Manchester Semi-Truck Accident Lawyers

Manchester is a vital connector for freight. Every day, hundreds of 18-wheelers and commercial box trucks use the Hal Rogers Parkway as a shortcut between I-75 in London and Hazard. While this traffic keeps our economy moving, it puts local families in Clay County at risk.

A crash with a semi-truck is not just a "big car accident." It is a federal case. These drivers are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). When they break the rules to meet a deadline—speeding through Goose Creek or falling asleep at the wheel near Exit 20—they turn their 80,000-pound rigs into weapons.

At Freeman Childers, we know how to fight the trucking conglomerates. We don't just sue the driver; we sue the company that pushed him to drive unsafe hours. We move immediately to preserve the "Black Box" data before it is erased.

The "Hal Rogers" Hazard

The Hal Rogers Parkway (formerly the Daniel Boone Parkway) was not built for modern semi-truck volume.

• Head-On Collisions: With no concrete median for long stretches, a tired trucker drifting across the centerline is a death sentence for oncoming traffic.

• Speeding on Grades: Heavy trucks pick up dangerous speed going downhill. If they hit the bottom of a grade near a slower local vehicle, they cannot stop in time.

The "Off-Tracking" Danger on US-421

Clay County’s secondary roads like US-421 and KY-11 are narrow and winding.

• What is Off-Tracking? When a 53-foot trailer turns a sharp corner, the rear wheels follow a shorter path than the front wheels.

• The Result: The trailer cuts across the centerline into your lane (a "head-on" swipe) or hops the curb and crushes a pedestrian in downtown Manchester.

• Liability: If a trucking company sends a 53-foot trailer onto a road that isn't rated for it, they are negligent per se.

Driver Fatigue & The Electronic Log (ELD)

Long-haul truckers are strictly limited in how many hours they can drive (11 hours max).

• The Cheat: To make more money, drivers used to keep two paper logbooks. Now, they use Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs).

• The Investigation: We download the ELD data to see exactly when the truck was moving. We compare it to gas station receipts and GPS data. We often find that the driver was "off duty" while actually driving through Manchester to hide his violation.

Who Are We Suing?

In a semi-truck crash, there are often multiple insurance policies involved:

• The Carrier: The company whose name is on the door (e.g., Swift, JB Hunt, or a smaller LLC).

• The Shipper: The company that loaded the trailer. If they loaded it improperly (unbalanced load), causing the truck to flip, they are liable.

• The Broker: The middleman who hired a cheap, unsafe trucking company without checking their safety rating.

Immediate Action Required: The Spoliation Letter

Trucking companies have "Rapid Response Teams" that arrive at the scene within hours to hide evidence.

• We Fight Back: We send a Spoliation Letter immediately. This legal document forces the company to preserve the truck, the tires, the black box data, and the driver's drug test results.

• If You Wait: That data will be "accidentally" deleted or the truck will be repaired, destroying the proof we need to win.

Hit by a Big Rig in Manchester?

You don't have to hire a stranger from a billboard. Call 606-528-1000 to speak with a lawyer who knows Clay County.