FedEx operates major facilities near JFK International Airport, one of the busiest air cargo hubs in the country. From there and from ground facilities around the region, FedEx Express couriers and FedEx Ground contractor drivers fan out across Queens, from Astoria’s walk-ups to Bayside’s single-family homes. Most articles about FedEx crashes focus on people hit by the trucks. This one focuses on the drivers themselves.
Delivery driving is physically demanding and dangerous work. Drivers are rear-ended while stopped, struck while crossing streets, injured on icy stoops and broken steps, and bitten by dogs. When that happens, the legal path depends on whether the driver works for FedEx Express or for a FedEx Ground contractor, and on whether someone other than the employer caused the injury. A FedEx truck accident lawyer in Queens who represents drivers explains how it works.
Step One: Who Is Your Employer?
- FedEx Express couriers are generally employed by FedEx Express.
- FedEx Ground and Home Delivery drivers are generally employed by independent service provider (ISP) companies that contract with FedEx Ground.
- FedEx Freight drivers are generally employed by FedEx Freight.
Your employer’s identity determines who provides workers’ compensation and who you generally cannot sue.
Step Two: Workers’ Compensation
If you are an employee injured on the job, workers’ compensation generally pays your medical care and a portion of your lost wages, regardless of fault. You should notify your employer in writing within 30 days and file a claim with the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board within two years.
Workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your own employer, so you usually cannot sue your employer for negligence. But workers’ compensation does not pay for pain and suffering, and its wage benefits are partial. That is why the next step matters.
If your ISP employer has no workers’ compensation coverage: New York requires employers to carry it. If an employer failed to, the injured worker may be able to receive benefits through the state’s Uninsured Employers Fund, and the employer faces penalties. The injured worker may also be able to sue the uninsured employer directly.
Step Three: Third-Party Claims
If someone other than your employer caused your injury, you may have a third-party claim for full damages, including pain and suffering and full lost wages.
Car crashes while driving your route
If another driver rear-ends your truck while you are stopped or hits you at an intersection, you may claim against that driver. When you are driving for work, workers’ compensation generally pays first, and no-fault may also be involved depending on the vehicle. Your claim against the at-fault driver generally requires meeting New York’s serious injury threshold for pain and suffering. The workers’ compensation carrier will have a lien on any recovery, which can be negotiated.
Falls on customers’ property
Delivery drivers climb thousands of steps a week. Broken stairs, missing handrails, icy walkways and dark entrances cause serious falls. Property owners owe lawful visitors, including delivery drivers, a duty of reasonable care. In New York City, many owners are also responsible for the abutting sidewalk under Administrative Code Section 7-210, including snow and ice removal, while owner-occupied one-, two- and three-family homes are an exception. A premises liability claim against the property owner and their insurer can supplement workers’ compensation.
Dog bites
Dog bites are a well-known hazard for delivery drivers. New York applies a “vicious propensity” rule: an owner is generally liable for injuries if the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous tendencies. Prior bites, aggressive behavior, warning signs and complaints can establish knowledge. New York also has a statute providing strict liability for medical costs when a dog previously declared “dangerous” causes injury. Homeowner’s and renter’s insurance often covers dog bite claims.
Defective equipment
If a defective hand truck, liftgate, step or vehicle component injured you, a product liability claim against the manufacturer may be available.
Pedestrian Strikes While Delivering
Drivers crossing busy streets to reach addresses in Flushing, Jackson Heights or Astoria are vulnerable to being struck by passing cars. A delivery driver struck while on foot may receive workers’ compensation and have a third-party claim against the driver who hit them.
Peak Season Risks
From Thanksgiving through New Year’s, package volume surges. Drivers work longer days with heavier loads in darkness and winter weather. Slips on ice, back injuries from lifting and fatigue-related crashes increase. Document conditions where you are injured, including photos of ice, snow or broken steps, as soon as you can.
What Injured Drivers Should Do
- Get medical care and tell providers the injury happened at work.
- Report the injury to your employer in writing.
- Photograph the hazard: the step, ice, dog, vehicle or scene.
- Get names of witnesses, the property owner or the other driver, and insurance information.
- Keep your scanner or route records showing where you were.
- File for workers’ compensation.
- Talk to a lawyer about third-party claims; workers’ compensation insurers will not pursue them for you.
Deadlines
- Notice to employer: 30 days.
- Workers’ compensation claim: two years.
- Third-party injury lawsuit: generally three years.
- Claims against the city (for example, city sidewalks or vehicles): Notice of Claim within 90 days.
For workers’ compensation information, see the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. For delivery worker safety, see OSHA.
We Represent the People Who Deliver
Mushiyev Law represents FedEx, UPS, Amazon and other delivery drivers hurt across Queens and Nassau, pursuing third-party claims that go beyond workers’ compensation. There is no attorney fee unless we recover money for you in your injury case. Visit our home page or contact us.
Directions From Queens to Our Rosedale Office
Mushiyev Law is at 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, Rosedale, NY 11422, beside the Cross Island Parkway and the Belt Parkway interchange.
From the JFK cargo area, take the Belt Parkway east to the Cross Island Parkway and Rosedale, just minutes away.
Three Queens Driver Injury Scenarios
The rear-end on Northern Boulevard. A FedEx Express courier is stopped with hazard lights on, unloading at a business, when a distracted driver rear-ends the truck. The courier is thrown forward while reaching for a package and suffers a herniated disc. Workers’ compensation through FedEx Express pays his medical care and part of his wages. Because the other driver was negligent, he also has a third-party claim against that driver. His disc injury, with documented limitations, supports the serious injury threshold. Any recovery is subject to the workers’ compensation lien, which his lawyer negotiates.
The Bayside stoop. A FedEx Ground contractor driver delivering to a two-family home in Bayside steps onto a loose brick on the front stoop. It gives way, and she falls down the steps, fracturing her ankle. Her ISP employer’s workers’ compensation covers her treatment. The homeowners had been told by a neighbor that the brick was loose weeks earlier. Her third-party premises claim against the homeowners’ insurance can recover pain and suffering and full lost wages beyond workers’ compensation.
The dog in the yard. A courier opens a front gate in Fresh Meadows to deliver a package and is bitten by a dog that had previously bitten a mail carrier, a fact noted in a neighbor’s complaint. The owner’s knowledge of the dog’s history supports liability under New York’s vicious propensity rule, and the homeowner’s insurance responds.
Physical Toll of Delivery Work
Beyond sudden accidents, delivery drivers suffer cumulative injuries from lifting, twisting, climbing and repetitive motion. Back, shoulder and knee injuries that develop over time may be covered by workers’ compensation as occupational injuries. Third-party claims are usually tied to a specific incident, but a sudden event, such as a fall on a defective step, can aggravate an existing condition, and New York law allows recovery for aggravation.
Protecting Your Job and Your Claim
Report every injury promptly, even minor ones, so there is a record. Retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim is prohibited by New York law. Keep copies of your injury reports, medical notes and any light-duty restrictions. If you are offered light duty, follow your doctor’s restrictions, and tell your lawyer if your employer asks you to work beyond them.
Drivers From Other Companies Too
Everything in this guide applies broadly to delivery drivers for UPS, Amazon Delivery Service Partners, the U.S. Postal Service (with federal workers’ compensation rules for postal employees), regional couriers and restaurant delivery workers. The first questions are always the same: who employs you, what workers’ compensation coverage applies, and did someone other than your employer cause your injury? If so, a third-party claim can provide compensation that workers’ compensation never will.
Keeping Good Records on the Job
Drivers can protect themselves by keeping a simple log of hazards they notice on routes, such as a broken step at a particular address or an aggressive dog at a certain house, and reporting them to their employer. If an injury occurs at that location, the record helps show the hazard existed and may support notice to the property owner if they were told about it.
Key Takeaways for Injured Delivery Drivers
- Report every injury to your employer in writing within 30 days.
- File for workers’ compensation within two years.
- Third-party claims against at-fault drivers, property owners and dog owners can recover what workers’ compensation does not.
- Photograph hazards on your route as soon as you are hurt.
- Retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim is prohibited.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a FedEx driver injured in Queens sue anyone?
Usually not their own employer, because of workers’ compensation. But drivers can often sue third parties, such as at-fault drivers, negligent property owners and dog owners.
Who is my employer if I drive for FedEx Ground?
Generally the independent service provider company that contracts with FedEx Ground, which should carry workers’ compensation.
What if I slipped on an icy stoop while delivering?
You may have a premises liability claim against the property owner in addition to workers’ compensation.
Can I sue a dog owner if I was bitten on my route?
Possibly, if the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous tendencies. Homeowner’s insurance often covers these claims.
How much does a FedEx truck accident lawyer in Queens cost?
Mushiyev Law works on contingency for injury claims: no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.