Loading and Unloading Trailers Can Pose Injury Risks to Truck Drivers

Loading and unloading trailers is a lot of hard work. When something is done improperly by anyone involved in the process, victims can suffer numerous injuries, including life-threatening complications. If you are hurt in a loading or unloading accident, and it was due to the actions or inactions of a third-party organization, our attorneys may be able to help you.

At Larson Law, our Fargo personal injury attorneys work with people who suffer injuries from highly intense work environments. These third-party lawsuits are often complex and require a careful level of attention from a skilled attorney. Reach out to us for a free consultation to discuss your case.

Severe injuries can result from loading and unloading trailers

Trailers are getting heavier and are carrying more products over longer distances. Whether it is a truck carrying oil and gas across the state or one that is carrying retail products, ineffective loading can cause serious injury. Those injuries can happen to the truck driver, a car behind the truck, or a person at the delivery site. They are all equally damaging.

Consider some of the most common injuries resulting from serious accidents.

• Crushing injuries: These incidents often involve situations where heavy equipment or pallets of product fall on a person, crushing their bones and causing serious tissue injuries. These injuries often require multiple medical procedures and may be life-threatening.
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs): These can occur when items fall in the process of moving them because they were not properly secured. TBIs can lead to numerous changes in brain function, internal bleeding in the head, and loss of consciousness.
• Burns: When chemicals are not properly sealed, or there are situations in which the equipment catches on fire due to poor loading methods, that can lead to serious burns, disfigurement, and a high risk of complications and infections.
• Amputations: In some cases like this, a person’s limb is severed due to mistakes with loading or unloading the trailer. This can lead to life-threatening complications as well.
• Internal injuries: Some people face incidents that initially look like minor bruising, only to find out a few hours or days later they have serious internal injuries from equipment that strikes them during the loading or unloading process.

These are just some examples of injury risks that can occur. They often happen because of a failure at some point during the process of loading the vehicle for transport.

OSHA records show that workers who are engaged in the job of loading and unloading vehicles are at a higher risk of injury than others. Keep in mind that it is often a third party that handles these steps for the truck driver or truck driving company, making that party responsible for the injuries.

Common causes of injuries while loading or unloading trailers

How does something like this happen, then, where a person is seriously hurt when loading or unloading equipment? There are several common hazards associated with loading and unloading trucks and other vehicles:

• Stacked or secured cargo is not positioned properly. This may be done, for example, to get more onto the truck than it should hold. This can lead to the inventory toppling over and crushing someone under it.
• The lashing and dunnage equipment may break or fail. This may be due to improper loading, using too much weight, or using defective components.
• Cargo falls off the loading platform because it was not secured or was not properly placed. This may also occur as a result of the equipment being defective in some way.

There are very specific safety standards in place for loading vehicles and unloading them. These standards are designed to:

• Prevent any injury to the people doing the loading and unloading
• Prevent injury related to toppling over or causing accidents on the roadways
• Minimize risk to anyone who is involved in the transport of the goods and equipment

When they fail, Larson Law is here to help you.

What to do if you are hurt in an incident with loading and unloading

In situations where you suffer injuries from loading or unloading a truck or other type of equipment, you have the right to pursue financial coverage for your losses. However, it is beneficial to have an experienced Fargo truck accident attorney by your side to help guide you through this legal process.

Our personal injury attorneys can offer guidance and support to you throughout this process. Our first step will be to gather as much information from you as possible. Our attorneys will investigate the process by looking at records at all stages of the loading and unloading process. This helps us to determine what failed and why. This allows us to get more insight into who may be responsible. That could be the loading company, the manufacturer of the failed equipment, or others. After that, we can:

• Estimate your losses from injuries, including what complexities result from those injuries, such as loss of ability to work or mental anguish.
• Pursue a claim with the associated and responsible parties for the losses you have incurred.
• Negotiate terms as needed.
• Pursue a fair just award for compensation in a court of law, should negotiations fail.

At Larson Law, we recognize the complexity of these types of claims. Yet, we also know that loading and unloading accidents are some of the most damaging, and can create long-term losses for truckers and other workers alike. That is why we fight aggressively to protect your rights. For help with personal injury lawsuits like this in Fargo, Minot, and Bismarck, contact our attorneys now at Larson Law Call us or complete our contact form to set up a free consultation to discuss your case with our trusted team.