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After a crash with a commercial vehicle, much of the evidence that can decide your case is held by the trucking company. Much of it is electronic, and some of it is erased or overwritten on a schedule.
The other side is a company with a claims process that starts before the road is cleared. Logging data, engine data and dashcam video can be lost in days, and the truck can be repaired or put back on the road. A preservation letter needs to go out immediately. Call 713-521-0059.
Large carriers and their insurers dispatch a rapid response team to serious crash scenes. Investigators, sometimes an accident reconstructionist and sometimes counsel, frequently arrive within hours.
They photograph the scene while it exists, download vehicle data, and interview the driver before anyone else does. They also secure the tractor and trailer. None of that is improper. It is a head start, and it is why the timeline on your side matters so much.
Several kinds of records can be lost if no one asks for them early.
Engine and event data can be overwritten by continued operation of the vehicle. That is why the vehicle itself needs to be preserved and inspected before it is repaired, sold or put back in service. The driver qualification file is where negligent hiring and retention claims live.
A spoliation and preservation letter should be sent immediately and should identify each category above specifically. It is one of the most important steps in the first week of a commercial vehicle case.
A generic letter that asks a carrier to “preserve all evidence” does far less work than one that names the ELD, the ECM, the telematics vendor, the dashcam retention setting and the driver qualification file. Where the vehicle matters, an inspection before repair is often necessary, with your own expert present. It often has to be arranged in days rather than weeks.
You can protect evidence on your side too. Keep photographs and video from phones, and write down the truck number, the company name on the door and any witnesses. Save your own vehicle, or at least photograph it fully before it is repaired or released to salvage.
Commercial cases usually involve more than one company. The driver, the motor carrier, the trailer owner, the broker who arranged the load, the shipper, a maintenance contractor and a staffing company may each be separate entities. Each can have separate insurance and separate lawyers.
Sorting out who is who, and which of them is responsible for what, shapes the case from the beginning. Expect each of them to point at the others, and at you. Under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a claimant found more than 50 percent responsible recovers nothing (Section 33.001). Otherwise, the award is reduced by the claimant’s percentage (Section 33.012), even at exactly 50 percent.
Commercial policies commonly stack. There is a primary layer, one or more excess layers, and sometimes a self-insured retention the company pays before any insurer is involved.
Identifying the full tower early determines what the case can realistically resolve for. Your own policy can matter as well, particularly when the injuries are serious. Look for your auto policy’s declarations page, which lists your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.
Get medical care first, and follow up on every symptom, even ones that seem minor. Some injuries are not obvious on the first day. Tell each provider the same history of how the crash happened, and keep every bill, receipt and discharge paper.
Ask the officer for the crash report number, and write down the carrier’s name and any numbers on the cab or trailer. An adjuster for the carrier may call you quickly and sound helpful. You generally do not have to give a recorded statement to another party’s insurer. Your own policy may require you to cooperate with your own insurer. It is usually better to get advice before you talk about fault or your injuries.
Keep a short daily note of your pain, missed work and what you cannot do. That record is hard to rebuild months later, and it helps show what the crash changed in your life.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Ask for these in writing within days, because some video and vehicle data can be overwritten that quickly. In most cases, under Section 16.003(a) of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, suit must be brought within two years after the day the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury. For a death claim, Section 16.003(b) runs the two years from the date of death. The practical deadline for the evidence above is far shorter than the legal one.
We handle 18-wheeler and commercial vehicle cases in Houston and across Texas. We start by sending a specific preservation letter to the carrier and every other company involved, and by arranging an inspection of the vehicles where it matters. Then we identify each responsible party and every layer of insurance.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people across Texas.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
Electronic logging data and engine control module data, both of which are overwritten or purged on short cycles. Dashcam video can also be on a short overwrite cycle, sometimes days.
Federal regulations impose retention periods, but many are short, so a preservation letter should go out immediately.
The driver, the motor carrier, often the broker or shipper, and sometimes a maintenance contractor. A trailer owner or staffing company can also be involved.
Often, yes. Engine and event data can be overwritten when the vehicle keeps running, so an inspection before repair, with your own expert present, may need to happen within days.
Under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, you recover nothing if you are found more than 50 percent responsible. Otherwise, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, even at exactly 50 percent.
Generally within two years after the day the claim accrues under Section 16.003(a), which is usually the date of the injury, or from the date of death under Section 16.003(b). The evidence deadline is measured in days, not years.