policy, and whether a separate leasing or logistics company has its own policy — is usually the first thing a truck-accident attorney does.
Multiple defendants, multiple policies
Unlike most car accident claims, a truck accident claim often names more than one defendant: the driver, the trucking company (for negligent hiring, training, or maintenance, and for the driver's actions under vicarious liability), and sometimes a separate company that owns the trailer or cargo. Each potential defendant may carry its own insurance, which is part of why these claims typically take longer to resolve than a standard car accident case.
The evidence that matters most and disappears fastest: the truck's electronic logging device (ELD) data, the driver's hours-of-service records, and maintenance logs. A preservation-of-evidence letter sent early is standard practice in these cases for exactly that reason.
Frequently asked questions
01 How much insurance does a trucking company have to carry?
02 Who can be held liable in a truck accident?
03 Why do truck accident settlements tend to be higher than car accident settlements?
04 What evidence matters most in a truck accident claim?
Related: car accident settlement calculator, how pain and suffering is calculated.