Almost everyone asks this question against the wrong clock. The filing deadline in your state is measured in years, so waiting feels safe. The clock that actually decides your case is measured in months, and it belongs to the trucking company: federal rules let a carrier destroy the driver's hours records six months after it receives them. This guide sets out which clocks are running, how short the real ones are, and what stops being provable at each stage.
By Michael Mangione, Legal Research EditorLast reviewed August 1, 202624 min read
Six months, not two years The clock runs from receipt Destruction can be lawful A letter stops the clock No fee unless you recover Independent and attorney vetted Six months, not two years The clock runs from receipt Destruction can be lawful A letter stops the clock No fee unless you recover Independent and attorney vetted
The real floor
6 months
The federal minimum a carrier must keep records of duty status and the ELD back-up copy.
It runs from
Receipt
Not from the crash. The record may already have been in the carrier's hands for weeks.
In the driver's cab
7 days
The driver must carry a copy of the previous seven consecutive days of duty status.
What changes it
A letter
A written preservation demand puts the carrier on notice and changes what destruction means.
Key takeaways
The filing deadline is the wrong clock. It is the last one to expire, not the first, and watching it is what causes people to lose cases they would have won.
Six months is a floor, and it starts before you think. The federal period runs from when the carrier received the record, not from the day of the collision.
Routine destruction is not misconduct. A carrier following its retention schedule is complying with the rules. That is exactly why the timing is on you.
One letter changes the position. A written demand to preserve evidence, sent early, turns later destruction into something a court can be asked about.
Editorial content, not legal advice
This guide is written and reviewed by our editorial team to be accurate and current. It is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Federal regulations are amended, retention practice varies between carriers, and how a court treats destroyed evidence is a question of state law and of the facts. Confirm the position with a licensed attorney. If you are facing an emergency, call 911.
01 The short answer
Quick answer
If you want a rule for when to hire a truck accident lawyer, it is this: before the trucking company's records reach the end of their federal retention period, which can be as little as six months and starts running before you are out of hospital.
That is a different answer from the one most guides give, which is some version of as soon as possible. As soon as possible is true but useless, because it gives you nothing to measure against. A retention floor is a date.
The general mechanics of the claim are covered in our truck accident guide. This page is only about timing.
Nothing here requires you to commit. A consultation costs nothing and creates no obligation, which is precisely why waiting for certainty before making the call is the expensive choice.
Bottom line: the question is not whether your case is strong enough yet. It is whether the evidence that would prove it still exists.
02 The deadline that actually binds
Quick answer
Federal rules require a motor carrier to keep the driver's records of duty status for not less than six months, and to keep a separate back-up copy of the electronic logging device data for the same period. After that the carrier may destroy them in the ordinary course, lawfully, without anybody doing anything wrong.
This is the fact that should govern the decision, and almost nobody is told it.
The regulation itself
Not less than six months, from the date of receipt
49 C.F.R. 395.8(k), Driver's record of duty status, electronic Code of Federal Regulations
The rule provides that a motor carrier shall retain records of duty status and supporting documents required under this part for each of its drivers for a period of not less than 6 months from the date of receipt. Read the last five words again. The clock does not start when the collision happened; it starts when the carrier received the record. It also provides that the driver shall retain a copy of each record of duty status for the previous 7 consecutive days which shall be in his/her possession and available for inspection while on duty, which is why the roadside copy is a matter of days rather than months. Read 395.8
The electronic back-up
Six months, on a separate device
49 C.F.R. 395.22(i), electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Separately, the rules provide that a motor carrier must retain for 6 months a back-up copy of the ELD records on a device separate from that on which the original data are stored. The agency's own guidance restates both obligations together: a motor carrier must retain drivers' records of duty status (RODS) and supporting documents for six months. 395.8(k). Additionally, a back-copy of the ELD records must be maintained on a device separate from that where original data are stored for six months. 395.22(i). Note that FMCSA guidance documents carry an express notice that they do not have the force and effect of law; the regulation quoted above is the binding text and the guidance is the agency explaining it. Read the FMCSA guidance
Six months is a floor, not a promise
Many carriers keep records considerably longer, because their own insurers want them to. But you cannot plan around that, because you have no way of knowing which kind of carrier hit you until somebody asks. What you can do is put the carrier on notice in writing, early, that the records are relevant to a claim. Once that letter exists, destruction stops being routine housekeeping and becomes something a court can be asked to draw conclusions about. That letter is the single highest-value thing that happens in the first month of most truck cases.
The letter
It changes what destruction means.
03 The first forty-eight hours
Quick answer
The scene is cleared within hours and the vehicles are moved within a day or two. Anything that depended on where things came to rest, what the road surface showed, or what was visible on the truck is captured now or not at all. Most people are in no condition to be doing this, which is the argument for making one phone call.
Nobody expects an injured person to run an investigation. The point is that somebody should be, and it does not have to be you.
The scene stops existing. Debris is swept, marks weather away, and the position of everything is gone once the vehicles are recovered.
The vehicle is moved and often repaired. Damage patterns, the condition of components and anything fitted to the truck become matters of record rather than inspection.
Nearby cameras overwrite fastest. Businesses, junctions and passing vehicles all record on short cycles. A request in week one succeeds where week four does not.
Witnesses are never easier to find. Contact details taken at the scene are worth more than any attempt to trace people later.
04 The first two weeks
Quick answer
This is the window for the preservation letter, for the insurer's first approach, and for the decisions that are hardest to undo. It is also when most people feel least able to think about any of it, which is exactly why these two weeks matter more than the year that follows.
Two things typically happen in this period, and they pull in opposite directions.
What happens in the first two weeks and what it means
What happens
Why it matters now
The carrier's own investigator attends
They are documenting the scene while it exists. Nobody is doing that for you unless you arrange it
An adjuster asks for a recorded statement
You are not obliged to give one, and early accounts get used to narrow the claim later
An early settlement offer may arrive
Before the medical picture is known. Accepting usually ends the claim permanently
A preservation letter can be sent
This is the window where it does the most work, because nothing has aged out yet
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
A release signed early is usually final
The document an insurer asks you to sign in exchange for an early payment normally ends the claim for good. That includes the parts of the injury nobody has diagnosed yet. If your treatment is not finished, nobody, including the best lawyer in your state, knows what the claim is worth, and neither do you. There is rarely a reason an offer made in week two cannot be considered in week ten, and the fact that somebody wants an answer quickly is information about them rather than about your case.
05 Before six months are up
Quick answer
If nothing else on this page persuades you, this should: the driver's hours records, the supporting documents behind them and the back-up copy of the electronic logging data all sit behind a six month federal floor. Get a preservation demand to the carrier before that period is capable of expiring.
What those records tend to establish is the reason they matter so much.
How long the driver had been working. Fatigue cases are made and lost on duty status records, and there is no substitute for them.
Whether the log matches everything else. The supporting documents exist to corroborate the log, which is what makes discrepancies visible.
What the vehicle itself recorded. The electronic data is generated automatically rather than written up afterwards, which is why it carries weight.
Whether the carrier was watching. A pattern in the records says something about supervision that a single trip cannot.
People sometimes ask about when to consult a lawyer for a truck accident as though the answer depends on the severity of the injury. It does not, at least not for this purpose. The retention clock runs at the same speed whether you were badly hurt or not, and a conversation costs nothing.
The records
Six months is the federal floor.
06 Signals that mean call today
Quick answer
Somebody has asked for a recorded statement, an offer has arrived, you have been asked to sign anything, a public body may be involved, the injuries are still changing, or more than a couple of months have gone by. Any one of these is enough on its own.
These are not signs that your case is valuable. They are signs that something is about to become irreversible.
A recorded statement has been requested. The request itself is the signal, whatever you decide about giving one.
Any document has been put in front of you. Releases, authorizations and medical record consents all have consequences that are not obvious from the wording.
A city, county or state vehicle was involved. Claims against public bodies often carry notice deadlines far shorter than the ordinary filing period, sometimes measured in weeks.
Your treatment is ongoing or getting worse. Nobody can value an unfinished injury, and an offer made now is priced on incomplete information.
You are approaching the six month mark. Whatever else is true, that is the point at which the records become destructible.
07 When you may not need one
Quick answer
Some collisions genuinely do resolve without a lawyer, and this is the section that says so. No injury, minor property damage, liability accepted in writing, and an insurer paying what the repair actually costs is a claim you can handle yourself, and a firm that tells you otherwise is selling.
Being told you do not need help is a legitimate outcome of a consultation. Here is the honest division.
Make the call now if
Anyone needed hospital treatment.
You have been asked for a statement, or offered money.
A public authority vehicle was involved.
Fault is disputed or shared.
More than two months have passed.
You may be fine alone if
Nobody was injured at all.
Liability has been accepted in writing.
The repair figure is agreed and being paid.
Nothing is being disputed and no deadline is close.
One caution about the right hand column. Injuries that appear days later are common after a heavy vehicle impact, and a claim closed on the basis that nobody was hurt is difficult to reopen. If any symptom emerges after you have settled, the position is much harder than it would have been.
08 What to do this week
Quick answer
Get medical attention and keep the records, write down what you remember, decline recorded statements for now, gather the identifying details of the truck and carrier, get a preservation demand out in writing, and speak to somebody before signing anything at all.
Six things. None of them commits you to bringing a claim, and all of them are harder next month than this one.
1
Get medical attention and keep every record
Including anything that seems minor. A same day record is what links an injury to this collision, and heavy vehicle impacts routinely produce symptoms that surface days afterwards.
2
Write down what you remember, today
Weather, light, speeds, what you saw the truck do, what was said afterwards and by whom. Memory degrades quickly and nobody will ask you these questions for months.
3
Decline recorded statements for now
You are not required to give one to the other side's insurer. Declining politely is not obstruction and it costs you nothing to wait until you have taken advice.
4
Capture who the truck belonged to
The company name, the USDOT number, both plates and any trailer markings. Ownership in road haulage is frequently layered and each identifier is a thread.
5
Get a preservation demand out in writing
Naming the records of duty status, the supporting documents, the electronic logging data and its back-up copy, and the vehicle itself. This is the step that interacts directly with the six month floor.
6
Take advice before signing anything
Releases and broad medical authorizations both do more than they appear to. A consultation is free and creates no obligation, which makes signing first the only genuinely expensive option.
Their clock
It is not the same as yours.
09 The insurer's clock versus yours
Quick answer
The other side's insurer is working to a schedule designed around its own interests, and that schedule is usually faster at the start and slower later. Understanding the shape of it explains why the pressure arrives when it does.
None of this is sinister. It is what a competently run claims operation does, and knowing the pattern simply removes its advantage.
They move fastest in week one. An investigator is often at the scene before the vehicles are recovered, documenting it while it exists.
Contact comes early and sounds helpful. Sympathy is not a trick, but the call has a purpose and the purpose is not your recovery.
Offers land before the medicine is settled. That is the point at which a claim is cheapest to close, which is why it is when the offer comes.
Then everything slows down. Once you are represented and the case is properly documented, urgency tends to evaporate.
If you want to know what happens to the money at the end of that process, our guide to fees and contingency works through the arithmetic from the gross figure down to what actually reaches you.
10 How state rules change this
Quick answer
The federal retention periods are national and apply the same way everywhere. Almost everything else on this page is state law: the filing deadline, the much shorter notice periods for claims against public bodies, and what a court will do about evidence that was destroyed after a preservation demand.
The third of those is worth understanding, because it is the reason the letter matters.
The filing deadline itself. Commonly two years, shorter in some states, and different again for wrongful death in many of them.
Notice against public bodies. Where a municipal or state vehicle is involved, a formal notice may be required within weeks or months rather than years.
What happens to destroyed evidence. States differ on whether a jury may be told to assume the missing material would have helped you, and on what has to be shown first.
When the clock starts. Where an injury was not apparent immediately, whether time runs from the collision or from discovery is a state question.
We have not named states here
Filing periods and notice deadlines vary in ways that would be dangerous to summarize wrongly. We looked for authority we could cite state by state and found mostly second-hand summaries, so rather than print a table that might be wrong about your state we would rather tell you where the answer lives. Your state's own statutes are published online, and any lawyer will confirm both deadlines in a single free conversation. If a public authority might be involved, treat that conversation as urgent rather than routine.
Already waited
Still worth the conversation.
11 If you have already waited
Quick answer
A case with missing records is harder, not impossible. Plenty of other evidence outlives the six month floor, some carriers keep records for years, and the filing deadline is usually still a long way off. The worst version of this situation is the one where you also decide not to ask.
If months have gone by, the useful move is to find out quickly what still exists rather than to assume the answer.
Retention is a floor, not a ceiling. Many carriers hold records far longer, and until somebody asks, nobody knows which kind this one is.
Other records have longer lives. Police material, medical records, insurance files and maintenance histories are all governed differently.
Physical evidence sometimes survives. A vehicle held for repair or awaiting disposal may still be inspectable.
Send the letter anyway. A preservation demand today still protects everything that has not yet been destroyed, which is usually a great deal.
If you are now choosing between firms rather than deciding whether to call one, our guides on vetting an attorney and on finding a lawyer cover what to do next.
12 Red flags
Quick answer
Pressure to settle before treatment finishes, a request to sign a broad medical authorization, an insurer discouraging you from taking advice, a firm that has not mentioned preservation, and anyone who contacted you first.
The first four are about the other side. The fifth is about the people offering to help.
Slow down if you hear any of this
Settle now or the offer drops. A claim does not get cheaper because you took advice. Sign this authorization so we can move quickly. Broad medical consents give access to far more than the injury in question. You do not really need a lawyer for this. That may be true, but the person paying the claim is not the right source for that opinion. A firm that never mentions preserving evidence. On a truck case in the first months, that is the work. Anyone who approached you first. Unsolicited contact with injured people is restricted in most states, and the restriction exists for good reason.
One last thing, said plainly. The reason to make the call early is not that lawyers are urgent people. It is that a federal rule permits a company to destroy the most useful evidence in your case six months after it received it, and nothing about that timetable takes any account of how you are feeling.
How we vet every lawyer
We do not connect people with just anyone. Before we do, the attorney has to clear a checklist built for commercial vehicle work. Every one of these has to be true.
Active, discipline-free license
Verified good standing with the state bar, with no unresolved discipline on record.
Sends preservation demands immediately
Not after an insurer responds. On a truck case the first two weeks are where the evidence is won or lost.
Commercial carrier experience
A documented record of federal compliance discovery against motor carriers and their insurers.
Clear contingency terms
Fees and case costs put in writing up front, so you know exactly how it works before signing.
Tell us what happened and we will only match you when a case genuinely fits.
When you are ready
One way forward. The guides on vetting an attorney, on fees, and on the claim itself are linked in sections 01, 09 and 11 above.
MVA Lawyer Network is a nationwide guide. Wherever the collision happened, we can connect you with an independent attorney licensed in that state.
Northeast Southeast Midwest Southwest West Coast Mountain West Gulf States Interstate freight corridors
The federal retention periods described above apply nationally. The filing deadline known as the statute of limitations, any shorter notice period for a claim against a public body, and what a court may do about evidence destroyed after a preservation demand are all decided by state law. A local, state-licensed attorney can confirm every one of those in a single free conversation.
Sources and authorities
Regulation text is quoted from the electronic Code of Federal Regulations and linked. Agency guidance is identified as guidance.
Federal retention requirements
49 C.F.R. 395.8(k), Driver's record of duty status, electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Source of the six month retention floor quoted in section 02, of the fact that the period runs from the date of receipt, and of the seven day copy the driver carries. eCFR.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Electronic Logging Devices and Hours of Service, Question 8. Source of the agency's restatement in section 02 of both the 395.8(k) retention period and the separate 395.22(i) back-up copy requirement. FMCSA guidance documents carry an express notice that they do not have the force and effect of law, which is why the regulation itself is quoted alongside. FMCSA.
What we have left out. Other federal retention periods circulate widely on legal marketing pages: three months for daily driver vehicle inspection reports, and five years or one year for post-accident testing records depending on the result. Those may well be correct, but every version we found was a law firm summary rather than the regulation, and we did not retrieve the underlying rules. None of those figures appears anywhere above. The only retention periods this page states are the two we read in the regulation text itself.
Why we name no states. Filing deadlines, notice periods against public bodies and the treatment of destroyed evidence all vary, and a table that was wrong about your state would be worse than no table. Section 10 points you at the authoritative source instead, which is your own state's statutes and a free conversation with a local attorney.
On what a preservation letter does. We have described it as changing what later destruction means rather than as guaranteeing an outcome. Whether a court will draw an adverse conclusion from missing evidence, and what has to be established first, is a question of state law and of the particular facts. We have not found a single national rule to cite and we do not think one exists.
Our editorial standards
How we keep this guide accurate and worth trusting.
01
Regulation before commentary
The six month figure is quoted from the rule itself, with the agency's guidance shown separately and labeled as guidance.
02
Unread rules are not cited
Three widely quoted retention periods are omitted because we found only law firm summaries of them.
03
Editorial, not legal advice
This is general information to help you make decisions, not advice about a specific case in a specific state.
04
Honest about how we operate
We are an independent referral service, not a law firm, and we may be paid a referral fee by the attorney if you hire through us.
Michael Mangione Verified editor
Legal Research Editor · Founder, The Mangione Group, Inc.
MVA Lawyer Network is edited by Michael Mangione, who has spent more than twelve years working inside contingency-based law firms, building intake departments, designing qualification frameworks, and studying how claims are screened and pursued from the first call through resolution. The pattern behind this page is one he has watched repeatedly: people wait because the filing deadline sounds distant, and by the time they call, the records that would have proved the case are gone. Michael is not a practicing attorney and does not give legal advice. Regulation text here is quoted and linked so readers can check it.
General information, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and the treatment of destroyed evidence both differ by state, so talk to a licensed attorney about your own situation.
When to hire a truck accident lawyer, in one sentence?
Before the trucking company's records can lawfully be destroyed. Federal rules require a carrier to keep the driver's records of duty status and supporting documents for not less than six months from the date of receipt, and to keep a separate back-up copy of the electronic logging data for six months. After that the carrier may destroy them in the ordinary course, and that is not misconduct.
Is the six month period really the important deadline?
It is the one most likely to cost you something, yes. The statute of limitations is usually a year or more away and is easy to plan around. The retention floor is short, it runs from the date the carrier received the record rather than from the collision, and once it passes the evidence is gone whether or not you were ready. That asymmetry is why this page exists.
Can a trucking company legally destroy evidence?
Once the federal retention period has run and nobody has asked it not to, yes. Routine disposal under a retention schedule is compliance, not concealment. What changes the picture is notice: a written demand that the records be preserved because they are relevant to a claim. After that, destruction becomes something a court can be asked about, though what a court will actually do varies by state.
What is a preservation letter?
A written notice to the carrier and its insurer identifying the material that must not be destroyed: records of duty status, the supporting documents behind them, electronic logging data and its back-up copy, maintenance and inspection records, and the vehicle itself. Lawyers send these routinely in the first days of a truck case, and it is one of the main reasons early representation is worth more than late representation.
Should I give the insurer a recorded statement?
You are not required to give one to the other side's insurer, and there is rarely a reason to do it before taking advice. The request is itself a signal that the claim is being actively worked. Declining politely is not obstruction. Your own insurer may have contractual cooperation requirements, which is a separate question worth asking about specifically.
They have offered me money already. Should I take it?
Not before your treatment has finished, and not before somebody independent has looked at it. An early offer is priced on incomplete information, and the release you sign in exchange normally ends the claim permanently, including for injuries nobody has diagnosed yet. If the offer is fair now it will still be fair in a few weeks; if it will not be, that tells you something.
How long do I actually have to file?
That is set by your state and is commonly two years, though some states are shorter and wrongful death is often treated differently. If a city, county or state vehicle was involved, a much shorter notice deadline may apply first, sometimes measured in weeks. We have not published a state table because the material we found was second hand; a local attorney will confirm both deadlines in one free conversation.
What if it has already been more than six months?
The case is harder, not over. Six months is a floor and many carriers keep records considerably longer for their own reasons. Police material, medical records, insurance files and maintenance histories all have different lifespans, the vehicle may still exist, and the filing deadline is usually still open. Send a preservation demand anyway, because it protects everything that has not yet gone.
Does it cost anything to ask?
No. Consultations in this area are free and create no obligation, and these cases are handled on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay unless there is a recovery. That asymmetry is the whole argument for calling early: waiting has a real cost measured in evidence, and asking has none.
I only have minor injuries. Is it worth it?
Worth asking, certainly. Heavy vehicle impacts commonly produce symptoms that appear days later, and a claim closed on the basis that nobody was hurt is difficult to reopen. A short conversation now costs nothing and may simply confirm you can handle it yourself, which is a legitimate answer and one an honest firm will give you.
What about when to consult a lawyer for a truck accident where fault seems obvious?
The same timing applies, because the records still age out on the same schedule. Obvious fault also has a habit of becoming disputed once the sums involved become clear, and shared fault rules in many states reduce recovery in proportion to your share. Establishing what happened while the evidence exists is worth doing even when nobody is currently arguing about it.
Will hiring a lawyer slow everything down?
It changes the pace rather than simply slowing it. The early phase gets busier, because preservation demands and investigation happen immediately. What often does slow is settlement, since a properly documented claim takes longer to value than a quick offer takes to accept. Whether that trade is worth it depends on your injuries and on how contested the case turns out to be.
Is what I tell you private?
Yes. What you share in a case review is kept private and is used only to match you with an attorney who fits your situation. One distinction is worth understanding: true legal confidentiality, called attorney-client privilege, only attaches once you actually have an attorney-client relationship with a lawyer. Submitting a form to a referral service is not the same thing. If that matters to you, raise it directly with the attorney.
What does it cost to use MVA Lawyer Network?
Nothing. We are a free, independent referral service, not a law firm, and we do not give legal advice. Requesting a case review costs you nothing and puts you under no obligation. When a situation fits, we connect you with an independent attorney who reviews it directly, and we may be paid a referral fee by that attorney. That fee does not add anything on top of their percentage. You can read more about how we operate.
Six months, running from a date you were never told.
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