Important Information To Know About Dump Truck Accidents

Dump truck accidents are unfortunately more common than many people realize. While the risks associated with dump trucks are in many respects similar to those that accompany any large, heavy-duty commercial vehicle, there are also factors specific to the way dump trucks are designed and used that can influence how and where dump truck accidents are likely to occur. Depending on the circumstances, some of these factors can also impact the parties that may be held legally responsible for a dump truck accident. Learn more by scheduling a consultation with the Louisiana Law Lady’s board-certified trucking law attorney. Call 504-470-3511 today to schedule.

Dump Trucks Facts

Dump trucks fall into the expansive category the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) identifies as “large trucks and buses.” Depending on their hauling configuration and gross weight rating, dump trucks may fall within commercial motor vehicle (CMV) Class 7 or Class 8; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which monitors expected vehicle emissions by weight class, provides a helpful chart showing how the FMCSA vehicle classifications apply across expectations for normal use.

Vehicle Class and Regulatory Oversight

Classes 7 and 8 are the categories used by the FMCSA to account for the largest and heaviest of the CMVs under the agency’s jurisdiction, so the Class 7/8 rating generally places dump trucks in a category of vehicles considered to be more-dangerous, rather than less-dangerous (most common passenger vehicles used for personal use are grouped into Class 1 or Class 2) and therefore subject to a greater degree of regulatory scrutiny than some other CMVs.

“Hazmat” and Required CDLs

In most cases, dump trucks do not carry loads classified as “hazardous materials” (sometimes also called “hazmat”) under federal guidelines provided by the FMCSA (some states do impose additional regulatory requirements). All dump trucks require a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for legal operation; factors similar to those used in determining whether the dump truck belongs to FMCSA Class 7 vs. Class 8 will also indicate whether the required license is a Class B vs. Class A CDL, as the Louisiana Department of Transportation (DOT) – like the comparable agencies in many other states – issues commercial driver’s licenses in categories based on the mass and complexity of CMV the driver is authorized to operate.

Their enormous size and weight mean that dump trucks pose most of the same risks to drivers and pedestrians as do other “heavy-duty” trucks in the Class 7/8 category. At the same time, however, dump trucks can also present a few risk factors that are not usually present with other trucks in the same weight class.

Large, “Heavy-Duty” Trucks

General risks posed by large CMVs with the “heavy-duty” truck rating are typically related to their weight, but the shape and dimensions of each vehicle may also be a factor in some trucking accidents. Broadly speaking, the major risks posed to passenger cars and other vehicles sharing the roads with large trucks such as tractor-trailers (and some large dump trucks) come in three main categories:

• Mass: The sheer weight of the vehicle itself, often augmented by whatever load it is carrying, increases the distance a large truck will likely need to stop, and also increases the severity of damage the vehicle is likely to cause in a collision.
• Visibility: Many large trucks provide limited peripheral vision to drivers, even with mirrors; passing through the space in a large truck’s “blind spot” can be very dangerous to occupants of smaller vehicles.
• Maneuverability: Large trucks often make turns much wider than drivers used to operating personal passenger vehicles anticipate, and in general both large “straight” trucks (a category which includes many dump trucks) and tractor-trailers have a limited ability to “swerve” in response to roadway hazards – a fact which unfortunately limits the ability of even highly experienced drivers operating with a Class A CDL (the most stringent of the CDL classifications) to make the rapid adjustments sometimes needed to prevent a tragedy.

The Louisiana Law Lady handles cases arising from a variety of truck accident types, so consider scheduling a consultation to learn more about the risks posed by heavy-duty trucks.

Dump Trucks vs. Other Heavy-Duty Trucks

An important feature to keep in mind when comparing the risks of dump truck accidents to the often similar hazards posed by other vehicles in the same FMCSA category is that large semi-trucks, in particular, tend to move relatively slowly in urban and even some suburban areas; the same inertia that requires a protracted stopping distance also slows their acceleration in stop-and-go traffic. As a result semi-truck drivers tend to prefer highway routes when possible, and often choose controlled-access routes or bypass city centers in order to limit the frustrations of operating in conditions that are better optimized for smaller vehicles. These factors in combination tend to have a mitigating effect on the risk of high-speed semi-truck accidents in densely populated areas – pushing more semi-truck encounters onto highways, where speed is generally higher but the chances for pedestrian accidents and sharp turn collisions also tend to be lower.

Dump Trucks in Traffic

Dump trucks pose many of the same risks as other large commercial trucks during normal traffic conditions. Although they often lack the configuration complexity of “combination” tractor-trailers, dump trucks are generally of a size and shape similar to their fellows in Class 7/8. Depending on whether they are fully loaded and the type of material they are carrying, dump trucks may weigh as much as, or in some cases more than, a large tractor-trailer used for hauling freight.  Dump trucks (and garbage trucks) are unique in that their weight changes throughout the load.  Many times, at the end of a route, a dump truck will end up being overweight.

Dump truck accidents in ordinary traffic conditions may therefore be caused by some of the same factors as those that frequently underlie other types of trucking accidents, and dump truck accidents also tend to be comparable to semi-truck collisions in terms of the severity of damage they may cause. However, dump trucks – similar to some flat-bed trucks but unlike most trailer combinations – can also pose a high risk of materials falling or blowing out of their beds to strike vehicles behind and, depending on trajectory, to either side. Dump truck accidents caused by flying debris can be devastating, especially when they occur at highway speeds.

Dump Trucks as Heavy Equipment

A feature of dump trucks that does not normally apply to the semi-trucks used for hauling cargo is that dump trucks are, in a sense, not only commercial motor vehicles registered for highway use, but also a form of heavy equipment frequently employed in construction use. Dump trucks may be used to clear debris after construction activity or after a natural disaster, to transport the raw materials needed for preparing a land development project (such as high-quality topsoil for spreading, or the mix of unevenly-sized stones known as “crusher run” often used in pre-paving and in smoothing access roads not intended for regular public use).

Hazards of Construction Zone Use

All of these usage scenarios place dump trucks off regular roadways and in construction or clearance zones – areas that are already known for posing an elevated risk of vehicle accidents. Depending on the location of the work zone relative to designated roadways, dump trucks maneuvering to deposit their loads (or to be newly loaded) can easily back out into traffic, striking oncoming vehicles. They also pose an elevated risk of back into unwary bystanders (including coworkers at the jobsite) and passersby, navigating the work area on foot.

Hazards of Dump Truck Operation

The nature of dump truck operations can also pose its own set of unique risks. Two very common causes of dump truck accidents that do not typically appear with other vehicle types are “raised bed” accidents and improper lowering accidents.

“Raised bed” dump truck accidents occur when a dump truck driver fails to restore the bed to its flat position after raising and tilting it for emptying and therefore strikes overhead objects such as tree limbs, hanging signage, and even in some cases highway overpasses or – disastrously – electrical lines. Improper lowering accidents, on the other hand, occur when the dump truck driver does lower the bed, but either the driver or other parties responsible for safety in the vehicle’s operating zone fail to properly secure the area, and people, animals, or objects become trapped between the underside of the cargo bed and the “frame” of the truck as the bed is lowered into place. The hydraulic lifts that typically raise and lower dump truck cargo beds are designed to move slowly enough in operation to allow some time for emergency interventions in case of an entrapment scenario – but when these safeguards fail, the results can be truly devastating for all involved.

Speak With a Board-Certified Attorney Knowledgeable About Trucking Laws

At the Louisiana Law Lady office, Lauren is enormously proud to hold the first trucking law certification ever granted by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA). Lauren  prides herself on supporting victims injured in trucking accidents of all kinds, including dump truck accidents. While dump truck accidents are in many ways similar to the often deadly accidents involving other large, heavy-duty trucks, dump truck accidents also frequently bring into play a number of considerations that are specific to their structure and habitual use. To learn more about your rights and legal options if you have been involved in a dump truck accident in Louisiana, call 504-470-3511 to schedule a personalized consultation.