By Fernando J. Lopez, Texas Personal Injury Attorney | Updated September 9, 2026
A loaded 18-wheeler can weigh up to 80,000 pounds and the hours right after one hits you are the same hours when the proof of what happened starts disappearing. Knowing what to do after a truck accident comes down to six things. Call 911 and get an official accident report. Accept medical care at the scene even if you feel fine. Photograph the truck and the trailer and the USDOT number on the door. Collect insurance information and witness contacts. Say nothing to the insurer for the trucking company. Then get a written preservation demand out fast. The Lopez Law Group handles these cases across Texas and the pattern almost never changes. Below you will find the scene steps and the evidence clock and the Texas deadlines and the mistakes that quietly sink good claims.
Quick answer. After a truck accident in Texas: call 911 and get a police report. Accept medical treatment even if you feel fine. Photograph the commercial truck and trailer and USDOT number and the accident scene. Gather evidence from witnesses. Decline any recorded statement. Contact a truck accident lawyer quickly so a spoliation letter can preserve black box and ECM data. Texas gives you two years from the date of the accident to file.
Table of Contents
What To Do After a Truck Accident in Texas
The steps to take after a truck accident are simple to say and hard to do while you are hurt and shaking on the shoulder of US-83. Work through them in order immediately after an accident as far as you are able. If someone with you is able to hold a phone and take pictures let them.
- Call 911 and stay until an officer works the scene. Texas law requires a report for any accident involving injury or significant property damage. A responding officer from a local agency or Texas DPS will prepare an official accident report and that CR-3 becomes the spine of everything that follows.
- Accept medical care at the accident scene even if you feel fine. Truck accident victims routinely refuse a ride to the hospital and regret it in the days after the accident. Adrenaline hides spinal and internal injuries for hours. A refusal line on the run sheet is the first thing an insurance adjuster will point to months later.
- Photograph the commercial truck and the trailer and the scene. Get the tractor door placard with the USDOT and MC numbers and the license plate and the trailer number and the cargo and the tires and the lights. Then shoot the skid marks and the debris field and the road signs and the weather and the final resting position of every vehicle. Vehicle damage on both sides matters.
- Write down information about the truck driver. Name and CDL number and state and employer. Check whether the truck and the trailer carry two different company names because that single detail often means multiple parties are involved in the accident, including the truck driver and at least one company you have never heard of.
- Exchange insurance information and gather evidence from witnesses. Names and phone numbers and one line each about what they saw. People at the scene of a truck accident scatter within minutes and they are almost impossible to find later.
- Say nothing that sounds like fault. Not to the other driver and not to the officer and not to anyone standing nearby. A polite apology gets written down as an admission of what caused the crash.
- Get examined again within 24 to 48 hours and follow every referral. Gaps in medical treatment get argued as gaps in injury.
- Decline to give a recorded statement to the insurance carrier for the trucking company. You are not required to give one and it will not help you.
- Contact a truck accident lawyer as soon as you are able. This is the step that protects everything above it and the reason why sits in the next two sections.
The Texas Department of Transportation publishes crash reports and records so you can request your own copy of the report once it is processed.
Why a Truck Accident Claim Is Not a Car Accident Claim
People involved in a truck accident often assume the process works like the car accident claims they have dealt with before. It does not. Truck accidents often involve a set of federal rules and a set of records that simply do not exist in an ordinary collision.
| Car accident | Truck accident | |
|---|---|---|
| Rules that apply | Texas Transportation Code | Texas law plus the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations at 49 CFR Parts 382 through 399 |
| Who can be liable | Usually one driver | Driver and motor carrier and tractor owner and trailer owner and broker and shipper and maintenance contractor |
| Typical coverage | State minimums | Federal minimum of $750,000 and commonly $1 million or more |
| What decides the case | Photos and the police report | ECM and black box data and hours of service logs and the driver qualification file and maintenance records and dashcam video |
| How fast proof disappears | Slowly | Weeks |
That third row is where most claims are won or lost. On oilfield routes and border freight corridors like IH-69 and I-35 the tractor and the trailer and the driver and the load routinely belong to four different companies. Any one party may carry its own policy and its own lawyers and each commercial vehicle in the chain can bring another layer of coverage with it. Finding every liable company is often the difference between a partial recovery and a full one and it is a large part of why firms that handle truck accident cases treat them as their own practice area. Our article on liability in 18-wheeler truck accidents walks through how those layers stack up.
Preserving Black Box and ECM Data
Modern tractors record what the driver did in the seconds before impact. That record is the closest thing to a witness who cannot be coached and it lives on hardware the trucking company owns and controls.
ECM download. The extraction of stored data from the engine control module of a commercial truck. The ECM is what most people call the black box. It can hold road speed and engine RPM and brake application and throttle position and cruise control status and hard braking events from the moments before a collision. Pulling it takes vendor specific software and physical access to the tractor.
The move that saves a case is boring. Preserve evidence early. Here is the clock you are up against and who holds each record.
- The ECM record itself. This is the black box data truck accident claims are built on. The carrier holds it. It can be overwritten by continued driving and it can be lost outright when the tractor is repaired or sold or scrapped.
- Electronic logging device records. Carriers must keep ELD records of duty status and supporting documents for six months under 49 CFR 395.8 and 395.11. After six months nothing requires them to have it.
- Driver qualification file. The application and the motor vehicle record and the road test and the medical certificate and the annual review must be kept for the length of employment plus three years under 49 CFR 391.51. If the driver quits that clock starts running.
- Post accident drug and alcohol testing. Required in defined circumstances under 49 CFR 382.303 and the collection window closes in hours rather than days.
- Maintenance records. Brake and tire and inspection records under 49 CFR Part 396 with a finite retention period.
- Dashcam and telematics video. Commonly on a rolling 30 to 90 day overwrite.
Someone who waits three months to make a call is often asking a carrier for records it is no longer required to keep. Nobody broke a rule. The proof is simply gone. That is the argument behind our piece on why prompt investigation matters in 18-wheeler crashes.
Why a Spoliation Letter Must Go Out Fast
A spoliation letter is a written legal demand that the trucking company and its insurer preserve specific evidence and stop any routine destruction of it. It is short and it is boring and it is one of the most valuable pieces of paper in the whole file.
A good one tells the company exactly what it must preserve. Evidence named in writing is far harder to lose. The letter lists each item. The ECM and event data recorder contents. The ELD and hours of service records. The driver qualification file. Dispatch records and bills of lading and trip paperwork. Maintenance and inspection records. Dashcam and telematics and in cab video. Post accident test results. And the tractor and trailer themselves held in post crash condition until an inspection can happen.
Speed matters for three reasons. Lawful routine destruction is still destruction and once a six month window closes the record is gone for good. A preservation demand also converts later destruction into something a court can act on because Texas courts weigh spoliation remedies by asking whether a party with a duty to preserve breached that duty. See Brookshire Brothers Ltd. v. Aldridge 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014). And the letter freezes the vehicles before a body shop erases the physical proof. The rapid response team for the carrier is often standing at the scene the same day. Yours should not be three weeks behind.
Getting Medical Care After a Truck Crash Even If You Feel Fine
A collision with a commercial truck loads your body with force an ordinary fender bender never produces. Some of the worst truck accident injuries announce themselves late.
- Headache or confusion or trouble sleeping which can point to concussion or mild traumatic brain injury
- Neck stiffness that turns into radiating arm pain over several days
- Low back pain that becomes numbness or weakness in a leg
- Abdominal pain or bruising from seat belt loading which can mean internal bleeding
- Dizziness or nausea or sensitivity to light
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes the warning signs for head injury and any one of them is worth an emergency room visit. There is a claim side reason too. The distance between the date of the accident and your first medical record is the single most reliable argument an adjuster has for cutting the value of a case. Close that gap. Then follow the treatment plan including physical therapy because a file full of missed appointments gets valued as a file full of minor injuries.
With Trucking Companies and Insurance Companies After a Collision
Within hours of a serious truck crash the carrier may already have an investigator standing where you were sitting. That person photographs the scene and measures the roadway and talks to witnesses and starts building a theory about what contributed to the accident. It is not sinister. It is their job and they are very good at it. The problem is that you are in a hospital bed and nobody is doing the same work for you.
Then the phone rings. A friendly voice asks you to give a recorded statement so they can get your claim moving. What that call actually does is lock down your account of the crash and your description of your injuries before you have a diagnosis. Answers like “I am doing okay” get read back to a jury two years later. You are free to notify your own insurance company of the accident. You are under no obligation to sit for a recorded interview with the insurer for the other side.
The early settlement offer works the same way. It arrives before your treatment is finished because that is the cheapest moment to buy the claim. Accepting it closes out medical expenses you have not incurred yet and lost income you have not yet missed. Insurance companies often move fastest on the cases they expect to be worth the most.
How To File a Truck Accident Claim in Texas
The path from crash to resolution follows a predictable order.
- Obtain the official accident report and confirm how the accident occurred as the officer recorded it.
- Identify the carrier and every other liable entity by running the USDOT number through the FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot.
- Serve the preservation demand on the truck driver or trucking company and every insurer in the chain.
- Complete medical treatment or reach a point where a physician can state your long term prognosis so the full extent of the harm is documented.
- Assemble the demand package with medical bills and medical records and proof of lost income and support for pain and suffering.
- Negotiate with each applicable policy.
- File a personal injury lawsuit if the number on the table does not match the harm.
When a claim becomes an 18 wheeler accident lawsuit the tools change. Discovery compels production of the records a carrier would never volunteer. Inspection protocols govern how the ECM is downloaded and by whom. Corporate representatives sit for depositions about hiring and training and dispatch pressure. Reconstruction experts rebuild the collision from physical evidence. Most cases still resolve before trial and the ones that resolve well are the ones that were built as if they would not.
How a Truck Accident Lawyer Can Help Protect Your Truck Accident Claim
You can handle a minor property damage claim yourself. A serious truck accident is a different animal and the work starts on day one. Moving early after a truck accident can help protect the proof you will need to recover compensation later.
- Serve the spoliation letter within days so the records stop aging out
- Book an independent ECM download and a vehicle inspection before any repair
- Pull the federal safety record and out of service history for the carrier
- Identify every company in the contract chain instead of stopping at the driver
- Retain a reconstruction expert while the roadway still holds physical evidence
- Take over all contact with the insurance adjuster so nothing you say gets used against you
- Value the claim against the complete medical picture rather than the first settlement offer
Independent experts matter more here than in ordinary accident claims and our piece on expert witnesses in truck accident cases explains what each one contributes. A truck accident attorney working the file early is not manufacturing an advantage out of nothing. They are holding on to proof that already exists and is draining away by the week.
Texas Rules That Decide Truck Accident Cases
Four Texas rules shape almost every commercial truck crash claim in this state.
- Two year statute of limitations. You generally have two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. Miss that window and the claim is barred no matter how strong it was.
- Modified comparative fault with a 51 percent bar. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001 you recover nothing if you are found more than 50 percent responsible. Shifting blame toward you is exactly what the investigation by the carrier is built to do.
- Proportionate responsibility. Section 33.003 reduces your damages by your percentage of responsibility and allows fault to be divided among several defendants and responsible third parties.
- Wrongful death and survival claims. A fatal truck crash falls under Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code which sets out who may bring the claim.
One more point because competing articles get it wrong. The damage caps in Chapter 74 apply to health care liability claims. They do not cap an ordinary Texas truck accident case.
What the Texas Numbers Show
Every figure below comes from state and federal records rather than from law firm marketing pages.
| Statistic | Year | Source | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38,533 commercial motor vehicle involved crashes in Texas | 2025 | TxDOT Crash Records Information System | A truck crash is not a rare event on Texas roads |
| 528 people killed and 1,611 seriously injured in those crashes | 2025 | TxDOT Crash Records Information System | The severity baseline for your own case |
| CMV crashes were 7.2 percent of all Texas crashes but 14.0 percent of all Texas traffic deaths | 2025 | TxDOT CRIS and Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts | Roughly double the death rate per crash |
| 1.37 deaths per 100 CMV crashes against 0.70 per 100 for all Texas crashes | 2025 | Calculated by The Lopez Law Group from TxDOT tables | TxDOT does not publish this ratio |
| Hours of service was the most common driver out of service violation at 32.4 percent with false logs adding 10.0 percent | 2025 | CVSA International Roadcheck across 56,178 inspections | Ties driver fatigue directly to the ELD records a preservation letter demands |
Two years side by side tells you something the single year total hides.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMV involved crashes in Texas | 39,393 | 38,533 | down 2.2 percent |
| CMV fatal crashes | 546 | 469 | down 14.1 percent |
| CMV deaths | 608 | 528 | down 13.2 percent |
| CMV suspected serious injuries | 1,601 | 1,611 | up 0.6 percent |
| Deaths per 100 CMV crashes | 1.54 | 1.37 | down 11.0 percent |
Source for both tables: TxDOT Crash Records Information System county tables for 2024 and 2025 with the per crash ratio calculated by our firm. Deaths fell. Serious injuries did not. The number of Texans who survive a commercial truck crash badly hurt is not shrinking and our full Texas truck crash statistics report breaks the same data down by county and corridor.
Common Mistakes That Sink Truck Accident Claims
- Waving off medical care because you feel fine. The run sheet becomes the argument that you were never really hurt.
- Giving a recorded statement to the adjuster for the carrier. Your words get frozen before your diagnosis exists.
- Letting the truck be repaired or released or sold before an inspection. The ECM data and the physical evidence leave with it.
- Waiting months to contact a truck accident lawyer. Hours of service records and supporting documents can lawfully age out at six months.
- Posting about the crash or your weekend on social media. Those posts get pulled and used to argue your injuries are exaggerated.
- Taking the first settlement offer. It arrives early because early is when it costs the least.
- Assuming the truck driver is the only defendant. A single driver claim can miss the carrier and the broker and the trailer owner and the shipper along with every policy behind them.
- Guessing out loud about fault at the scene. Under Section 33.001 a shifted percentage can end the claim at 51 percent.
What We See in These Cases
“In our experience handling truck accident cases across Texas the case is usually won or lost in the first two weeks and not in the courtroom. The investigator for the carrier is at the scene the same day while the injured person is still in a hospital bed. Getting a preservation demand out before the ECM data and the logs cycle off is the whole ballgame.” Fernando J. Lopez, The Lopez Law Group
When To Call a Lawyer
Not every fender bender needs an attorney. A collision with a commercial truck usually does. Call if any of these describe your situation.
- Anyone was hospitalized or killed
- The vehicle was a commercial truck or an 18-wheeler
- Two different company names appear on the tractor and the trailer
- An investigator for the trucking company already contacted you
- An adjuster asked for a recorded statement or floated a quick settlement offer
- Fault is disputed or someone is saying you contributed to the accident
- The crash happened on an oilfield route or a rural highway or a border freight corridor
The Lopez Law Group handles truck accident cases throughout Texas from Weslaco and the Rio Grande Valley to Houston and Austin and Dallas and Laredo. Clients work directly with Attorney Lopez rather than with a case manager. The consultation is free and the firm works on a contingency fee which means no win and no fee. Call (956) 968-7800 any time day or night. If your crash happened in the Houston area a Houston truck accident lawyer from our legal team can meet you there and if it happened on a rig site our oilfield accident lawyer page covers how those claims differ.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do immediately after a truck crash?
The steps after a truck crash start at the scene. Call 911 and wait for an officer to prepare an official accident report. Accept medical care at the scene. Photograph the truck and trailer and USDOT number and license plate and the surrounding roadway. Collect insurance information and witness contacts. Decline any recorded statement and contact a truck accident lawyer quickly. Those steps protect both your health and your claim.
What evidence disappears first?
Dashcam and telematics video usually goes first because most systems overwrite on a 30 to 90 day loop. ECM data can be lost the moment the tractor is repaired or sold. Hours of service records and supporting documents fall next at the six month federal retention floor under 49 CFR 395.8. Physical scene evidence washes away within days.
How soon must I hire a lawyer?
No law requires you to hire anyone by a set date and the filing deadline is two years under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. The practical window is far shorter. Preservation letters should go out within days of the crash because federal retention periods and vehicle repairs can erase key records long before the two year mark.
What is a spoliation letter and who sends it?
A spoliation letter is a written demand that the trucking company and its insurer preserve specific evidence and halt any routine destruction of it. Your attorney sends it, usually within days of being retained. It names each record and each vehicle by category so the carrier cannot later claim it did not know what to keep.
What is black box data in a truck accident and can I get it?
Black box data is information stored in the engine control module of the truck covering speed and braking and throttle position and hard braking events near the time of impact. You can obtain it but not on your own. The carrier controls the tractor so an ECM download normally requires a preservation demand and an agreed inspection protocol or a court order.
What are the FMCSA hours of service rules?
Federal hours of service rules under 49 CFR Part 395 limit most property carrying drivers to 11 hours of driving within a 14 hour on duty window after 10 consecutive hours off duty. A 30 minute break is required after 8 hours of driving. Weekly limits cap driving at 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days.
What is a driver qualification file and why does it matter?
The driver qualification file is the personnel record a carrier must maintain under 49 CFR 391.51 including the employment application and driving record and road test and medical certificate and annual review. It matters because it can show a company hired or kept a driver it should not have which opens a claim against the carrier itself.
Should I talk to the insurance adjuster for the trucking company?
You are not required to give a recorded statement to the insurer for the other side and doing so rarely helps you. Report the crash to your own insurance carrier as your policy requires. Then route every other call through your attorney so nothing you say gets used to argue you caused the crash.
How long do I have to file an 18 wheeler accident lawsuit in Texas?
Texas generally allows two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. Claims against a governmental unit carry much shorter written notice deadlines that can run in months. Confirm which deadline applies to your crash before you assume you have time.
Do I have to pay upfront for a truck accident consultation?
No. The Lopez Law Group offers a free case evaluation and takes truck accident cases on a contingency fee. You pay no upfront fees and no costs and the firm is paid only out of a recovery. If there is no recovery you owe no attorney fee. Consultations are available 24 hours a day.
Get Your Questions Answered
The checklist is the easy part. The clock running on the records is the part that decides your case. Knowing what to do after a truck accident matters most in the first days when the ECM data and the logs and the driver file are still where they belong. If you were hurt in a truck crash anywhere in Texas talk to a Texas truck accident lawyer before those records are gone. Call (956) 968-7800 or request a free case review at fernandojlopez.com/contact-us. Hablamos espaรฑol and someone answers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
This article is general information about Texas law and it is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome and every case depends on its own facts.
Fernando J. Lopez is the founder of The Lopez Law Group and a bilingual Texas personal injury attorney licensed since 2007 under State Bar of Texas number 24060186. He has more than 15 years of experience and has handled thousands of injury cases in state and federal court with more than $25 million recovered for clients. He is also admitted in Kansas and Missouri and New Mexico and Washington D.C. He practices from Weslaco and Houston and Austin and serves clients throughout Texas. Read the full attorney profile for Fernando J. Lopez
Sources used for ยง12 data:
- TxDOT โ CMV Involved Crashes and Injuries by County, 2025
- TxDOT โ CMV Involved Crashes and Injuries by County, 2024
- TxDOT โ Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts, 2025
- CVSA โ 2025 International Roadcheck Results
- FMCSA โ SAFER Company Snapshot
- Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code ยง 16.003
