It’s 3:45 a.m. Your phone rings. Your dispatcher tells you one of your drivers had a collision. The driver is all right, there is limited equipment damage and the load is intact. Apparently, a third party is involved. Police are at the scene.

The dispatcher has called the insurance company, and an adjuster is already at work. Dispatch will call you back shortly with an update. And, all of this has taken place within 60 minutes of the accident.

No one likes early-morning phone calls, especially emergencies. However, this is one call that should reassure you that your claims reporting procedure is working.

Here’s what happens when your claims reporting protocol is less than ideal:

It’s 10:00 a.m. You receive a registered letter from a U.S. attorney advising you of a lawsuit in which you are named as a defendant. The suit claims that one of your drivers hit an individual five months ago, requiring millions of dollars in emergency and rehabilitative care. However, according to your operations and dispatch staff, the accident was never reported. This is the first you’ve heard of it, and you have no information whatsoever about this incident.

In addition, the driver involved in the accident left your company three months ago. In fact, you provided an employment reference for this driver after his departure.

In whose shoes would you rather be?

Trucking can be hazardous, and accident claims tend to be frequent and expensive. One way to minimize the damage from such claims is to develop and implement a collision-and-incident reporting procedure and ensure that it is always followed.

This requires a reporting process that outlines exactly who contacts who in the event of an incident. To protect against unexpected lawsuits, the rule of thumb is to contact your insurance company directly and immediately to report a claim. This enables your insurer to put its resources to work for you — including an adjuster, an accident reconstructionist and other experts — to document evidence that can help you in the event of a lawsuit, such as witness statements, police reports, skid marks and accident scene photos. In addition, these resources can help clean up the accident site, if necessary, with site recovery and spill remediation expertise.

A successful collision-and-incident reporting procedure requires buy-in from all your staff. And the procedure should be documented as company policy and part of a new driver’s training orientation.

Veterans should get refresher courses. Every driver should have an incident-reporting kit, so that the driver can capture critical details at the scene. If the driver calls an incident in to dispatch, then dispatch should have a procedure that both supports and guides the driver. Since accidents can happen at any time, provide drivers and staff with backup numbers as a contingency.

A few words of advice: Never fire a driver over the phone at the scene of an incident. Your role at that moment is to support your driver. Evaluate whether the driver and equipment are fit to continue the trip.

Determine whether the driver should be taken out of service, replaced, or transported home. Offer counseling, if appropriate.

Conduct a post-incident driver review to determine what actually happened. Then, compare the actual results with the written company protocol to identify any weaknesses or holes in your procedure. If the driver must appear in court, have him meet with your lawyer first.

You might also want to develop a list of preferred vendors in the regions where you haul — people who can help you in the event of an incident, such as preferred repair shops, towing and recovery suppliers, vehicle rentals, spill recovery firms and warehouse storage facilities.

Nobody wants to use a collision-and-incident reporting protocol. But, that’s what such a protocol is for — bringing order to a potentially chaotic situation and to provide you with a fighting chance if you’re ever sued in the event of a loss.

Not having a collision-and-incident reporting plan could translate into millions of dollars on your loss record and the beginning of many sleepless nights to come.

Plan and have a safe one.