Services
Document a loss
Support a claim
For carriers and employers
Service areas
Middle Tennessee
- Nashville
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Spring Hill
- Gallatin
- Lebanon
- Columbia
- Brentwood
- Mount Juliet
- La Vergne
- Cookeville
East Tennessee
West Tennessee
Reconstruction Support for Commercial Vehicle Collisions
Field documentation of tractor-trailer and heavy truck collisions for motor carriers, their insurers, attorneys and other parties. Personnel with accident reconstruction experience record the truck, the trailer, the load and the roadway so the physical evidence is available for technical analysis.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A collision involving a commercial vehicle leaves more to document than a passenger car crash. There are two or more connected units, air brakes, many more tires, a load that may have shifted, and electronic records held by the vehicle owner. The equipment is also valuable, so it is repaired and returned to service quickly. Delator Claims Division records the condition of the truck and trailer as found, before a shop begins work.
The documentation is factual and neutral. Field personnel are licensed Tennessee private investigators with accident reconstruction experience. They do not perform a regulatory inspection, place a vehicle out of service, or offer opinions about compliance or fault. They photograph, measure and describe, and they note which electronic data sources appear to be present so that the requesting party can pursue preservation with whoever is entitled to the data.
Common reasons for a commercial vehicle request
- A tractor-trailer is sitting at a tow yard and the motor carrier wants it released for repair this week.
- Brake condition is expected to be raised and no one has recorded pushrod travel or lining thickness as found.
- A passenger vehicle went beneath the rear or side of a trailer and the underride guard needs to be documented.
- The load shifted or spilled and the position of the cargo and securement devices has to be recorded before unloading.
- Counsel needs to know which electronic modules and telematics services are on the truck before sending a preservation request.
What is recorded on the truck and trailer
- Brake condition as found
- Visible lining thickness, drum or rotor condition, air line and chamber damage, and pushrod position at each accessible wheel end, photographed without adjustment.
- Tires at every position
- Tread depth, inflation state, sidewall damage, mismatched duals and flat spots, recorded by axle and wheel position for the tractor and each trailer.
- Load position and securement
- Where cargo sat or came to rest inside the trailer, the straps, chains, load bars or blocking in use, and any broken or loose securement.
- Underride and override contact
- Rear and side guard dimensions, height and deformation, and contact marks on the trailer underside or on a struck vehicle's hood, pillars and roof.
- Coupling and articulation
- Fifth wheel and kingpin condition, landing gear, and contact between tractor and trailer that shows the angle the units reached during the event.
- Electronic record sources noted
- The apparent presence of engine and brake control modules, an electronic logging device, cameras and fleet telematics, identified by make where visible.
From request to delivered record
- RequestCall dispatch or submit the request form with the location, loss type and urgency.
- DeployDispatch assigns the nearest available licensed field investigator through the statewide network.
- DocumentPhotographs, video, measurements and factual notes are captured once the scene is safe to work.
- PreserveFiles are timestamped, organized and kept in their original form with a record of who captured them.
- ReportThe package is delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
Event data and telematics are records to be preserved
Modern trucks commonly carry several sources of recorded data. Engine control modules may store speed, brake application and throttle information around a hard-braking or last-stop event. Fleet telematics services often log position and speed on the provider's servers, and cab cameras may upload clips. These are records held by the vehicle owner or its vendors. Some can be overwritten when the truck is restarted, driven or repaired, which is why they are raised early.
Delator does not download or access this data on its own initiative. Field personnel note which systems appear to be installed and record identifying details visible on the equipment. The requesting party can then ask the owner to preserve the records. Where the party entitled to the data wants it retrieved, Delator can coordinate the timing of that retrieval with the vehicle inspection so the truck is not powered up or moved beforehand.
What the equipment record lets an analyst evaluate
Brake and tire condition as found bear on how the truck could have slowed. An analyst comparing a tire mark length or a recorded speed change against the vehicle's braking capability needs to know whether all wheel ends were contributing. Load position affects weight distribution across the axles and the height of the center of mass, which matter in rollover and jackknife events. These are inputs to someone else's analysis; Delator reports the conditions and offers no opinion on cause.
Underride and override contact is documented because the mismatch in height between a trailer and a car changes where the damage appears. Marks on the guard, the trailer frame and the car's upper structure show how far one went beneath the other and at what angle. Contact between the tractor and its own trailer indicates how far the combination folded. Photographs with scale and measured heights allow those features to be matched later, after both vehicles have been repaired or scrapped.
Delator personnel have accident reconstruction experience. The work product is physical evidence and technical findings; it does not determine legal fault, which remains with the parties, the court or a jury.
Delator Claims Division is not an engineering firm. Whether any analysis is accepted in a proceeding is decided by the court.
Common questions about this service
Can you download the engine control module?
Delator notes that the module and other data sources appear to be present. Retrieval is a decision for the party entitled to the data, usually the vehicle owner, and is performed with appropriate equipment and authorization. Delator can coordinate retrieval so that it happens alongside the physical documentation.
Is this the same as a regulatory roadside inspection?
No. Delator does not conduct regulatory inspections, does not declare violations and cannot place a vehicle out of service. The work is a factual record of the condition of the truck, trailer and load as they were found after the collision, for use by the requesting party.
Who typically requests this documentation?
Requests come from motor carriers and private fleets, their insurers and third-party administrators, attorneys on either side, and sometimes the owner of the other vehicle. The documentation is the same factual record regardless of who asks. It does not include an opinion about who was at fault.
Can the truck be documented at the carrier's terminal or a repair shop?
Yes, wherever it is located in Tennessee, with permission from whoever controls the vehicle. If the truck has been driven or towed since the collision, the notes record that. Requesting documentation before repairs begin, and before the truck is restarted, keeps the as-found condition intact.
Available statewide, including
Every Tennessee county is covered. See the deployment map for typical response tiers by county.
Request documentation anywhere in Tennessee
Dispatch is staffed around the clock. For time-sensitive scenes, calling is fastest; the request form works for routine and scheduled assignments.