Houston Truck Accident Lawyer

A car crash usually involves one at-fault driver and one insurance policy. A truck crash can involve a web of companies, each with its own insurer and its own lawyers: the driver, the motor carrier that employs or leases the driver, the freight broker that arranged the load, the shipper that loaded (or overloaded) the cargo, and the maintenance contractor responsible for the brakes and tires. Identifying every responsible party is often the difference between partial and full compensation.

Texas law gives injured people two important routes against the trucking company itself. Under respondeat superior, a motor carrier is generally responsible for its driver's negligence on the job. Separately, the company can be directly liable for its own failures — negligent hiring, training, supervision, or retention — such as putting a driver with a disqualifying record behind the wheel or pressuring drivers to run illegal hours. These corporate-negligence claims often reveal the safety culture that made the crash predictable.

Interstate trucking is governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), and violations of these rules are powerful evidence of negligence. The hours-of-service rules (49 C.F.R. Part 395) limit how long a driver may drive and work before mandatory rest, because fatigue impairs a driver much like alcohol. The electronic logging device (ELD) mandate requires most trucks to record driving time automatically, making falsified paper logs far harder to hide.

Carriers must also systematically inspect, repair, and maintain their vehicles (49 C.F.R. Part 396), keep maintenance records, and complete driver inspection reports. Bald tires, out-of-adjustment brakes, and broken lights are not bad luck — they are documented, preventable failures. Other regulations cover driver qualification files, drug and alcohol testing, and cargo securement. When we investigate a truck crash, we measure the carrier's conduct against every one of these standards.

The most important evidence in a truck case is in the trucking company's hands, and much of it can legally disappear if no one acts. The tractor's engine control module (ECM) — the "black box" — may record speed, braking, and throttle data from the seconds before impact. ELD driving records, dispatch and communication records, driver qualification files, inspection reports, and dash-camera footage all tell the story of the crash, and some of it may be overwritten or discarded in the ordinary course of business unless it is preserved.

That is why one of the first things we do is send a spoliation (preservation) letter demanding that the carrier preserve the truck, its electronic data, and its records. Once that letter is delivered, destroying evidence carries serious consequences in litigation. We also move quickly on the things no letter can save: skid marks, debris fields, surveillance video from nearby businesses, and witness memories. In truck litigation, the side that gets to the evidence first usually controls the case.

When 80,000 pounds meets 4,000, the occupants of the smaller vehicle absorb the violence. Truck crashes disproportionately cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, crush injuries, amputations, internal organ damage, and severe burns — injuries that mean surgeries, rehabilitation, lifetime care needs, and lost earning capacity. Building a claim around injuries like these requires medical and economic proof of what the rest of your life will actually cost.

Federal law recognizes this danger: interstate carriers are required to carry minimum liability coverage far higher than ordinary auto policies — for most general freight, $750,000, and considerably more for hazardous cargo, compared with the $30,000 per person Texas requires of everyday drivers. That coverage exists to compensate people the industry injures, but insurers do not part with it willingly. Multiple policies (carrier, broker, shipper) may stack into the recovery, and finding all of them is part of our job.

In most cases, Texas law gives you two years from the date of the crash to file suit (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003). But in truck litigation the practical deadline is far shorter: electronic data cycles out, drivers change employers, and carriers sometimes dissolve or rebrand. The sooner an investigation and preservation demand begin, the stronger your case. (This page is general information, not legal advice about your specific deadline.)

Texas also applies modified comparative fault — the 51% bar (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001). Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, and if you are found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing. Expect the trucking company's team to push blame onto you from day one; countering that narrative with data, reconstruction, and regulatory violations is exactly what early investigation is for.

If you or a family member has been hurt in a crash with a commercial truck anywhere in the Houston area, do not wait for the carrier's insurer to set the terms. Get medical care, keep every record, decline recorded statements, and talk to a lawyer before the evidence starts disappearing. Your consultation with RK LAW is free, we are available 24/7, and you pay no fee unless we win.