Progressive leaders in the trucking industry have embraced artificial intelligence, viewing it as a tool to improve safety and efficiency.
AI is being used to help coach drivers, identify fatigue, reduce collisions, optimize maintenance, and improve operational efficiency. Fleets have invested heavily in AI-enabled cameras, telematics, and predictive safety systems believing more data and better technology would ultimately reduce risk.
But a troubling new reality is emerging. Artificial intelligence is also becoming a powerful weapon for plaintiff attorneys targeting trucking companies. And the legal industry is not shy about admitting it.
A recent press release that hit my Inbox announced several major trucking litigation firms have partnered with an AI company specifically designed to help plaintiff attorneys “streamline complex litigation and maximize results.” The platform promises to help law firms analyze records, review medical files, generate legal documents, draft demand letters, and identify “key case insights” using conversational AI.
The technology, according to the release, helps firms “settle faster,” achieve “higher-value outcomes,” and reduce operational burden through “intelligent automation.”
“Its functions have saved our team meaningful time, from paralegal work through attorney review, while surfacing insights we wouldn’t have reached as quickly on our own,” Danny R. Ellis, Esq., partner at Truck Wreck Justice, said of the platform in the release.
AI law
In other words, artificial intelligence is making trucking litigation faster, cheaper, and potentially more profitable, for plaintiffs and their lawyers, alike. That should concern every fleet in North America.
The trucking industry already faces enormous pressure from nuclear verdicts and rising insurance costs. A report from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) found verdicts of $10 million or more continue increasing in both frequency and size. The median nuclear verdict across all tort litigation reached $36 million in 2022, roughly 50% higher than in 2013.
Meanwhile, ATRI found auto liability insurance premiums have climbed 37.8% per mile over the past decade, placing enormous pressure on carriers — especially smaller fleets that may lack the financial resources to absorb catastrophic losses. Now AI threatens to accelerate the problem even further.
Historically, major trucking litigation required extensive manual work — reviewing crash reports, analyzing maintenance histories, organizing timelines, examining medical records, and preparing discovery documents. Artificial intelligence can now automate many of those processes in minutes instead of weeks.
And trucking may be uniquely vulnerable because modern fleets generate enormous quantities of digital evidence every single day.
Important to act on data
Every hard brake event. Every speeding alert. Every lane departure warning. Every inward-facing camera clip. Every distracted driving notification. Every coaching conversation. Every maintenance delay. All of it can potentially become courtroom evidence.
That reality was discussed during a panel discussion on insurance and nuclear verdict risk at ACT Expo.
Weston Dickson, a member of the North American insurance partnerships team at Samsara, warned plaintiff attorneys are already using AI tools to rapidly scan police reports and identify potentially lucrative trucking lawsuits faster than ever before.
“Plaintiff attorneys are now using AI to scrub police reports and identify potential cases faster than ever. You can now even chat with an AI for $40 a month to see if you have a viable lawsuit,” Dickson said.
What’s a fleet to do?
If they fail to deploy cameras and advanced safety systems, plaintiff attorneys may argue they ignored accepted safety standards. But if they install those systems and fail to respond appropriately to every alert, risky behavior event, or coaching opportunity, the data itself can become evidence of negligence.
“If you don’t have them, plaintiff attorneys will use that against you, claiming you fall below the reasonable standard of care,” Dickson said of dash cams. “If you have them but don’t manage the data, you’re also vulnerable because you knew the risk and didn’t act.”
And now with AI at their disposal, ambulance-chasing law firms seeking nuclear verdicts are licking their chops.
The trucking industry embraced AI to improve safety and reduce risk. But the same technology is now be helping plaintiff attorneys build cases against fleets more efficiently than ever before.
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