What It Means
After a crash, the truck driver is not always the only one who can be held responsible. When a driver causes a wreck while doing the job, the company the driver works for may also be responsible for the driver’s conduct.
Washington’s fault statute reflects this idea. Under RCW 4.22.070(1)(a), a party is responsible for the fault of another person when that person “was acting as an agent or servant of the party.” Whether a driver was acting for the company at the time of a crash depends on the facts.
Trucking companies sometimes argue that a driver was an independent contractor, not an employee. Federal rules can be important in answering that argument:
- The federal safety regulations define “employee” to include a commercial vehicle driver, “including an independent contractor while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle” (49 CFR 390.5).
- When an authorized carrier leases a truck, the lease must give the carrier “exclusive possession, control, and use” of the equipment and “complete responsibility” for its operation during the lease (49 CFR 376.12(c)(1)).
Why It Matters in a Truck Accident Case
Respondeat superior is different from negligent hiring. Respondeat superior concerns the company’s responsibility for what its driver did. Negligent hiring concerns the company’s own careless choices, such as putting an unqualified driver on the road. Both can apply in the same case.
Proving the driver was working for the company often depends on records the company controls, such as leases, dispatch records, and driver logs, so it helps to act quickly to preserve them.
