Clovis Truck Accident Lawyer

Your Attorney — Sarwinder Dhanjan

Sarwinder Dhanjan is the founding attorney of Dhanjan Injury Lawyer. He handles every case personally — you work directly with him from the first call through final resolution. Attorney Dhanjan is admitted to the State Bar of California and is active in Fresno County Superior Court.

Languages: English | Spanish | Punjabi | Hindi

View Attorney Bio →

Why Clovis Truck Accident Claims Are More Complex

Commercial truck accident claims involve multiple potentially liable parties — the driver, the trucking company, the trailer owner if different, the cargo shipper, and the manufacturer of any defective component. Each requires separate investigation and separate evidence preservation. Federal FMCSA regulations impose additional duties on trucking companies — hours of service limits, vehicle maintenance requirements, driver qualification standards, and cargo securement rules. A violation of any of these regulations is evidence of negligence per se under California law.

Critical evidence in truck accident cases disappears faster than in any other accident type. Electronic logging devices record hours of service and driver behavior. Event data recorders capture pre-impact speed and braking. Dashcam footage records the approach. All of it is routinely overwritten when the vehicle returns to service unless a litigation hold demand is served within hours of the accident. We send preservation demands immediately upon being retained.

Commercial Truck Routes in Clovis

Herndon Avenue carries commercial freight traffic moving east from Highway 168 toward distribution facilities and industrial areas in eastern Clovis. The Herndon/Clovis Avenue intersection — 24 crashes in 2024 — sees significant truck traffic mixing with passenger vehicles at a complex multi-lane intersection. Highway 168 connects Clovis to the broader Central Valley freight network, funneling commercial vehicles onto the Herndon corridor at speeds that create stopping-distance hazards when transitioning from highway to arterial conditions. Shaw Avenue carries commercial delivery traffic throughout the dense retail corridor — delivery trucks making mid-block stops and commercial vehicles navigating tight turns create recurring conflict zones that produced 27 crashes at Shaw/Willow alone in 2024.

Federal Regulations and Liability

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration governs all aspects of commercial trucking — driver hours, vehicle inspection, drug and alcohol testing, cargo securement, and carrier liability. When a carrier violates FMCSA regulations and that violation contributes to an accident, the violation itself establishes the breach element of the negligence case. The carrier cannot argue it acted reasonably when it violated federal safety regulations. We investigate FMCSA compliance as a primary theory in every Clovis truck accident case.

Compensation Available in Clovis Truck Accident Claims

Commercial truck accident compensation in Clovis operates on a different scale than standard car accident claims — because trucking companies typically carry $750,000 to $5 million in liability coverage, because injuries are catastrophic due to mass disparity, and because the multiple defendant structure creates more available coverage to pursue. Economic damages in serious truck accident cases include every dollar of medical treatment from emergency response through lifetime care, lost wages during recovery, and lost earning capacity when permanent injuries eliminate or reduce the ability to work. For victims with spinal cord injuries, TBI, or amputations from truck collisions on Herndon Avenue or Highway 168, the life care plan — projecting decades of future treatment, equipment, and attendant care costs — frequently produces a present-value economic damages figure that exceeds $1 million before non-economic damages are added.

The multiple-defendant structure in truck accident cases also creates punitive damages exposure that does not exist in standard car accident cases. When the trucking company knowingly violated FMCSA hours-of-service limits, operated a vehicle with documented mechanical defects, or employed a driver whose qualification files showed disqualifying violations — the carrier’s institutional conduct may support a punitive damages claim under California Civil Code section 3294. We evaluate punitive damages exposure in every Clovis truck accident case where the carrier’s institutional compliance record shows systematic violations.

What To Do After a Truck Accident in Clovis

1. Call 911 and do not move vehicles. Commercial truck accidents produce large collision scenes — vehicle positions, trailer positions, cargo distribution, and road conditions at the point of impact are all evidence that is preserved only as long as the scene remains intact. Request that police document all of this before anything moves.
2. Do not speak with the trucking company’s representatives. The carrier’s accident response team — investigators, adjusters, sometimes attorneys — may arrive at the scene within hours. They are not there to help you. Do not answer their questions. Do not sign anything. Get their contact information and refer them to your attorney.
3. Get medical evaluation immediately. Truck accident injuries — spinal cord involvement, internal organ damage, TBI — are severe and may not be fully symptomatic at the scene. Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno is the Level I trauma center for the region. Do not refuse transport if it is offered.
4. Photograph everything visible — including cargo, placards, and vehicle markings. The USDOT number on the truck cab, the carrier name, the trailer number, and any hazardous material placards all identify the specific entities involved. These details disappear when vehicles are moved.
5. Call Dhanjan Injury Lawyer before the ELD data is gone. Electronic logging device data and event data recorder downloads are overwritten when the truck returns to service after the accident. This can happen within 24 hours. We serve preservation demands within hours of being retained.

FMCSA Evidence Deadlines vs. Legal Filing Deadlines in Clovis Truck Cases

Two years from the date of injury under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a government entity is involved, six months under the Government Claims Act. For statewide context on California truck accident law, see our California Truck Accident Lawyer page. For the Clovis personal injury overview, see our Clovis Personal Injury Lawyer hub. For our Fresno practice, visit our Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer hub. To discuss your case, contact us for a free consultation.

Truck Accident Investigation in Clovis

Truck accident cases in Clovis require immediate investigation — the evidence window is dramatically shorter than in standard car accident cases. Electronic logging device data records the driver’s hours of service in real time and is routinely overwritten when the vehicle returns to service after an accident. Event data recorders capture the 30 seconds before impact — speed, braking, steering inputs — and are similarly overwritten. Onboard dashcam footage is controlled by the carrier and deleted on automatic schedules.

We serve litigation hold demands to the carrier, the trucking company, the vehicle manufacturer, and any third-party maintenance contractor within hours of being retained. This prevents the routine destruction that carriers rely on to limit their exposure. We also retain an accident reconstruction expert immediately in cases where the collision sequence is disputed — before the vehicles are repaired and before the scene conditions change.

The FMCSA maintains driver qualification files, medical certification records, and drug and alcohol testing records for every commercial driver. Obtaining these records through the discovery process frequently reveals violations that establish the trucking company’s institutional negligence — failures in hiring, supervision, or regulatory compliance that go beyond the individual driver’s conduct on the day of the accident. These institutional liability theories are what produce the largest recoveries in commercial truck accident cases.

Why Truck Accident Damages Dwarf Standard Car Accident Claims in Clovis

Commercial truck accident compensation in Clovis involves larger economic damages figures than standard car accident cases because the injuries are more severe and because multiple defendants — the carrier, the driver, and potentially the cargo shipper or maintenance company — each carry their own insurance policies. Economic damages from a serious Clovis truck accident include all medical expenses from initial emergency stabilization through long-term rehabilitation, full lost wage documentation including overtime and benefits, and future medical cost projections built by a certified life care planner. Non-economic damages reflect the severity of injuries that a fully loaded commercial truck at highway speed produces when it strikes a passenger vehicle — Clovis’s Highway 168 corridor generates commercial truck collisions that produce catastrophic injury patterns. These damages require expert testimony to present at their full documented value.

Economic damages are the measurable financial losses the accident produced. Medical expenses from the date of the accident through the end of treatment are documented through medical billing records. Future medical expenses — for injuries that require ongoing care, additional surgeries, or lifetime management — must be projected by a treating physician and, in serious cases, by a certified life care planner whose projections are based on the specific treatment plan and the current market rates for those services in the Fresno area. Lost wages are documented through employer records and tax returns. Lost future earning capacity — when injuries permanently reduce the ability to work — requires vocational rehabilitation expert testimony on the specific functional limitations and their impact on the specific type of work the victim performed before the accident.

Non-economic damages are the human cost of the injury — the harm that does not appear on a medical bill. Physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, permanent disfigurement or scarring, loss of enjoyment of activities and relationships that the injury has disrupted, and loss of consortium where a spouse’s relationship has been affected. These damages are not speculative — they are real, recognized compensable harms under California law. Presenting them persuasively requires detailed testimony about the specific impact of this injury on this person’s specific life — not generic descriptions. We develop this testimony through client interviews and, where appropriate, through testimony from treating mental health providers and family members who can corroborate the daily impact.

The Institutional Defense Machine — And How We Counter It in Clovis Truck Cases

Clovis commercial truck cases resolve on a longer timeline than standard car accident cases because the evidence base is more complex — electronic logging data, maintenance records, FMCSA compliance files, and reconstruction expert analysis all require more development time. The legal phase begins when we have preserved all electronic data, identified every potentially liable party, retained reconstruction and damages experts, and completed the medical documentation. Most Clovis truck cases then proceed through a structured demand process against the carrier and all co-defendants. Carriers and their trucking defense firms in Fresno County respond to trial-ready preparation differently than they respond to incomplete files. Cases that do not resolve at the demand stage typically proceed to mediation; a minority require trial in Fresno County Superior Court. We prepare every Clovis truck case for trial from the first call because that preparation is what determines the outcome at every preceding stage.

From the first call, we begin evidence preservation — litigation hold demands, scene documentation, witness identification. We then guide clients through the medical care process, ensuring consistent treatment and complete documentation. Once treatment is complete and the treating physician has established the long-term prognosis, we prepare a comprehensive demand package — the medical record, economic damages analysis, and non-economic damages narrative — and present it to the carrier. Most serious cases involve multiple rounds of negotiation. When carriers refuse to pay fair value, we file in Fresno County Superior Court at 1100 Van Ness Ave, Fresno, CA 93724 and pursue the case through trial. Our trial-ready preparation standard is what produces full settlement value before trial — and it is what produces full verdict value when trial is necessary.

Cargo Securement and Loading Liability in Clovis Truck Cases

FMCSA cargo securement regulations under 49 CFR Part 393 impose specific requirements on how commercial cargo must be secured before transport. When improperly secured cargo shifts during transit, causing the truck to become unstable, jackknife, or shed cargo onto other vehicles, the shipper who loaded the cargo — in addition to the trucking company — may bear liability for resulting accidents. Cargo shifting accidents on Highway 168 and the Herndon Avenue corridor, where trucks transition from highway speeds to arterial road conditions, are particularly susceptible to instability accidents when cargo is not properly secured. We evaluate cargo loading and securement compliance in every Clovis truck accident case where the collision sequence suggests vehicle instability or cargo involvement.

What We Do in the First 72 Hours of a Clovis Truck Accident Case

Every serious injury claim in Clovis begins the same way: a conversation with Attorney Sarwinder Dhanjan about what happened, what injuries resulted, and what the realistic path to recovery looks like. That conversation is free, confidential, and available in English, Spanish, Punjabi, and Hindi. There are no upfront costs, no commitment required, and no obligation to retain us after the consultation.

What we do in the first consultation: review the specific facts of the accident, identify every potentially liable party, assess the full insurance stack available for recovery, evaluate the strength of the evidence that currently exists and the evidence that needs to be preserved immediately, and give you an honest assessment of the realistic range of what a well-prepared claim may recover. We do not give optimistic numbers to encourage you to sign a fee agreement — we give honest assessments that allow you to make an informed decision about your case.

If you retain us, we begin work immediately. Litigation hold demands go out the same day. Evidence preservation begins before the automatic overwrite cycles that govern commercial cameras, vehicle data recorders, and electronic logging devices eliminate what currently exists. The window for that evidence is measured in hours — not days. For all Clovis injury matters, contact us at (559) 342-2000, available 24/7, or through the contact form at our contact page. Our office at 2170 N. Winery Ave, Fresno, CA 93703 is 6 miles and 15 minutes from Clovis — the same court, the same county, and the same commitment to full-value recovery that we bring to every Fresno case.

Why Clovis Truck Accident Victims Choose Dhanjan Injury Lawyer

Truck accident cases require a different level of preparation than car accident cases — earlier investigation, more complex defendant identification, federal regulatory analysis, and expert teams that include accident reconstructionists, FMCSA compliance experts, and life care planners. The difference between a well-prepared truck accident case presented with complete federal regulatory analysis and a reactive claim assembled under settlement pressure is measured in six figures at minimum. We build truck accident cases from the first hours after the accident, using the same preparation discipline we bring to every case we try in Fresno County Superior Court.

Trucking companies and their carriers come to every case with institutional resources — experienced defense firms, accident response teams, and compliance experts. Attorney Dhanjan brings equivalent preparation and local court knowledge to the plaintiff’s side. Every Clovis truck accident case is built as if it will be tried before a Fresno County jury — which is the preparation standard that forces carriers to bring their best offers before trial is necessary.

How Clovis Truck Accident Claims Resolve

Truck accident cases in Clovis take longer to resolve than standard car accident claims because the medical treatment timelines are longer, the economic damages analysis is more complex, and the institutional defendants are better resourced and more willing to litigate than individual drivers. A serious truck accident case involving permanent spinal or neurological injury realistically takes 18 to 36 months from incident to resolution — not because we move slowly, but because the damages case requires maximum medical improvement, life care planning, vocational assessment, and forensic economic analysis before a demand package that captures the full value of the claim can be presented.

Most serious truck accident cases in Clovis settle through a combination of demand negotiation and mediation, where a private mediator facilitates structured negotiation between the parties. We prepare for mediations with the same rigor we apply to trial preparation. When carriers refuse to pay full value after mediation, we file in Fresno County Superior Court and pursue the case through trial. The institutional resources that carriers deploy in truck accident cases make this realistic threat credible — and it is that credibility that produces full settlement value before trial in most cases.