What Happens If a FedEx Truck Hits You in Georgia?

At Flanagan Law, P.C., our Atlanta truck accident lawyers handle serious crashes involving commercial and delivery trucks across metro Atlanta. When a FedEx truck hits you in Georgia, you can make a claim against whoever caused the crash, and the company that ran the truck is often a contractor working FedEx routes rather than FedEx itself.

For you, a FedEx truck accident is still a car accident claim. The difference is the company behind the truck, and that answer decides whose insurance pays.

Georgia gives you two years to file an injury lawsuit, and you can recover only if you were less than 50 percent at fault. In the meantime, you may be hurt, the bills keep arriving, and every phone number seems to lead somewhere else. The sections below explain who is responsible, who pays and what to do first.

What Should You Do If a FedEx Truck Hit Your Car?

If a FedEx truck hit your car, get medical care first, then collect the details that show which company ran the truck.

1. Get checked by a doctor. Call 911 if anyone is hurt, and take the ambulance if paramedics recommend it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that some concussion symptoms can take hours or days to appear.
2. Call the police. Georgia law requires drivers to report crashes that injure someone or cause apparent damage of $500 or more. Ask how to get a copy of the police report.
3. Photograph both sides of the truck. Look for the company name, any “operated by” line, the U.S. Department of Transportation number (shown as “USDOT”), the unit number and the plate.
4. Get the driver’s information. Write down the name, address, plate, insurance company and policy number, along with the names of any passengers and witnesses.
5. Leave blame out of every conversation. Avoid saying or writing anything about who was at fault.
6. Tell your own insurance company. Georgia’s insurance regulator says to report the car accident as soon as possible, even if someone else caused it.

Federal safety rules require interstate trucks of 10,001 pounds or more to show the operating company’s name and USDOT number on both sides, with “operated by” in front when another name appears. Smaller vans may not carry those markings. Our guide to the steps to take after a truck accident covers the rest.

What If the FedEx Driver Drove Away?

Under Georgia law, a FedEx driver who hits a person or an occupied car must stop, give a name, address and registration number, show a license if asked and help anyone who is hurt.

When the car was unattended, the driver must find the owner or leave a written note with the names and addresses of the driver and the owner. If the truck left anyway, give police every marking and number you saw.

Who Is Responsible When a FedEx Truck Hits You?

Responsibility for a FedEx truck crash usually starts with the company that employed the driver, and for many FedEx-branded trucks, that company is a contractor. FedEx can still be responsible in some situations, and Georgia law lets a court divide damages among everyone who is liable.

Was the Truck Run by FedEx or an Independent Contractor?

Many FedEx trucks are run by independent contractors rather than by FedEx. According to its fiscal 2026 annual report, Federal Express contracts with about 5,300 independent small businesses for pickup, delivery and routes between stations and hubs, while FedEx’s own network has more than 180,000 motorized vehicles worldwide.

FedEx’s contractor FAQ says those businesses use their own employees and keep sole authority to hire, train, discipline and fire them. FedEx’s sample agreement also has contractors supply and maintain the vehicles, from vans and box trucks for deliveries to tractors for routes between hubs.

Older websites still mention FedEx Ground, which merged into Federal Express on June 1, 2024. What matters for your claim is the company that employed the driver, which is why the “operated by” line is worth a photo.

When Can FedEx Itself Be Held Responsible?

FedEx is generally responsible when its own employee causes a crash while working. Georgia’s employer rule, O.C.G.A. § 51-2-2, makes an employer answer for an employee’s careless driving on the job, and the same rule points to the contractor when the contractor’s employee was driving.

Independent contractors fall under a different rule. Under § 51-2-4, a company generally is not responsible for a business it hires that is not under its immediate direction and control.

Section 51-2-5 lists exceptions, such as when the hiring company controls how the work gets done or breaks a duty set by statute or contract. Whether any exception reaches FedEx depends on the facts of each crash.

What If It Was a FedEx Freight Truck?

A crash with a FedEx Freight truck involves a separate company, because FedEx completed its spin-off of FedEx Freight on June 1, 2026, making it an independent public company. A FedEx Freight claim therefore comes with its own insurance questions.

Whose Insurance Pays After a FedEx Truck Accident?

More than one insurance policy may cover a FedEx truck accident, and the company that ran the truck decides which policies and insurers are involved. FedEx’s own documents describe several possible layers:

Which Insurance Policy Pays First?

FedEx’s documents do not say which policy pays first or how the policies fit together, so the answer depends on the facts of your crash, starting with the company that employed the driver.

The $750,000 federal figure is the least coverage a trucking company must carry, and it says nothing about what your claim is worth.

Should You File a Claim With FedEx?

FedEx’s online claims page is the wrong place to report a crash, because the page is built for packages and never mentions a vehicle accident or an injury. Its deadlines of 60 days for damaged contents and nine months for lost shipments apply only to shipments.

Should You Call FedEx’s Customer Service Line?

You can call FedEx’s customer service line, 1-800-463-3339, but it lists no separate number for vehicle accidents. If you call, stick to the basic facts and keep blame out of the conversation. Before you speak with any of the insurers involved about fault, read our tips on talking to insurance adjusters.

How Much Compensation Can You Get After a FedEx Truck Accident in Georgia?

Compensation after a FedEx truck accident depends on your injuries, the evidence and your share of fault, so no average figure fits your case. Like any Georgia car accident claim, yours can include:

• Medical bills
• Lost income
• Pain and suffering
• The cost to repair or replace your car

Under Georgia’s comparative negligence rule, your award drops by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing at 50 percent or more. Our guide to commercial truck accident settlements goes into more detail.

Punitive damages require clear and convincing proof of willful misconduct, malice, fraud or conscious indifference to consequences. Georgia generally caps them at $250,000, with no cap against a driver who acted with intent to harm or under the influence of alcohol or drugs that were not lawfully prescribed.

When a crash takes a life, a surviving spouse or children may recover the full value of that life, as shown by the evidence. Our guide to wrongful death damages covers that claim in more detail.

What Evidence Matters After a FedEx Truck Crash?

The most useful evidence after a FedEx truck crash is often in the trucking company’s hands, and some of it only has to be kept for months. FedEx says it has no direct access to contractor truck camera data but regularly requests video after an accident. Our guide to how FedEx truck camera footage gets saved covers the rest.

Federal rules set minimum retention periods for key records:

• Driving logs: six months, though some short-haul drivers who stay within 150 air miles and finish within 14 hours are exempt.
• Maintenance records: one year, and six months after the truck leaves the company’s control.
• Driver files: the length of employment plus three years.
• Crash register: three years after each crash.

The duty to keep evidence can start before any lawsuit. In Phillips v. Harmon (2015), the Supreme Court of Georgia said the duty begins once litigation is reasonably foreseeable to the party holding the evidence. A preservation letter from your lawyer makes that plain to the trucking company.

Will the FedEx Driver Be Tested for Drugs or Alcohol?

Only some drivers must be tested after the accident. If the driver needs a commercial driver’s license, the employer must test for alcohol after a fatal crash, or after a ticketed crash where someone is taken for treatment or a vehicle is towed.

A drug test must follow a ticket within 32 hours, and the employer must stop trying after 8 hours for alcohol and 32 hours for drugs.

How Long Do You Have to File a Claim in Georgia?

Georgia gives you two years to file a lawsuit for your injuries and four years for damage to your car or other belongings, the same deadlines that apply after any car accident. FedEx’s 60-day and nine-month windows apply to packages and have no bearing on an injury claim.

Our guide to Georgia’s statute of limitations covers the deadline in more detail.

A Delivery Truck Case We Handled

In a Gwinnett County case another attorney sent us to litigate, a delivery truck came up behind a father driving with his young son in the back seat. The officer cited the truck driver for following too closely. The delivery company’s insurance company carried a $1 million policy, and we recovered all of it in a 2024 settlement.

Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.

Every case we take follows three steps: you talk directly with an attorney, we build your case for trial, and we push for the full value of what you lost. There is no fee unless we win.

FedEx Truck Accident FAQ

Can I Sue FedEx If a Contractor’s Driver Hit Me?

When an independent contractor’s driver hits you, the claim often runs against the contractor that employed the driver, because Georgia holds employers responsible for employees on the job. FedEx itself may also be responsible in some situations, such as the exceptions Georgia law lists for companies that hire contractors.

Who Should I Call After a FedEx Truck Hit My Car?

After a FedEx truck hit your car, call 911 or the local police first, as you would after any car accident. Then tell your own insurance company. FedEx’s customer service line lists no number for vehicle accidents, so if you were hurt, the next call is to a lawyer who can find out which company ran the truck.

What If a FedEx Truck Hit My Parked Car?

If a FedEx truck hit your parked car, your own collision coverage can pay for repairs even though someone else caused the damage. Georgia gives you four years to sue over damage to your car, and the driver had to stop and either find you or leave a note with names and addresses.

What Insurance Company Does FedEx Use?

The insurance behind a FedEx truck depends on which company ran it. FedEx publishes a $5,000,000 auto policy for Federal Express owned and non-owned vehicles, but contractors must carry their own coverage, and FedEx covers vehicle accidents itself up to certain limits. Identifying the driver’s employer is the first step to finding the right policy.

Related Guides

• How personal injury settlements work
• Pain and suffering damages in Georgia
• The deadline for a Georgia wrongful death lawsuit