Package delivery has moved onto every residential street in Florida. Cargo vans and box trucks make dozens or hundreds of stops a day, double-park, back out of driveways, roll through stop signs in neighborhoods and pull away from the curb while the driver checks the next address on a handheld scanner. Drivers are often paid by the route and measured by the number of stops completed per hour. Pedestrians, cyclists, children and drivers of small cars are the people most often hurt.
The legal picture is complicated by how last-mile delivery is organized. A national retailer or logistics company may contract the route to a local delivery company, which hires the driver, which drives a van leased from a rental or fleet company. Sorting out who is responsible, and which insurance applies, is the first job in these cases.
1. Identify every company connected to the van
Photograph the van from all sides, including the logos, the license plate, any USDOT number, and any fleet or unit number on the bumper or door. Get the driver's name and ask who employs them; the answer is often a company you have never heard of, not the brand painted on the van. Photograph the driver's uniform and badge if they will allow it. Note whether the van had a rental company sticker or barcode. Each of these details points us to a different contract and a different insurance policy.
2. Preserve the route data before it disappears
Delivery vans generate an unusual amount of evidence. The driver's handheld device typically records the time and location of every package scan, which can place the van within seconds of the crash. Telematics units record speed, hard braking and sharp turns. Many fleets use in-cab cameras that face the road and the driver. The route plan shows how many stops were assigned and how far behind the driver was running. This data may be held by the delivery company, the platform that assigned the route, or a vendor, and it can be overwritten on a short cycle. Our preservation letter goes to all of them in the first days.
3. Learn which safety rules apply to this vehicle
Whether federal trucking rules apply depends on the vehicle and the trip. A vehicle used in interstate commerce is a commercial motor vehicle under federal rules if its gross vehicle weight rating is 10,001 pounds or more (49 C.F.R. § 390.5). Florida's traffic code uses a threshold of 10,000 pounds (§ 316.003(14), Fla. Stat.). Some large cargo vans and most box trucks meet these thresholds; many smaller vans do not. For in-state trucks under 26,001 pounds that do not carry placardable hazardous materials, Florida exempts the vehicle from most of the federal rules but still requires compliance with the federal rules on drug and alcohol testing, safe driving, vehicle equipment and cargo securement, and certain inspection and maintenance duties (§ 316.302(2)(f)). We check the weight rating on the door sticker and the nature of the route before deciding which rules to apply.
4. Do not give statements to multiple insurers
After a delivery van crash you may hear from the delivery company's insurer, the retailer's claims administrator and a rental company's insurer. Each will want a recorded statement, and each will try to point at the others. Refer every call to us. Report the crash to your own auto insurer, because Florida personal injury protection coverage under your own policy is often the first source of payment for your medical bills.
5. Send the preservation letter to the contractor and the platform
Our letter goes to the delivery company, the retailer or logistics platform that assigned the route, the van's owner or lessor, and any telematics or camera vendor. It demands the van, its telematics and camera footage, handheld scan data and GPS history, the route assignment and stop count, dispatch and text messages, the driver's hiring file, training records, driving history and any prior complaints, the contracts between the companies, and maintenance and inspection records.
Who may be responsible
The driver is responsible for careless driving. The company that employed the driver may be responsible for the driver's conduct on the job, and it may also be responsible in its own right for hiring a driver with a poor record, failing to train, or setting route demands that encouraged speeding. The retailer or logistics platform that contracts the route may share responsibility depending on how much control it exercised over the driver's work, the schedule and the equipment; that question turns on the contracts and on facts we develop in discovery. The vehicle's owner may also be involved, although Florida limits the liability of some lessors and rental companies (§ 324.021(9)(b)), and a federal law provides that a business that rents or leases vehicles is not liable "by reason of being the owner of the vehicle" when "there is no negligence or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the owner" (49 U.S.C. § 30106(a)). A driver using a personal car for app-based deliveries raises separate questions about whether a personal or commercial policy applies.
“by reason of being the owner of the vehicle”
§ 324.021(9)(b)
The Florida rules that matter
Personal injury protection. Florida PIP coverage provides up to "$10,000 in medical and disability benefits," but medical benefits apply only if you receive initial care "within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident" (§ 627.736(1), Fla. Stat.). Benefits are limited to $2,500 if a qualifying provider determines you did not have an emergency medical condition. Get evaluated promptly.
Deadlines. For most negligence claims, Florida's limitations period is two years (§ 95.11(5)(a)). A wrongful death action also has a two-year limit (§ 95.11(5)(e)). If a government-owned delivery or utility vehicle is involved, written notice is required under § 768.28(6).
Fault. Delivery companies often argue that the injured pedestrian or driver was partly at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your own percentage of fault (§ 768.81(2)) and barred if you are found more than 50 percent at fault (§ 768.81(6)). Each defendant pays its own share (§ 768.81(3)), and a defendant that blames an absent company must plead and identify it (§ 768.81(3)(a)1.), which is why we name every company in the chain.
Insurance. The $750,000 federal minimum for for-hire interstate property carriers applies only to vehicles rated 10,001 pounds or more (49 C.F.R. § 387.9). Many delivery vans fall outside that rule, so the real coverage is whatever the contractor, the platform and the vehicle owner bought. Identifying every policy early is essential.
“$10,000 in medical and disability benefits,”
§ 627.736(1)
Your checklist
- Photograph the van's logos, plates, unit numbers and any rental markings.
- Get the driver's name and the name of the company that employs them.
- Get medical care within 14 days, and sooner if you are hurt.
- Report the crash to your own auto insurer for PIP.
- Do not give recorded statements to the delivery company, retailer or rental company insurers.
- Call us quickly so scan data, telematics and camera footage are preserved.
How we handle these cases
Last-mile cases turn on the contracts and the data. We identify each company between the brand on the van and the driver behind the wheel, secure the route and scan records that show what the driver was doing, and find every insurance policy that may apply. We handle delivery van and commercial vehicle crash cases throughout Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. Meetings by appointment only. Call 305-748-3789.
This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.