2 Years, or 180 Days. Ask a Tempe Truck Accident Lawyer

A Tempe truck accident lawyer generally has two years from the crash to file your lawsuit under A.R.S. 12-542. A City of Tempe, ASU, or other public vehicle changes that, because A.R.S. 12-821.01 requires a notice of claim within 180 days. A Postal Service truck follows a separate federal claim process.

Justice On Demand is a personal injury firm that handles truck, car, motorcycle, rideshare, and slip and fall claims. The firm works from its office at 1148 W Baseline Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210, and takes cases from Tempe and the rest of Maricopa County. It is open 24/7, and consultations are free. So which deadline is yours? That depends on who owned the truck.

If a truck hit you in Tempe, call Justice On Demand at (480) 934-0676 for a free consultation. The line is answered 24 hours a day, and the first call costs nothing.

The Two-Year Rule Behind Most Truck Crash Claims in Tempe

Most people hurt by a semi or a box truck in Tempe have two years to file suit. That is the baseline a truck accident lawyer in Tempe works from on day one. Arizona Revised Statutes section 12-542 says these actions must be filed “within two years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward.” Those last three words are the whole problem. Miss the date by one day, and the claim is gone no matter how clear the fault was.

Tempe sees a lot of these cases. The Arizona Department of Transportation counted 6,637 crashes in Tempe in 2024, with 3,007 people injured and 32 killed. Statewide, 3,245 truck tractors were involved in crashes that year. Which deadline governs your case turns on who owned the truck, who was hurt, and facts a lawyer has to check against the statute.

Section 12-542 applies the same two years to the three claims a truck crash usually creates.

Your injury claim for your own physical harm runs two years from the crash.
A wrongful death claim runs two years from the date of death.
A claim for damage to your car or other property also runs two years.

When the Two Years Start After a Truck Crash

For an injury claim, the two years usually start on the day of the crash. You knew you were hurt, and you knew a truck caused it, so the claim accrued right there on the road. That holds even when the full extent of an injury shows up later. A herniated disc diagnosed in month three usually does not restart the count. Arizona courts decide accrual on the facts, so an unusual delay in learning the cause is something a lawyer tests against the medical record.

Wrongful Death Claims Run From the Date of Death

When a truck crash kills someone, section 12-542 treats the claim as accruing at the death, not at the crash. That matters when a victim survives in intensive care for weeks. Under A.R.S. 12-612, the surviving spouse, a child, a parent or guardian, or the personal representative brings the action. The recovery goes to the surviving spouse, children, and parents in proportion to their damages. The firm’s wrongful death lawyers start by confirming who has the right to file.

Extra Time for Children and Incapacitated Victims

A.R.S. 12-502 pauses the count for anyone who is under 18 or “of unsound mind” when the claim accrues. The two years begin once that disability ends. So a 15-year-old passenger hurt in a crash on Rural Road generally has until age 20 to sue in her own name. A parent can still bring the child’s claim much sooner. Waiting has a cost of its own, because witnesses and records fade long before a birthday arrives.

The 180-Day Notice When a City of Tempe or ASU Truck Is Involved

Here is the deadline that catches people. Was the truck owned by the city, a state university, or another public body? Then the two years shrink fast. A.R.S. 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim within 180 days after the claim accrues. After that, A.R.S. 12-821 gives you one year, not two, to file the lawsuit itself.

Public entity is a broad term. Under A.R.S. 12-820, it includes the state and every political subdivision of the state. In Tempe, that can mean a city work truck, an Arizona State University vehicle, or a state truck on a freeway job. A private contractor doing city work is a different story, since section 12-820 excludes independent contractors from the definition of employee. Whether a given truck puts you on the shorter track depends on who owned and operated it, and a lawyer confirms that from records rather than the paint on the door.

Where a Tempe Public Entity Claim Has to Be Filed

The statute says the notice goes to the person authorized to accept service under the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 4.1(h) sets that list. For a city, service goes to the clerk of that municipal corporation. For the State of Arizona, it goes to the Attorney General. A letter mailed to an insurance adjuster is not on that list.

City of Tempe Vehicles and the City Clerk’s Office

The City of Tempe takes notices of claim at the City Clerk’s Office, 31 E. 5th Street, 2nd Floor. The city’s Risk Management page for claims against the city recommends hand delivery by appointment. It also restates the 180-day rule in plain terms. The city’s Notice of Claim Form is a starting point, not a finished claim.

ASU Vehicles and the Arizona Board of Regents

Arizona State University cannot accept a notice of claim at all. The Arizona Board of Regents says its universities are not authorized to accept notices of claim naming the board or a university. The board’s receptionist or designee accepts them at 2700 N. Central Ave., Suite 400, in Phoenix. Drop a claim over an ASU vehicle at a Tempe campus office instead, and the 180 days keep running.

What the Notice of Claim Must Contain

Section 12-821.01 is short, and Arizona courts read its content rules closely. A notice that arrives on time can still fail on content. The statute sets three content rules, and a fourth comes from where the notice goes.

It states facts that let the entity understand why it is liable.
It names a specific amount for which the claim can be settled.
It lays out the facts that support that amount.
It reaches the person authorized to accept service within 180 days.

Facts That Explain Why the Entity Is Liable

The notice has to tell the city or the board what happened and why it owes you. That means the date, the location, the vehicle, and what the driver did wrong. A city truck running the red light at Mill Avenue and University Drive is the kind of detail that belongs here. Vague summaries invite a fight over whether the entity could understand the claim.

A Specific Amount the Entity Could Accept

The statute demands “a specific amount for which the claim can be settled and the facts supporting that amount.” Arizona courts enforce that sentence strictly. The entity must be able to accept the number as stated and close the file. A hedged figure does not count.

What the Arizona Supreme Court Rejected in Deer Valley

The leading case is Deer Valley Unified School District v. Houser, decided in 2007. The claimant’s letter asked for approximately $35,000 a year or more, plus no less than $300,000 for emotional distress. The Arizona Supreme Court held that language failed the statute. The court said a claimant must state a particular and certain amount that settles the claim if the entity agrees to it.

The Records That Back Up the Number

The amount needs support, not just a figure. That usually means bills from the hospital that treated you, wage records from your employer, and the repair estimate for your vehicle. Nothing in the statute lists which documents to attach. What goes in is a judgment call, because the number you pick can shape the case that follows.

What Happens After the Notice Is Filed

Filing the notice starts a second countdown. Under section 12-821.01(E), the claim is deemed denied 60 days after filing unless the entity denies it in writing sooner. The one-year lawsuit deadline in section 12-821 keeps running the whole time. Minors and incompetent persons get a narrow exception, since subsection (D) lets them file within 180 days after the disability ends. How these dates line up in your case depends on when the claim accrued, which is a question to settle in the first week.

What Changes When a U.S. Postal Service Truck Hits You

Some of the trucks on Tempe streets carry the mail. A crash with a Postal Service truck driven by a postal employee does not run on Arizona’s two-year statute at all. Federal law at 39 U.S.C. 409(c) sends tort claims against the Postal Service through the Federal Tort Claims Act. That law has its own deadlines and its own order of steps.

The order is the trap. You cannot start with a lawsuit. Whether the federal rules apply depends on who employed the driver, so the answer is fact-specific and worth checking long before any deadline gets close.

The Two-Year Federal Claim That Comes Before Any Lawsuit

Under 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), a tort claim against the United States is barred unless it is presented in writing to the agency within two years. For a mail truck crash, that agency is the Postal Service. The same statute gives you six months to sue after the agency mails a final denial. Section 2675(a) bars a lawsuit until the agency claim has been presented and denied.

Six Months for the Agency to Decide

The Postal Service does not get forever to answer. If it makes no final decision within six months after the claim is filed, section 2675(a) lets you treat the silence as a denial. You can then file suit in federal court. That option stays open at your choice any time after the six months pass.

Why the Amount You Claim Caps the Lawsuit

Section 2675(b) says the lawsuit cannot seek more than the amount in the agency claim. The exceptions are narrow, covering newly discovered evidence and intervening facts. Say a Tempe driver files for $50,000 before a surgeon recommends an operation. Unless an exception applies, that early number can become the ceiling for the whole case.

Contract Mail Trucks Follow Arizona Deadlines Instead

Not every truck hauling mail belongs to the government. The USPS Office of Inspector General notes that highway mail transportation is provided by contractors as well as by the Postal Service’s own drivers. The Federal Tort Claims Act definition of federal agency, in 28 U.S.C. 2671, excludes “any contractor with the United States.” So a contract hauler that rear-ends you on US 60 is usually a private defendant under A.R.S. 12-542. Mixing up the two can send a claim down the wrong track for months.

Filing and Serving a Truck Lawsuit in Maricopa County on Time

Filing inside two years gets you into court. It does not finish the job. Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 4(i) gives you 90 days after filing to serve each defendant. If service does not happen, the court must dismiss that defendant without prejudice or order service within a set time.

A dismissal late in the second year can leave little room to start over. The usual order of events looks like this, and each step rests on facts a lawyer has to confirm.

The carrier is identified from the crash report and the markings on the cab.
The complaint is filed in Maricopa County Superior Court before the deadline.
The carrier’s designated process agent in Arizona is served within 90 days.
The driver and any other defendant are served inside the same window.

Where a Tempe Truck Case Gets Filed

A Tempe truck case above $10,000 belongs in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County, because justice courts stop at that amount under A.R.S. 22-201. Civil cases are heard in the East Court Building at 101 West Jefferson Street in downtown Phoenix. The Clerk of the Superior Court also runs a civil filing counter at the Southeast Regional Center, 222 E. Javelina Ave. in Mesa. The deadline is the same whichever counter takes the filing.

Serving a Trucking Company Based Outside Arizona

Interstate 10 through Tempe is a cross-country freight route. The truck that hit you may belong to a carrier based in another state. You do not have to chase that company home to serve it. Federal law requires interstate carriers to name someone in Arizona who accepts legal papers. The 90-day window in Rule 4(i) applies to a carrier from Texas or Ohio exactly as it applies to a Tempe business.

The Process Agent Every Interstate Carrier Must Name

Under 49 U.S.C. 13304, a motor carrier must designate an agent in each state where it operates to receive service of process. Carriers file that designation with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Form BOC-3. FMCSA requires an agent for each state in or through which the carrier operates. If a carrier never made the designation, the statute allows service on any agent of the carrier within the state.

Reading the USDOT Number on the Cab

The fastest route to the right company is the USDOT number on the side of the truck. Federal marking rules require interstate carriers to display it along with the carrier’s name. That number pulls up the carrier’s registration in FMCSA’s public records, including its process agents. Photograph it at the scene if you can, because the name on a trailer often belongs to a different company than the one running the tractor.

Why an Out-of-State Carrier Does Not Buy You More Time

Some law firm pages list the defendant’s absence from Arizona as a reason the deadline stretches. A.R.S. 12-501 does say a defendant’s time outside the state is not counted. The Arizona Supreme Court narrowed that rule in Selby v. Karman in 1974. A defendant who can be served under Arizona’s long-arm rules is not absent for purposes of section 12-501. An interstate carrier with a registered process agent almost always fits that description, so the ordinary two years usually apply.

What a Tempe Truck Accident Lawyer Locks Down While the Clock Runs

Deadlines decide whether you can file. Evidence decides what the claim is worth once you do. Both start at the scene, and the evidence window is far shorter. The firm’s article on who can be held liable for a truck accident in Arizona covers the defendants, and this section covers the paper they leave behind.

What survives depends on the carrier and how fast someone asks for it. Nothing here predicts what a particular file will hold. The same records drive semi-truck crash claims on the Phoenix side of I-10 too.

The Crash Report From Tempe Police or DPS

Who writes the report depends on the road. A crash on Rural Road, Mill Avenue, or Baseline Road inside city limits goes to the Tempe Police Department. A crash on Interstate 10, US 60, Loop 101, or Loop 202 is typically worked by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. That includes the Broadway Curve, the 11 miles of I-10 that the Arizona Department of Transportation rebuilt between Loop 202 and the I-17 split and finished in spring 2025. Tempe police release reports through the JustFOIA portal or the records lobby at 120 E. 5th Street. Under A.R.S. 28-667, the investigating officer completes the written report within 24 hours after finishing the investigation.

Federal Truck Records With Short Retention Periods

Carriers only have to keep some of the most useful records for months. A preservation letter asks them to hold everything tied to the crash before routine deletion. These are the federal retention periods that matter most in a truck case.

Records of duty status, the driver’s hours-of-service logs, must be kept for 6 months under 49 C.F.R. 395.8(k)(1).
The backup copy of electronic logging device data must be kept for 6 months under 49 C.F.R. 395.22(i)(1).
Driver vehicle inspection reports must be kept for three months under 49 C.F.R. 396.11.
The carrier’s accident register, with copies of required accident reports, must be kept for 3 years under 49 C.F.R. 390.15.

Six months passes long before a two-year deadline does. That gap is why the letter goes out early, while the claim itself is still being built.

Questions About Truck Crash Filing Deadlines in Tempe

These questions come up in the first call after a truck crash in Tempe, usually while the person asking is still in treatment. The answers are general information. Your own deadline turns on the vehicle, its owner, and dates a lawyer has to verify from the records.

Does Talking to the Trucking Company’s Insurer Stop the Deadline?

No. Settlement talks with an insurer do not pause section 12-542. A filed lawsuit, or a timely notice of claim when a public entity is involved, is what protects the claim.

What If My Injuries Got Worse Weeks After the Crash?

The deadline usually still runs from the crash date, since you knew you were hurt and what caused it. Worsening symptoms change the value of a claim, not usually its start date. A lawyer checks the medical timeline before relying on any later date.

Is There a Separate Deadline for My Damaged Car?

Section 12-542 gives property damage claims the same two years as injury claims. People often resolve the vehicle claim first and keep the injury claim open. Read any release closely before signing, since broad wording can reach more than the car.

Does Being Partly at Fault Change My Filing Deadline?

No. Arizona’s pure comparative fault rule in A.R.S. 12-2505 reduces damages by your share of fault, but it does not shorten the time to file. The deadline is the same whether you were 0% or 40% at fault.

Talk to a Tempe Truck Accident Lawyer Before Your Deadline Runs

Two years sounds like plenty of time. It stops sounding that way when the truck belonged to the city, the mail truck belonged to the government, or the carrier’s logs are due for deletion in month six. Every one of those problems has a date attached, and most of them land in the first half of the first year.

Justice On Demand handles truck crash claims across Tempe and Maricopa County from its office at 1148 W Baseline Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210. A Tempe truck accident lawyer at the firm identifies who owned the truck, confirms which deadline applies, and sends the preservation letter early. You can read more about the firm’s work across the city on its Tempe personal injury page.

Call Justice On Demand at (480) 934-0676 for a free consultation. The firm is open 24/7, and new clients get an initial 30-day satisfactory period. You can also send the details of your crash through the contact page.