Florida · Miami, Miami-Dade County
Miami truck accident claims
Miami has two cargo gateways a few miles apart: a container port, and an airport the Federal Aviation Administration ranks fourth in the country for all-cargo landed weight (opens in a new tab). If a truck serving either one hurt you or someone you love, more than one company may have to answer for it.
The short answer
Who can be responsible for a truck crash in Miami?
Often more than one company. Under Florida law the owner of the truck can be liable for the driver’s negligence (opens in a new tab). When the truck was hauling a shipping container, the company that supplied the chassis under it has its own federal duty to inspect, repair and maintain that equipment (opens in a new tab). Which of them is answerable depends on what failed and on what each company’s records show.
Why are there so many trucks in Miami?
PortMiami is a container port. It reported 1,115,058 TEUs, the standard unit for counting containers, and more than 7.2 million tons of cargo (opens in a new tab) in its 2025 fiscal year.
Since August 2014 (opens in a new tab) a tunnel has given the seaport direct access to I-395 and I-95, which the project’s own site says reduces the number of cargo trucks on downtown streets (opens in a new tab).
The road between the port and the airport is being rebuilt. The transportation department’s project on I-395, SR 836 and I-95 lists strengthening the connection between Miami International Airport and PortMiami (opens in a new tab) among its purposes, and gives late 2029 as its anticipated completion.
Florida’s highway safety department counted 8,546 crashes involving commercial motor vehicles in Miami-Dade County in 2024, with 18 deaths (opens in a new tab). That count covers the whole county and includes buses and smaller commercial vehicles as well as tractor-trailers.
What is different about a crash with a container truck?
A container truck is three pieces of equipment, and they often belong to different companies: the tractor, the steel box, and the wheeled chassis the box rides on.
Federal rules treat the business that supplies a chassis as an intermodal equipment provider. It must systematically inspect, repair and maintain the chassis, and provide it in safe and proper operating condition (opens in a new tab).
Those duties leave a paper trail. When a brake, a tire or a light at the back of the rig played a part in the crash, the inspection and repair history of that one chassis can matter as much as the driver’s logs.
Who is responsible for the road itself?
In Miami that depends on the road. Five toll expressways, the Dolphin Expressway among them, are run by the Greater Miami Expressway Agency, a state agency (opens in a new tab) that took over from the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority in 2023 (opens in a new tab). Other roads belong to the state transportation department, the county or a city.
The port, the airport and the transit system belong to the county. Miami International is operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (opens in a new tab), and the county’s transportation department runs Metrobus, Metrorail and Metromover (opens in a new tab).
It matters because a claim against a public body follows different rules. A claim against a Florida county or state agency must first be presented in writing within 3 years, or 2 in a wrongful death case (opens in a new tab), and what the government can be made to pay is limited by the same statute.
Where is a Miami truck accident case heard?
Miami-Dade County is, by itself, Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit (opens in a new tab). Its Circuit Civil Division sits at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, 20 N.W. 1st Avenue (opens in a new tab). Older directions that point to the courthouse on West Flagler Street are out of date.
A case may not stay in state court. When every defendant is from another state and more than $75,000 is in dispute (opens in a new tab), the defendants can ask to move the case to federal court (opens in a new tab). The county is in the Southern District of Florida, and federal law lists Miami among the places where that court is held (opens in a new tab).
The deadline is the same wherever the case is heard. Florida gives most negligence claims two years (opens in a new tab).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the company that owns the chassis be held responsible?
It can be. A company that supplies chassis to motor carriers has its own federal duty to inspect, repair and maintain that equipment (opens in a new tab). Whether it answers for your crash depends on what failed and what its records show.
What if I was hit by a county bus or a port vehicle?
Then the claim is against Miami-Dade County, and Florida’s rules for claims against government apply. The claim must be presented in writing within 3 years (opens in a new tab), or 2 in a death case, and the amounts the county can be made to pay are limited.
Is the courthouse still on Flagler Street?
Not for circuit civil cases. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit places its Circuit Civil Division at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, 20 N.W. 1st Avenue (opens in a new tab).
Keep reading
- 01
Truck crash law
The deadlines, the shared-fault bar, no-fault coverage, the safety rules and who answers for a crash.
Truck crash law page - 02
Fort Lauderdale
Fuel tankers from Port Everglades face stricter safety rules and must carry more insurance
Fort Lauderdale page - 03
Tallahassee
I-10, the capital, and claims against the State
Tallahassee page - 04
Fort Myers
How long the driver had been at the wheel on I-75, and whether a log had to show it
Fort Myers page