A growing share of commercial fleets run cameras in the cab. Some units face the road, some face the driver, and many do both, recording short clips when triggered by hard braking, a collision-mitigation event, or a sudden swerve. For plaintiff counsel, that video is often the best liability evidence in a trucking case. It is also among the easiest to lose, because retention windows are short and ownership is split between the carrier and a third-party vendor.
What Fleets Actually Record
Camera systems fall into several categories, and the case strategy depends on knowing which one the carrier used. Event-based systems store a clip covering a period before and after a trigger, typically ten to thirty seconds, and upload it to the vendor's cloud. Continuous-recording systems keep footage on a local drive for a set period, often overwriting the oldest data first. Some systems pair video with telematics data: speed, braking, following distance, lane departure, and sometimes driver-monitoring alerts for drowsiness or phone use. Collision mitigation systems may record separate event data.
Identify the hardware by make and model through the tractor and trailer specifications, the carrier's equipment records, and the vendor's contract. A subpoena or request to the carrier for the vendor's identity and the account configuration, including retention settings and trigger thresholds, is an efficient first step.
Send the Preservation Letter Immediately
Retention periods may run as short as a few days to a few weeks for non-flagged events, and some systems purge routinely unless a clip is saved by the customer. The letter should be addressed to the carrier, and a parallel letter should go to the camera vendor if it is known. Include in the demand:
- All video from the incident vehicle for a defined window before and after the crash, including both the road-facing and driver-facing channels.
- All event clips and metadata, such as timestamps, GPS coordinates, speed, and trigger type.
- Data from the driver's prior trips and prior events, for pattern evidence.
- The device itself, including the on-board storage unit, and a request not to power-cycle, reset, or reinstall it.
- Coaching notes, safety scorecards, and alerts generated by the system.
- The retention policy and the account audit logs showing who viewed, downloaded, or deleted footage.
Follow with a written request that the carrier suspend any automated deletion. The duty to preserve arises when litigation is reasonably anticipated, and in a serious crash with injuries, that duty usually attaches at once. Our truck and motorcycle crash coverage covers spoliation letter structure in more detail.
The Third-Party Vendor Problem
Vendor portals often hold the evidence even when the carrier says it has nothing. The carrier may have an account with permissions to download clips. The vendor may keep clips longer than the carrier thinks, or may keep derivative data such as coaching reports. Serve a subpoena or preservation demand on the vendor early. Some vendors have legal compliance teams who will respond quickly to a clear request that identifies the account, the vehicle, and the date.
Be careful about stored communications and privacy issues, particularly with driver-facing video. Carriers sometimes argue the footage is protected by driver privacy rules or collective bargaining agreements. Those objections are typically addressed through a protective order rather than by blocking discovery.
Using the Video: What to Look For
Road-facing footage shows following distance, speed relative to traffic, lane position, and the motorcycle or vehicle in the driver's view. It can contradict the driver's account that the rider appeared suddenly. Driver-facing footage can show eyes off the road, phone use, eating, drowsiness, or the driver's reaction time. Together with ELD data, it can support fatigue and distraction theories, a subject we have covered in the context of ELD analysis.
Review the video with the data layers synchronized: speed, brake application, steering input, and turn signal. A reconstruction expert can combine them to determine perception-reaction time and avoidance options.
The Overwrite Defense
When the carrier says the footage was overwritten in the ordinary course, test the claim. Questions for the 30(b)(6) deposition include the following:
- What were the retention settings, and who configured them?
- When did the carrier first learn of the crash, and what steps did it take to preserve data?
- Did anyone view the video, and who? Audit logs may show access before deletion.
- Does the system flag events automatically, and was a clip created and uploaded?
- Was the unit removed from service, repaired, or reassigned after the crash?
If evidence was lost after the duty arose, consider a spoliation motion. Sanctions in federal court are governed by Rule 37(e) for electronically stored information, which requires a finding of prejudice for curative measures and intent to deprive for the most severe sanctions such as an adverse inference. State courts apply their own standards. Our summary of spoliation case law may help frame the motion.
Carrier Liability Beyond the Driver
Video is also a window into the carrier's safety program. Coaching records and prior event clips may show that the carrier knew about this driver's unsafe habits and did nothing. That evidence supports direct negligence claims such as negligent supervision and retention, and in egregious cases punitive damages. Compare the carrier's written policies on camera use with what actually happened.
Practical Checklist
- Identify the camera vendor and model at intake or within days of the crash.
- Send simultaneous preservation letters to carrier and vendor.
- Request the physical device and its configuration records.
- Obtain coaching and scorecard data for pattern evidence.
- Depose the carrier designee on retention, access, and deletion.