More than one party can be responsible for a Texas truck crash: the driver, the motor carrier, an owner who leased the truck to the carrier, a freight broker, a company that loaded or shipped the cargo, a repair shop, a parts maker, and sometimes another motorist. Texas assigns each a percentage of responsibility, and each liable defendant pays according to its share.
The short version
- Anyone whose act, omission or defective product helped cause the harm can be assigned a percentage. The jury names the shares in whole numbers (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.003(a)).
- The company answers for its driver. A carrier can be liable for an employee’s negligence and for its own choices, though a stipulation can change when the second kind of claim is tried (§§ 72.052, 72.054).
- Federal rules reach independent contractors. They count an independent-contractor driver as an “employee,” and a lease must give the carrier “exclusive possession, control, and use” of the truck (49 C.F.R. §§ 390.5, 376.12(c)(1)).
- Federal law does not block a negligent-hiring claim against a broker. The U.S. Supreme Court held on May 14, 2026 that the FAAAA does not preempt that kind of claim.
- Shares above one half change the outcome. A defendant over 50 percent owes all recoverable damages, and an injured person over 50 percent recovers nothing (§§ 33.013(b)(1), 33.001).
Who can be held liable for a truck accident in Texas?
Any person whose negligence, or whose defective product, helped cause the crash. In a truck case that commonly means the driver and the motor carrier, and depending on the facts it can include a truck owner, a broker, a shipper or loader, a maintenance shop, a manufacturer, or another driver on the road.
Texas does not limit the list in advance; the basic fault rules match those in the tort law explainer. Chapter 33 has the jury assign whole-number percentages to claimants, defendants, settling persons and designated responsible third parties whose negligence, defective product or other legal-standard violation contributed to the harm, the injured person included (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.003(a)). The table sorts the usual candidates by the rule that makes each answerable; the evidence decides whether any one of them is actually liable.
| Party | Basis for responsibility | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Truck driver | Personal negligence in driving; duties on cargo, and on the rules a driver must follow. | Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003(a); 49 C.F.R. § 392.9(a)–(b) |
| Motor carrier | Respondeat superior for an employee; its own negligence, such as negligent entrustment; duty to require drivers to follow the safety rules and to maintain its vehicles. | Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 72.051, 72.054; 49 C.F.R. §§ 390.11, 396.3(a) |
| Owner or lessor of the truck | An owner or lessee is within the commercial-vehicle statute; a leased truck is under the carrier’s exclusive possession and control. | Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 72.051(2)(B); 49 C.F.R. § 376.12(c)(1) |
| Freight broker | A negligent-hiring claim for selecting an unsafe carrier is not barred by federal preemption. | 49 C.F.R. § 371.2 (definition); Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II (U.S. 2026) |
| Shipper, loader or maintenance shop | Its own negligence, if it contributed; the carrier and driver remain bound by cargo and maintenance duties. | Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003(a); 49 C.F.R. §§ 392.9, 396.3 |
| Manufacturer of the truck or a part | A design-defect claim requires proof of both a safer alternative design and a producing cause. | Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 82.001(4), 82.005(a) |
The firm’s Houston truck accident page explains how these claims are pursued, the truck lawyer overview follows one from start to finish, and the article on how an 18-wheeler case differs from a car case shows why the list of defendants is usually longer. What a truck’s insurance adds is covered in the insurance article, and the kinds of compensation at stake are listed in the damages explainer.
Can the truck driver be held personally responsible for the damages?
Yes. A driver answers for his or her own negligence, and federal rules put personal duties on a commercial driver, including securing cargo before driving. A driver is usually one of several defendants, because the company’s role matters as much.
Under 49 C.F.R. § 392.9 a driver may not operate a commercial motor vehicle unless the cargo is properly distributed and adequately secured, and a truck driver must inspect the cargo and securement devices within the first 50 miles of a trip and re-examine them when duty status changes, after 3 hours of driving, or after 150 miles, whichever comes first. Other driver duties are treated in the posts on hours-of-service limits, a distracted truck driver and a semi that fails to stop; the evidence article covers how proof of what a driver did is gathered, and drug and alcohol testing is one example.
When is a trucking company responsible for its driver’s crash?
When the driver was its employee acting within the scope of the job, and also for its own conduct. Texas calls the first rule respondeat superior. A company can additionally face claims such as negligent entrustment, which depend on the employee having been negligent, and its own duties under the federal safety rules.
Chapter 72, Subchapter B of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code applies to suits for injury or death caused in a collision with a commercial motor vehicle against a defendant that operated it or that “owned, leased, or otherwise held or exercised legal control over” the vehicle or its operator (§ 72.051(2)). If the employer stipulates in time that the driver was its employee acting within the scope of employment, its liability for the driver’s ordinary negligence is based only on respondeat superior (§ 72.054(a)). If it does and the trial is bifurcated, the claimant may not present, in the first phase, an ordinary-negligence claim against the employer such as negligent entrustment that depends on the employee’s negligence (§ 72.054(b)); in a case against a regulated employer a party may still offer certain evidence listed in § 72.054(c), and a finding that the employee was negligent can let the claim proceed in the second phase (§ 72.052(e)).
The federal rules supply independent company duties. Where the safety regulations give a driver a duty, the motor carrier must require the driver to observe it (49 C.F.R. § 390.11), and § 396.3(a) requires each carrier to inspect, repair and maintain the vehicles it controls on a systematic basis. The gross negligence article covers what happens when a company’s choices go beyond carelessness, and common causes of truck crashes shows which defendant each cause tends to point to.
Does it matter if the driver is an owner-operator or the truck was leased?
It can matter, but federal rules speak to both points. Federal regulations define “employee” to include an independent-contractor driver while operating a commercial vehicle, and a lease must give the authorized carrier exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment. Whether that settles liability under Texas law depends on the contract and the facts.
The definition in 49 C.F.R. § 390.5 says an employee “includes a driver of a commercial motor vehicle (including an independent contractor while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle).” The same section defines “employer” as a person in a business affecting interstate commerce who “owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle in connection with that business, or assigns employees to operate it.” On leases, § 376.12(c)(1) requires the lease to give the authorized carrier lessee “exclusive possession, control, and use of the equipment for the duration of the lease” and to make it assume “complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment.” Paragraph (c)(4), however, says nothing in (c)(1) “is intended to affect whether the lessor or driver provided by the lessor is an independent contractor or an employee of the authorized carrier lessee.”
The regulations say who must answer to regulators; they do not by themselves decide a Texas negligence claim. The lease, the carrier’s authority and the trip all matter, along with those listed in the guide to interstate truck cases and venue.
Can a freight broker or the company that shipped the goods be liable?
Possibly. A broker arranges transportation for compensation, and on May 14, 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court held that a negligent-hiring claim against a broker is not preempted by federal law. Whether a broker or shipper is liable still depends on state law and the facts, including how the carrier was chosen.
A broker is “a person who, for compensation, arranges, or offers to arrange, the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier” (49 C.F.R. § 371.2). In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, No. 24-1238, decided May 14, 2026, the plaintiff alleged that broker C.H. Robinson negligently hired the carrier. The Court held that such a claim is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, because States keep their safety regulatory authority “with respect to motor vehicles.” The opinion decided the preemption question; it did not decide that the broker was negligent.
A recent Texas example shows how a company behind a load can be named. A suit covered by Houston Public Media on January 7, 2026 names H-E-B, the driver, Parkway Transport and Scrappy Trucking after a Panhandle crash that killed four Houston-area women; the suit was filed for their estates. The plaintiffs argue that H-E-B owns Parkway, which contracted Scrappy to have the driver haul the load, and that H-E-B was negligent in selecting and retaining the carrier; H-E-B told the station the driver worked for a third-party vendor (Houston Public Media). Those are allegations in a lawsuit, not findings.
Houston’s freight traffic is large enough that the cast of companies behind one truck is rarely small: Port Houston’s release of January 30, 2026 says its terminals served approximately 2.5 million trucks in 2025, and every one of those trips involves a driver and a motor carrier, and often a company that loaded or shipped the cargo (Port Houston).
Can a loader, a repair shop or a truck maker be liable?
Yes, if its own negligence or a defective product contributed to the crash. A manufacturer faces special statutory requirements for a design-defect claim, and a nonmanufacturing seller is liable only in the situations Texas lists.
The federal cargo rule binds the driver and carrier, but another company that loaded the trailer can still be named if its negligence is shown. For repair work, the carrier has the maintenance duty under § 396.3, and a shop’s workmanship can be part of how a part failed; the article on a tire blowout and road debris covers one kind of mechanical failure, and a truck stopped on the shoulder raises other questions. Against a maker, a design-defect claimant carries the burden of proving both a safer alternative design and a producing cause (§ 82.005(a)). A seller that only sold the product escapes liability unless the claimant proves one of the situations in § 82.003(a), for example that the seller participated in designing it or actually knew of the defect.
How does Texas divide fault among everyone involved?
By percentage. The jury gives every person involved a share, including the injured person. A defendant generally pays only its own share; one found more than half responsible can be made to pay all recoverable damages, and an injured person found more than half responsible recovers nothing.
Under § 33.013(a) a liable defendant owes only the part of the damages that matches its own percentage, while (b)(1) makes a defendant with a share above 50 percent jointly and severally liable for the entire recoverable amount. A defendant can also ask to designate a responsible third party, a person alleged to have contributed to the harm, by a motion due 60 days before trial, absent good cause for later (§ 33.004(a)); the designation alone does not make that person liable (§ 33.004(i)). The injured person’s own share counts too (§§ 33.001, 33.012(a)). The comparative negligence article and the one on liability in multi-car crashes go further on how defendants point at each other.
Which traffic and trucking rules decide fault in common truck crashes?
Usually a specific Texas traffic statute or federal trucking regulation: the red-light rule, the single-lane rule, the right-turn rule, the speed and following-distance rules, the cargo securement rules, or the carrier’s maintenance and driver-record duties. The rule shows what the driver or company was required to do; the jury still assigns each party’s percentage.
The table pairs situations people describe after a Houston truck crash with the rule written for that situation. A broken rule is one thing the jury weighs, not a finding of liability by itself; under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.003(a) the jury states each person’s responsibility as a percentage. Several of these situations involve places the firm has written about, from Houston’s most dangerous roads and intersections to an 18-wheeler that overturned on the West Loop, and a driver’s fitness to drive is covered in the post on truckers’ medical issues.
| Situation | What the rule requires | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| The truck ran a red light | An operator facing only a steady red signal must stop at a clearly marked stop line, or before the crosswalk if there is none. | Transp. Code § 544.007(d) |
| The truck moved into my lane from its blind spot | A driver on a laned roadway must drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and may not move from the lane unless the movement can be made safely. | Transp. Code § 545.060(a) |
| The truck swung wide on a right turn | Both the approach and the turn must be made as closely as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway. The section has no separate rule for large trucks; the Texas Transportation Commission or a local authority may require a different turning course at an intersection. | Transp. Code § 545.101(a), (e) |
| The truck rear-ended traffic or jackknifed while braking | No speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions, with speed controlled as necessary to avoid a collision; a following driver must keep an assured clear distance to stop safely. | Transp. Code §§ 545.351(a)–(b), 545.062(a) |
| Cargo fell off or shifted | Cargo must be secured to prevent it leaking, spilling, blowing or falling, and to prevent shifting that affects stability or maneuverability; neither the driver nor the motor carrier may put the truck on the road unless the cargo is properly distributed and adequately secured. | 49 C.F.R. § 393.100(b)–(c); § 392.9(a)(1) |
| Gravel, sand or dirt blew off an uncovered truck | A commercial motor vehicle hauling loose material, such as dirt, sand, gravel, refuse or wood chips, must have the load covered and the cover firmly secured, or completely enclosed. | Transp. Code §§ 725.001(2), 725.021(e) |
| Brakes or other parts failed | A motor carrier must systematically inspect, repair and maintain the vehicles under its control, and a driver must be satisfied the truck is in safe operating condition before driving it. | 49 C.F.R. § 396.3(a); § 396.13(a) |
| The driver had a history of crashes or violations | Unless an exception applies (49 C.F.R. part 391, subpart G, or a driver regularly employed by the carrier continuously since before January 1, 1971), the carrier must, within 30 days of the date employment begins, inquire for the driver’s 3-year motor vehicle record and investigate the driver’s safety performance history with Department of Transportation regulated employers during the preceding three years; it must inquire for the driver’s motor vehicle record at least once every 12 months. | 49 C.F.R. § 391.23(a); § 391.25(a) |
| The driver is called an independent contractor | For the federal safety rules, an “employee” includes a driver of a commercial motor vehicle, including an independent contractor while operating one; the required lease terms do not themselves decide whether a driver is an independent contractor or an employee. | 49 C.F.R. § 390.5T; § 376.12(c)(4) |
How do you identify every responsible party before records are gone?
By requesting the carrier’s records early and tracing the paperwork behind the trip. Some federal retention periods are short, so the owners, lessors, brokers and shippers have to be found before the records that name them are discarded. The name painted on the cab can differ from the company that leased the truck or arranged the load.
The period each record must be kept is laid out in the evidence post. The days after a crash have their own checklist in lawyer insights on the first steps and the mistakes that hurt claims. For crashes near Pasadena, Katy, Sugar Land, Baytown or Galveston, the firm has pages for Pasadena, Katy, Sugar Land, Baytown and Galveston truck cases.
For a fatal crash, the wrongful death page covers who may bring the claim; for any other truck case, the truck settlement page describes how claims resolve, and the contact page is the way to ask about a particular wreck.
Frequently asked questions
Who can bring a claim if a family member was killed by a truck?
Chapter 71 gives the wrongful death action to the surviving spouse, children and parents, and one of them may sue for the group. When none has filed within three calendar months of the death, the personal representative of the estate is to file unless every eligible family member asks that no suit be brought (§ 71.004).
Is there a deadline to sue after a truck accident in Texas?
Generally two years. Section 16.003 sets that period for personal injury, running from the day the claim accrues, and for an injury resulting in death it runs from the death itself. Claims against some defendants, such as a government body, can carry other requirements, so ask about the specific defendants.
What if I was partly at fault for the truck accident?
Your own percentage is subtracted from your damages if it is 50 percent or lower. Above 50 percent, Texas bars recovery altogether. The jury sets that figure along with the figures for every defendant (§§ 33.001, 33.003, 33.012).
What is a responsible third party?
It is someone a defendant says helped cause the harm, even though the claimant has not sued that person. The defendant asks the court’s permission to name the person. Being named does not make that person liable, but the jury can assign a percentage of responsibility (§§ 33.004, 33.011(6)).
Does a company that settled still get a percentage of fault?
Yes. A settling person is someone who paid or promised money to the claimant over the harm, and the jury assigns that person a share too. The judge then subtracts the settlement dollars from the final recovery (§§ 33.011(5), 33.012(b)).
Can the owner of the truck be sued even if someone else was driving?
The commercial-vehicle statute reaches a defendant that owned, leased or otherwise held legal control over the truck or its operator (§ 72.051(2)(B)). Whether the owner is actually liable depends on the evidence of its own negligence or its relationship to the driver.
About the authors
Sam A. Maida, Jr.
Owner and Managing Attorney
Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.
State Bar of TexasAvvoMartindale-HubbellLawLinkThatCarHitMeLinkedIn
Bernard G. Johnson III
Litigation Managing Attorney
Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.