Semi-Truck Accident Settlement Calculator
Estimate a tractor-trailer claim using federal carrier rules and NHTSA crash data
A semi is the heaviest thing most drivers will ever be hit by: a loaded tractor-trailer may run to 80,000 lbs against a passenger car's 4,000. In 2023, 2,797 fatal crashes involved a truck-tractor and 3,182 people died in them — 56% of all fatal large-truck crashes (NHTSA FARS 2023). Federal law requires the carrier to hold at least $750,000 in liability coverage (49 CFR § 387.9).
Your Injury
Your Estimated Settlement
$39,000 — $69,000
Pain and suffering = $15,000 in medical bills × 3.0 severity multiplier. Your bills are already included in that figure, so they are not added again.
What you'd actually take home
- Estimated settlement
- $54,000
- Attorney fee (33–40%)
- −$18,000 to −$21,600
- Roughly yours
- $32,400 – $36,000
Not included: case costs (court filing, expert witnesses, medical records) and any medical liens or health-insurance reimbursement. Those come out of your share too, so treat the figure above as an upper bound.
Keep this estimate — it is gone when you close the tab.
National Car Accident Payout Benchmark — all 50 states
Across all 50 states, this benchmark is based on 60,820 real payments totaling $2.3B from federal and municipal traffic accident claims nationwide.
Average
$39K
Median
$5K
25th %ile
$3K
90th %ile
$35K
Source: U.S. Treasury Judgment Fund, NYC Comptroller and City of Chicago claim records. These are nationwide figures pooled across all 50 states, not figures for any single state — do not read them as a state-level average. Actual payouts may vary based on individual circumstances.
How Your Estimate Compares to Insurance Claims Data
Based on bodily injury liability claims reported to the NAIC across 50 states (2020–2022):
National Avg
$29K
National Avg
$29K
3-Year Change
+18.4%
Your estimate is in a similar range to the average BI claim nationally, which is common for moderate injury cases.
Source: NAIC Auto Insurance Database Report (2022/2023 edition), 2020-2022 claim years. Figures are average paid bodily-injury liability claims, not total case values.
Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor
Semi-Truck Crashes — 2023
Fatal crashes involving a semi
2,797
People killed in those crashes
3,182
Share of all large-truck fatal crashes
56%
Federal minimum liability cover
$750,000
NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System 2023, computed from the national vehicle and accident files. A semi here means a truck-tractor (FARS body type 66) with or without trailers — as distinct from a single-unit straight truck, which accounted for 1,595 fatal crashes and 1,734 deaths in the same year. Coverage minimum: 49 CFR § 387.9.
What Makes a Semi Case Different
Weight decides the injuries and the injuries decide the settlement. A tractor-trailer at legal maximum weighs roughly twenty times a passenger car, so the same closing speed produces a different category of harm — and settlement values follow medical cost, lost earning capacity and permanence, not the paperwork.
Money is rarely the constraint that it is in a car case. Interstate carriers hauling general freight must hold $750,000 minimum liability under 49 CFR § 387.9, and $5,000,000 for certain hazardous materials. Many national fleets carry far more, layered across excess policies.
And there is rarely one defendant. The driver, the motor carrier, the tractor owner, the trailer owner, the shipper who loaded it, a freight broker and a maintenance contractor can each carry separate insurance — which is why identifying every party early does more for a semi claim than any argument made later.
The Evidence That Decides It — and How Fast It Goes
A tractor records what the driver did. The engine control module holds speed, braking and throttle in the seconds before impact; the electronic logging device holds hours of service. Both can be overwritten by continued use of the vehicle, and a carrier need only retain records of duty status for six months (49 CFR § 395.8(k)(1)).
That is why the first letter in a semi case is usually not a demand but a preservation notice. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations create the duties — hours of service (Part 395), driver qualification (Part 391), drug and alcohol testing (Part 382), inspection and maintenance (Part 396) — and a breach of any of them is documented somewhere until it is not.
Semi-Truck Accident Settlement FAQs
How much is a semi-truck accident settlement worth?
There is no single figure — it tracks the severity and permanence of the injuries, the medical bills, lost earnings and the coverage available. What differs from a car case is the ceiling: the federal minimum on the carrier's side is $750,000, and large fleets often carry excess layers well above it.
How many fatal semi-truck crashes are there each year?
In 2023, 2,797 fatal crashes involved a truck-tractor and 3,182 people died in them — 56% of all fatal large-truck crashes. Single-unit straight trucks accounted for a further 1,595 fatal crashes. Computed from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System; non-fatal crashes are far more numerous.
Who is liable in a semi-truck accident?
Potentially several parties at once: the driver, the motor carrier, the owners of the tractor and trailer, the company that loaded the cargo, a freight broker, and a maintenance contractor. Each may carry its own policy, which is the single biggest practical difference from a car case.
How quickly does evidence disappear?
Faster than most people expect. Hours-of-service records must be kept for only six months (49 CFR § 395.8(k)(1)), and engine control module data can be overwritten when the tractor is driven again. A preservation letter sent in the first days is often what makes a violation provable later.
Is a semi case different from a delivery-truck case?
Legally the framework is the same, but the scale is not. Truck-tractors accounted for 2,797 fatal crashes in 2023 against 1,595 for single-unit straight trucks, and interstate carriers face the $750,000 federal minimum that a purely local operator may not.
Accident Settlement Calculators by State
Deadlines and comparative-fault rules differ by state — see yours: