If you work as a truck driver in Pennsylvania and suffered a back or neck injury on the job, you may be able to seek medical expenses, wage loss, and other benefits through a workers’ compensation claim. However, pursuing these benefits as a truck driver can be challenging due to how Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system operates.
To qualify for PA workers’ comp for truck driver back and neck pain, you must be an employee, not an independent contractor. However, even if you are an independent contractor, this classification may be up for debate if your employer has a high degree of control over your work tasks and how you perform them.
To learn more about whether you could qualify for workers’ comp, contact Calhoon & Kaminsky. During your free consultation, our lawyers will review your case and help you determine whether you may be eligible to seek benefits under workers’ compensation.
How Calhoon & Kaminsky P.C. Can Help
Our Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorneys have recovered over $221 million for our clients, including more than $250,000 for a truck driver injured on the job. We’re committed to educating and empowering injured workers and have proven our loyalty to them and their families by never representing employers, corporations, or insurance carriers.
One of the first steps our lawyers will take to help you seek the compensation you need is establishing your eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits. After confirming that you are an employee or should otherwise be covered by PA’s Workers’ Compensation Act, we’ll gather evidence to prove that your back or neck injury is work-related. Then, we’ll calculate your damages and file your claim with your employer’s insurance provider.
Next, we’ll negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf, seeking a settlement that covers your expenses. Our firm has exclusively focused on workers’ comp claims for more than 20 years and has decades of combined litigation experience, so you can rest assured that we will fight for your rights at trial if a fair settlement isn’t an option.
Common Reasons for Trucker Back Injuries
Truck driver back pain can be a serious trucker health problem with long-lasting effects. If you don’t seek medical treatment for your back injury, it could worsen and become a chronic pain condition, affecting your ability to work long-term.
Some of the most common reasons for trucker back injuries are:
- Truck accidents
- Prolonged sitting and poor ergonomics that strain muscles and place increased pressure on the spine for long hours, eventually leading to muscle tension and reduced spinal mobility
- Repetitive motions, including climbing in and out of the cab or heavy lifting, that strain the muscles, ligaments, and other soft tissues surrounding the spinal cord
- Single-event traumatic lifting injuries caused by lifting a heavy object onto the back of a truck
- Loading dock slip-and-fall injuries caused by wet, oily, or icy conditions
Common Types of Back Injuries for Professional Truck Drivers
Truckers can experience various types of back injuries due to both traumatic accidents and cumulative stress incidents. For example, they can develop trucker syndrome, also known as dead butt syndrome, from sitting behind the wheel of their truck for too long. This condition can result in lower back pain and nerve damage caused by compression. They can also develop a trucker shoulder, a repetitive stress injury caused by keeping the arms in awkward positions for extended periods, such as when gripping the steering wheel.
Other common back injuries experienced by many truck drivers include herniated discs, vertebral injuries, sciatica, muscle fatigue, sore back muscles, chronic back pain, and lower back trauma caused by truck accidents.
Common Reasons for Trucker Neck Injuries
Truck driver neck pain can be caused by many factors, such as the following:
- Poor posture, including leaning forward when driving for long periods, can strain the neck muscles, leading to soreness and reduced mobility.
- Not having your seat adjusted properly can force your neck into unnatural positions for extended periods while you drive, which can restrict blood flow or make injuries like whiplash more likely during a collision.
- Truck accidents are a leading cause of traumatic neck injuries, including whiplash, due to the forces experienced by truckers during collisions. Rear-end and rollover accidents are particularly bad for the neck.
Common Types of Neck Injuries for Truck Drivers
Whiplash is one of the most common types of neck injuries suffered in truck accidents. This injury occurs when the head violently shakes back and forth during a collision, causing damage to the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the neck. Other muscle strains, including cervical strains and sprains, can be caused by both traumatic events and repetitive stress while truck driving.
Neck injuries can also worsen over time and lead to further complications. These include degenerative disc disease, which can cause pain and loss of neck mobility, and cervical radiculopathy, which causes numbness, tingling, and weakness in the upper body due to compression of the cervical spine.
Do Truck Drivers Need an Attorney When Applying for Workers’ Compensation?
It’s essential for truck drivers experiencing back and neck pain to work with an attorney when applying for workers’ compensation for two main reasons.
First, not all truckers are classified as employees; only employees are eligible to seek workers’ compensation benefits in Pennsylvania. However, depending on your employment circumstances, including the degree of control your employer has over your working conditions, you may still qualify for workers’ comp. An experienced workers’ comp attorney can help you determine if you meet the eligibility criteria and gather evidence to prove that’s the case.
Second, it can be challenging to prove that your neck or back injuries are related to your work. Your employer’s insurance company will likely try to argue that your injuries result from non-work activities, so being able to provide evidence connecting your injuries to your employment is crucial.
Contact the Hershey Workers’ Comp Lawyers at Calhoon & Kaminsky P.C. for Help
If you were injured while working as a truck driver in Pennsylvania, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Contact Calhoon & Kaminsky P.C. for a free case evaluation with one of our experienced workers’ comp lawyers. Our firm is committed to helping injured workers make the best choices for themselves, their families, and their future.
