The worst mistake people make is assuming every commercial truck has a $1 million policy. That belief gets young crash victims lowballed fast, especially after heavy Memorial Day or July 4th traffic on U.S. 60, Wendell H. Ford Expressway, or near Owensboro shopping corridors.

The real answer: it depends on who owned the truck, who was hauling the load, and whether the trip was intrastate or interstate.

In Kentucky, the basic minimum for registered vehicles is 25/50/25 - $25,000 for one injured person, $50,000 per crash for bodily injury, and $25,000 for property damage. Some smaller local box trucks may carry limits closer to that floor.

But many commercial carriers operating under FMCSA rules must carry much more. For interstate for-hire trucking, the common federal minimum is $750,000 in liability coverage. Some cargoes require $1,000,000 or even $5,000,000 for hazardous materials.

That does not mean the check is automatically for that amount.

The right approach is to identify every possible policy early:

• the driver's policy
• the trucking company/carrier's policy
• a possible trailer owner's policy
• your own PIP and UM/UIM coverage
• sometimes an employer policy if the driver was on the clock

Watch for a trap: a company may say it was "just a broker" or "just a rental truck." That matters, but labels are not the whole story. Control over the trip, dispatching, maintenance, hiring, and safety records can change who is responsible.

Move fast on evidence. Electronic logging device data, GPS, dispatch messages, driver qualification files, maintenance logs, and onboard camera footage can disappear or be overwritten if nobody demands preservation. In Kentucky, the insurer may start with the bare minimum story unless the carrier's records are pinned down early.