Why You Need an Experienced Texas Commercial Truck Accident Lawyer
Virtually every type of commercial vehicle is a regular presence on Texas highways and city streets, including cargo vans, flatbed trucks, tanker trucks, dump trucks, and motor carriers, along with larger transport trucks (also called semi-trucks, 18-wheelers, or tractor-trailers), delivery trucks, delivery vans, and big rigs.
If you were in a crash that involved a semi-truck or another commercial vehicle anywhere in Texas, whether as the driver, a passenger, or someone struck by the truck, it can be important to speak with an experienced Texas truck accident attorney as early as possible.
Because of the size and weight difference between a loaded commercial truck and a passenger vehicle, even a lower-speed crash can cause severe injuries, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, paralysis, herniated discs, soft-tissue injuries, amputations, burn injuries, internal injuries, and permanent disability or disfigurement. Having an experienced commercial truck accident lawyer team on your side in the days after the crash tends to matter, both for preserving evidence before it disappears and for protecting your claim from the trucking company’s insurer.
How Texas Commercial Truck Accident Cases Tend to Differ from Car Accident Cases
A crash with a commercial truck is generally not just a bigger car accident. The legal, regulatory, and insurance landscape can be very different from a standard auto claim, which is why working with a firm that focuses on commercial trucking can matter.
- Federal regulations can apply. Interstate motor carriers are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), administered by the FMCSA. These rules can cover driver hours of service, electronic logging devices (ELDs), drug and alcohol testing, vehicle inspections, and cargo securement.
- Multiple parties can share liability. Depending on the facts, the driver, the motor carrier, the truck owner, the company that loaded the cargo, the maintenance provider, and parts manufacturers may all share responsibility.
- Evidence can disappear quickly. ELD data, dashcam footage, dispatch records, GPS logs, and driver qualification files can be overwritten or lost within days or weeks. Our team typically sends spoliation letters early to help preserve this evidence.
- Commercial insurance policies tend to be larger, and so are the defense teams behind them. Federal minimum financial responsibility for many for-hire interstate carriers is $750,000, and many policies are written much higher. Insurance companies often deploy adjusters and defense counsel quickly after a serious crash.
- Texas tort reform changed the rules. Under Texas HB 19 (2021), now codified at Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 72, trials against commercial motor vehicle defendants can be bifurcated. In many cases, a plaintiff must first prove the driver’s negligence before pursuing additional claims (such as negligent hiring or training) against the company itself. Knowing how to navigate that two-step process can matter to the outcome of the case.
Commercial Trucks Our Texas Truck Accident Lawyers Handle Cases Involving
Our team handles claims involving the full range of commercial vehicles operating on Texas roadways, including:
- 18-wheelers, semi-trucks, and tractor-trailers
- Big rigs and over-the-road freight haulers
- Tanker trucks (fuel, chemical, food-grade)
- Dump trucks and construction haulers
- Flatbed trucks with secured cargo
- Box trucks and straight trucks
- Delivery vans and last-mile delivery vehicles
- Garbage and waste-hauling trucks
- Cement mixers and concrete trucks
- Logging trucks and oversized-load haulers
If the vehicle that hit you was being driven for work, for any commercial purpose, there is generally a business and a commercial insurance policy behind that driver. Identifying every responsible party tends to be one of the first steps in a commercial trucking case.
Common Causes of Commercial Truck Accidents in Texas
Most crashes we investigate trace back to one (or more) of these factors:
- Driver fatigue and hours-of-service violations: drivers pushed past their legal limit to make a delivery window
- Falsified or altered logbooks: paper logs and even ELD data can be manipulated
- Distracted driving: texting, dispatch apps, in-cab tablets, eating, fatigue micro-sleeps
- Impaired driving: alcohol, prescription medication, or stimulants used to stay awake
- Speeding and aggressive driving: especially along I-35, I-10, I-20, and I-45
- Improperly loaded or unsecured cargo: shifting loads cause jackknifes, rollovers, and lost cargo on the highway
- Inadequate driver training: carriers cutting corners on CDL endorsements, defensive driving, and route familiarization
- Poor maintenance: bald tires, failing brakes, broken lights, worn coupling devices
- Blind-spot collisions: failing to check the four “no-zones” around a tractor-trailer
- Jackknife and rollover incidents: often tied to speed, weather, or improper braking
- Weather and road conditions: heavy Texas rain, hail, construction zones, and sudden traffic stops
In our experience, a recurring theme across these cases is pressure to meet delivery deadlines outweighing compliance with the safety rules that are meant to protect everyone sharing the road.
Common Injuries in Texas Commercial Truck Accidents
Because a loaded semi-truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds (roughly 20 times the weight of a typical passenger car), even a low-speed collision can cause catastrophic injuries. Injuries we tend to see in commercial truck cases include:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Herniated and bulging discs (cervical, thoracic, lumbar)
- Whiplash and soft-tissue neck injuries
- Broken bones, crush injuries, and amputations
- Internal organ damage and internal bleeding
- Severe burns from fuel fires and chemical spills
- Disfigurement, scarring, and permanent disability
- Wrongful death
We work with treating physicians, vocational experts, and life-care planners so a settlement can reflect not just today’s medical bills, but the future surgeries, therapy sessions, and lost earning years ahead.
Compensation Our Texas Truck Accident Attorneys Pursue
When our truck accident attorney team in Texas takes on a commercial trucking case, we generally pursue every category of damages Texas law allows, which can include:
- Past and future medical expenses: ER care, surgeries, rehab, prescriptions, assistive devices
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity, including diminished ability to work in your prior field
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish, anxiety, and PTSD
- Disfigurement and physical impairment
- Loss of consortium and loss of household services
- Property damage: your vehicle, contents, and any personal property
- Wrongful death damages for surviving family members
- Punitive (exemplary) damages in cases of gross negligence, intoxication, or knowingly violated safety regulations (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 41)
How Our Texas Truck Accident Attorneys Build Your Commercial Truck Case
We don’t wait around for the insurance company to make an offer. From day one, we’re building the case as if it’s going to trial.
- Preserve the evidence. We send spoliation letters demanding the trucking company hold all ELD data, dashcam footage, dispatch records, maintenance logs, driver qualification files, and post-accident drug/alcohol test results.
- Investigate the scene. When the case warrants it, we bring in accident reconstructionists, download crash data from the truck’s engine control module (the “black box”), and photograph skid marks, debris fields, and roadway conditions before they’re cleared.
- Audit the driver and the carrier. We pull the driver’s CDL history, prior violations, employment record, training files, and the carrier’s DOT safety scores and prior crash reports.
- Build the medical record. We coordinate with your treating providers so nothing falls through the cracks, and so the long-term picture of your injuries is fully documented.
- Push insurance hard, but prepare for trial. Most cases settle. The cases that tend to get the strongest results are the ones where the defense believes we will, and can, take it to a jury.
Recent Texas 18-Wheeler Crash Settlement: $1,094,836
One example of the kind of commercial truck cases our team handles involved an 18-wheeler crash on Loop 375 in El Paso, Texas. Our client was traveling northbound when the defendant, also northbound, drove recklessly across multiple lanes and collided with their vehicle. The impact damaged the front right of the car and dislodged a tire, which sent the car across two additional lanes before coming to rest on the shoulder.
Our client sustained shoulder, neck, back, and head injuries in the crash. The shoulder and neck injuries each required surgery.
Sandoval & James filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client and resolved the case for a gross settlement of $1,094,836 (expenses: $3,017; net to clients: $451,785) after the lawsuit was filed, but before trial.
Past results do not guarantee or predict similar outcomes in future cases. Each case is decided on its own facts and circumstances. For additional examples of commercial truck and motor vehicle cases we have handled, see our case results.
Texas Truck Accident Statistics
According to federal and state data, large-truck crashes have become a meaningful share of overall traffic fatalities in Texas and nationwide:
- Texas has reported among the highest large-truck crash fatality counts of any U.S. state in recent years (NHTSA / FARS; TxDOT Crash Statistics).
- Nationally, fatalities in crashes involving large trucks have generally trended upward over the past decade compared with earlier years (FMCSA Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts).
- The I-35, I-10, I-20, and I-45 corridors, connecting Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, the Permian Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley, carry a heavy share of the state’s commercial freight traffic.
These trends are part of why understanding the rules that apply specifically to commercial trucking can be important when pursuing a claim.
Where Texas Commercial Truck Accident Lawsuits Are Filed
In Texas, where a commercial truck accident lawsuit is filed depends on factors such as the county where the crash occurred, where the defendant lives or does business, and the parties’ agreed venue. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 15, venue is generally proper in the county where all or a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred.
For cases involving Travis County, civil filings are typically made at:
Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility
1700 Guadalupe Street
Austin, TX 78701
Our team handles filing, scheduling, and courthouse appearances so you don’t have to navigate the Texas civil court system on your own.
Contact a Texas Truck Accident Attorney Near You
If you were injured in a trucking accident or an accident involving another type of commercial vehicle and want to learn more about your options and ability to recover from your injuries, contact an Austin trucking accident attorney at Sandoval & James by calling 512-382-7707.
By calling or contacting us online, you can speak with one of our experienced 18-wheeler accident lawyers for a no-obligation, 100% free consultation.
CASE STUDIES
Texas Truck Accident Settlement Amounts
$1,200,000
Gross Settlement | Commercial Vehicle Accident
Expenses: $8,451.34
Net to Clients: $518,337.16
Clients sustained back, neck, and left shoulder injuries in a company vehicle accident. Defendant, who was operating a company delivery van, was stopped at the intersection facing north on Pleasant Hill Rd. As our clients crossed the intersection, Defendant failed to keep a proper lookout, failed to yield the right of way, pulled out when unsafe to do so, and crashed into the side of our client’s vehicle. The force of the collision caused our client’s truck to veer off the road and crash into a nearby tree. Sandoval & James successfully resolved the case through mediation before trial.
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$1,094,836
Gross Settlement | 18-Wheeler Crash
Expenses: $3,017
Net to Clients: $451,785
Due to a motor vehicle accident with a commercial vehicle, here a semi-truck, our client sustained severe injuries to their shoulder and neck, which required surgery, as well as a head injury. At the time of the crash, our clients were traveling northbound on Loop 375 in the middle lane when the defendant (also traveling northbound on Loop 375) was driving recklessly across multiple lanes and collided with our client’s vehicle. The impact caused damage to the front right end of the vehicle and dislodged a tire, which led our clients’ car to cross two additional lanes and come to rest on the shoulder. Sandoval & James Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers Austin successfully resolved the case after a lawsuit was filed but before trial. Injuries included shoulder, neck, back, and head.
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$995,311
Gross Settlement | Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) | 18-Wheeler Accident
Expenses: $6,815
Net to Clients: $410,380
Due to a motor vehicle accident, our clients sustained serious injuries. On the day of the crash, our clients were stopped at a red light at the intersection of South Highway 71 and Pace Bend Road when the defendant, traveling behind them and driving a truck, failed to control their speed and rear-ended them. Sandoval & James Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers Austin successfully resolved the case without the need to file a lawsuit. Injuries included to the victim’s neck, back, and head.
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$975,000
Gross Settlement | Tractor Trailer Accident
Expenses: $13,664
Net to Clients: $343,424
Our clients were hit by a semi-truck and, as a result, they sustained injuries to their neck, back, chest, stomach, and left shoulder. On the day of the crash, our clients were traveling westbound on Interstate 20 when an 18-wheeler lost control on the wet roads and jackknifed in front of them. This caused debris to be thrown into the air, reducing visibility and forcing traffic behind the 18-wheeler, including our clients, to slow down. Another 18-wheeler traveling behind our clients lost control while attempting to slow down for traffic conditions and crashed into the rear of our clients’ vehicle.
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$850,000
Gross Settlement | Truck Accident (18-Wheeler Accident)
Expenses: $30,293.48
Net to Clients: $268,432.35
Our client was injured in a motor vehicle accident where they sustained mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), and back injuries requiring lumbar spine surgery (back surgery). On the date of the crash, our client was travelling south on Country Club Drive in Fayette County, Texas. The road he was on had hard curves and obstructed views. The Defendant, who was driving a tractor-trailer in the opposite direction on Country Club Drive, veered into the lane occupied by our client, crashing into their vehicle. Austin trucking accident lawyers Sandoval and James successfully resolved the case after mediation, before trial.
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$700,000
Gross Settlement | Motor Vehicle Accident (Commercial Vehicle Accident)
Expenses: $5,835.90
Net to Clients: $291,756.40
Due to a motor vehicle accident, our client sustained neck, back, left shoulder, and knee injuries. On the day of the crash our client was a passenger in a vehicle traveling North in the 4100 block of IH-35 North in the far-left lane. When the defendant an 18-wheeler veered across multiple lanes colliding with the passenger side of the vehicle our client was in, which caused their vehicle to crash into a concrete barrier.
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$700,000
Gross Settlement | Truck Accident (18-Wheeler Accident)
Expenses: $12,572.04
Clients sustained neck and back injuries in a motor vehicle accident. The defendant was driving an 18-wheeler and T-boned our client after running a red light. Sandoval & James successfully resolved this truck accident case for a substantial amount.
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$610,000
Gross Settlement | Truck Accident (18-Wheeler Accident)
Expenses: $6,805.55
Net to Client: $233,974.87
Client sustained head, neck, and back injuries in a motor vehicle accident involving an 18-wheeler that side-swiped them. Surgery alleged by Client as a result of the accident. A successful resolution was obtained after litigation was initiated but without trial.
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$550,000
Gross Settlement | Motor Vehicle Accident
Expenses: $34,911.36
Net to Clients: $246,670.83
Due to a motor vehicle accident, our client sustained chest injuries, spinal fractures, rib fractures, and neck injuries, for which surgery was recommended. On the day of the crash, our client was driving in the right lane on South Highway 349 when they ran into icy conditions. The defendant, who was operating a delivery van in the left lane at the same distance behind our client, failed to notice the situation in time due to being distracted by his mobile device. As a result, he was unable to stop and collided with the side of our client’s vehicle. Sandoval & James Law Firm successfully resolved the case in favor of our client at mediation.
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$505,025
Gross Settlement | Motor Vehicle Accident (Amazon Van Accident Injuries)
Expenses: $5,003.85
Net to Client: $220,346.53
Due to a motor vehicle accident our client sustained injuries to their head, neck, and back. The Defendant, who was driving an Amazon van heading west on Logan Drive, turned through a dummy hole and T-boned our client’s vehicle. Medical personnel recommended cervical spine surgery and lumbar spine surgery. The collision was captured on the defendant’s dash camera. Sandoval & James Law Firm successfully resolved the case through mediation after a lawsuit was filed.
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$478,471
Gross Settlement | Truck Accident
Expenses: $3,200
Net to Clients: $208,901
Due to a motor vehicle accident, our clients sustained injuries to their head and back as well as injuries to their neck, arms, hips, legs, knees, and ankles. At the time of the crash, our clients were traveling eastbound on HWY 21 in the right lane when they slowed down for oncoming traffic ahead. The defendant, who was driving an 18-wheeler behind them, failed to maintain a safe distance and was unable to slow down in time, resulting in a rear-end collision. The impact pushed our clients off the roadway. Sandoval & James Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers Austin successfully resolved the case through negotiations without the need to file a lawsuit. Injuries included: Traumatic brain injury, back, neck, hips, legs, arms, knee, and ankle.
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$252,500
Gross Settlement | Car Accident
Expenses: $818.39
Net to Clients: $163,306.61
Our client sustained multiple broken bones (fractures to their right arm and tibia) in a car accident caused by the defendant, who was illegally driving a truck towing an unlit boat trailer on a dark roadway. Our client struck the rear of the trailer, causing their vehicle to flip. Sandoval & James Law Firm successfully resolved the case before a lawsuit was filed. Injuries included: Broken leg, broken right arm
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Reviews of Commercial Truck Accident Attorneys in Texas
“I had the privilege of working with the outstanding team at this law firm after I was involved in an accident with a FedEx truck. From the very beginning, they were dedicated to my case and provided exceptional support throughout. Andre, Mayra, Christina, and Ani went above and beyond to ensure that I received the best care and representation possible. They helped me find a skilled chiropractor, managed every aspect of my case, and kept me informed at every step. Ani’s commitment was especially remarkable, as she stayed late into the evening to ensure I could promptly receive my settlement check. Their professionalism and dedication made a challenging situation much more manageable. I highly recommend this law firm for anyone seeking outstanding legal support and care during difficult times.”
Donanvan S
“I recently had the unfortunate experience of being involved in an 18-wheeler accident. During this time, I sought the services of Sandoval And James Lawfirm, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their unwavering support. A special mention goes to Mayra Cruz, who helped me every step of the way. Mayra approached my case with the utmost dedication, thoroughness, and compassion. She guided me through the entire medical and legal process with patience and ensured that I was informed at every stage. I highly recommend the entire team at the Sandoval and James Lawfirm to anyone in need of legal assistance. Also would like to mention that everyone there was always quick to respond or get back to me and would reach out to me consistently which made the whole process easy and smooth!”