A crash with a delivery van, a service truck or a company car can bring a business into the claim, along with its policy and its records. As a commercial vehicle accident lawyer in Houston, we sort out early which rules applied to that vehicle and which records must be kept.
LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC operates Automobile Accident Lawyers Houston, and its Houston office handles the commercial vehicle cases that come through this site. Jonathan Harris is responsible for the site; Howard Hill, who spent over 20 years with two of the nation’s largest auto and commercial insurance carriers, works on these cases with him.
Why a company vehicle changes the claim
When the at-fault driver was working, the company behind the vehicle may be part of the claim, depending on who owned the vehicle, who employed the driver and what the driver was doing at the time. The company’s insurance is a business policy, and it is handled by adjusters and defense lawyers who see these cases regularly. Our Houston attorneys have done that same work for insurers.
Texas law reflects that a company can answer for its people. In a death case, the Wrongful Death Act makes a person liable when the death is caused by the wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness or default of that person or of its agent or servant (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 71.002).
Which federal safety rules apply to commercial motor vehicles?
Texas follows the federal safety rules: the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety adopts rules consistent with federal regulations and may adopt them by reference (Transportation Code section 644.051). Whether a given van or work truck counts as a commercial motor vehicle depends on the vehicle and how it is used, and a commercial vehicle accident lawyer in Houston confirms that first. Where the rules apply, they include:
- Driver fitness. A fatigued or ill driver may not drive, and the carrier may not permit it (49 CFR 392.3).
- Drugs and alcohol. No driver on duty under the influence of Schedule I drugs, amphetamines or narcotics (392.4), and no alcohol within 4 hours before duty or while on duty (392.5).
- Phones. No texting while driving (392.80) and no hand-held phone (392.82), and the carrier is bound by both.
- Qualification. Drivers must be at least 21 (391.11(b)(1)), the carrier keeps a driver qualification file (391.51), and a pre-employment drug test comes before safety-sensitive work (382.301).
- Maintenance and cargo. Every vehicle must be systematically inspected, repaired and maintained (396.3), and cargo must be secured against shifting and falling (393.100).
- Hours. For property carriers, 49 CFR 395.3 limits driving to 11 hours, bars driving after the 14th hour on duty, and requires a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving.
Electronic logs and the 6-month record rule
Electronic logging devices record a driver’s duty status (49 CFR 395.8(a)), and carriers must keep duty records and supporting documents for at least 6 months (395.8(k)). The rule sets a minimum, so records older than that may no longer exist.
So your commercial vehicle accident lawyer in Houston sends a preservation letter early, usually in the first days after you hire us. It asks the company to keep the logs, the driver qualification file, maintenance and inspection records, dispatch and delivery records, phone records, and any camera footage or vehicle data. A letter sent in week one can save evidence that a letter sent in month seven cannot.
Hit by a company van or work truck? Call our Houston office so the preservation letter goes out while the records still exist. The consultation is free.
The 2021 two-phase trial law
In 2021 Texas added subchapter B to Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 72 for commercial vehicle cases. On a defendant’s motion, the trial is split in two: compensatory damages are tried first and exemplary damages second (72.052). Evidence that a regulation was broken comes into the first phase only if it tends to prove the breach caused the injury (72.053). And if the company admits the driver was its employee acting in the scope of the job, ordinary negligence claims against the company may be limited in the first phase (72.054).
This shapes how a case is built from the start. A broken rule is not enough on its own; we have to tie it to how the crash happened. That is why the logs, the phone records and the maintenance history matter so much, and why we gather them before the claim is presented.
Deadlines and shared fault
A personal injury suit must be brought within two years after the day the claim accrues (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003). If the vehicle belonged to a city or another government unit, written notice is due within six months (section 101.101). The fault rule applies as in any crash: recovery is reduced by your share and barred if your share is greater than 50 percent (section 33.001).
For buses see our bus accident lawyer in Houston page, and for a side-by-side look at every vehicle type, see the vehicle accident lawyer in Houston page. When you call a Houston commercial vehicle accident lawyer at our office, tell us anything you noticed about the vehicle: a company name, a number on the door, a logo, or the plate.
Questions people ask
Is every delivery van a commercial motor vehicle?
Not necessarily. It depends on the vehicle and how it is used. We check that before relying on the federal rules in a claim.
Can the company say the driver was not working?
It can try. Delivery records, dispatch logs and phone records often show what the driver was doing, which is why we ask the company to keep them.
How soon should the preservation letter go out?
As early as possible. Duty records must be kept for at least 6 months, and video or other data may be overwritten sooner.