- Fax: 660-260-2322
- Call: 888-262-2718
- Request A Consultation
Menu
Injured in a crash with a semi-truck or commercial vehicle? Our Missouri truck accident attorneys and personal injury team has recovered over $250 million for clients across Missouri, including victims of serious truck crashes on highways like US-63 and I-70.
We know how to prove fault, preserve evidence, and fight for full compensation.
Call (888) 262-2718 for a free consultation.
Truck crashes don’t end at the scene. They send people into surgery, rehab, and financial free fall. Between hospital bills, lost income, and long-term care, victims often face six- or seven-figure losses, and no clear path forward.
Missouri families can’t afford to guess their way through the process. One wrong move early on, and insurance companies will lock in lowball offers that fall miles short of what’s needed for recovery.
That’s where the right legal team makes the difference: not just to handle paperwork, but to demand full, fair compensation backed by evidence and law.
Truck accident cases aren’t just bigger, they’re built differently. They involve federal safety rules, black-box data, and pressure from corporate defense teams trying to make things disappear. We know how they operate, and we don’t blink.
With over 90 years of combined experience, our firm has recovered millions for crash victims across Missouri. A few highlights:
Our approach is built on preparation. We move fast, preserve evidence, and bring in the right experts – accident reconstructionists, medical analysts, and financial professionals – before the defense can spin their story. That’s what it takes to win serious cases like these.
We’ve handled truck crash cases across Missouri, from interstates to rural two-lanes. Our case history shows one thing clearly: when we step in early, preserve evidence, and build pressure, results follow.
Case | Result | Location |
Tractor-trailer crash – spinal injuries | $4.1 million | I-70 near Columbia |
Fatal fatigue-related wreck | $2.7 million | US-36, Macon County |
Underride collision – multiple fractures | $1.3 million | Hwy 24, Randolph County |
Delivery truck rear-end crash | $950,000 | Commercial district, Moberly |
*Results vary based on facts. These examples don’t guarantee future outcomes, but they show what’s possible with the right preparation and pressure.
A semi-truck was not paying attention and pulled into the path of a woman driving to work on a state highway. The resulting crash caused serious injuries to the women, including a brain injury. After a week-long jury trial, the victim was awarded a verdict of $4 million.
Three teenagers driving a passenger vehicle through an intersection were struck by a garbage truck. The passenger vehicle improperly entered the intersection, and the wreck appeared to be the passenger vehicle’s fault. Post-accident investigation of the scene and vehicles, as well as witness interviews, demonstrated that the truck had improperly maintained brakes, which prevented the truck driver from avoiding the crash. One of the teens was killed, and two suffered serious injuries. The victims received a settlement of $3.2 million, and the company involved changed its maintenance practices.
A semi-truck driver who was over his hours of service (HoS) failed to keep a careful lookout as traffic ahead of him slowed for another accident ahead on the highway. The semi-truck skidded and crashed into several vehicles, including striking a vehicle that resulted in a death. The deceased’s wife and child sued the truck driver and related trucking entities whom they alleged controlled the driver’s route and were responsible for him driving over the legally allowed hours to make deliveries. The victim’s family received a $3.1 million settlement in their wrongful death claim.
A semi-truck improperly passing and speeding caused the fatal crash of an elderly couple. Post-accident investigation of the road way and analysis of data from the event data recorder of the engine demonstrated the proof to show fault. The victim’s children were awarded a $2 million settlement in their wrongful death claim.
A semi-truck skidded and crashed into a pickup, causing fatal injuries to the pickup driver. The victim’s mother and four children were awarded a $1.3 million settlement in their wrongful death claim.
A 63-year-old truck driver who had stopped his vehicle due to mechanical difficulties was struck by a semi-truck after setting out orange warning signs. Evidence showed that the at-fault driver was fatigued. The plaintiff’s alcohol consumption was a factor in the case, but it was eventually resolved in favor of the victim’s wife in a settlement of $1.2 million.
A couple was riding in their Mercury Sable when it was struck by a tractor-trailer that was attempting to overtake their vehicle. The wife suffered multiple bone fractures and spent 12 days in the hospital. Her husband was fatally injured.
No firm can promise an outcome. What we can show is a pattern: serious cases, handled with urgency, result in serious compensation.
Insurance carriers don’t pay top dollar just because someone was hurt. They settle big when they see risk – a case built with evidence, experts, and a legal team prepared to take it all the way to trial.
That’s the difference we bring to the table.
Every truck-accident claim is staffed by a team of Missouri-licensed trial lawyers whose combined experience exceeds 100 years.
Attorney | Truck / Auto-Injury Credentials | Local Connection & Court Admissions |
Cassie J. Carpenter Bugalski – Managing Partner | • Published author of Missouri Tort Law chapter on Automobile Torts, underscoring deep knowledge of motor-vehicle negligence law. | Madison native serving clients in Moberly, Columbia, and statewide; admitted in Missouri and both federal districts. |
Christian “Chris” Faiella – Senior Trial Lawyer | • Multi-million-dollar verdicts for catastrophic injury victims. | Licensed in Missouri, U.S. Supreme Court, Eighth & Tenth Circuits; brings statewide and national trial reach. |
Adrienne T. Spiller – Litigation Attorney | • Regularly handles injury cases and has presented Missouri Bar CLE on Orders of Protection involving physical harm. | Born and raised in Randolph County, graduate of Moberly High School and MU Law, admitted in Missouri. |
Rex V. Gump – Of Counsel | • Nearly five decades of trial practice; former Board of Governors, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, emphasizing plaintiff advocacy. | Served as Moberly City Attorney and Municipal Judge; admitted in Missouri and Western District federal court. |
Cassidy Johnston – Associate Attorney | • Essential team member in Personal-injury civil practice; brings fresh energy to discovery and motion work on truck-crash files. | North-central Missouri native (Clarence) practicing in state courts across the region. |
What you do in the first 24–48 hours after a crash can shape your entire case. Even if you’re still in the hospital, these steps can help protect your rights and preserve the evidence your lawyer will need to work with.
It’s easy to make missteps under stress, but the wrong move can cost you.
Here are some of the most common pitfalls we see:
Truck crash claims are built on facts and timing. The sooner you bring in a lawyer, the better your chances of recovering full compensation.
Truck accident cases often turn on the details – logbooks, maintenance records, data pulled straight from the truck itself. Understanding how state and federal rules intersect is key to proving fault and holding carriers accountable.
Regulation Area | FMCSA (Federal Rules) | Missouri Law |
Hours-of-Service Limits | 11-hour daily driving limit; 14-hour workday; 10-hour rest break required | Adopted by reference in most intrastate regs; enforced by the Missouri State Highway Patrol |
Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) | Mandatory for most carriers to track hours electronically | Required for intrastate drivers if the vehicle meets federal thresholds |
Drug & Alcohol Testing | Pre-employment, random, and post-accident testing required under 49 CFR Part 382 | Same standards apply under Missouri enforcement |
Inspection & Maintenance | Carriers must perform routine inspections; defects must be repaired before operation | Missouri adds penalties under §307.400 for reflector, lighting, and brake violations |
Driver Qualification | CDL required for vehicles over 26,000 lbs or carrying hazardous materials | CDL rules enforced through MoDOT and MSHP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement |
Our team regularly pulls both federal and state violations to establish fault and show patterns of negligence.
Modern commercial trucks are equipped with event data recorders (EDRs), often called black boxes, that capture critical information before, during, and after a crash:
In many cases, this data tells the real story, especially when the trucking company’s version doesn’t line up. But this evidence isn’t stored forever. Carriers may overwrite or erase it unless it’s preserved early through a spoliation letter.
That’s why calling a lawyer right away isn’t just smart, it’s strategic.
Behind every truck crash is a breakdown – of systems, choices, or safety rules. These are the patterns we see most often in the cases we handle across Moberly, Columbia, and statewide.
Long-haul drivers face pressure to cover ground fast. That often leads to hours-of-service violations or logbook manipulation, especially when carriers turn a blind eye. Fatigue slows reaction time, affects judgment, and makes it easier for a fully loaded rig to drift, rear-end, or cross the center line.
When we take on a case, we audit logbooks, cross-check electronic logs, and flag inconsistencies that point to negligence.
A few seconds of phone use behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck can be deadly. So can the effects of alcohol, drugs, or prescription meds – many of which show up in post-crash screenings. In Missouri, we’ve handled multiple cases where driver inattention or impairment changed lives in an instant.
We don’t just rely on police reports. We dig into dispatch records, communication logs, and toxicology timelines to get to the truth.
When brakes fail or tires blow, carriers often blame the driver. But in many cases, the root issue is a maintenance gap. Federal and Missouri laws both require routine inspections and timely repairs. Skipped steps in those systems can lead directly to loss of control.
We bring in mechanical experts to inspect the truck and trace the failure back to its source, often a paper trail of missed warnings or deferred service.
Central Missouri sees its share of rain, fog, ice, and sudden storms. Safe trucking means slowing down, maintaining distance, and adjusting to conditions. When drivers push through weather at full speed, or carriers set delivery schedules that don’t account for conditions, they put everyone else on the road at risk.
We’ve worked cases involving chain-reaction pile ups on I-70 and jackknife crashes on US-63 where speed and visibility were key factors.
Truck accident cases are rarely simple. More often than not, there’s more than one party responsible, and each one will point fingers to avoid paying.
In Missouri truck crash cases, we investigate every potential contributor to the chain of events. That includes:
Each one may carry insurance, legal responsibility, or both. The key is knowing how to find and document those links quickly, before records disappear or get buried.
A truck accident isn’t just about the crash, it’s about what comes next. Recovery takes time, treatment, and money. Missouri law allows injured victims to recover both financial and personal losses tied to the crash.
These are the measurable costs – the ones you can document with bills, pay stubs, and forecasts. They include:
We work with medical and vocational experts to project the full impact of the crash, not just what you’ve lost already, but what it’s likely to cost you down the road.
Some losses can’t be measured in dollars, but they still matter. Missouri law allows compensation for:
These damages recognize that a truck crash doesn’t just change your finances, it can reshape your entire day-to-day life.
In rare but serious cases, courts may award punitive damages, extra compensation meant to punish the trucking company for reckless or egregious misconduct.
This might apply if a company knowingly violated FMCSA regulations, sent out a driver without proper rest, or ignored warnings about mechanical defects.
We investigate whether safety violations were part of a larger pattern, and if so, we make sure that the story gets told.
The scale of truck crashes in Missouri isn’t just measured in numbers, it’s measured in lives disrupted across highways, towns, and rural routes alike.
From fatal pileups on I-70 to jackknife wrecks on US-63, the data paints a clear picture: commercial vehicle crashes remain a serious and persistent issue across the state.
According to the most recent data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Missouri’s own Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP):
(Source: FMCSA Cargo Body Type Dataset, 6 Jun 2025 snapshot)
Fatal crashes followed a similar trend:
(Also sourced from FMCSA MCMIS data, verified through Missouri CVSP and MoDOT summary tables)
In 2023 alone:
These aren’t just interstates and major cities. Our team has worked fatal cases on rural highways, farm-to-market routes, and local roads throughout the state.
Source: https://www.savemolives.com/mcrs/dashboards
Missouri’s CVSP analysis confirms that the majority of CMV crashes happen in urban areas, especially St. Louis County, Jackson County (Kansas City), and Greene County (Springfield). But rural counties still see a higher rate of fatal crashes per mile.
(Source: Missouri FY2024 CVSP, STARS crash data breakdown)
The Missouri Department of Transportation identifies the following as high-volume truck corridors with elevated crash risks:
(Source: MoDOT fatality tables and CVSP enforcement targeting data)
These figures aren’t just academic. They shape how we approach truck accident cases: by securing evidence early, pulling black-box data, and tracking violations that point to systemic problems.
If you or someone you love was hurt in a Missouri truck crash, these numbers prove one thing, you’re not alone. And with the right legal team, you don’t have to take on the trucking company by yourself.
Missouri’s statute of limitations for personal injury is five years from the date of the crash. But don’t wait. Critical evidence, especially from the truck, can disappear much sooner. Calling a lawyer early protects your right to compensation.
It varies. Some EDRs (event data recorders) overwrite within days or weeks. Others hold crash data until it’s manually erased. That’s why we send an evidence preservation letter as soon as we’re hired, to make sure nothing gets deleted.
Missouri uses pure comparative fault, which means you can still recover damages even if you were partly responsible. Your compensation will just be reduced by your percentage of fault.
Until your case resolves, you may use health insurance, MedPay, or letters of protection coordinated through your attorney. We help clients explore every available option so treatment isn’t delayed.
It depends on the facts. Some settle in a few months; others take over a year if litigation is needed. Complex cases involving serious injuries, multiple defendants, or disputed liability often take longer, but we keep things moving and keep you updated.
There’s no upfront cost. We work on a contingency fee, meaning you pay nothing unless we win. That includes investigation, court costs, and expert consultations, we front it all.
Bring any crash reports, medical records, photos, insurance letters, and notes you’ve taken since the crash. If you don’t have everything yet, that’s fine, we’ll help you track it down.
GFB Law is proud to represent truck crash victims right here in Moberly and throughout Randolph County. Our office is located near the intersection of Highway 63 and Rollins Street, just a few minutes from downtown and Moberly Regional Medical Center.
Whether your crash happened on Route 24, US-63, or a rural county road, we’re ready to help. You don’t have to drive to St. Louis or Kansas City to get serious representation.
We handle truck accident cases across Missouri, including:
Our team travels to crash sites, works with local investigators, and brings in experts no matter where the wreck occurred. If the trucking company operates in Missouri, we can hold them accountable.
When you’re hurt, overwhelmed, and unsure who to trust, the last thing you need is a sales pitch. You need answers. You need a plan. And you need a personal injury legal team that knows how to go toe-to-toe with the trucking industry.
We review every inquiry personally. No bots, no delay. Just straight answers from a real attorney.
Prefer to speak with someone now?
Call us anytime: (888) 262-2718 for a free initial consultation.
