Progressive leaders in the trucking industry are embracing artificial intelligence as a tool to improve safety and efficiency.
AI is being used to help coach drivers, identify fatigue, reduce crashes, optimize maintenance, and improve operational efficiency. Airlines have invested heavily in AI-enabled cameras, telematics, and predictive safety systems, believing that more data and better technology will ultimately reduce risk.
But a new and troubling reality is emerging. Artificial intelligence is also becoming a powerful weapon for plaintiffs’ lawyers targeting trucking companies. And the legal industry readily acknowledges this.
A recent press release that arrived in my inbox announced that several leading trucking litigation firms have partnered with an AI company specifically designed to help plaintiffs’ attorneys “streamline complex litigation and maximize outcomes.” The platform promises to help law firms use conversational AI to analyze records, review medical files, draft legal documents, draft collection letters, and identify “key case insights.”
According to the release, the technology helps companies “solve faster,” achieve “higher-value outcomes,” and reduce operational burden through “intelligent automation.”
“From paralegal work to attorney vetting, its capabilities have allowed our team to save meaningful time while uncovering insights that we wouldn’t have readily been able to reach on our own,” Danny R. Ellis, partner at Truck Wreck Justice, said of the platform in a release.
AI law
In other words, artificial intelligence could make trucking litigation faster, cheaper, and more profitable for plaintiffs and their attorneys alike. This should concern all fleets in North America.
The trucking industry is already facing significant pressure from nuclear power rulings and rising insurance premiums. A report from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) found that judgments of $10 million or more continue to increase in both frequency and size. The median nuclear verdict in all tort cases in 2022 reached $36 million, an increase of approximately 50% from 2013.
Meanwhile, ATRI found that auto liability insurance premiums have risen 37.8% per mile over the past decade, putting tremendous pressure on airlines, especially smaller vessels that may lack the financial resources to absorb catastrophic losses. Now, AI threatens to further accelerate this problem.
Traditionally, large-scale trucking cases have required extensive manual labor, including reviewing collision reports, analyzing maintenance history, organizing timelines, examining medical records, and preparing documentation. Artificial intelligence can now automate many of these processes in minutes instead of weeks.
Trucking can also be uniquely vulnerable, as modern vehicles generate vast amounts of digital evidence every day.
It’s important to act on data
Any sudden braking event. Any speeding warning. All lane departure warnings. All inward facing camera clips. All distracted driving notifications. All coaching conversations. Any maintenance delays. All of that can be used as evidence in court.
That reality was discussed during a panel discussion on insurance and nuclear verdict risks at ACT Expo.
Weston Dixon, a member of Samsara’s North American Insurance Partnerships team, warned that plaintiffs’ attorneys are already leveraging AI tools to quickly scrutinize police reports and identify potentially lucrative trucking cases faster than ever before.
“Plaintiff attorneys are now leveraging AI to scrutinize police reports and identify potential cases faster than ever before. For $40 a month, you can also chat with the AI to see if you have a viable case,” Dixon said.
What does a fleet do?
If the company fails to install cameras or advanced safety systems, plaintiffs’ lawyers could argue that accepted safety standards were ignored. However, if you implement these systems and fail to respond appropriately to any alerts, unsafe behavior events, or coaching opportunities, the data itself can become evidence of negligence.
“If you don’t have it, the plaintiff’s attorney will use it against you and argue that you’re below a reasonable standard of care,” Dixon said of dashcams. “If you have the data but don’t control it, you too are vulnerable because you knew the risks and didn’t act.”
And now, with AI at their disposal, law firms chasing ambulances for nuclear verdicts are at their wits’ end.
The trucking industry has adopted AI to improve safety and reduce risk. But the same technology is now helping plaintiffs’ attorneys craft cases against fleets more efficiently than ever before.
