Houston 18-Wheeler and Truck Accident Lawyers
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This page is about crashes involving commercial motor vehicles in and around Houston — 18-wheelers, tankers, dump trucks, flatbeds, tow trucks, box trucks and port drayage tractors. These cases are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations at 49 C.F.R. Parts 350–399 in addition to Texas negligence law, and that second rulebook changes how they are investigated and proven.
For passenger-vehicle collisions, start with our Houston car accident page. Related pages: Houston overview, Houston motorcycle accidents, Dallas truck accidents y nuestra Texas overview.
How bad is the truck crash problem in Harris County?
The state’s own count
The Texas Department of Transportation publishes commercial motor vehicle crash counts by county. For 2024, TxDOT recorded in Harris County: 41 fatal crashes, 41 fatalities, 98 suspected serious injury crashes, 112 suspected serious injuries, and 6,313 CMV-involved crashes in total.
Statewide in the same year, Texas recorded 546 fatal CMV crashes, 608 fatalities and 39,393 CMV-involved crashes. Harris County alone accounted for roughly one in six commercial vehicle crashes in the entire state — more than Dallas County (3,857) and more than Tarrant County (1,716). Source: TxDOT, “Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Involved Crashes and Injuries by County 2024,” data as processed 9 April 2025.
Why Houston specifically
Houston sits at the intersection of a major port, a petrochemical complex and several of the busiest freight corridors in the country. I-10, I-45, I-69/US-59, Beltway 8 and the Loop carry enormous volumes of heavy commercial traffic through dense urban interchanges, and port drayage adds short-haul container traffic on top of long-haul freight. That combination produces both the volume and the severity reflected in the TxDOT numbers.
How long do you have to file a truck accident claim in Texas?
Two years
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003 requires a personal injury suit to be brought not later than two years after the cause of action accrues. Wrongful death claims run from the date of death. Claims against governmental units carry separate and much shorter notice requirements, and city charters can impose notice periods measured in months rather than years — if a municipal or county vehicle is involved, treat the matter as urgent.
The deadline that arrives first
Two years is the deadline to sue. It is not the deadline to preserve the evidence that decides the case. See the six-month section below; the two clocks are not the same, and the shorter one is the one people miss.
How does Texas proportionate responsibility work?
The 51 percent bar
Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, a claimant may not recover damages if his or her percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. Below that threshold, recovery is reduced by the claimant’s percentage.
This is a meaningful difference from several neighbouring states. At exactly 50 percent responsibility a Texas claimant still recovers — reduced by half — whereas in Tennessee and Arkansas a 50 percent finding ends the claim entirely. If your crash happened across a state line from where you live, that single percentage point can decide whether there is a case at all.
Responsible third parties
Texas allows defendants to designate responsible third parties, so fault can be allocated to people and companies who are not defendants in the case. In trucking litigation this is used routinely — a broker, a shipper, a maintenance contractor, a phantom vehicle. Fault assigned to a designated third party reduces what the named defendants pay. Anticipating those designations, and deciding who genuinely belongs in the case, is early strategic work rather than an afterthought.
What gets argued against you
Following distance, lane changes near a tractor-trailer, whether you were in a documented blind spot, speed at impact, and in underride cases, closing speed. These are contested with reconstruction evidence and, frequently, with the truck’s own recorded data.
What federal rules govern the truck that hit you?
Horas de servicio
49 C.F.R. § 395.3 limits a property-carrying driver to 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty, prohibits driving beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, and prohibits driving after 8 cumulative hours of driving time without at least a 30-minute interruption. Weekly limits are 60 hours in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days, depending on the carrier’s operating schedule.
A fatigue case built on these rules is not an argument about whether a driver seemed tired. It is an argument about whether a documented federal limit was exceeded, provable from records the carrier must keep.
Insurance minimums
Under 49 C.F.R. § 387.9, a for-hire carrier operating in interstate commerce with a vehicle rated over 10,000 pounds must maintain at least $750,000 in financial responsibility for non-hazardous property, rising to $5,000,000 for certain hazardous materials. Given Houston’s petrochemical corridor, the higher hazmat tiers come up here more often than in most markets.
That $750,000 figure is a floor set by the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 and never indexed to inflation. It is not a ceiling and it is not a valuation. Many carriers hold substantially more through excess and umbrella layers, and establishing the full coverage tower is part of the work.
Qualification, maintenance and testing
Part 391 governs driver qualification and disqualification. Part 396 governs inspection, repair and maintenance. Part 382 governs drug and alcohol testing, including post-accident testing. Each generates records; each record is a place where a violation can be documented rather than merely alleged.
Why does the evidence disappear in six months?
The retention floor is shorter than the statute of limitations
A motor carrier must retain a back-up copy of electronic logging device records, on a device separate from the one holding the original data, for seis meses under 49 C.F.R. § 395.22. Supporting documents used to verify hours of service are retained for six months under § 395.11.
Texas allows two years to file. The records that prove the hours can be gone at six months. A claimant can be comfortably inside the limitations period and permanently outside the evidence window.
Data with even shorter lives
Engine control module and event data recorder downloads, telematics feeds, and forward-facing or in-cab camera footage are generally governed by carrier or vendor retention settings rather than by regulation. Video in particular is frequently overwritten within days or weeks. Once the tractor is repaired, returned to service or sold, the physical evidence goes with it.
Texas requires intent before the harshest spoliation remedy
This is where Texas law is notably less forgiving to injured people than some neighbouring states, and it is the strongest practical argument for moving quickly.
In Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014), the Texas Supreme Court held that a spoliation instruction is warranted only where the trial court finds the spoliating party acted with the specific intent of concealing discoverable evidence, and that a lesser remedy would be insufficient to cure the prejudice. Intentional spoliation includes “willful blindness” — allowing destruction of evidence known to be relevant. Negligent failure to preserve will support an instruction only in the rare case where the other party has been irreparably deprived of any meaningful ability to present a claim or defence.
Compare Tennessee, where Tatham v. Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., 473 S.W.3d 734 (Tenn. 2015), holds that intentional misconduct is no a prerequisite for sanctions. In Texas, routine document destruction under an ordinary retention policy will frequently not support a spoliation instruction at all.
What this means in practice
A prompt, specific preservation letter is doing more work in Texas than in most states. It converts what would otherwise be routine, policy-driven deletion into destruction that occurred after written notice — which is the territory where intent becomes arguable. The letter should identify ELD and RODS data, supporting documents, ECM and EDR downloads, telematics, video, the driver qualification file, maintenance and inspection records, dispatch and load documents, and the tractor and trailer in their post-crash condition.
Who can be held responsible besides the driver?
The motor carrier
The employing carrier is ordinarily responsible for the driver’s negligence within the course and scope of employment, and may also face claims based on its own conduct in hiring, training, supervision, scheduling and maintenance.
Brokers, shippers and equipment owners
Houston freight commonly moves through layered arrangements. A broker arranges the load, a shipper or terminal loads it, and the tractor and trailer may have different owners. Where a load shifted, was overweight, or was improperly secured, responsibility may lie with whoever loaded it. Port drayage adds further layers, including terminal operators and chassis providers.
Maintenance contractors and manufacturers
Brake, tire, coupling and lighting failures recur in truck litigation. Where a third-party shop performed the work, or a component failed, additional defendants may belong in the case — which is another reason preserving the vehicle itself matters as much as preserving the data on it.
What insurance actually covers a Houston truck crash?
Texas minimums are for cars
Texas Transportation Code § 601.072 sets minimum liability limits of 30/60/25 — $30,000 per person for bodily injury, $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. Those figures have been unchanged since 2011 and they are not what stands behind a tractor-trailer.
Layers
A serious commercial case typically involves a primary policy, one or more excess layers, and sometimes separate coverage responding for a trailer owner, broker or shipper. Insurers are not required to volunteer the full picture, and establishing true limits usually takes formal discovery.
Your own uninsured and underinsured coverage
UM and UIM coverage on your own policy can still matter in a commercial case — where a phantom vehicle contributed, or where the responsible party is an under-insured owner-operator rather than a well-covered fleet. Note that Texas has a procedural wrinkle here: under Brainard v. Trinity Universal Insurance Co., 216 S.W.3d 809 (Tex. 2006), an insurer’s obligation to pay UIM benefits does not arise until the insured establishes the other motorist’s liability and damages. UIM claims in Texas are therefore structured differently from ordinary liability claims, and the contractual limitations period for a UIM claim is not the same two-year tort period.
Liens
Health plans, ERISA plans, Medicare, Medicaid and Texas hospital liens may all assert rights against a recovery. These are negotiated rather than simply paid, and the outcome directly affects the net figure.
Which court will hear a Houston truck accident case?
Tribunal de Estado
Harris County district courts hear most serious injury cases arising in Houston. Venue is generally proper where the incident occurred or where a defendant resides or has its principal office.
Federal removal
Trucking defendants are frequently out-of-state corporations. Where the parties are diverse and the amount in controversy exceeds the statutory threshold, a defendant may remove to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. Removal changes deadlines, procedure and the jury pool, and it is common enough in trucking litigation that cases should be built with the possibility in mind from the outset.
What should you do in the first weeks after a Houston truck crash?
- Get medical care and keep going. Treatment gaps are the most common argument used to devalue a real injury.
- Get the CR-3 crash report. It identifies the carrier, the USDOT number and the insurer.
- Photograph the tractor, trailer, placards and markings before the equipment is repaired or returned to service.
- Do not give the carrier’s insurer a recorded statement before you have advice.
- Get a preservation letter out immediately. In Texas this step carries extra weight because of the intent standard in Brookshire Brothers.
- Keep your own record of missed work, medications and daily limitations.
Frequently asked questions about Houston truck accidents
How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in Texas?
Two years from the date the cause of action accrues under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003. Claims against governmental units carry separate, much shorter notice deadlines, so act quickly if a public entity vehicle was involved.
Can I recover if I was partly at fault for the crash?
Yes, unless your percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001 recovery is barred above that threshold, and otherwise your damages are reduced by your percentage. Texas is a 51 percent bar state, so at exactly 50 percent you still recover.
How much insurance does an 18-wheeler have to carry?
A for-hire carrier operating in interstate commerce with a vehicle rated over 10,000 pounds must carry at least $750,000 for non-hazardous property under 49 C.F.R. § 387.9, rising to $5,000,000 for certain hazardous materials. Many carriers hold considerably more through excess and umbrella layers.
How long does a trucking company keep the driver’s logs?
A carrier must retain a back-up copy of electronic logging device records on a separate device for six months under 49 C.F.R. § 395.22, and supporting documents for six months under § 395.11. Because Texas allows two years to file suit, those records can lawfully be gone well before the filing deadline.
What happens if the trucking company destroys evidence in Texas?
Texas sets a demanding standard. Under Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014), a spoliation instruction requires a finding that the party acted with the specific intent of concealing discoverable evidence, including willful blindness, and that a lesser remedy would be insufficient. Negligent failure to preserve supports an instruction only where the other party is irreparably deprived of any meaningful ability to present a claim.
How many hours can a truck driver legally drive?
Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.3, up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, never beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, and not after 8 cumulative hours of driving without a 30-minute interruption. Weekly limits are 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days.
How many truck crashes happen in Harris County?
TxDOT recorded 6,313 commercial motor vehicle crashes in Harris County in 2024, including 41 fatal crashes, 41 fatalities and 112 suspected serious injuries. That was the highest county total in Texas; statewide there were 39,393 CMV-involved crashes and 608 fatalities.
Who can be sued besides the truck driver?
Depending on the facts: the motor carrier, the tractor or trailer owner, a freight broker, a shipper or party responsible for loading, a terminal or chassis provider in port drayage cases, a maintenance contractor, and a component manufacturer.
What is a responsible third party designation?
Texas allows a defendant to designate a person or company who is not a party to the suit so that the jury may allocate responsibility to them. Fault assigned to a designated third party reduces what the named defendants pay, which is why identifying the right parties early matters.
What are Texas minimum car insurance limits?
30/60/25 under Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072 — $30,000 per person for bodily injury, $60,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage. Those limits have not changed since 2011.
Does Southern Injury Attorneys have a Houston office?
Yes. Houston is one of our three offices, alongside our Memphis headquarters and our Atlanta office. Consultations are free and available 24/7 at 901-300-5001.
What does it cost to hire a Houston truck accident lawyer?
We handle these cases on a contingency fee: no attorney fee unless there is a recovery. The fee agreement is provided in writing and explained before you sign it.
This page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes, regulations and case law change; every case turns on its own facts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Responsible attorney: Larry “Jimmy” Peters, Texas Bar No. 24113438.
