Cargo can affect a truck collision by shifting weight, changing handling, leaving the vehicle, obstructing traffic, or contributing to a rollover. It can also move only after another event has already caused the crash. The investigation must establish the load’s condition and timing.

The final position of cargo does not establish whether it was improperly loaded, inadequately secured, shifted before impact, or moved because of the collision.

Identify the cargo and every custody transfer

  • Commodity, quantity, packaging, dimensions, weight, center of gravity, and hazardous characteristics
  • Shipper, loader, warehouse, broker, carrier, driver, receiver, and any seal or custody transfer
  • Tractor, trailer, deck, walls, doors, anchor points, securement devices, and rated components
  • Loading diagram, bill of lading, weight tickets, photographs, video, instructions, and inspection records
  • Route, stops, weather, grade, curves, braking, steering, prior movement, and driver reports

Determine which securement rules apply

49 C.F.R. § 393.100 states the general applicability and requirements of the federal cargo-securement subpart for covered commercial motor vehicles. Commodity-specific provisions and exceptions may also apply.

Identify the vehicle, operation, cargo, and date before selecting a requirement. A cargo label or photograph alone may not reveal the applicable method or required number and capacity of devices.

Evaluate the securement system as a system

49 C.F.R. § 393.102 addresses performance criteria for cargo-securement systems, including specified acceleration and deceleration conditions. Preserve component markings, working-load limits, angles, attachment points, friction materials, blocking, bracing, and damaged parts.

  • Device type, manufacturer marking, rating, condition, length, angle, and attachment
  • Anchor-point and vehicle-structure condition before and after impact
  • Blocking, bracing, dunnage, friction, voids, packaging, and cargo-to-cargo contact
  • Wear, cuts, deformation, corrosion, repair, contamination, and post-event handling

Review inspection and adjustment records

49 C.F.R. § 392.9 addresses safe loading and specified driver inspection and reexamination duties for covered operations, with exceptions. Compare the rule with trip distance, stops, duty changes, seal restrictions, and the records actually created.

Reconstruct when the load moved

Align scene evidence, cargo marks, trailer damage, restraint condition, vehicle motion, electronic data, video, witness accounts, road geometry, and first-responder activity. Determine whether cargo movement preceded loss of control, occurred during an avoidance maneuver, resulted from first impact, or followed later handling.

The related cargo-event guide explains safety, event order, evidence custody, and separate impacts when material reaches the roadway.

Assign participant-specific conduct

  • Who selected packaging, placement, devices, anchor points, and loading method
  • Who performed and documented loading, securement, inspection, adjustment, and release
  • Who owned or maintained the trailer and securement equipment
  • What the driver, carrier, shipper, loader, or other participant knew and when
  • How the claimed act changed vehicle control, roadway hazard, collision, or injury

Test alternatives

Vehicle defect, tire failure, roadway condition, weather, another driver, sudden emergency, impact forces, or post-crash movement may better explain the load’s position. State what evidence would distinguish each hypothesis and preserve uncertainty where the record is incomplete.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides information about unsafe-load truck collision claims in Charlotte.

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