For years, trucking companies have competed primarily on price and service. Today, however, a third factor has become just as critical: the ability to provide evidence in court. According to Charles Kriete, CEO of telematics provider Zonar, the rise in nuclear verdicts is transforming fleet liability from an insurance issue into a documentation challenge.
Speaking with FreightWaves, Kriete said plaintiff attorneys now routinely demand access to vehicle video footage during the discovery process, making video evidence one of the most valuable assets a fleet can possess.
“Every day, we see subpoenas for video data in discovery right now,” Kriete said.
The legal risk is no longer tied to fleet size. Whether a company operates 10 vehicles or 10,000, a single serious accident can expose it to the same financial consequences. While larger carriers may have greater resources, recent court decisions have shown that even major fleets remain vulnerable when they cannot present convincing evidence.
Kriete believes the industry has been slow to recognize how dramatically legal expectations have evolved.
“This is an industry that is failing to mature and failing to acknowledge the risks it faces,” he said. “I don’t care if you’ve got thousands of trucks on the road or if you’ve got one truck on the road. Your risk is essentially the same.”
Commercial vehicles are increasingly targeted
According to Kriete, every commercially branded vehicle has become a potential legal target. High-profile verdicts have increased public awareness of the financial compensation available after collisions involving commercial trucks, creating what he describes as a self-reinforcing cycle.
One example is staged collision fraud. Kriete recalled incidents where vehicles deliberately reversed into stationary commercial trucks before falsely claiming they had been rear-ended.
In those situations, forward-facing cameras have proven decisive.
“I love it when our drivers are able to walk up to the officer and go, ‘Let’s go to the tape, shall we?’” he said.
Video evidence can quickly disprove false accusations and prevent lengthy legal disputes.
Documentation can determine the outcome in court
Kriete argues that the biggest factor influencing damages is often not the accident itself but whether the fleet can demonstrate it actively worked to prevent it.
Companies that maintain detailed records of driver training, coaching sessions, vehicle inspections and safety procedures are generally in a much stronger position than those unable to show consistent oversight.
A fleet without that paperwork may find it hard pressed to ward off allegations of negligence.
He also pointed to the legal strategy called the reptile theory, where plaintiff attorneys try to convince juries that a company didn’t do enough to protect public safety. Comprehensive telematics data, inspection records and driver coaching histories help counter those arguments by demonstrating a proactive safety culture.
Safety technology is becoming part of HR operations
Kriete highlighted one large utility company using Zonar’s platform to automate its driver safety process. Through API integrations, the system automatically tracks driving behavior, provides AI-based coaching and, after three minor safety violations, generates a formal write-up in the company’s HR system.
Repeated violations can eventually result in termination, depending on the company policy.
It’s more than just safety. In case of an accident, the company has years of documented coaching, enforcement and compliance efforts to fall back on, strengthening its legal defense.
Vehicle inspection records serve a similar purpose. Zonar’s Electronic Verified Inspection Reporting (EVIR) system ensures inspections are performed before drivers receive vehicle keys. If there is an accident due to equipment failure , those records can show that the necessary maintenance procedures were followed .
As Kriete explained, documented inspection processes can make the difference between allegations of negligence and proof that a company followed established safety protocols.
Small fleets face the same legal risks
The legal exposure is not limited to large trucking companies. Zonar also serves owner-operators and small businesses in industries such as plumbing, HVAC and landscaping, many of which operate fewer than a dozen vehicles.
Despite their size, these companies face the same potential financial consequences from a major lawsuit.
“These nuclear verdicts are devastating to any size company,” Kriete said. “This can be entire livelihoods destroyed without these protections in place.”
Unlike large carriers, however, many small businesses lack dedicated safety departments and rely on technology providers to manage driver monitoring, inspections and compliance.
Overcoming resistance to in-cab cameras
One of the biggest barriers to adopting safety technology remains driver concerns about privacy.
Kriete argues that many misconceptions surround dashcams. Rather than continuously recording, he explained that Zonar’s system captures video only when one of 11 predefined unsafe driving events occurs. The footage is first analyzed by artificial intelligence to provide coaching rather than constant human supervision.
He believes the technology ultimately protects drivers as much as employers by providing objective evidence when accidents occur.
Preparing for the courtroom before an accident happens
Beyond cameras and inspections, fleets are increasingly using telematics to document broader safety initiatives, including route optimization that reduces left-hand turns—one of the highest-risk driving maneuvers.
While those risks can’t be completely eliminated, showing a deliberate effort to minimize them can help a company in court.
Kriete encourages fleets to think proactively about how they would defend themselves if faced with litigation.
Rather than waiting until after an accident, he says companies should build documented safety workflows capable of showing juries that preventing incidents has always been a core part of their operations. That preparation, he argues, is becoming one of the most valuable forms of protection available in today’s legal environment.
