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Port freight keeps heavy trucks moving through Charleston day and night. When one of them hurts you, the carrier lawyers up fast. You should too.
Charleston runs on freight. Containers leave the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals every day and head straight for I-26, I-526, Leeds Avenue, Ashley Phosphate Road and Rivers Avenue. A tractor-trailer can legally run at 80,000 pounds on the interstate. When that much mass reaches a sedan or an SUV, the result is rarely a fender bender. Broken bones, spinal damage, head injuries and long stretches out of work are the norm, and the carrier has adjusters on the file before you leave the hospital.
Schiller and Hamilton Law Firm handles truck injury claims for people in Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Summerville, Goose Creek, Hanahan and West Ashley. A truck claim is not a car claim with a bigger number on it. Federal safety rules apply, the proof sits in electronic records that do not keep themselves, and more than one company may owe you money. The first conversation is free and our fee comes only out of a recovery. Call 843-350-5420.
A two car wreck on Savannah Highway usually comes down to two drivers and two policies. A container truck crash on the Don Holt Bridge can pull in the driver, the motor carrier that employs him, a freight broker that arranged the load, the company that owns the trailer or chassis, the crew that packed and secured the cargo, and whoever last serviced the brakes. Every one of them has a reason to point at someone else.
Weight drives the rest of it. A loaded truck outweighs a passenger car many times over, so the injuries run deeper and the claim is worth more. Interstate carriers also have to carry liability limits far above what a private driver buys, which is why their insurers defend so hard. Many push an investigator toward the scene the same day. A Charleston truck accident lawyer working the same timeline keeps that head start from settling the case for them.
Interstate carriers answer to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The hours of service rule at 49 CFR 395.3 holds a property carrying driver to 11 hours of driving inside a 14 hour window, after 10 straight hours off duty, with a 30 minute break once 8 hours of driving time have gone by. Weekly totals stop at 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days. Most of those drivers must log duty status on an electronic logging device under 49 CFR 395.8. Separate rules govern inspection, repair, driver qualification and cargo securement.
Proving a violation means getting the records before they cycle out. ELD files, dispatch traffic, bills of lading, engine control module data, fuel and toll receipts, testing files and repair invoices all live on systems that overwrite on a schedule. We send a preservation demand, often called a spoliation letter, early, so the carrier is on notice to hold everything. A company that discards records after that notice hands the injured side a powerful argument. Wait a few months and the proof may already be gone.
A real investigation is worth the work because it turns up defendants the police report never names. In a Charleston port or highway truck case, the list can include:
Each defendant can bring its own policy. Interstate freight carriers must meet minimum coverage levels set by federal rule, and those minimums sit far above a private auto policy. More responsible parties usually means more coverage available to pay for what you lost.
South Carolina uses modified comparative negligence, adopted by the state Supreme Court in Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co. You can recover as long as your share of the fault is not greater than the other side’s, which works out to 50 percent or less. Your award then drops by your percentage. A 100,000 dollar verdict with 20 percent on you pays 80,000 dollars. Cross to 51 percent and you collect nothing.
That cliff is exactly why defense adjusters invest in blaming you. Expect arguments that you sat in the truck’s blind spot, merged late onto I-526, or drove too fast for the conditions. We answer with scene evidence, the truck’s own electronic data, witness accounts and reconstruction where it is warranted, so the fault split reflects what actually happened.
A claim should account for everything the crash took from you. That means medical care already delivered and the treatment still ahead, wages lost while you were out, reduced earning capacity if you cannot return to the same work, physical pain, emotional harm and the vehicle itself. Where an injury leaves permanent limits, scarring or a changed daily life, that loss belongs in the claim too.
Coverage usually runs deeper in truck cases. Every auto policy written in South Carolina must include uninsured motorist protection under Section 38-77-150, which matters when a driver leaves the scene or the at fault side is short on coverage. Interstate motor carriers must also satisfy federal minimum financial responsibility levels that dwarf a personal auto policy. Larger limits are worth pursuing carefully, and they are also why the defense fights so hard.
The clock is not generous. South Carolina Code Section 15-3-530 allows three years, measured from the day of the wreck, to bring a personal injury lawsuit. Miss it and the court will turn the case away no matter how clear the liability is.
Some situations run shorter. If a city, county, state agency or other public body is involved, the South Carolina Tort Claims Act controls. Section 15-78-110 requires the action within two years of the loss, extended to three years only where a verified claim was filed first. Charleston County has plenty of public vehicles and public roads, so this comes up. Evidence fades long before any deadline, which is the better reason to call early.
National carriers and their insurers prepared for your crash before it happened. They keep response teams on call, defense counsel on retainer, and adjusters whose work is measured by what they avoid paying. Facing that alone, while you are still in treatment, is not a fair contest.
Our Charleston office sits at 1629 Meeting Street Road, minutes from the port corridor where many of these wrecks happen. We move on evidence immediately, lock down the electronic records, trace every company tied to the load, and value the claim against the full cost of the injury. We negotiate, and we file suit when that is what it takes, so you can put your attention on getting better. No fee unless we recover, and the first consultation costs nothing. Call 843-350-5420.
There is no charge to start. We take truck injury cases on contingency, so the fee comes out of a recovery and nothing is owed if there is none. The first meeting is free, and you can use it simply to find out where you stand. Reach us at 843-350-5420.
Three years from the crash date for most personal injury suits, under South Carolina Code Section 15-3-530. Claims against a public body fall under the Tort Claims Act, where Section 15-78-110 sets two years, or three where a verified claim is filed first. Truck evidence disappears well before either date, so call early.
Usually yes. South Carolina applies modified comparative negligence, so you can recover while your fault is not greater than the other side’s, meaning 50 percent or less, with the award cut by your share. At 51 percent you recover nothing, which is why carriers work so hard to pin fault on you and why the evidence decides these cases.
The strongest proof is digital and short lived. Electronic logging records, engine data, dispatch messages and repair files sit on systems that overwrite themselves. Calling a lawyer quickly gets a preservation letter to the carrier while those records still exist.
Often several companies. The motor carrier, a freight broker or shipper, the trailer or chassis owner, the crew that loaded the container, a maintenance vendor and a parts manufacturer can each carry a share. Naming all of them opens up additional insurance to cover your injuries.
You owe nothing unless we recover.
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