Spoliation letter after a truck crash: what to ask the carrier to keep

What is a spoliation letter?

A spoliation letter is a written demand that a trucking company keep the evidence from a crash. Some call it a preservation letter or an evidence hold letter. It names the crash, lists the records, data and equipment that matter, and asks the carrier to stop routine deletion, repair or disposal. After a truck crash, most of the evidence sits with the carrier: driver logs, engine data, dispatch messages and camera video. Federal rules let a carrier discard some of those records within months. Georgia gives an injured person two years to sue.

“Spoliation” is the legal word for destroying evidence, or failing to keep it, when a lawsuit is pending or can be expected. The letter puts the carrier on notice in writing. After it arrives, the carrier cannot say it did not know the evidence mattered.

What the letter asks a motor carrier to keep

Be specific. A demand for “all records about the crash” is easy to read narrowly. Name each category, the truck and the dates.

Evidence	Why it matters
ELD and hours-of-service records	The driver’s duty status. At each change, the device records the date, time, location, engine hours and miles (49 CFR 395.26).
Supporting documents	Bills of lading, dispatch records, expense receipts, fleet messages and payroll records. They test the log (395.11).
Dispatch, GPS and telematics	Where the truck was, and what dispatch asked of the driver before the crash.
Engine and event data (ECM)	The tractor’s own electronic record. The federal event data recorder rule covers only vehicles of 8,500 lb or less (49 CFR 563.3), so this data depends on the truck’s equipment.
Dash camera video	Road-facing and cab-facing video, if the truck has a camera.
Driver qualification file	The application, driving records, road test and medical certificate (391.51).
Inspection and maintenance records	Daily inspection reports, repairs, roadside inspections and the annual inspection.
Drug and alcohol records	Post-crash test results, and the papers behind the decision to test or not to test (382.401).
Accident register	The carrier’s list of crashes, with copies of the reports (390.15(b)).
The tractor and the trailer	Brakes, tires, lights and damage. Ask that both be held, unrepaired, until each side can inspect them.

Most of these records have a federal minimum: the shortest time the carrier must keep them. The records clock lines those minimums up against the two-year deadline.

The records clock

What a trucking company can delete after a crash, and when

Federal rules set the shortest time a carrier must keep each record. Six of these ten can be gone before Georgia’s two-year deadline to sue.

• Can be discarded before the two-year mark
• Kept at least two years
• Georgia’s two-year deadline to sue

Record

Crash day 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr Deadline to sue 2 yr 3 yr 5 yr

Minimum

1. Driver vehicle inspection reports The driver’s daily defect report and the repair sign-off.
   3 months 49 CFR 396.11(a)(4)
2. Hours-of-service logs Duty-status records, ELD data and the trip papers behind them. ELD back-ups: also 6 months (§ 395.22(i)).
   6 months 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1)
3. Roadside inspection reports The carrier’s copy of any roadside inspection.
   12 months 49 CFR 396.9(d)(3)(ii)
4. Negative drug and alcohol results Negative drug tests and alcohol results under 0.02.
   1 year 49 CFR 382.401(b)(3)
5. Maintenance and repair records Inspection, repair and maintenance records. Also kept 6 months after the truck leaves the carrier.
   1 year 49 CFR 396.3(c)
6. Annual inspection report The yearly periodic inspection.
   14 months 49 CFR 396.21(b)(1)
7. Drug and alcohol collection records Collection logs, random-selection papers, post-crash test decisions.
   2 years 49 CFR 382.401(b)(2)
8. Accident register The carrier’s list of reportable crashes, with report copies.
   3 years 49 CFR 390.15(b)
9. Driver qualification file Application, driving records, road test, medical certificate. Kept for the job plus 3 years; some items 3 years from issue.
   Job + 3 years 49 CFR 391.51(c)
10. Positive tests and refusals Positive drug tests, alcohol of 0.02 or more, refusals.
    5 years 49 CFR 382.401(b)(1)

Two gaps stand out. Camera video and engine data have no row: none of these retention rules sets a period for them. And the driver logs can go after six months from receipt (49 CFR 395.8(k)(1)). The ELD back-up copy has the same six-month minimum (395.22(i)(1)).

Georgia’s rule: the duty can start before the letter

The Georgia Supreme Court set out the rule in Phillips v. Harmon, 297 Ga. 386 (2015). The duty to keep evidence starts when litigation is reasonably foreseeable to the party that controls the evidence. It does not wait for a lawsuit.

A letter that says a claim is coming is actual notice, and the court said such notice clearly makes litigation foreseeable. Other facts can do the same without any letter: how serious the injuries are, how clear fault is, how much money is at stake, and what the company did after the crash. An internal investigation, or a call to its lawyers and its insurer, can count.

If evidence is lost after the duty starts, a court can apply a rebuttable presumption that the evidence would have hurt the party that lost it. The duty runs both ways. The court said the injured person’s duty starts once that person contemplates a lawsuit.

So the minimums in the chart are a floor for normal business. They are not permission to delete. The letter removes any doubt about when the carrier knew.

What a spoliation letter usually lists

There is no official form. Most letters cover these parts.

1. The crash. Date, time, location and direction of travel, and the police report number.
2. Who and what. The carrier’s name and USDOT number from the cab door (49 CFR 390.21), the driver’s name, and the tractor and trailer numbers or plates.
3. The demand. A statement that a claim is expected, and a request to suspend routine deletion, overwriting and disposal.
4. The records. Each category from the table, with a date range that starts well before the crash. For logs, cover at least the driver’s last eight days, because the weekly limits look back seven or eight days.
5. The equipment. A request to hold the tractor and trailer, with notice before any repair, sale or data download, so both sides can attend.
6. The format. Electronic records kept in their original form, with the data that shows when each was made or changed. A printout is not enough.
7. Proof of delivery. A method that shows when the carrier received it.

Other businesses can hold evidence too: a trailer owner or leasing company, a freight broker, the ELD or telematics provider, a repair shop, or a business with a camera facing the road. Each one needs its own letter.

Who sends it, and how soon

The injured person’s lawyer usually sends the letter, often in the first days after being hired. Speed matters. Daily inspection reports can go after three months. A tractor that goes back into service can be repaired, and its electronic data can change once it is driven again.

If you are speaking with a truck accident attorney in Atlanta, ask when the letter will go out and who will receive it. Ask whether it names the ELD data, the engine module, camera video and the driver file.

Keep your own evidence as well. Save photos, dash camera files, texts and medical records in their original form. Do not let your car be repaired or scrapped before it has been photographed and inspected.

The driver’s logs are often the core of the letter. Our guide to the hours of service rules explains what the log must show and how to read it against the time of the crash.