Long Beach Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck Accident Attorney Long Beach

In Long Beach, container trucks are part of every drive. They share the I-710, Ocean Boulevard, and the city’s truck routes with people going to work. A loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. When one of them hits a passenger car, the people in the car carry the injuries.

If you need a Long Beach truck accident lawyer, Ravan Law represents people seriously hurt by port trucks, big rigs, and other commercial vehicles. The carrier’s insurer starts work within hours. So do we: we lock down the truck’s data and identify every company behind it.

We handle Long Beach cases from our office on San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles, and we meet with clients by phone or video. Call (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.

Truck Accident Attorney Long Beach: The Port, the I-710, and the Routes Between Them

The Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles together form the busiest container port complex in the United States, and most of those containers leave by truck. That traffic follows a small number of roads:

The I-710 (Long Beach Freeway). The main truck route north from the port to the rail yards inland. Port trucks run it around the clock.
The harbor streets. Pico Avenue, Harbor Scenic Drive, and pier streets such as Pier B Street and Pier T Avenue serve the terminals.
Ocean Boulevard and the Long Beach International Gateway bridge, which opened in October 2020 and links Terminal Island to downtown.
SR-47 and SR-103 (the Terminal Island Freeway), the state routes on the west side of the harbor.
City truck routes. The City publishes a truck route map.

Whether the truck was on a designated route is one of the first things we check. If the container that hit you was over the normal weight limit, any overweight permit and the route become evidence.

Who investigates a Long Beach truck crash

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) handles most freeway collisions in the city. Its South Los Angeles Area office in Torrance lists Long Beach among the communities it serves. On city streets, the Long Beach Police Department responds, and LBPD investigates serious and fatal collisions.

Port Trucking Law: Why One Long Beach Truck Crash Can Involve Four Companies

Port trucking is drayage: short moves of containers between terminals, rail yards, and warehouses. The driver who hit you may work for a small motor carrier, haul a container booked through a broker, and pull a chassis supplied by an intermodal equipment provider. Each may have its own insurer and its own share of fault.

Who may be liable	Why	What we ask for
The driver	Fatigue, speed, distraction, an unsafe lane change	Phone records, electronic logging device (ELD) data, post-crash test results
The motor carrier	Responsible for its driver on the job; negligent hiring, training, or scheduling	Driver qualification file, dispatch messages, the carrier’s federal safety record
The chassis or trailer provider	Worn brakes, bad tires, failed lights on leased equipment	Inspection and repair records
The broker or shipper	An overloaded or badly loaded container, or a delivery window that could not be met legally	Booking records, weight documents, load instructions
A public entity	A Port or city vehicle, or a dangerous road	Covered in the next section

A carrier hauling property in California also needs a Motor Carrier Permit from the DMV and a carrier identification number from CHP, and those filings help us confirm who was operating the truck.

The federal rules are the proof. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules limit a property-carrying driver to 11 hours of driving after 10 hours off duty, and they require hours records, inspections, and post-crash drug and alcohol testing. Under Evidence Code 669, breaking a safety rule meant to protect people like you can create a presumption of negligence. Our article on truck driver fatigue accidents in California explains how we prove an hours violation.

The evidence is on the carrier’s systems. Engine data can be overwritten once the truck is back in service, and carriers only have to keep ELD records for six months. So our first step is a preservation letter. See protecting your rights after a commercial vehicle crash.

The insurance comes in layers. For-hire interstate carriers of general freight must carry at least $750,000 under 49 CFR Part 387, and many carry more. Under Civil Code 1431.2, each defendant pays only its own percentage of your non-economic damages. Leave a responsible company out, and part of your compensation can be lost.

When the Port, the City, or a State Highway Is Part of a Long Beach Truck Accident

The Port of Long Beach is the City of Long Beach’s Harbor Department, managed under the Board of Harbor Commissioners. That fact changes the deadline in two situations:

A Port-owned or city-owned truck hit you. A public entity answers for an employee’s negligent driving on the job under Vehicle Code 17001.
A dangerous condition on Port or city property contributed. Government Code 835 covers a hazard the agency created or knew about in time to fix.

In both, the claim is against the City of Long Beach, and it must be presented within six months of the injury under Government Code 911.2. The City Clerk at 411 West Ocean Boulevard receives it, and the City Attorney’s office assigns it to a liability claims adjuster.

If a defect on the I-710, SR-47, SR-103, PCH, or the Gateway bridge played a part, the defendant is the State of California. Caltrans takes claims of $12,500 or less at its district claims office. A claim over $12,500 is presented to the state’s Government Claims Program at the Department of General Services, inside the same six months. Read claims against Caltrans and the State of California after a highway crash and what to do if you have been injured due to a government entity.

What a Long Beach Truck Accident Claim Can Recover

Truck crashes cause a high share of the worst injuries: brain injury, spinal cord injury, crush injuries, amputations, and burns. We work with a life-care planner and an economist, so your claim covers future care and lost earning capacity across your lifetime. California does not cap pain and suffering damages in a truck case.

Punitive damages are separate and uncommon (Civil Code 3294), and they are not available against the City or the State (Government Code 818). Our article on why trucking accident cases often involve higher damages in California goes further.

Deadlines for a Long Beach Truck Accident Claim

Claim or record	Deadline	Authority
Injury or wrongful death lawsuit	Generally 2 years	Code of Civil Procedure 335.1
Claim against the City (including the Port) or the State	6 months from the injury	Government Code 911.2
Lawsuit after a written claim rejection	Generally 6 months from the notice	Government Code 945.6
ELD and hours-of-service records	Carrier must keep them only 6 months	FMCSA rules

For an injured child, the two-year deadline is generally tolled until 18 (Code of Civil Procedure 352), but the six-month government claim is not paused. Late-claim relief may be available under Government Code 911.4 and 911.6 if it is requested within a year.

How We Handle a Truck Accident Case for Clients in Long Beach

Free consultation, by phone or video.
Preservation letters within days, to every company we can identify.
Identification of who owned, leased, dispatched, and loaded the equipment.
Government claim, where one applies, presented to the City or the State inside six months.
Demand to every insurer, backed by your medical records and future care projections.
Lawsuit where needed. We file in Los Angeles County Superior Court, which assigns the case to a courthouse. Its South District sits at the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse on Magnolia Avenue in downtown Long Beach.

You work with us directly, and we answer your questions at every stage. Our main Los Angeles truck accident lawyer page covers the federal rules in depth, and our Long Beach personal injury page covers other claims.

Firm Results

The results below were obtained for Ravan Law clients in vehicle cases across our practice. None is a Long Beach case.

Recovery	Case type
$3,500,000	Motor vehicle accident with a county vehicle
$500,000	Motor vehicle accident
$275,000	Bus accident

Every result depended on the facts of that case, and results will differ based on different facts. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of your matter.

Talk to a Long Beach Truck Accident Lawyer Before the Data Is Gone

If a commercial truck seriously injured you or someone in your family in Long Beach, logs and engine data can be lost while you are still in treatment. If a Port vehicle, a city truck, or a state highway was involved, the six-month deadline under Government Code 911.2 is already running.

Call Ravan Law at (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win. For other injuries, see our Long Beach pages on car accidents, Uber and Lyft accidents, slip and falls, and dog bites. You can also see all of our locations.

6310 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 401, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Attorney Advertising. Ted H. Ravan, Esq., Ravan Law, Los Angeles, CA. This content is general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its specific facts.

Every result depended on the facts of that case, and results will differ based on different facts. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of your matter.

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What Our Clients Are Saying

    
 
 
         
   Terri Smith 
 
 
 
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 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Ravan Law is the Best! If you are usually hesitant or nervous about lawyers, No Worries! Ted and his team have been nothing, but amazing! They removed liability from an accident that was not my fault, and closely assisted me through out the rest of the process! I highly recommend them! Thank you Ravan Law always appreciate all your hard work! <333
  
 
        
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Frequently Asked Questions

A port truck hit me on the 710. Is the Port of Long Beach responsible?

Usually not. Most trucks serving the terminals belong to private motor carriers, and the claim runs against the carrier, the driver, and any equipment provider or broker that shares fault. The Port, meaning the City, is responsible when its own vehicle or a dangerous condition of its property caused the crash.

What should I photograph after a truck crash in Long Beach?

The carrier name and USDOT number on the cab door, the license plates, the trailer or chassis number, and the container number. Those four details let us trace each company behind the load.

The driver says he is an independent contractor. Can I still claim against the trucking company?

Often, yes. Control is decided by the lease, the operating authority the truck ran under, and the dispatch records, not by a label. As your Long Beach truck accident lawyer, we request those records at the start.