The people operating service trucks aren’t always professional drivers. They’re tradespeople who learned their skills in plumbing, electrical work, or landscaping, not behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. Their focus is on getting to the next job, not on how their truck handles when loaded with half a ton of equipment.
When a service truck accident happens, the injuries can be complicated. A falling ladder strikes a windshield. A mower slides off a trailer and into traffic. Tools scatter across the road, causing a chain reaction of collisions. At Jay Murray Law, we represent people injured by service vehicles operated by landscaping companies, plumbers, electricians, and HVAC contractors. These cases require understanding both the trucking side and the unique hazards that come with vehicles modified to carry trade equipment.
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(214) 855-1420Types of Service Trucks
Service trucks come in different configurations depending on what trade they support. Each type presents its own set of risks.
Landscape Trucks
Landscaping companies use pickup trucks, flatbeds, and trucks pulling trailers. They carry riding mowers, push mowers, edgers, blowers, rakes, shovels, and bags of mulch or fertilizer. The equipment is often loaded quickly at the start of the day and secured with bungee cords or ratchet straps that may not be adequate for the weight or properly tightened.
Trailers add complexity. They increase the total length of the vehicle, require more space for turns, and create additional blind spots. A trailer that isn’t properly hitched can detach during transit. Brake lights and turn signals on trailers malfunction more often than on the truck itself, leaving other drivers without warning when the vehicle slows or changes direction.
Plumbing Vans
Plumbers typically drive cargo vans with shelving systems built into the interior. Pipe sections, wrenches, snake augers, torches, and parts bins fill the space. The weight adds up, and if the load isn’t distributed evenly, the van handles poorly. Heavy items stored on high shelves can shift during sudden stops or sharp turns, affecting the vehicle’s balance.
Plumbing vans also carry hazardous materials. Propane tanks for torches, chemicals for cleaning drains, and adhesives create fire and explosion risks if the van is involved in a collision. Rear-end crashes can rupture tanks or spill chemicals, turning a traffic accident into a hazmat situation.
HVAC Trucks
Heating and air conditioning technicians drive trucks and vans carrying air handlers, condensers, compressors, refrigerant tanks, coils, and ductwork. Some of these components weigh several hundred pounds. Refrigerant tanks are pressurized and can become projectiles or release toxic gases if damaged in a crash.
Truck-mounted ladders and roof racks extend the vehicle’s height. Drivers who forget they’re carrying a ladder or who misjudge clearance strike overpasses, pedestrian bridges, and low-hanging power lines. The resulting accidents can bring down electrical lines, block traffic, and injure people nearby.
Electrical Service Vehicles
Electricians use vans and trucks fitted with storage for wire spools, conduit, junction boxes, breakers, and power tools. Metal conduit sections stored on roof racks sometimes extend beyond the vehicle’s length. If not properly secured or flagged, these extensions create a hazard for vehicles following too closely or attempting to pass.
Electrical trucks also carry batteries, generators, and testing equipment. Battery acid spills in crashes can cause chemical burns. Generators contain fuel that can ignite on impact.
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Common Causes of Service Truck Accidents
Unsecured Equipment
Trade workers load their trucks at the start of the workday and unload at each job site. By the afternoon, items get tossed back in without the same care given in the morning. Ladders balanced against the side of a truck bed, tools thrown into open compartments, and equipment piled without being strapped down all shift during transit.
When a driver brakes hard or makes a sudden turn, unsecured items move. A riding mower slides forward in the bed and crashes into the cab. A ladder tips off the roof rack and onto the car behind. Hand tools spill onto the roadway, forcing drivers to swerve into other lanes.
Texas law requires loads to be secured, but enforcement on smaller service trucks is inconsistent. Many drivers assume that if the equipment stayed put on the last trip, it will stay put on this one. That assumption fails eventually, and someone gets hurt.
Distracted Driving
Service technicians spend much of their day on the phone. They take calls from the dispatch office about the next job, talk to customers confirming appointments, and answer questions from suppliers about parts orders. Many of these conversations happen while driving.
Navigation systems get constant use. Technicians travel to different locations throughout the day, often to addresses they’ve never visited. Following GPS directions while navigating unfamiliar neighborhoods splits attention between the screen and the road.
Paperwork piles up. Work orders, invoices, parts lists, and permit documents sit on the passenger seat or dashboard. Drivers glance at them while stopped at lights or, worse, while moving. Those few seconds of inattention are enough for traffic conditions to change.
Inexperienced or Rushed Drivers
Small service companies hire people for their trade skills, not their driving ability. A newly licensed plumber might be an expert at soldering copper pipe but have little experience handling a fully loaded van. Electrical apprentices fresh out of school get handed keys to a truck stocked with expensive equipment and told to make service calls across the city.
Rush jobs compound inexperience. When a customer reports an emergency, the technician feels pressure to get there fast. Speed limits become suggestions. Yellow lights become challenges instead of warnings to slow down. Gaps in traffic that seemed adequate at a reasonable speed close too quickly when the driver is going ten or fifteen miles per hour over the limit.
Failure to Maintain Vehicles
Service trucks work hard. They make multiple stops each day, navigate rough job site access roads, and carry loads that stress mechanical systems. Brake pads wear faster when the vehicle is consistently loaded near its weight capacity. Tires pick up nails and screws from construction sites and develop slow leaks that go unnoticed until the tire fails.
Small service companies operate on tight margins. Spending money on vehicle maintenance means less profit at the end of the month. Some owners delay oil changes, drive on worn tires, and ignore warning lights until the problem becomes impossible to ignore. By then, the neglected maintenance has already created a hazard on the road.
Hired drivers may notice maintenance issues but fail to report them. They worry about being blamed for the damage or fear being taken off the schedule while the truck is in the shop. So they keep driving, hoping the problem doesn’t get worse. Sometimes it does, and an accident results.
Overloaded Vehicles
Every truck and van has a maximum weight capacity printed on a placard inside the driver’s door. Many service companies ignore it. Extra equipment means the technician can handle more types of jobs without returning to the shop. Carrying backup units and spare parts reduces delays. But all that extra weight affects how the vehicle accelerates, turns, and stops.
Overloaded vehicles also sit lower, reducing ground clearance and making it easier to scrape the undercarriage on speed bumps or dips in the road. Suspension components fail prematurely. Tires flex more under the excess weight, generating heat that can lead to blowouts.
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Potential Defendants
Identifying who’s liable for a service truck accident depends on the relationship between the driver and the business, how the accident happened, and whether equipment defects or maintenance failures played a role.
The Driver
If the technician caused the accident through careless driving, they can be held personally liable. Speeding, running red lights, failing to check blind spots, and distracted driving all constitute negligence. The injured party can file a claim against the driver individually.
The Service Company
When the driver is an employee and the accident occurs during work hours, the company that employs them is liable under respondeat superior. This applies to landscaping companies, plumbing contractors, HVAC businesses, and electrical services. The company answers for the driver’s negligence even if the company itself did nothing wrong.
Companies can also be directly liable for their own negligence. Hiring unqualified drivers, failing to train employees on safe driving practices, pressuring technicians to rush between jobs, and neglecting vehicle maintenance all constitute company negligence. When company policies or practices contribute to an accident, they share responsibility.
Independent Contractors
Some service businesses use independent contractors instead of employees. This classification affects liability. Companies generally aren’t responsible for the actions of independent contractors unless they exercise enough control over how the work is performed that the contractor functions as an employee in all but name.
Independent contractors can still be sued individually, but they often carry minimal insurance. Personal auto policies may not cover commercial use, leaving injured parties with limited recovery options unless the business that hired the contractor can be brought into the case.
Equipment Manufacturers
When defective equipment causes an accident, the manufacturer can be held liable. Trailer hitches that fail under normal loads, hydraulic systems that leak and cause fires, and tie-down equipment that breaks prematurely have all been the basis for product liability claims. Design defects, manufacturing flaws, and inadequate warnings all fall under this category of liability.
Property Owners
Service truck accidents sometimes happen on private property during or after a service call. If the property owner created hazardous conditions that contributed to the accident, such as failing to mark a steep drop-off or allowing debris to accumulate in the driveway, they may share liability. These cases overlap with premises liability law.
What to Do After an Accident
The actions you take immediately after a service truck accident affect both your health and your legal options.
Call 911 right away. Police need to document the scene and file a report. Paramedics need to evaluate injuries, even if you think you’re not hurt. Some injuries develop symptoms gradually, and having a medical record created immediately after the accident establishes a clear connection between the crash and your condition.
Photograph the scene thoroughly. Capture images of all vehicles involved, including the service truck, from multiple angles. Get clear shots of the company name, phone number, and any vehicle identification numbers. Document any equipment that fell from the truck, spilled onto the road, or appears to have been improperly secured. Photograph straps, tie-downs, or the lack thereof. Take pictures of the surrounding area, road conditions, and traffic control devices.
Document all equipment and cargo visible at the scene. Note what the truck was carrying, how it was stored, and whether anything appears damaged or out of place. If a ladder, mower, or other item is lying in the road, photograph it from several angles and note its position relative to the vehicles involved.
Collect information from the driver. Get their name, contact information, driver’s license number, and insurance details. Ask who they work for and whether they own the truck or if it belongs to a company. If the truck displays a business name, write it down along with any phone numbers or website addresses visible on the vehicle.
Talk to witnesses. Anyone who saw the accident happen can provide an account that might contradict what the driver claims. Get names and phone numbers so witness statements can be obtained later.
Don’t give a recorded statement to the service company’s insurance carrier without talking to a lawyer. Insurance adjusters ask questions designed to elicit answers that reduce claim value. What feels like a casual conversation can be used against you when it’s time to negotiate a settlement.
Seek medical care immediately. Even minor-seeming injuries can worsen over time. Whiplash, concussions, and soft tissue injuries sometimes don’t produce obvious symptoms until hours or days after the accident. A gap between the crash and your first medical visit gives insurance companies an argument that your injuries came from something else.
Save everything related to the accident. Medical records, bills, prescriptions, diagnostic test results, vehicle repair estimates, pay stubs showing lost income, and all correspondence with insurance companies should be organized and kept safe. These documents become evidence when proving damages.
Contact a lawyer who handles service truck accidents. These cases involve unique issues around equipment securement, vehicle modifications, and the distinction between employees and independent contractors. Early representation means evidence gets preserved and your rights get protected from the start.
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Why Choose Jay Murray
We handle service truck accident cases by investigating what the insurance company hopes will go unexamined. That means looking at the company’s hiring practices, training protocols, vehicle maintenance records, and the policies that govern how technicians are scheduled and dispatched.
We obtain the service truck itself when possible and inspect it for mechanical defects, improper modifications, and evidence of neglected maintenance. We photograph equipment storage systems, check weight distribution, and examine how cargo was secured at the time of the accident.
When questions arise about whether equipment was properly loaded or whether the vehicle was overweight, we bring in experts. Engineers can inspect truck modifications and determine whether they meet safety standards. Accident reconstructionists analyze the physical evidence to determine speed, braking distances, and how the collision occurred.
We review the driver’s employment file, training records, and work history. If the company hired someone with a poor driving record or failed to provide training on load securement, that negligence becomes part of the case.
Texas regulations governing commercial vehicles and load securement provide a framework for establishing negligence. When companies violate these rules, those violations support the claim that they failed to act reasonably.
We negotiate with insurance companies that represent service businesses. These are often small commercial policies with lower limits than major trucking companies carry, but the principles are the same. Insurers will argue that you’re partially at fault, that your injuries aren’t serious, or that you’re asking for too much. We counter those arguments with evidence and expert testimony.
When settlement negotiations fail to produce fair compensation, we take cases to trial. We’ve represented clients in Dallas courtrooms and know how to present the evidence in ways that juries understand and find persuasive.
We work on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay legal fees unless we recover compensation. We handle all upfront costs related to investigation, expert witnesses, and litigation.
Free Consultation and Case Assessment
If a service truck injured you in Dallas, contact us for a free consultation. We’ll review what happened, explain your legal options, and give you an honest evaluation of your case.
You can reach us by phone or through the contact form on our website. The form includes a field where you can specify the type of service vehicle involved, which helps us understand your situation before we speak.
Service truck accidents often involve injuries that weren’t caused by the initial collision but by equipment that fell, shifted, or spilled. Insurance companies will argue that secondary impacts don’t count or that you should have avoided the falling ladder or the mower in the roadway. Those arguments ignore reality and the law. The service company’s negligence set the events in motion, and they’re responsible for all the harm that results.
You shouldn’t have to navigate this alone. Let us handle the legal process while you focus on recovery. The responsible parties need to be held accountable, and you deserve fair compensation for your injuries, lost income, and the disruption this accident has caused in your life.
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