The compensation available after a truck crash depends on the specifics of the case, but victims along the I-90 corridor can typically pursue several categories of damages. The primary ones include the following:

Medical Expenses
Current and Future Medical Costs: This covers the reasonable and necessary medical care arising from the crash — emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, physical therapy, and any ongoing care your injuries require going forward.

Lost Wages
Income Loss: Victims can recover the earnings lost during recovery, along with future income they’ll miss out on if their injuries keep them from returning to work.

Pain and Suffering
Compensation for Physical Pain: This non-economic category accounts for the physical pain and discomfort endured as a result of the crash and the injuries it caused.

Emotional Distress
Mental Health Impact: Beyond physical injury, victims may recover for the psychological toll of a serious crash — anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the event.

Property Damage
Vehicle Repairs or Replacement: Compensation for repairing or replacing your vehicle, along with any other personal property damaged or destroyed in the crash.

Loss of Consortium
Impact on Relationships: This addresses the loss of companionship, affection, guidance, and support that a victim’s spouse or family members suffer as a result of the injuries.

Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care
Restoring Function: When serious injuries require ongoing physical or occupational therapy, in-home care, or assistive devices, the cost of that continued care can be included in the claim.

Loss of Earning Capacity
Future Income Loss: If your injuries limit your ability to work or narrow your career prospects going forward, you may claim damages for the resulting loss of earning capacity.

Punitive Damages
For Egregious Conduct: Where a trucking company or driver acted with especially reckless or wrongful conduct, a court may award punitive damages to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar behavior. Both Montana and Idaho permit these awards under demanding legal standards, and each caps them differently.

How Montana and Idaho Differ
Why the Corridor Crossing Matters: Because I-90 runs through both states, the law that applies to your claim can hinge on where along the corridor your crash occurred — and the two states differ in ways that directly affect recovery. Montana follows a modified comparative fault rule with a 51% bar and gives injured people three years to file a personal injury claim. Idaho applies a stricter 50% fault bar, allows only two years to file, and caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering (a limit that adjusts annually and, for the year beginning July 2025, stands just above $500,000), where Montana imposes no comparable cap in ordinary injury cases. The states’ minimum insurance requirements differ as well. These distinctions can significantly change the value and timing of a claim, which is why having an attorney licensed in both Montana and Idaho matters on a corridor that crosses the state line.

Most truck crashes trace back to driver or company negligence, and the demands of the I-90 corridor bring certain causes to the forefront. Here are some of the factors that most often contribute to serious truck collisions along the route:

Driver Fatigue
Long-haul routes like I-90 keep drivers behind the wheel for hours and days at a stretch. Even under federal hours-of-service limits, fatigue dulls attention and slows reaction time much like alcohol does — and crashes tied to drowsy or overworked drivers are among the most common in interstate trucking.

Brake Failure and Brake Fade
The corridor’s long, steep downgrades — Lookout Pass, Fourth of July Pass, Bozeman Pass, Homestake Pass — put enormous strain on a loaded truck’s braking system. Overheated or poorly maintained brakes can fade or fail on a descent, leaving 80,000 pounds of truck without the ability to stop. Runaway truck ramps line these grades for exactly this reason.

Winter Weather and Ice
Snow, ice, freezing fog, and whiteout conditions are a fact of life on the I-90 passes for much of the year. Black ice in particular has caused some of the corridor’s worst pileups, and trucks that fail to chain up or slow down for the conditions put everyone around them at risk.

Speeding and Driving Too Fast for Conditions
Traveling too fast — whether above the limit or simply too fast for snow, ice, or a steep grade — leaves a driver little room to react and dramatically increases the force of any collision. Because a semi already needs far more distance to stop than a car, excess speed on the corridor is especially dangerous.

Distracted Driving
Anything that pulls a driver’s attention from the road — a phone, a dispatch device, eating, or adjusting in-cab controls — raises the risk of a crash. At interstate speeds, even a few seconds of inattention can be catastrophic.

Improper or Unsecured Loading
When cargo is loaded incorrectly or left unsecured, it can shift in transit and throw off a truck’s balance and handling, particularly through the corridor’s curves and grades. Overloaded trucks strain their brakes and tires and become harder to control.

Jackknifing
When a truck’s trailer swings out of line with the cab — often after braking hard on ice or a downgrade — the result is a jackknife that can sweep across multiple lanes. On a busy interstate, a jackknifed semi frequently triggers multi-vehicle collisions and lengthy closures, a recurring problem on the I-90 passes.

Inadequate Maintenance
Trucks travel enormous distances and require diligent upkeep. When a carrier neglects brakes, tires, or other critical systems, mechanical failures become far more likely — and tire blowouts or brake problems at highway speed can be deadly.

Speeding and Aggressive Driving
Tailgating, unsafe lane changes, and other aggressive maneuvers are hazardous in any vehicle and far more so in a large truck with significant blind spots and limited maneuverability, especially in the dense traffic near the corridor’s cities.

Inexperienced or Improperly Trained Drivers
Operating a fully loaded truck through mountain passes and winter conditions demands skill and experience. Drivers who lack adequate training may mishandle a grade, a curve, or a sudden hazard in ways that lead to serious crashes.

Regulatory and Safety Violations
Some trucking companies put profit ahead of safety, cutting corners on driver hours, maintenance, and federal safety rules. Those violations raise the risk of a crash — and skilled truck accident attorneys examine a carrier’s records closely for exactly this kind of noncompliance.

Because of the sheer size and weight disparity between a commercial truck and a passenger vehicle, crashes on I-90 often produce catastrophic injuries — the kind that lead to lasting disability or permanently alter a person’s life. At the high speeds of interstate travel, and with 80,000-pound trucks navigating grades, ice, and heavy traffic across the corridor, the forces involved in a collision can be devastating. When a serious crash occurs, the injuries are frequently life-changing or fatal.

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
A traumatic brain injury results when a violent impact damages the brain, leading to cognitive deficits, memory problems, or lasting personality changes. In a truck collision, this can happen through sudden deceleration, striking the interior of the vehicle, or being thrown about or ejected during the crash.

Spinal Cord Injuries
A spinal cord injury occurs when the force of a collision drives the spine past its normal range of motion, compressing, stretching, or twisting the cord. Damage to the vertebrae, discs, or the cord itself can cause nerve damage and, depending on severity, partial or complete paralysis.

Amputations
The extreme forces in a truck crash can crush or mangle a limb so severely that it cannot be saved, requiring surgical amputation. The loss of a limb often means extensive rehabilitation, prosthetics, and a difficult adjustment to a permanently changed way of life.

Severe Burns
Burns can result from a vehicle fire, contact with hot components or leaking fluids, or, in the worst cases, an explosion following a fuel-tank rupture — a heightened risk when large trucks carrying substantial fuel loads are involved. Serious burns can cause permanent disfigurement and require multiple surgeries to restore function and appearance.

Internal Injuries
The blunt force of a collision can damage internal organs and cause internal bleeding, often without obvious signs at the scene. Harm to vital organs such as the liver, kidneys, or lungs can be life-threatening and may require emergency surgery — one more reason immediate medical evaluation after a crash is so important.

Multiple Fractures
The violent impact of a truck collision frequently causes broken bones, sometimes throughout the body. Complex or multiple fractures can require surgery, hardware, and months of rehabilitation, and some leave lasting limitations.

Wrongful Death
Tragically, the most severe I-90 truck crashes claim lives. When a collision caused by another party’s negligence results in death, surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death claim to recover for their loss — including funeral and burial expenses, lost financial support, and the loss of their loved one’s companionship and guidance. The specific damages available depend on whether the claim arises under Montana or Idaho law.

Truck accidents on I-90 are shaped by the particular character of the corridor — its terrain, its weather, and the sheer volume of freight it carries across Montana and Idaho. Several factors stand out:

Mountain Passes and Steep Grades
The corridor climbs and descends a series of demanding mountain passes — Lookout Pass at the Montana–Idaho border, Fourth of July Pass in the Idaho Panhandle, and Bozeman and Homestake passes in Montana, with Homestake marking the highest point on the entire length of I-90. The long, steep downgrades are where heavily loaded trucks are hardest to control and where overtaxed brakes are most likely to fade or fail. Runaway truck ramps built into these grades are a standing reminder of how often it happens.

Severe Winter Weather
For much of the year, the corridor’s passes see snow, ice, freezing fog, and whiteout conditions. Lookout Pass alone averages well over 400 inches of snow a year. Black ice has been the trigger for some of the corridor’s deadliest pileups, and when trucks fail to chain up or adjust to the conditions, the consequences ripple across everyone sharing the road.

Heavy Freight Traffic
As the longest interstate in the country and a primary transcontinental freight route, I-90 carries a constant flow of long-haul commercial trucks. That heavy truck traffic mixes with local drivers, tourists, and commuters — particularly around Missoula, Bozeman, and the Coeur d’Alene area — creating a volatile blend of vehicles moving at very different speeds and with very different stopping capabilities.

Chain-Up Requirements and Closures
Both Montana and Idaho enforce commercial chain laws that can require large trucks to install traction devices when conditions on the passes turn hazardous. When a truck ignores these requirements — or when conditions deteriorate faster than drivers adjust — jackknifes and spinouts can shut down long stretches of the interstate for hours.

Wildlife and Open Terrain
Across the corridor’s rural stretches, collisions with deer, elk, and other large animals are a real hazard, especially at the high speeds of interstate travel. For a truck, a sudden swerve to avoid an animal can be as dangerous as the collision itself.

Long Distances and Remote Stretches
Much of I-90’s run through western Montana and the Idaho Panhandle passes through open, sparsely populated country. When a serious crash happens far from a city, emergency response and the trip to a trauma center can take longer — time that can prove critical for severely injured victims.

A Corridor With a Deadly History
The dangers of I-90 are not hypothetical. In December 2018, five semis crashed in quick succession on an icy stretch of the corridor near Superior, Montana, in one of the worst truck wrecks in the state’s history — a tragedy that claimed two lives. Powell Law Firm represented the most seriously injured survivor of that crash. It stands as a stark example of how quickly the corridor’s combination of ice, grade, and heavy trucks can turn catastrophic.

Because I-90 runs through both Montana and Idaho, the rules that govern your claim can depend on which side of the corridor your crash occurred — and the two states handle fault and deadlines differently. Understanding those differences is essential to protecting your recovery.

How Fault Affects Recovery

Both states follow a modified comparative fault system, meaning your compensation is reduced by your share of the blame — and, past a certain threshold, barred entirely. But the threshold isn’t the same in each state:

— In Montana, you can recover as long as your share of the fault is not greater than the other parties’ — in other words, up to and including 50%. At 51% or more, recovery is barred.

— In Idaho, the line is stricter. You can recover only if your fault is less than the other party’s — 49% or below. At an even 50-50 split, an Idaho claimant is barred from recovering anything.

That single percentage point can decide a case, and trucking insurers know it. They will often work to push as much blame as possible onto the injured driver, particularly on a corridor where ice, grade, and weather give them room to argue that conditions — not their driver — were at fault.

How Long You Have to File

The deadline to file also differs between the two states, and missing it can permanently bar your claim:

— Montana allows three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit.

— Idaho allows only two years — a full year less. Claims involving a government entity can carry far shorter notice deadlines in both states.

Because a truck on I-90 is so often operated by an out-of-state or Canadian carrier, and because a corridor crash can raise genuine questions about which state’s law applies, having an attorney licensed in both Montana and Idaho is a real advantage. Powell Law Firm can evaluate how each state’s rules bear on your case and pursue it in the forum that best protects your recovery.

The attorney you choose after a serious truck crash matters enormously. If you’ve been hurt in a collision on I-90, here are several reasons to put the truck accident attorneys at Powell Law Firm in your corner:

Extensive Trial Experience
Bryce Powell brings 28 years of courtroom experience to car and truck accident cases. Having worked as a prosecutor before building his career as a plaintiff’s trial attorney, Mr. Powell understands motor vehicle litigation from every angle — and he has taken on some of the most serious truck wrecks the corridor has seen.

In-Depth Knowledge of Truck Accident Law
Truck cases are different from ordinary car crashes. They involve federal trucking regulations, commercial carriers, corporate defendants, and layers of insurance that a passenger-vehicle claim never touches. We understand how these cases are built and defended, how to hold trucking companies accountable, and how to deal with the insurers on the other side.

Cross-State Reach Along the Corridor
Few firms can pursue an I-90 case on both sides of the state line the way we can. With offices in Sandpoint, Idaho and Bozeman, Montana, and Bryce Powell licensed in both states, we can evaluate which state’s law applies, file in the right forum, and handle a corridor crash wherever along I-90 it happened — a genuine advantage when a case crosses jurisdictions.

Thorough Investigation
We move quickly to secure the evidence a truck case depends on — the electronic logging and engine data, the driver’s records, the maintenance history, and the physical evidence at the scene — before it can be lost or overwritten. Our careful, candid assessment will show you exactly where your case stands.

Aggressive Representation
Our firm is known for skilled negotiation and a real willingness to try cases before a jury. We pursue the maximum recovery available for our clients — and because our fee depends on securing yours, your interests and ours are fully aligned.

No Fees Unless You Win
We handle truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you owe us nothing unless we recover compensation on your behalf. That lets you pursue your claim without piling financial pressure on top of your recovery.

Compassionate Support
We understand the physical, emotional, and financial toll a serious truck crash takes on you and your family. Our team provides genuine support and keeps you informed and involved at every stage of the process.

Proven Track Record
Powell Law Firm has recovered millions of dollars, including seven-figure verdicts and settlements, for the clients we represent. We bring that same commitment to securing the best possible result to every case we take on.

Free Consultation
We offer a no-obligation, no-cost consultation to discuss your case. It’s a chance to understand the legal merits of your claim, weigh your options, and see how our attorneys and staff can help — with no pressure and no commitment.

Crashes involving commercial trucks produce some of the most devastating injuries on the road, and the conditions of the I-90 corridor only sharpen that danger. Several factors explain why truck accidents are so much more likely to cause catastrophic harm:

Size and Weight
A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds — 20 to 30 times as much as a passenger vehicle. In a collision, that enormous mass translates into overwhelming force, and the people in the smaller vehicle absorb the brunt of it.

Longer Stopping Distances
A loaded truck needs far more distance to stop than a car — a gap that grows even wider on the corridor’s downgrades and on snow or ice. In an emergency, that difference can be the margin between a near miss and a fatal crash.

High Center of Gravity
Trucks sit high off the ground, which makes them prone to rolling over in sharp turns, sudden maneuvers, or on the corridor’s curves and grades. Rollovers can cause catastrophic injuries to the truck’s occupants and to everyone in the vehicles around it.

Limited Maneuverability and Blind Spots
A truck’s size gives it wide turning radii and large blind spots — the “no-zones” — where a driver simply cannot see nearby vehicles. That makes it hard to react quickly to hazards or to other traffic, especially in the denser stretches of the corridor near its cities.

Brake Strain on the Grades
The corridor’s long mountain descents place extraordinary demands on a truck’s brakes. When brakes overheat, fade, or fail on a downgrade, a fully loaded truck can become nearly impossible to stop — one of the most dangerous scenarios on the entire route.

Driver Fatigue
Long-haul routes like I-90 keep drivers on the road for extended hours, and fatigue impairs reaction time and judgment much like alcohol does. A tired driver at the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck is a serious hazard to everyone nearby.

Improper Loading
Cargo that shifts because it was loaded incorrectly can throw off a truck’s balance and handling, particularly through the corridor’s curves and grades. Overloaded trucks compound the problem, straining brakes and tires that are already working hard.

Hazardous Materials
Trucks on the corridor frequently haul hazardous cargo. In a crash, those materials can leak, catch fire, or explode, creating dangers well beyond the initial collision for victims and first responders alike.

Greater Force of Impact
The kinetic energy in a collision with a truck far exceeds that of a typical car crash. That added force is what produces the most severe outcomes — traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, and multiple fractures.

Higher Risk of Multi-Vehicle Pileups
On a busy interstate, a single truck losing control — jackknifing on ice, failing to stop on a grade — can set off a chain-reaction crash involving many vehicles. The corridor’s history of winter pileups shows just how quickly one truck’s loss of control can engulf everyone around it.

Regulatory Compliance Issues
Some carriers prioritize profit over safety, violating federal rules on driver hours, maintenance, and vehicle inspections. Those violations make crashes more likely, which is why experienced truck accident attorneys dig into a carrier’s compliance records after a corridor crash.