Atlanta FedEx and UPS Accident Lawyers

UPS and FedEx constantly pressure their truck drivers to make quick deliveries. That pressure often leads to truck driver mistakes that cause serious injury collisions. For instance, during the 24-month period spanning October 2020 – October 2022, UPS delivery vehicles were involved in 73 fatal crashes and 1034 injury crashes. During that same time period, FedEx Ground delivery vehicles were involved in 72 fatal crashes and 892 injury crashes. If you, or someone you love, was injured in a FedEx or UPS accident, you should contact an experienced Atlanta FedEx and UPS accident lawyer.

At Graham Scofield Injury Lawyers, our Atlanta truck accident lawyers have successfully represented many FedEx and UPS delivery accident victims. We’ll deliver the best customer service and the greatest result. Our prior victories and our 5-star client reviews validate that promise.

Call us today at (404) 939-9470. Also, you may fill-out our online contact form to schedule a free case review. If you’ve got questions, we’ve got the answers.

Steps To Take After A FedEx or UPS Accident

Step 1: Call 9-1-1

The 9-1-1 operator will dispatch a police officer to prepare a crash report. That crash report contains important information that you need to resolve your claim, such as:

• Narrative explaining how the collision occurred
• Traffic citations
• Identify and home address of the UPS or FedEx truck driver that caused the wreck
• Insurance information for each driver involved in the collision

Step 2: Get Medical Treatment For Your Injuries

The police officer will ask you whether you’re injured. If you are experiencing any pain, numbness, tingling, or lightheadedness, you should report those symptoms to the police officer. The police officer will then ask you whether you want to go to the emergency room. If you’re worried that you may have suffered a serious injury, you should go to the emergency room. If your injuries seem moderate, you should follow-up with your primary care physician or an urgent care clinic.

Step 3: Hire a Fed Ex and UPS Accident Lawyer

You should hire a FedEx and UPS truck accident lawyer as soon as you can. Your lawyer will refer you to medical specialists that will give you the best possible treatment at an affordable price. In fact, those medical providers will often treat you on a lien basis which means that you don’t have to pay them until your case is resolved.

Next, your lawyer will send an evidence preservation letter to FedEx or UPS. That letter instructs FedEx and UPS to preserve certain evidence that you will need to prove your case, such as:

• Black box data (e.g. truck speed, braking, steering, and crash data)
• Dashboard camera footage
• Hours of service logs
• Truck maintenance and repair records
• Truck driver qualification file

Once FedEx and UPS confirm that they’ve preserved that evidence, your lawyer will arrange for an accident reconstructionist to inspect the truck and obtain copies of that evidence. The accident reconstructionist will also visit the collision scene to recreate the collision using measurements, photographs and videos.

After you complete your medical treatment, and the accident reconstructionist prepares their report, your lawyer will attempt to settle your case with FedEx or UPS’s insurance carrier. If that insurance carrier refuses to negotiate in good faith, your Atlanta Fedex and UPS accident lawyer will proceed to file your lawsuit and prepare your case for trial.

Common Causes of FedEx and UPS Accidents

FedEx and UPS aim to deliver their packages “on time, every time” to their customers. Both companies consistently achieve that goal. However, when they don’t achieve that goal, their costs soar. For instance, one UPS driver’s extra delivery minute per day over the course of a year costs UPS $14.5M.

Given the exponential costs of late deliveries, FedEx and UPS urge their drivers to quickly deliver their packages. Quick deliveries are rarely safe deliveries. They frequently cause truck accidents.

Some of the most common causes of FedEx and UPS truck accidents include:

• Distracted Driving – If a FedEx or UPS driver has a new delivery route, they might be distracted by their GPS navigational screen. Other drivers are distracted by their Delivery Information Acquisition Devices (DIADs) that FedEx and UPS drivers use to communicate with their teammates.
• Drowsy Driving – FedEx and UPS drivers often work extremely long shifts during inclement weather, such as snow and heat waves. Those conditions often tire FedEx and UPS drivers and impact their concentration and reaction time.
• Speeding – Some FedEx and UPS drivers speed so that they aren’t penalized for late deliveries.
• Improper Loading – If the driver improperly loads their truck, that load may shift during transport and cause a collision.
• Vehicle Defects – Delivery trucks should be periodically inspected and maintained. If not, the trucks may breakdown and cause collisions.

After a FedEx or UPS accident, you may not know what caused the wreck. That’s okay. However, you should call a FedEx and UPS accident lawyer ASAP. Your lawyer will investigate the crash, review the evidence, and analyze liability. Then, your lawyer will get to the bottom of what happened and advise you on the best course of action to recover compensation for your injuries.

FedEx and UPS Liability For Driver Negligence

FedEx classifies some of its truck drivers as employees and some of its truck drivers as independent contractors. If a FedEx employee causes a collision, FedEx is liable for its driver’s negligence. If a FedEx contractor causes a collision, FedEx is liable for its driver’s negligence if FedEx exercised sufficient “control” over that driver’s performance and that driver caused the collision while they were “on duty.”

FedEx exercises sufficient “control” over one of its contractor drivers if it:

• Gave the truck driver the vehicle that the driver used to perform their deliveries
• Insured the truck
• Prohibited the truck driver from delivering for other businesses, or hiring personnel
• Required the truck driver to park their personal vehicle at the FedEx lot while they conducted deliveries
• Reimbursed the truck driver for all of their expenses

In most cases, FedEx exercises sufficient control over each one of its contractor drivers. As a result, FedEx is typically liable for its drivers’ negligence regardless of whether the truck driver is its employee, or its contractor.

FedEx is also responsible for safely hiring, training, and supervising its drivers. FedEx acts negligently if it hires a truck driver with an unsafe driving record or if it retains a careless truck driver. In either of those situations, FedEx can be sued for its own negligence, in addition to its driver’s negligence.

UPS classifies all of its truck drivers as employees. Therefore, UPS is liable for all of its drivers’ negligence. Like FedEx, UPS also must safely hire, train, and supervise its drivers.

FedEx and UPS Accident Insurance

FedEx truck drivers carry $5,000,000 liability insurance coverage on each delivery vehicle. FedEx’s covered delivery vehicles include:

• FedEx Ground
• FedEx Freight
• FedEx Home
• FedEx Logistics, Inc.
• FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc.
• FedEx Custom Critical
• FedEx Supply Chain Distribution System, Inc.
• FedEx Office
• FedEx Corporation
• FedEx Express
• FedEx Services
• ShopRunner, Inc.

UPS truck drivers carry $1,000,000 liability insurance coverage on each delivery vehicle. However, most UPS delivery vehicles also have separate excess liability insurance coverage that ranges from $1M – $4M. UPS’s covered delivery vehicles include:

• UPS Ground
• TForce Freight
• United Parcel Service, Inc.
• UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc.
• UPS Worldwide Forwarding, Inc.

$5 million dollars may sound like a lot of coverage. However, many FedEx and UPS truck accidents cause wrongful death and paralysis injuries that exceed that $5M coverage once you factor in the value of the victim’s life, their lost earning capacity, and their future medical care costs.

What to Expect When You Sue FedEx or UPS

FedEx and UPS are two of the world’s wealthiest companies. Although they have tons of insurance and assets that they can use to pay accident claims, they still vigorously fight to minimize their legal exposure. In fact, UPS and FedEx often try to blame the injury victim for causing the collision even when it’s clear that the UPS or FedEx truck driver caused the collision.

Occasionally, FedEx and UPS will do the right thing and accept liability. But, then they will dispute the injury victim’s damages. For instance, they might allege that the victim’s injuries pre-existed the collision. Or, they might contend that the victim’s medical providers overcharged the victim.

An experienced Atlanta FedEx and UPS accident lawyer understands how to overcome each one of the obstacles that FedEx and UPS create for injury victims. They also have the resources to hire experts, such as an accident reconstructionist, a life care planner, and an economist that accident victims need to prove their claims.

How Long Does It Take To Resolve A FedEx or UPS Accident Claim?

Some FedEx and UPS truck accident claims can be resolved without litigation. For instance, if the FedEx or UPS truck accident caused relatively minor injuries, that claim might be resolved within 4-6 months after the collision.

Most FedEx and UPS truck accidents must be resolved through litigation because FedEx and UPS won’t fairly resolve those claims prior to litigation. If your FedEx or UPS truck accident case is litigated, it typically takes 9-12 months to prepare that case for trial. Most FedEx and UPS truck accident cases settle at mediation at the end of that 9-12 month period. If the case doesn’t settle at mediation, it will proceed to trial. Trial typically occurs 12-18 months after the lawsuit is filled.

Our Atlanta FedEx and UPS Accident Lawyers Can Help You

If you were injured in an Atlanta FedEx or UPS accident, we can help you. Our Atlanta truck accident lawyers have won millions for crash victims. We’re glad to help you, as well. Just give us a call.

Call us today at (404) 939-9470. Also, you may fill-out our online contact form to schedule a free case review.