A Texas commercial vehicle accident lawyer handles crashes where the vehicle that hit you was working for someone: a service van, a company pickup, a utility truck, a bus, or a fleet car. Cowen Law Car & Truck Accident Lawyers represents injured people and families across Texas in these cases, and commercial vehicle crashes involving death and catastrophic injury are the focus of our partners' practice.
Texas has special trial rules for these claims, and they reach far beyond 18-wheelers. Knowing how those rules work from the start shapes how the evidence is gathered and who is named in the lawsuit.
Talk with us about your case for free. Call (210) 941-1306.
Commercial Vehicles on Texas Roads
Texas's size and economy put an unusual mix of work vehicles on its highways and farm roads. The table below shows the non-semi commercial vehicles that most often lead to serious claims and the legal question each one tends to raise.
| Vehicle | Where it is common in Texas | Issue that often decides the claim |
|---|---|---|
| Oilfield service pickups and hotshot trucks | The Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, and rural highways | Driver fatigue and which company controlled the driver |
| Utility and line crew trucks | Statewide, especially during storm recovery | Whether the owner is a private company or a public utility |
| Service vans and contractor pickups | Growing suburbs around every major metro | Employee or independent contractor |
| Charter buses, shuttles, and passenger vans | Interstate corridors, airports, and event venues | Federal passenger carrier rules and higher insurance minimums |
| School and transit buses | Every Texas city and school district | Government immunity, notice deadlines, and damage caps |
| Fleet cars and sales vehicles | Statewide | Whether the driver was on company business |
Tractor-trailers raise a separate set of federal trucking issues. The vehicles in this table are smaller, but a crash with one can be just as devastating, and the business behind it can be just as responsible.
In 2025, TxDOT recorded 38,533 crashes involving commercial motor vehicles statewide, which killed 528 people and seriously injured 1,611 more. Each of those numbers is a family facing a hospital, a funeral, or a long recovery.
How Do Texas Commercial Vehicle Trial Rules Work?
Texas has special trial procedures for injury lawsuits involving commercial motor vehicles, set out in Chapter 72 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Those rules were added in 2021, and they apply to far more than big rigs.
A Broad Definition of Commercial Vehicle
Section 72.051 defines a commercial motor vehicle as one being used for commercial purposes to carry property or passengers, deliver goods, or provide services. A plumber's van on a service call or a sales rep's company car can qualify, while the same vehicle used for personal or family errands does not.
Bifurcated Trials and Employer Stipulations
When these rules apply, the defendant can ask the court to split the trial into two phases: the first decides fault and compensatory damages, and the second decides exemplary damages. If the employer admits the driver was its employee acting within the scope of the job, claims about the company's own negligence, such as negligent hiring or training, generally move to that second phase.
Those procedures change how a case is prepared from the first week. Evidence about company practices still matters, but when and how a jury hears it depends on building the case with Chapter 72 in mind. Section 72.053 also limits when evidence of a safety-rule violation can come in during the first phase, generally requiring a connection between the violation and the crash.
How Texas Holds Businesses Responsible for Company Vehicle Crashes
A Texas business can be responsible for a company vehicle crash in two ways: through the employee's negligence while working, and through the business's own careless decisions. Many cases involve both.
Respondeat Superior
Under the rule known as respondeat superior, an employer is responsible for an employee's negligent driving within the course and scope of employment. The question is whether the driver was doing the employer's work at the time, which is why routes, work orders, and dispatch messages carry so much weight. Texas generally treats an ordinary commute as outside the scope of employment, even in a company vehicle, unless the trip served the employer's business.
Negligent Entrustment
Negligent entrustment applies when a business lets someone drive its vehicle knowing, or having reason to know, that the person was unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless. Texas courts, including the Supreme Court of Texas in Schneider v. Esperanza Transmission Co., require proof that the driver was also negligent and that the negligence caused the crash. A company that hands a truck key to a worker with a suspended license or several recent wrecks is the classic example.
When the Injured Person Shares Fault
Texas's proportionate responsibility rules in Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 33 reduce a recovery by the injured person's share of fault and bar it above 50%. If a jury values a claim at $300,000 and assigns the injured driver 10% of the fault, the recovery becomes $270,000.
Which Safety Rules Apply to Texas Work Vehicles?
The safety rules that apply to a Texas work vehicle depend on its size, how many passengers it carries, and whether it crosses state lines. Several layers can come into play:
- Federal motor carrier rules for interstate vehicles over 10,001 pounds and certain passenger vans and buses
- Texas commercial vehicle safety rules for intrastate operations, which must be consistent with the federal regulations
- Commercial driver's license requirements under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 522 for heavier vehicles, larger passenger vehicles, and hazardous materials
- Texas traffic laws that apply to every driver
- The company's own written safety and vehicle-use policies
A company's own policy can be the most useful of these. When a business requires backing spotters or bans phone use while driving and the driver ignored that rule, the company's standard becomes evidence of what reasonable care looked like.
Insurance Layers in Texas Company Vehicle Claims
Commercial vehicle claims often involve more insurance than a typical car crash, but finding it takes work. The layers that may apply include:
- The business's commercial auto policy
- Excess or umbrella policies that sit above the primary coverage
- Hired and non-owned auto coverage when an employee used a personal vehicle for work
- A contractor's or subcontractor's separate policy
- Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
Interstate passenger carriers must meet federal minimums of $1.5 million or $5 million depending on the vehicle's seating capacity under 49 C.F.R. Section 387.33. For many local service vehicles, the only way to know the limits is to request the policy information during the claim. Commercial insurers also tend to bring in their own investigators and defense lawyers from the start.
Records a Business Can Lose After a Crash
The most important evidence in a Texas company vehicle case usually belongs to the business, and some of it disappears on a routine schedule. Fleet telematics, camera footage, and phone records are often overwritten within weeks unless someone asks the company to keep them.
Preservation Letters
A preservation letter tells the business, in writing, exactly which records to keep. Sending it early puts the company on notice, and interstate carriers subject to federal rules must also keep an accident register under 49 C.F.R. Section 390.15.
When Evidence Is Destroyed Anyway
Texas courts can respond when a party destroys evidence it had a duty to keep, a problem called spoliation. In Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, the Supreme Court of Texas held that the harshest remedy, a jury instruction about the lost evidence, is generally reserved for intentional destruction or cases where the loss leaves the other side without a meaningful way to prove its claim.
Explore what mandatory speed limit devices on commercial vehicles mean for trucking oversight and injury lawsuits across the nation.
What Compensation Is Available After a Texas Commercial Vehicle Crash?
Compensation in a Texas commercial vehicle case can include medical expenses, lost earnings and earning capacity, physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical impairment. When a crash is fatal, the surviving spouse, children, and parents can bring a wrongful death claim.
Planning for Long-Term Needs
Crashes with heavier work vehicles often cause brain, spinal cord, and orthopedic injuries that affect a person for the rest of their life. We work with treating physicians, life care planners, and economists to measure future care and lost income, because those costs usually dwarf the bills already received.
Why Texans Trust Cowen Law With Commercial Vehicle Claims
Cowen Law has handled more than 1,000 trucking and company vehicle cases, and we prepare each one as if it will be tried. That preparation is what gives a demand weight with commercial insurers, who know which firms actually go to verdict.
- Michael Cowen is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law and has been Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2001.
- Malorie Peacock is Board Certified in Truck Accident Law.
- Michael Cowen hosts Cowen's Big Rig Boot Camp, an annual seminar where he teaches other lawyers how to try commercial vehicle cases.
- Our published results include an $8 million company vehicle case and an $8 million commercial vehicle case.
Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not predict future outcomes. We represent clients across Texas from our San Antonio headquarters, and consultations are available in English and Spanish. Clients speak directly with an attorney throughout the case.
We handle these cases on contingency, so there is no cost to you unless we win. Reach out to Cowen Law for a free review of your commercial vehicle claim. Explore the distinct legal hurdles and severe force disparities involved when a commercial vehicle collides with a passenger car.
FAQs: Texas Commercial Vehicle Accident Lawyer
These are questions Texans often ask after a crash with a company truck, van, bus, or other work vehicle.
How long do I have to sue a company after a car accident in Texas?
Most Texas injury claims against a company must be filed within two years of the crash under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. Claims against government-owned vehicles also require written notice within six months, or sooner under some city charters.
What if a school bus hit my car in Texas?
A claim against a Texas school district for a school bus crash generally proceeds under the Texas Tort Claims Act, which allows claims arising from the use of a motor vehicle. The Act requires written notice within six months and caps damages, so the deadline and the limits need attention early.
Can a company be liable if its employee was drunk?
Yes, a Texas company can be liable for a crash caused by an intoxicated employee if the employee was acting within the scope of the job or if the company let a driver it knew was impaired use its vehicle. Evidence that the company knew about a drinking problem can also support a claim for exemplary damages.
What if the commercial vehicle was from another state?
A crash in Texas with an out-of-state commercial vehicle can generally be brought in a Texas court, because the crash happened here. Interstate vehicles are also more likely to fall under federal safety and insurance rules, which can add evidence and coverage to the claim.
Do I need a commercial vehicle lawyer instead of a car accident lawyer?
Any Texas personal injury lawyer can handle a crash with a work vehicle, but these claims often turn on Chapter 72 trial rules, employer liability, and commercial insurance. Experience with company vehicle cases helps identify every responsible business and policy early.
Talk to a Texas Commercial Vehicle Accident Attorney
The business behind a work vehicle usually starts building its defense within hours of a crash. You deserve someone doing the same for you, with the resources to follow the evidence wherever it leads in Texas.
Call Cowen Law at (210) 941-1306, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., for a free consultation. There is no cost to you unless we win.
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Cowen Law - Texas Office
Address: 6243 I-10 #801, San Antonio, TX 78201
Contact No: (210) 941-1306