Martes, Marso 22, 2011

Work-Related Truck Accidents and Workers Compensation

Around 10 million semi-trucks are on the road every day in the United States. They fight downtown city traffic on short-haul runs and treacherous weather and poor road conditions on long-haul runs.
Accidents happen. Some 170,000 people are injured in trucking accidents every year. When they do, if a person involved in a trucking accident was on the job when it happened -- whether as the driver of the rig or an individual from another vehicle conducting work of some kind -- help is available.
Indeed, help for any such injuries is required to be provided. It's called workers compensation -- and it's a system designed to ensure that the employer doesn't face catastrophic legal liability and that the employee will receive the medical care he or she needs without losing pay for an accident that was out of his or her control.
So, what to do when injured? The first step is to contact emergency personnel if needed. Only after that, should the next step be to contact the employer. Be sure to state you were working on the job when the accident happened. And also call the state office that handles workers compensation claims for the state where the company is based.
Some truck drivers may not realize they are eligible for workers compensation because they are considered independent contractors. However, truck drivers sometimes are eligible under special state laws. For example, in North Carolina, any company that hires a trucker is responsible for their workers compensation benefits, regardless of the size of the company.
And most trucking companies, even small ones, must provide several types of insurance, including liability insurance to cover other parties injured and workers compensation to cover drivers involved in a crash, regardless of fault.
Additionally, those truckers traveling across the nation's borders can receive workers compensation, even if the accident occurs in Canada, thanks to an inter-jurisdictional agreement that ensures truckers are covered in case of an accident.
Companies also have many options for additional insurance that supplements coverage. And, driving across borders doesn't prevent the coverage from kicking in when an accident happens. The bottom line is that the company is responsible for paying for workers compensation.


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