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A Port Truck Crash in Los Angeles Can Involve Four Companies
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles handled more than 20 million container units in 2025, and the 710 carries about 39,000 trucks a day south of the 405.
Many port trucks are driven by owner-operators classified as independent contractors, pulling chassis that a different company may own.
That can put the driver, the motor carrier, the chassis owner, and the broker or shipper in the same case, each with its own insurance.
A for-hire carrier hauling general freight must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage.
California's pure comparative fault rule reduces a recovery when the injured driver shares the blame, without ending it.
Most truck accident claims must be filed within two years.
Call (888) 713-6653 if a port truck or big rig hit you and you have questions about the claim.
Nearly 40,000 Trucks a Day on the 710, Most of Them Port Hauls
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach moved 20,120,913 twenty-foot container units in 2025, about 31 percent of all containerized international waterborne trade in the United States.[1] Much of that freight leaves the terminals by truck, and the 710 is a main truck route north from the ports.
| Stretch of the 710 | Trucks a day | Share serving the ports |
|---|---|---|
| The port end | Nearly 40,000 heavy-duty trucks | Not separately stated |
| South of the 405 | About 39,000 | 85 percent |
| Between the 405 and SR-91 | About 35,000 | 69 percent |
The counts come from a Metro planning presentation for what is now called the Long Beach-East LA Corridor, which does not state the year of its data.[2] Near Long Beach, most trucks on the freeway are working a port haul.
A crash on the 710 is investigated by the California Highway Patrol, so the CHP report is the first record to request, along with the truck's USDOT number from the door of the cab.
Who Can Be Responsible When a Port Drayage Truck Causes a Crash
A container moving from a terminal to a warehouse can pass through several companies before it reaches the freeway.
- The driver, who may be an owner-operator leased to a carrier
- The motor carrier whose operating authority the truck ran under
- The owner of the chassis, when its brakes, tires, or lights failed
- The freight broker that chose an unsafe carrier, as our page on freight broker liability explains
- The shipper or loader, when an overweight or badly secured container caused the crash
The carrier's lease with an owner-operator is among the first documents to request, because it shows who controlled the truck and the driver on that haul.
An owner-operator can haul under one carrier's authority this month and another's the next. A truck case is incomplete until someone has asked who owned the truck, trailer, and chassis, who employed or contracted with the driver, which motor carrier operated the truck, and who was responsible for loading, inspection, maintenance, and repairs.
The 60/57 and 710/105 Interchanges Rank Among the Nation's Worst Truck Bottlenecks
The American Transportation Research Institute ranks the country's worst freight bottlenecks each year. Its 2025 list put SR-60 at SR-57, listed under Los Angeles, seventh in the nation and I-710 at I-105 eighteenth. In the 2026 list they ranked sixteenth and twenty-fifth.[3]
The ranking measures delay for trucks rather than crashes, so it marks where freight traffic is heaviest and slowest.
ELD Logs and Other Truck Records to Preserve Before They Are Overwritten
The records that show what happened belong to the companies, and some of them are kept only for a limited time.
- The electronic logging device data, which federal rules require carriers to keep for six months
- The lease between the carrier and an owner-operator, which shows whose authority the truck ran under
- The service history for the tractor and the chassis[4]
- Dashcam and engine data, which can be overwritten on the carrier's routine schedule
- The driver qualification file, with the license history and medical certificate
A written request to preserve those records, sent early, is what keeps them from disappearing, as our page on the evidence preservation letter explains.
How Much Is a Port Truck or Big-Rig Crash Case Worth?
A Los Angeles truck accident case is worth the full cost of the injuries, reduced by any share of fault that is yours, and the companies behind a truck usually carry far more insurance than an individual driver.
- The injury and its future, from surgery and rehabilitation to lasting limits on work
- Each policy in the chain, including the carrier's primary coverage, excess layers, and a chassis owner's or broker's own insurance
- An owner-operator's own coverage, which can sit beside the carrier's
- Your underinsured motorist coverage, when the truck's insurance is not enough
Pain and suffering is uncapped in a California truck case, and a for-hire carrier's $750,000 federal minimum dwarfs the $30,000 a car's policy must carry.[5]
When Caltrans or a City Vehicle Moves Up the Truck Crash Deadline
Most truck accident lawsuits in California must be filed within two years of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1.[6]
- Caltrans District 7, for a dangerous condition on the 710 or another state highway: a written claim within six months
- A city truck, a Metro bus, or a county vehicle: a written claim to that agency within six months
- A death: two years from the date of death
Where each Los Angeles agency takes claims is listed on our page about California's six-month government claim.