What to Do After a Truck Accident in Texas

Commercial Trucking  ·  June 2025  ·  8 min read

Truck accidents are not car accidents. The evidence is different, the liable parties are different, and the insurance tactics are different. Here is what you need to know — and do — in the critical hours after a commercial truck crash.

Step 1: Get Medical Attention — Even If You Feel Fine

Adrenaline masks pain. Internal injuries, soft tissue damage, and traumatic brain injuries often don't present symptoms immediately. Get evaluated at an emergency room or urgent care the same day as the accident. Beyond protecting your health, this creates a contemporaneous medical record that links your injuries to the crash — a critical piece of evidence that becomes harder to establish with every passing day.

Step 2: Call Law Enforcement

Make sure a police report is filed. Get the report number. Texas law requires you to report accidents involving injury, death, or property damage exceeding $1,000. The police report is often the first document an insurance company reviews and the first evidence your attorney will need.

Step 3: Document Everything You Can

If you are physically able, photograph everything at the scene: the positions of both vehicles, all damage, skid marks, road conditions, the truck's license plate, DOT number, and company name on the cab. Photograph your injuries. Get the names and contact information of every witness.

The truck's DOT number is particularly important — it allows us to pull the carrier's safety record, prior violations, and inspection history from the FMCSA database.

Step 4: Do Not Give a Statement to the Insurance Company

The trucking company's insurance carrier will often contact you within hours of the crash. Their adjuster's job is to minimize what they pay — not to help you. Do not give a recorded statement. Do not sign any releases or authorizations. Any statement you make can and will be used to reduce your claim.

Tell them you have retained counsel and that all communications should go through your attorney. Then call us.

Step 5: Preserve — and Demand Preservation of — Critical Evidence

Commercial trucks generate enormous amounts of electronic data. The Electronic Logging Device (ELD) records the driver's hours of service. The Engine Control Module (ECM) — often called the black box — records speed, braking, throttle position, and engine activity in the seconds before impact. Many systems automatically overwrite this data after 30 days or less.

An experienced trucking attorney will send an immediate spoliation letter to the carrier demanding that all electronic data, maintenance records, driver qualification files, and communications related to the crash be preserved. This is one of the most important things we do in the first 48 hours.

Step 6: Understand Who May Be Liable

Unlike car accidents where liability usually focuses on one driver, truck accidents often involve multiple potentially liable parties:

• The truck driver — for negligent driving, hours of service violations, impairment
• The trucking company — for negligent hiring, supervision, or vehicle maintenance; for driver violations they knew or should have known about
• The cargo company — if improper loading or unsecured cargo contributed to the accident
• The truck or parts manufacturer — if a defective component (brakes, tires, steering) was a contributing cause
• The maintenance provider — if negligent repairs or failure to identify defects contributed to the crash

Identifying all potentially liable parties from the start — and preserving claims against all of them — is essential to maximizing your recovery.

Step 7: Seek Experienced Legal Representation Immediately

The trucking company and its insurer have experienced lawyers working on their side within hours of the accident. You deserve the same. The sooner you have legal representation, the sooner critical evidence is preserved, the sooner a thorough investigation begins, and the sooner you have someone in your corner who knows how these cases work.

At The Metyko Law Firm, trucking cases are handled personally by Mathews Metyko — an attorney with specific experience on both sides of trucking litigation. We handle these cases on contingency, which means you pay nothing unless we recover for you.