Semi-Truck in a Multi-Vehicle Pileup: What Changes

Last Updated: October 30, 2026

When more than one defendant is found liable, 735 ILCS 5/2-1117 makes them jointly and severally liable for the medical expenses. 49 CFR 387.9 sets the public-liability minimum by the type of carriage and the commodity. It does not put every hazardous material at $5,000,000, and it does not say every carrier carries $1,000,000.

Fault Among Several Defendants

735 ILCS 5/2-1116 bars recovery when the plaintiff’s contributory fault is more than 50 percent of the proximate cause, and it diminishes damages when that fault is not more than 50 percent. The source is P.A. 103-1053, effective December 20, 2024. Section 2-1117 makes defendants found liable jointly and severally liable for past and future medical and medically related expenses, except as provided in section 2-1118. A defendant under 25 percent of the stated total fault is severally liable for the other damages. A defendant at 25 percent or more is jointly and severally liable for the other damages. The section does not say that the truck is liable for the whole chain, and it does not say that each insurer pays only its driver’s percentage of the medical expenses. Whether a carrier is liable for a driver’s conduct is not decided by section 2-1117.

What the Trucking Company and Its Records Add

A truck can bring the employer’s conduct into the investigation as well as the driver’s conduct. An employer may be responsible for an employee’s negligent driving within the scope of employment, and it may face a separate claim for its own negligence. In McQueen v. Green, 2022 IL 126666, the Illinois Supreme Court distinguished these theories and allowed both when there is a good-faith factual basis. A direct claim still requires proof that the employer’s own breach of duty proximately caused the injury. The company’s involvement alone does not establish fault in a particular pileup.

That investigation can involve records beyond the crash report. For carriers subject to its requirements, 49 CFR 395.8 requires duty-status records, using electronic logging devices where applicable, and retention of the required records and supporting documents for at least six months from receipt. Section 396.3 requires inspection, repair and maintenance records for the vehicles covered by its recordkeeping rule. These records may help investigate driving hours and vehicle condition alongside photographs and witness accounts. Ask promptly about preserving relevant logs, maintenance records, dispatch communications and camera footage, if they exist. A record’s existence or absence does not by itself show what caused the crash.

The Illinois Minimums and the Federal Schedule

625 ILCS 5/7-203 requires the policy or bond it describes to provide at least $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in one crash, $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one crash, and $20,000 because of injury to or destruction of property. The personal-policy minimum is not a single $25,000 figure.

The current Electronic Code of Federal Regulations prints section 387.9 as a schedule of public-liability limits. That site says it is not an official legal edition of the Code of Federal Regulations. The printed schedule, as amended at 91 FR 45660, July 21, 2026, is:

Row (1): $750,000. For-hire carriage in interstate or foreign commerce, in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, carrying nonhazardous property.
Row (2): $5,000,000. For-hire and private carriage in interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce, in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. The row covers hazardous substances, as defined in 49 CFR 171.8, transported in bulk in cargo tanks, portable tanks, or hopper-type vehicles; in bulk Division 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3 materials; in bulk Division 2.3, Hazard Zone A material; in bulk Division 6.1, Packing Group I, Hazard Zone A material, in bulk Division 2.1 or 2.2 material; or highway route controlled quantities of a Class 7 material, as defined in 49 CFR 173.403.
Row (3): $1,000,000. For-hire and private carriage in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. In interstate or foreign commerce the row applies to any quantity. In intrastate commerce it applies in bulk only. The commodities are oil listed in 49 CFR 172.101, and hazardous waste, hazardous materials, or hazardous substances defined in 49 CFR 171.8 and listed in 49 CFR 172.101, but not mentioned in row (2) or row (4).
Row (4): $5,000,000. For-hire and private carriage in interstate or foreign commerce, in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 10,001 pounds. The row covers in bulk Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 material; in bulk Division 2.3, Hazard Zone A material; in bulk Division 6.1, Packing Group I, Hazard Zone A material; or highway route controlled quantities of a Class 7 material as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. The Class 7 condition is stated separately from the bulk materials.

The schedule does not say that a carrier’s policy stops at the minimum, and it does not move every hazardous material into the $5,000,000 row.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does each insurer pay only its driver’s percentage of the medical bills?

Section 2-1116 measures the injured person’s own share. Section 2-1117 makes defendants found liable jointly and severally liable for the medical expenses, and it uses the 25 percent line for the other damages.

Does section 2-1117 decide the trucking company’s liability for the driver?

No. Section 2-1117 allocates damages among defendants who are found liable. It does not decide whether the carrier is liable for the driver’s conduct.

Is every truck policy at least $750,000, and every hazardous-material policy $5,000,000?

Row (1) is $750,000 for for-hire interstate or foreign carriage of nonhazardous property in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. Row (2) is $5,000,000 for for-hire and private carriage in interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce, in a vehicle of that weight rating, for the bulk hazardous substances and other bulk materials that row names, or for highway route controlled quantities of a Class 7 material. Row (3) is $1,000,000 for for-hire and private carriage in a vehicle of that weight rating. In interstate or foreign commerce it applies to any quantity of the oil and the other listed materials that are not in row (2) or row (4). In intrastate commerce it applies to those commodities in bulk only. Row (4) is $5,000,000 for for-hire and private interstate or foreign carriage in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 10,001 pounds, for the bulk materials that row names, or, as a separate condition, for highway route controlled quantities of a Class 7 material.

Is the Illinois personal-policy minimum $25,000?

Section 7-203 states three minimums for the policy or bond it describes: $25,000 for one person’s bodily injury or death, $50,000 for two or more persons, and $20,000 for property damage.

Need a lawyer? This article is part of our Peoria Truck Accident Lawyer practice area. Call Parker & Parker at 309-673-0069 for a free consultation.

When a Semi-Truck Is Part of a Multi-Vehicle Pileup: What Changes