Austin Cargo Truck Accident Attorney

A cargo truck on an Austin highway is the endpoint of a freight chain, and when a crash happens, responsibility can run back through the carrier, the shipping company, and the crew that loaded the trailer. The condition of the load, how it was packed, whether the truck was within weight limits, and how the cargo was secured can be as central to your case as what the driver did.

Adam Loewy has spent years handling truck accident cases across Texas, taking on commercial carriers and the companies behind them on behalf of people with serious injuries. Loewy Law Firm knows how to identify every responsible party, demand the records carriers keep, and build a case before critical evidence disappears. Call (512) 280-0800 for a no obligation, free consultation.

How Do I Know if I Have a Case?

To recover compensation after a cargo truck accident, your case needs to establish four elements: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages.

• Duty of care: Drivers, carriers, shipping companies, and loaders each carry specific obligations under Texas and federal law. A truck driver has a duty to operate safely within lawful limits. A carrier has a duty to maintain its vehicles and supervise its drivers. A shipper has a duty to load and secure cargo in compliance with federal standards.
• Breach: A party breached its duty by failing to meet that standard, e.g., improperly loading or securing cargo, pushing a driver past allowable hours, neglecting required maintenance, or dispatching a truck over legal weight limits.
• Causation: The breach directly caused the accident and your injuries.
• Damages: The injuries resulted in measurable losses like medical expenses, lost income, or lasting physical harm.

What makes a cargo truck case more compelling is evidence showing a deviation from federal safety standards. Hours-of-service logs, cargo manifests, bills of lading, and vehicle inspection reports can each tie a specific regulatory failure to the crash. When multiple parties share responsibility, all of them can be named, and commercial carriers carry far higher liability coverage than individual drivers.

After the Accident: Steps to Protect Your Case

Commercial carriers will act quickly after a serious accident. Investigators and adjusters are frequently dispatched before the scene is cleared, and their job is to protect the carrier’s position.

Evidence on the carrier’s side, like driver logs, maintenance records, black box data, and cargo documentation, can be altered or overwritten if no formal preservation demand is made.

Here’s what to do in the period immediately after the accident:

1. Get medical attention right away, even without obvious symptoms. Some injuries don’t present immediately, and a medical record from that day documents the connection between the crash and your injuries.
2. Call the police and get an accident report filed.
3. Photograph both vehicles, the cargo, the road, and any visible injuries before the scene is cleared.
4. Get contact information from anyone who witnessed the crash.
5. Don’t give a recorded statement to the carrier’s adjuster or its representatives.
6. Contact a truck accident attorney before signing any documents.

The steps you take after a cargo truck accident directly affect your position against a carrier that is already working to limit its exposure, and a careful, documented response in the days that follow gives you a foundation when liability is disputed across multiple parties.

Choosing the Right Cargo Truck Accident Lawyer

Not every personal injury attorney has handled a cargo truck case, and cargo truck cases require a different level of preparation. Familiarity with FMCSA regulations, experience identifying multiple defendants, and the capacity to go up against a commercial carrier’s attorneys and retained experts are all part of what separates a prepared lawyer from an inexperienced one.

When evaluating attorneys, ask about:

• Experience specifically with commercial truck and cargo accident cases, not just vehicle accidents generally
• Familiarity with FMCSA regulations and how violations get used as evidence of negligence
• Retaining accident reconstruction experts and commercial trucking industry experts where the facts call for it
• Track record in cases against commercial carriers
• Fee structure is another factor. Most cargo truck accident lawyers handle cases on contingency, meaning no fees unless you recover compensation.

The truck accident lawyer you choose needs to have the experience and track record to fight against big commercial carriers and the insurance companies behind them.

Loewy Law Firm: Building Compelling Truck Accident Cases

Adam Loewy has deep experience in truck accident litigation in Texas, and Loewy Law Firm has built a reputation for the kind of investigative work that gets cases taken seriously. When a cargo truck case comes in, the firm acts on several fronts simultaneously:

• Sending a litigation hold letter to the carrier demanding preservation of all records, ELD data, GPS coordinates, EDR information, and cargo documentation
• Identifying every potentially liable party: the driver, the carrier, the shipping company, the loader, and any third-party maintenance contractor
• Retaining accident reconstruction experts and cargo securement specialists where the facts call for it
• Ordering the driver’s qualification file, inspection history, and hours-of-service records to surface prior violations
• Reviewing the carrier’s FMCSA safety rating and compliance history

Loewy Law Firm has gone up against Texas carriers in cases tracing back to overloaded trailers, improperly secured loads, fatigued drivers, and negligent maintenance. Cargo cases can name multiple defendants, and Adam Loewy has the resources and trial experience to handle that.

The Case Process: What to Expect

Most clients start with a free consultation, a direct conversation about what happened, the extent of your injuries, and whether you have a case. Loewy Law Firm handles cargo truck accident cases on contingency, meaning no fees unless you recover compensation.

From there, the case progresses through several stages:

1. Investigation and evidence preservation: Loewy Law Firm secures digital records, subpoenas carrier documents, and retains any necessary experts. At this stage, the firm is building a complete picture of what happened and which parties are responsible.
2. Demand and negotiation: Once the investigation establishes the full scope of damages and liability, Loewy Law Firm prepares a formal demand to the carrier’s insurance company. Negotiation begins here, and most cargo truck accident cases are resolved through this process.
3. Litigation: If the carrier’s offer doesn’t reflect the full value of your damages, Loewy Law Firm is prepared to take the case to trial. Adam Loewy has trial experience in Texas, and carriers with exposure know it.

Factors That Make Cargo Truck Cases Different

Commercial drivers and carriers operate under FMCSA regulations that don’t apply to standard drivers. Three regulatory areas are most relevant to cargo truck accident cases:

• Cargo securement: Under 49 CFR Part 393, cargo has to be secured to prevent it from shifting, spilling, or falling during transit. Improperly loaded or unsecured cargo is a direct cause of rollovers, jackknife accidents, and road debris collisions.
• Hours of service: FMCSA limits how many hours a commercial driver can operate before taking mandatory rest. ELD data records exactly when the driver was on duty, and violations of those limits are evidence the carrier pushed the driver past safe operating limits.
• Weight limits: Federal law caps commercial truck gross weight on Interstate highways. Overweight trucks require longer stopping distances and transfer greater force on impact, and carriers are required to obtain special permits for loads exceeding standard limits.

When a federal regulation is violated and that violation contributed to the crash, it stands as direct evidence of breach. Documented regulatory violations give a cargo truck case an evidentiary foundation that conduct-based negligence cases rarely have.

Compensation That May Be Available

After a serious cargo truck accident, damages can extend beyond immediate medical bills. Texas allows injured people to recover both economic and non-economic losses.

Economic damages cover the financial losses:

• Medical expenses, including hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and ongoing treatment
• Future medical costs if your injuries require long-term care
• Lost income from time missed at work
• Reduced earning capacity if your injuries affect your ability to work going forward
• Property damage to your vehicle

Non-economic damages address losses that don’t come with a dollar amount:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Permanent impairment or disfigurement

In cases of extreme negligence, like a carrier that disregarded known safety violations or a driver with a documented history of hours-of-service infractions, punitive damages may also be available. Punitive damages penalize the responsible party’s conduct separately from compensating your losses.

Under 49 CFR § 387.9, interstate for-hire carriers transporting general freight are required to carry a minimum of $750,000 in liability coverage, and carriers transporting certain categories of cargo may be required to carry more. That coverage floor is significantly higher than what personal auto drivers carry, and it’s one reason cargo truck accident cases can result in substantially larger recoveries than standard vehicle accident cases.

Texas Laws Relevant to Cargo Truck Cases

Statute of Limitations for Cargo Truck Accident Cases

Under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003, you have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury case. In cargo truck cases, a thorough investigation, from collecting records and identifying defendants to retaining the right experts, takes time to build properly, and ELD data and EDR records can be overwritten within weeks. Carriers have an obligation to preserve records once they receive formal notice of a potential case.

Shared Fault and Your Recovery

Texas follows a modified comparative fault rule under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 33.001. If you were partially at fault for the accident, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. At 51% fault or more, recovery is barred entirely.

Carriers and their attorneys may try to blame the other driver to reduce their exposure. Strong evidence of the carrier’s negligence through FMCSA violations, cargo securement failures, and hours-of-service records can directly affect how fault gets apportioned between the parties.

Wrongful Death in Cargo Truck Cases

Under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 71.004, certain family members can bring a wrongful death case on behalf of a loved one killed in a crash. Eligible parties under the statute include the deceased’s spouse, children, and parents. The two-year filing deadline applies in the same way, running from the date of death. Loewy Law Firm handles wrongful death cases arising from cargo truck accidents across Texas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the Carrier’s Insurance Company Contacts Me Before I Have an Attorney?

Don’t give a recorded statement and don’t sign anything. The carrier’s adjuster is working to limit the company’s exposure, not to help you assess your damages. Contact Loewy Law Firm before responding.

What if I Didn’t Seek Medical Attention Right Away?

A gap between the accident and your first medical visit can complicate a case, but it doesn’t end one. Documentation of your injuries, the progression of symptoms, and a clear account of why treatment was delayed all factor into how that gap gets addressed.

How Long Does a Cargo Truck Accident Case Take to Resolve?

It depends on the complexity of the case, the number of defendants, and whether the carrier disputes liability. Cases that settle through negotiation resolve faster than those that go to trial. Cargo truck cases with multiple defendants and serious injuries can take a year or more.

What if the Carrier’s Insurance Policy Doesn’t Cover the Full Extent of My Damages?

Commercial carriers sometimes carry coverage in layers, with excess policies that activate once the primary policy is exhausted. Identifying the full insurance structure — primary coverage, excess layers, and any umbrella policies — is part of how Loewy Law Firm evaluates what’s recoverable.

What if the Cargo Truck Driver Was an Independent Contractor?

Carrier liability doesn’t automatically disappear because the driver was classified as an independent contractor. Under FMCSA regulations, a carrier that leased the driver or the vehicle can still be held responsible under the statutory employer doctrine. An attorney can evaluate how responsibility is allocated based on the specific arrangements in place.

Talk to Adam Loewy About Your Case

You may be dealing with serious injuries or the loss of a loved one and have no idea where to start. Loewy Law Firm has a successful track record in truck accident cases spanning more than two decades and is ready to fight for the justice and compensation you need and deserve. There are no fees unless we recover. Call (512) 280-0800 for a free case review.