If you or someone you love has been seriously hurt in a crash with a semi, you probably expect the truth to be clear.
The police will investigate. The trucking company will turn over what it has. The insurance company will do the right thing.
In reality, some of the most important evidence in a trucking case can disappear. Sometimes it is lost. Sometimes it is overwritten. Sometimes it is destroyed. And when that happens, it can dramatically change the outcome of your case.
In a recent federal case out of Minnesota, a trucking company’s failure to preserve critical electronic data led a judge to recommend a powerful sanction in favor of the injured people. Every seriously injured crash victim and every lawyer handling truck cases should understand why.
The case: a semi crash and missing telematics data
The case involved a collision between a vehicle and a commercial semi in southern Minnesota. After the crash:
- The people who were hurt (the plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit
- Their lawyers discovered that key electronic data from the truck’s telematics system had not been preserved
- They asked the court to impose sanctions on the trucking company for losing that evidence
What is telematics and why does it matter?
Modern commercial trucks are packed with electronic systems that record how the vehicle is being operated. Telematics is essentially the truck’s electronic data system, similar to an airplane’s “black box.”
Depending on the system, telematics data can include:
- Sudden or hard braking events
- Rapid acceleration and “jerks” in movement
- Speed and position before and after a crash
- Historical driving patterns for that driver or truck
- Possible equipment problems or warning codes
In a serious crash, this information can be critical in proving:
- How the truck was being driven
- Whether the driver was behaving dangerously
- Whether there were ongoing issues that the company should have addressed
In this Minnesota case, the truck used a Verizon Connect telematics system. The plaintiffs argued that the trucking company failed to preserve data from that system and later could not locate the vehicle tracking unit associated with it.
This was not a simple misplaced document. The court looked closely at what happened to the electronic evidence after the company knew a lawsuit was likely.
The preservation letter: putting the company on notice
Within about a week of the crash, the plaintiffs’ lawyers sent a preservation of evidence letter to:
- The trucking company
- The insurance company
That letter listed specific items that needed to be preserved and not destroyed. In other words, the company was put on clear notice that:
- Litigation was possible
- Certain data and equipment were relevant
- They had a duty to preserve that evidence
Despite this, the company:
- Took no meaningful steps to secure the telematics data
- Later gave inconsistent explanations about what happened to the device and why the data was missing
- Offered explanations the court ultimately found not credible
Because of that, the judge concluded that:
- The company had the opportunity to preserve the evidence
- It knew the evidence was important
- It failed to preserve it and its story about what happened could not be trusted
The court then recommended a significant sanction in favor of the injured plaintiffs.
Adverse inference: when destroyed evidence can be used against a trucking company
The judge recommended that at trial the jury receive an adverse inference instruction.
An adverse inference instruction:
- Does not automatically mean the injured person wins
- Does allow the jury to draw a negative conclusion about the missing evidence
In plain language, it lets the judge tell the jury something like this:
If a party had evidence it should have preserved and instead intentionally destroyed or allowed that evidence to be destroyed, you may assume that the missing evidence would have been unfavorable to that party.
In this case, that party is the trucking company.
That is a big deal. Jurors understand common sense. If a company had important electronic data and either ignored its duty to preserve it or played games with it after being warned, jurors are allowed to consider that when deciding:
- Who to believe
- How much fault to assign
- How much compensation is fair
The law calls this “spoliation” of evidence. Courts do not give adverse inference instructions lightly, but when they do, it can shift the balance of a case.
There is far more evidence in truck cases than most people realize
Many people think of “evidence” in a crash as:
- Police reports
- Photographs
- Basic witness statements
- Maybe a single “black box” download
Those are important, but serious trucking cases often involve a much deeper pool of evidence, including:
- Electronic logs for hours of service
- Telematics data from systems like Verizon Connect or others
- GPS and location data
- Driver activity records and dispatch instructions
- Vehicle inspection and maintenance records
- Dash camera and interior camera footage
- Cell phone records for the driver
- Communications between the driver and the trucking company
- Company policies and safety manuals
Some of this information exists only in electronic form and is fragile. It can be:
- Overwritten
- Deleted
- Lost during repairs, trade in, or scrapping of the truck
- Destroyed if the company does not take steps to preserve it
How electronic data gets overwritten or lost
Think about a store surveillance camera or a home security camera. The device uses a memory card or hard drive that can only hold so much data. To avoid filling up and shutting down, many systems are programmed to:
- Record continuously
- Automatically overwrite the oldest footage after 24 hours, 48 hours, a week, or another set period
Trucking cameras and telematics systems often work the same way:
- A dash camera records the road and sometimes the driver
- A telematics unit logs speed, braking, and movement
- Data is stored until the memory is full
- Then new data overwrites old data on a rolling basis
Once that old data has been overwritten, it is gone.
That is why time matters so much in serious truck crashes. If no one acts quickly, some of the most important data can disappear through normal system operation, not even through intentional misconduct.
Why you cannot count on the trucking or insurance company
If you have been seriously hurt in a truck crash, you might assume:
“They will give us whatever we need. They know how serious this is.”
In reality:
- Trucking companies and insurance carriers are not your lawyers
- Their job is to protect themselves and their bottom line
- If they think their own driver was at fault, they have every incentive to limit what is exposed
They may:
- Fight hard against turning over certain data
- Claim that certain items never existed or are no longer available
- Downplay the importance of missing evidence
That is why a preservation of evidence letter, sent early by your lawyer, is so important. It:
- Puts the company on formal notice that specific evidence must be kept
- Helps establish a duty to preserve
- Can later support a spoliation claim and an adverse inference instruction if the evidence is not preserved
At Pacyga Trial Lawyers, we draft and send detailed preservation letters as soon as possible in serious trucking cases for exactly this reason.
Spoliation and sanctions: it is not automatic
It is important to understand that you do not get an adverse inference instruction or sanctions just because something is missing. Courts apply a legal standard. They look at questions like:
- Was there a duty to preserve the evidence?
- Did the company know or reasonably should have known that litigation was likely?
- Were they told specifically to preserve certain items?
- Was the evidence actually lost or destroyed?
- Is it truly gone, or is there another way to obtain it?
- Did the loss prejudice the other side?
- Did losing that evidence meaningfully harm the injured person’s ability to prove their case?
- For the most serious sanctions, was there an intent to deprive?
- Did the company intentionally destroy or allow destruction to keep the other side from using the evidence?
In the Minnesota federal case described above, the court found that the trucking company had notice, did not take steps to preserve, and offered explanations that were not credible. That is what opened the door to an adverse inference instruction.
These are serious legal questions. They require careful investigation and experienced advocacy.
What you should do if you are hurt in a serious truck crash
The practical takeaway is straightforward:
Do not wait months or years to start thinking about evidence.
In that time:
- The truck can be repaired or sold
- The driver can move on to another company
- Electronic data can be overwritten, deleted, or lost
- Witness memories can fade or become less reliable
In serious trucking crashes, the investigation needs to start immediately so critical evidence can be preserved before it vanishes.
A qualified truck crash lawyer can:
- Send an immediate preservation of evidence letter
- Identify all possible sources of telematics, camera, and electronic data
- Move quickly to secure downloads and records
- Track what the company does or fails to do with that evidence
- Seek sanctions or adverse inferences if the company ignores its duty to preserve
Sometimes the most important evidence in your case is not in a file cabinet. It is sitting inside:
- The truck’s onboard computer
- The telematics unit
- Camera memory cards
- Company servers and electronic systems
You need someone working to protect that information as soon as possible.
If you have been injured in a trucking crash, act now to protect the evidence
A serious crash with a semi can turn your life upside down in seconds. Medical care, lost work, and pain can make it feel impossible to focus on anything else.
The trucking company and its insurer are already working to protect themselves. You need someone working to protect you and your case.
At Pacyga Trial Lawyers, we:
- Move quickly to send preservation letters in serious truck crashes
- Pursue telematics, dash camera, GPS, maintenance, and company records
- Hold trucking companies accountable when they lose or destroy critical evidence
- Fight for injured people when the most important facts are buried in the truck’s own computers
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a trucking crash, do not wait and hope the evidence will be there later. Call 612‑339‑5844 as soon as you can. Our team can start the investigation, work to preserve crucial data, and build the strongest case possible while you focus on healing.