Workers’ Compensation Lawyers for Chattanooga Delivery Drivers
Accomplished representation when delivery drivers suffer injuries
Residents of Chattanooga use delivery services for all types of products, including food, groceries, clothing, household items, and gifts. Businesses use delivery services for their offices, inventory, equipment, and many other reasons. Many in Chattanooga make their living driving delivery trucks.
Accidents involving delivery drivers are quite common. More and more, customers and delivery services prioritize speed, which increases the risk of an accident. In addition to driving trucks, delivery drivers are often involved with loading and unloading their vehicles. At Wagner Workers Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers, we hold employers accountable when their employees suffer workplace accidents or injuries. Call us now to assert your right to medical compensation, temporary disability, and permanent disability.
How can we help?
- What are the types of delivery services in Chattanooga?
- Why is driving a delivery truck dangerous?
- What types of injuries do delivery drivers suffer?
- Do I qualify for workers’ compensation?
- What benefits can I receive if I have a workers’ compensation claim?
- How do you fight for delivery drivers who suffer injuries while working?
- Do you have a Chattanooga workers’ compensation lawyer who represents delivery drivers near me?
What are the types of delivery services in Chattanooga?
Our workers' compensation lawyers represent employees who drive for companies that hire drivers to deliver their own company’s products and companies that hire drivers to deliver products from companies made in every part of Tennessee, the US, and the world.
These delivery services include:
- Pizza and Chinese food delivery drivers
- Drivers for all other types of restaurants and food services
- Local mom-and-pop stores
- Drivers for Chattanooga companies that make all types of products, such as McKee Foods Corporation (which makes Little Debbie snack cakes), Pepsi Co., electronic products, furniture, crafts, chemicals, flowers, and every other type of product consumers could want
- Big chain stores such as Walmart, Target, and Home Depot
- Uber Eats
- DoorDash
- UPS
- FedEx
- Amazon
- DHL Express
- Many other companies
Why is driving a delivery truck dangerous?
Delivery drivers are likely to get into accidents for many reasons. A common reason is that most drivers rely on a navigation system/GPS to know where to drive. Accidents can happen when drivers look at their GPS instead of planning their route in advance, or when they look at the GPS instead of just listening to the GPS. Other causes of delivery accidents include speeding (especially when drivers work for companies that promise fast deliveries), driver fatigue, cargo that moves (which can cause a driver to lose control), inexperience driving a truck, and many other causes.
When delivery truck accidents happen, drivers are likely to suffer serious injuries. The bigger the truck, the more serious the injuries are likely to be. Delivery trucks are more prone to rollovers, blind spot accidents, and wide turn accidents than cars.
What types of injuries do delivery drivers suffer?
We help delivery drivers who suffer workplace injuries due to vehicle accidents, loading and unloading accidents, assaults, slip and fall accidents (such as falling on slippery surfaces while making a delivery), dog bites, and other accidents.
Common delivery injuries include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage (including paralysis), amputation, broken bones, burn injuries, back and neck injuries, shoulder injuries, nerve injuries, muscle injuries, tissue damage, and many other types of injuries.
Do I qualify for workers’ compensation?
Generally, only employees can file a workers’ compensation claim. Independent contractors normally must file a personal injury claim. Don’t make any assumptions. Some workers whose employer says that they’re contractors may be employees.
Many drivers for local food service and mom-and-pop stores are employees. The large delivery services have their own standards. Some large delivery services hire drivers to work only for their company whenever there is a need, which helps show that a driver is an employee. Other services hire drivers to work a specific route at the convenience of the driver, which helps show that a driver is an independent contractor.
Tennessee uses the following tests to determine if you are an employee or a contractor.
- The right to control the driver’s work
- How the delivery company pays the driver
- The right to terminate the driver’s employment
- The freedom to choose and hire helpers
- Who provides the delivery truck
- The worker’s hours
- The freedom to work for other employers, including other delivery companies
To be eligible for workers’ compensation:
- Your Tennessee employer must have five or more employees (there are different requirements for construction employers).
- Your injuries must be due to work that you performed during the scope of your employment.
What benefits can I receive if I have a workers’ compensation claim?
Our Chattanooga workers’ compensation lawyers fight to obtain the maximum amount of benefits you deserve. Workers’ compensation benefits in Tennessee include:
- Medical benefits: Delivery drivers who are injured while working have the right to payment for all their medical bills to improve their health and to keep their health stable, for as long as they need medical care. Generally, the employer will provide a panel (list) of doctors who can treat the worker’s condition. The delivery driver will then choose the doctor they prefer from that panel.
- Temporary disability benefits: Delivery drivers can receive wage benefits (generally, about 2/3 of their wages) until they reach the point of maximum medical improvement (the point when additional medical care is not likely to improve their health). However, those benefits don’t start until day 8 of disability. If the disability lasts more than 14 days, the first seven are paid back retroactively.
- Permanent disability benefits: Delivery drivers can qualify for permanent disability benefits if they can return to the job market. These benefits are also generally calculated as 2/3 of AWW multiplied by the impairment rating × 450 weeks (with possible statutory multipliers if wage loss persists).
- Death benefits: If a delivery accident is fatal, our Chattanooga workers’ compensation lawyers help the families (a dependent spouse and dependent children) of delivery drivers obtain funeral and burial expenses (up to $10,000) and 2/3 of the average weekly wages.
Delivery drivers may also be eligible for certain expense reimbursement, such as the cost to see doctors who are more than 15 away from their home.
How do you fight for delivery drivers who suffer injuries while working?
At Wagner Workers Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers, we help delivery drivers who have work injury claims in the following ways:
- Helping to show that you are an employee, and not an independent contractor
- Showing that your injuries are due to a workplace accident
- Verifying that your injuries happened while you were on duty
- Providing prompt notice to your employer (you should notify your employer immediately)
- Verifying your injuries and course of treatment with your doctors
- Verifying your wages
- Showing that you have a permanent disability and helping to determine your impairment rating
- Contesting any effort by your employer to:
- Force you back to work before your injuries fully heal
- Argue that your injuries are due to a pre-existing condition
- Argue that you are not complying with your duty to improve your health and look for work if and when you heal
- Limit your Tennessee workers’ compensation claim in any other way
- Obtaining death benefits for eligible family members
- Filing your claim
- Representing you at any workers’ compensation hearings
- Negotiating settlements when you reach the point of maximum medical improvement, so you can control the benefit payments
Do you have a Chattanooga workers’ compensation lawyer who represents delivery drivers near me?
Yes. Our workers’ compensation lawyers meet workers at our office located at 701 Market Street, Suite 310, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Our attorneys speak with clients by phone and through online video platforms like Zoom. If your injuries prevent you from coming to our office, we can arrange to see you at your home or a healthcare facility.
Our team can answer all your questions and prepare you for each step of the claims process.
Speak with our respected Chattanooga workers’ compensation lawyers today
Delivery companies, from the smallest to the largest, have a duty to ensure the safety of their employees. At Wagner Workers Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers, we work to show you qualify for benefits, obtain the full benefits you deserve, and contest every effort by your employer to deny or reduce your claim.
Call our Chattanooga workers’ compensation lawyers for delivery drivers today or submit our contact form to schedule a free consultation. Our lawyers also represent clients in Cleveland, Tennessee, and North Georgia.