"After my crash on the Turnpike I couldn't think straight. Dennis's team took the entire weight off me — the carrier, the insurance, the medical bills — and got me a result I genuinely did not believe was possible."
Marisol R.
Edison, NJ
All Practice Areas80,000 pounds.
Practice · No. 02Trucking & 18-WheelerStatewide · New Jersey
80,000 pounds.
One mistake.
When a tractor-trailer fails on a New Jersey highway, the people in the passenger cars don't get a second chance. Dennis Shlionsky builds trucking cases the way federal regulators built the rules — with the ECM data, the driver's logbooks, and the carrier's safety record in hand before the other side knows they've been served.
$50M+Recovered statewide
$1.5MTurnpike trucking case
24/7Evidence preservation
0Fee unless we win
I-95 · I-78 · I-80 · NJ Turnpike · Garden State ParkwayAverage tractor-trailer weighs 20× a passenger carFederal minimum carrier insurance: $750,000FMCSA hours-of-service limit: 11 driving hoursECM black-box data overwrites in days — not weeksMandatory drug & alcohol testing within 8 hoursNJ statute of limitations: 2 years from the crashCarrier oath under 49 C.F.R. § 365.105 — sworn to the publicI-95 · I-78 · I-80 · NJ Turnpike · Garden State ParkwayAverage tractor-trailer weighs 20× a passenger carFederal minimum carrier insurance: $750,000FMCSA hours-of-service limit: 11 driving hoursECM black-box data overwrites in days — not weeksMandatory drug & alcohol testing within 8 hoursNJ statute of limitations: 2 years from the crashCarrier oath under 49 C.F.R. § 365.105 — sworn to the publicI-95 · I-78 · I-80 · NJ Turnpike · Garden State ParkwayAverage tractor-trailer weighs 20× a passenger carFederal minimum carrier insurance: $750,000FMCSA hours-of-service limit: 11 driving hoursECM black-box data overwrites in days — not weeksMandatory drug & alcohol testing within 8 hoursNJ statute of limitations: 2 years from the crashCarrier oath under 49 C.F.R. § 365.105 — sworn to the public
The Brief
The trucking industry
is regulated for a reason.
Every commercial carrier on a New Jersey road operates under a federal rulebook written in the wake of decades of preventable deaths. Most carriers run their fleets responsibly. The ones who don't — the ones who push drivers past their hours, skip the brake inspection, hire without checking the record — leave families in passenger cars to absorb the consequences.
When you're hit by an 18-wheeler in New Jersey, your first job is to get to safety and get medical care. Your second is to call a lawyer who knows the federal regulations, the discovery rules, and the timelines for preserving the evidence that wins these cases — before it disappears.
At the office of Dennis Shlionsky, we take that call any hour of the day. Reach our New Jersey trucking team at 1·833·456·6933 for a free, confidential review of your matter.
Evidence · Day One
ECM · Dashcam · HOS Logs
The Record · Client Voices
They came to us at the worst moment.
"What stood out was how fast they moved. Within 48 hours of my husband's wreck on Route 80, they had a preservation letter out to the trucking company. The defense never got the chance to lose the data."
Patricia K.
Paterson, NJ
"I called three firms. The other two wanted to settle for the policy minimum. Dennis Shlionsky looked at the federal violations, told me what the case was actually worth, and then delivered."
Anthony D.
Jersey City, NJ
Why Shlionsky
The trucking case
starts on day one.
We treat every trucking matter as a federal regulatory case from the first call — because that's what wins it.
No fee unless we win.
You owe us nothing unless we recover for you. Period.
Cash advance in 24 hours.
We can arrange a same-day advance through a third-party funding source while your case is built.
Free, confidential case review.
An attorney — not an intake screener — reviews your matter and tells you what it's actually worth.
24/7 line, real people.
Trucking evidence disappears in days. We answer the phone the night it happens.
Free Case Review · #1
Hit by a truck
in New Jersey?
Tell us what happened. A New Jersey trucking attorney reviews every submission personally — typically within one hour. No fee. No obligation. The evidence preservation begins the moment we hang up.
- Statewide coverage — every NJ county
- Spoliation letters issued same day
- Federal & state regulatory team in-house
- Available 24/7 — nights, weekends, holidays
Free · Confidential
Request your free
consultation.
Dennis Shlionsky's Team will personally review your matter — typically within one hour. There is no fee unless we win.
49 C.F.R. § 365.105 — Carrier Oath49 C.F.R. § 387.9 — $750K Financial Responsibility49 C.F.R. § 395 — Hours of Service49 C.F.R. § 392 — Driving of Commercial Vehicles49 C.F.R. § 396 — Inspection, Repair & Maintenance49 C.F.R. § 382 — Drug & Alcohol Testing49 C.F.R. § 391 — Driver QualificationsN.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 — NJ 2-Year Limitations49 C.F.R. § 365.105 — Carrier Oath49 C.F.R. § 387.9 — $750K Financial Responsibility49 C.F.R. § 395 — Hours of Service49 C.F.R. § 392 — Driving of Commercial Vehicles49 C.F.R. § 396 — Inspection, Repair & Maintenance49 C.F.R. § 382 — Drug & Alcohol Testing49 C.F.R. § 391 — Driver QualificationsN.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 — NJ 2-Year Limitations49 C.F.R. § 365.105 — Carrier Oath49 C.F.R. § 387.9 — $750K Financial Responsibility49 C.F.R. § 395 — Hours of Service49 C.F.R. § 392 — Driving of Commercial Vehicles49 C.F.R. § 396 — Inspection, Repair & Maintenance49 C.F.R. § 382 — Drug & Alcohol Testing49 C.F.R. § 391 — Driver QualificationsN.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 — NJ 2-Year Limitations
The Rulebook · FMCSR
Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Regulations.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) exists for one reason: to reduce the catastrophic injuries and deaths caused by large trucks and buses. It does that by issuing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations — the FMCSRs — which every carrier on a New Jersey interstate is required to follow.
Carriers fall into two categories:
- Private carriers — companies hauling their own cargo.
- For-hire carriers — companies or drivers paid to move someone else's freight.
Both must hold operating authority and meet minimum liability insurance requirements. Those are the two pillars federal law uses to keep the public safe — and the two pillars our discovery work is built around.
Operating Authority — the carrier's sworn oath.
No carrier may operate in the United States without an MC Number (operating authority) and a U.S. DOT Number. The DOT Number is what the federal government uses to track every safety audit, crash investigation, and roadside inspection a carrier accumulates.
Under 49 C.F.R. § 365.105, every carrier signs a sworn certification when it applies for that authority. In plain language, the carrier promises the American public — under oath — that it will:
- Make sure every one of its interstate drivers knows, understands, and follows every applicable FMCSR.
- Train every driver and employee on FMCSR compliance.
- Maintain every truck and piece of equipment to FMCSR standards.
- Hold its agents, contractors, and employees to the same standards.
- Never aid, encourage, or require a driver to violate the FMCSRs.
- Produce, on request, any document needed to prove the carrier is in compliance.
When we take a New Jersey trucking case, we pull the carrier's original application under 49 C.F.R. § 365.117. We pull the safety audits, the crash reports, and the inspection history tied to its DOT Number. Then we line those records up against the facts of your case and the regulations the carrier swore to follow.
That sworn oath becomes the spine of the argument: the carrier knew the rules, certified it could follow them, and didn't. Once a jury sees that contrast, the conversation about value changes entirely.
NJ Interstate · Crash Aftermath
Coverage · 49 C.F.R. § 387
Trucking insurance
isn't optional.
Under 49 C.F.R. §§ 387.8 and 387.9, every commercial truck driver and carrier must maintain at least $750,000 in financial responsibility — through insurance, a bond, or certified self-insurance.
Congress set those minimums as a public-safety policy choice. By forcing carriers to insure their risk, the law:
- Pushes carriers toward safer practices, because unsafe carriers cost their insurer more.
- Makes insurance carriers a second layer of oversight on safety metrics.
- Filters out undercapitalized operators who can't pay for the harm they cause.
The $750,000 minimum hasn't moved in over forty years. Industry groups, including the Trucking Alliance, have called on Congress to raise it. Until that happens, our job is to find every available layer of coverage — primary, excess, MCS-90, contingent cargo, employer policies — and force each one into the conversation.
The injuries in a New Jersey trucking case are rarely small. The compensation cannot be either.
NJ Trucking · FAQ
What clients ask first.
What should I do after a truck accident in New Jersey?
Get to safety, call 911, and get medical attention even if you feel okay — adrenaline hides serious injuries. If you can do it safely, photograph the trucks, the scene, the license plates, the DOT numbers on the cab, and the trailer placards. Get names and numbers from witnesses. File a police report. Then call a New Jersey trucking attorney before you speak with any insurance representative.
Who can be held liable for a NJ truck accident?
Liability rarely ends with the driver. Depending on the facts, the trucking company, the freight broker, the cargo loader, the truck or component manufacturer, a third-party maintenance contractor, and even the shipper can be on the hook. We trace every link in the chain and pursue every responsible party.
What is the statute of limitations for a NJ truck accident claim?
In New Jersey, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2). Wrongful death actions also have a two-year clock. Claims involving a government vehicle or public entity require a tort claim notice within 90 days. The safest move is to call as early as possible — evidence preservation cannot wait two years.
How are truck accident cases different from car accident cases?
They're heavier on every axis. The vehicles are larger, the injuries are worse, the defendants are corporations with experienced defense counsel, and the case is governed by an entire federal rulebook — the FMCSRs — that doesn't apply to ordinary collisions. Truck cases also involve evidence that a passenger car simply doesn't have: ECM data, electronic logging device records, dashcam footage, driver qualification files, and post-crash drug and alcohol testing.
What compensation can I recover after a NJ truck crash?
Medical bills (past and future), lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, disability and disfigurement, property damage, out-of-pocket expenses, and in egregious cases punitive damages. For wrongful death claims, the family may recover for the loss of financial support, companionship, and services. We build a damages model that captures the full picture — not just the bills already paid.
What evidence matters most in a NJ truck case?
The police report and medical records are the foundation. On top of that: the truck's ECM (black box) data, the driver's electronic logging device records, the hours-of-service logs, the driver qualification file, post-crash drug/alcohol test results, dashcam and forward-facing camera footage, maintenance records, the carrier's safety audit history, the bill of lading, and dispatch communications. Most of this overwrites or disappears unless a preservation letter is sent within days. That's the work we do on day one.
How long does a New Jersey truck accident case take to settle?
It depends on the severity of injuries, how clean liability is, and how aggressively the carrier and its insurer defend the case. Straightforward cases can resolve in months. Catastrophic-injury and wrongful-death cases routinely take 18–30 months, sometimes longer if the carrier forces the case through trial. We do not trade speed for value.
Free Case Review · #2
Don't wait
on the carrier.
Trucking companies have a team on the road within hours of a crash — adjusters, defense counsel, and reconstructionists whose only job is to protect the carrier. You should have the same on your side by the end of the day.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case turns on its own facts. Confidential consultations · No fee unless we win.
Free · Confidential
Request your free
consultation.
Dennis Shlionsky's Team will personally review your matter — typically within one hour. There is no fee unless we win.