The hundreds of thousands of trucking companies and tractor trailer drivers on the roads in Florida, many of whom travel through the crowded interstate highways in Jacksonville, Florida, are obligated to comply with State of Florida and Federal regulations designed to make sure the trucking companies and drivers are operating as safely as possible.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration developed a system called the Safety Status Measurement System, or SafeStat, which provides a lot of information about tractor trailer companies and helps to identify those companies whose truck drivers pose the greatest risk to other drivers on the road. This information is available free to the public on their website.

To effectively investigate an accident resulting in injuries and/or property damage caused by a tractor trailer driver, it is important to learn as much as possible about the trucking company and driver, including their past safety practices and violations and the results of overall safety assessments. Investigating the trucking company on the SafeStat website is a good way to initiate an investigation after an injury accident. Examples of information that is easily obtainable and may be helpful in making a claim for damages or pursuing a lawsuit include: the name and address of the trucking company, the relative size of the operation, a summary of prior safety evaluations, prior accident statistics and prior inspection statistics.

Additionally, one piece of information any lawyer or injured person often needs to know after an accident with a tractor trailer is the amount of insurance the trucking company and driver have to cover those injuries. Access to important insurance information, including the type of insurance coverage, the name and address of the insurance carrier and the amount of insurance available, can be found by clicking on the Safer website link at the top of the overview page of the SafeStat report for a particular trucking company and following the link for "Licensing & Insurance" on the upper right side of the page.