Were you injured in an 18-wheeler accident in Midland, TX?
At Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers, we represent people injured in collisions with tractor-trailers on the highways around Midland.
If a tractor-trailer hit your vehicle in Midland, the trucking company’s driver logs, camera footage, and maintenance records should be preserved before they are overwritten. A Midland, TX 18-wheeler accident lawyer sends that preservation demand to the carrier and then builds the claim against the carrier’s commercial insurer.
Our founding attorneys have handled 18-wheeler cases throughout their careers, and their results include a $35 million settlement for the family of a young woman killed by an 18-wheeler in Fort Worth. We take these cases on a contingency basis, and you owe no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. Call us for a free consultation.
18-Wheeler Accident Lawyer Midland, TX
An 18-wheeler accident attorney brings an injury claim against the trucking company whose truck caused the collision, not only against the driver. The distinction matters because the carrier controls the evidence. It owns the truck’s electronic logging device, the dash camera, and the maintenance file. It also begins its own investigation within hours of the crash. We send a preservation demand in the first days so that those records are kept. We then compare them against the crash report and the physical evidence from the scene.
Tractor-trailers were involved in 26,003 Texas crashes in 2025, and 372 of those vehicles were in fatal crashes, 254 of them on rural roads, according to tractor-trailer crash counts. In Midland County, 32 of the 44 fatal crashes in 2025 happened on the interstate or on a U.S. or state highway, according to county fatality records.
Types of 18-Wheeler Accident Cases We Handle in Midland, TX
Our 18-wheeler accident attorneys handle crashes on Interstate 20, on State Highway 349, and on the lease roads where oilfield trucks share the pavement with passenger vehicles. The type of collision matters, because each one leaves different evidence behind.
- Rear-end collisions. A loaded tractor-trailer needs far more distance to stop than a car, so a driver who follows too closely strikes stopped traffic at highway speed. The truck’s event data recorder shows its speed and braking in the seconds before impact.
- Jackknife and rollover crashes. A trailer that swings across the lane or tips over blocks several lanes at once. Speed, load weight, and the way the cargo was secured explain most of these crashes.
- Lane-change crashes. A tractor-trailer has blind spots along both sides and behind the trailer. A driver who changes lanes without clearing them forces other vehicles off the road.
- Fatigued and impaired driving. Federal rules limit a driver’s hours behind the wheel, and the electronic log shows whether the driver stayed within them. The driver is also tested for drugs and alcohol after a serious crash.
- Car accidents. A passenger car struck by a loaded truck absorbs almost all of the force. Those collisions produce the spinal, head, and crush injuries that require long-term care.
- Motorcycle accidents. A rider has no protection against a tractor-trailer, and even a sideswipe at highway speed is often fatal.
- Uber accidents. A rideshare passenger injured when an 18-wheeler hits the rideshare vehicle has a claim against the carrier. The rideshare driver’s coverage may also apply.
- Oilfield accidents. Crude haulers, sand trucks, and water trucks run through the Permian Basin at all hours. A collision with one of them involves the trucking contractor and often the operator that hired it.
- Brain injuries. The force of a tractor-trailer collision causes head injuries even when the airbags deploy. Those injuries are documented with neurological testing rather than imaging alone.
- Wrongful death. The family of a person killed in an 18-wheeler crash can bring a claim against the carrier. We handle the investigation while the family makes arrangements.
Why Choose Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers as my 18-Wheeler Accident Lawyer in Midland, TX?
Licensed in Three States for Interstate Carrier Claims
Many carriers that run through Midland are based outside Texas, so a claim may involve companies, insurers, or witnesses in another state. Matt Greenberg is licensed in Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona. He has tried cases as lead counsel in county, state, and federal courts. That reach matters when the carrier is sued outside Midland County.
Mike Streich represented insurers, including Lloyd’s of London syndicates, in commercial motor vehicle cases for nearly a decade before he began representing injured people. The defenses a carrier raises after a crash are the defenses he once prepared. A Midland 18-wheeler accident attorney with that background reads the carrier’s incident file as the carrier’s own lawyers would.
Results Against Trucking Companies and Their Insurers
Our attorneys have recovered more than $348 million for injured clients and families. Several of the largest recoveries came from commercial vehicle cases.
- A $35 million settlement resolved the claim of a Fort Worth family whose daughter was killed by an 18-wheeler. No larger personal injury settlement had been recorded in Tarrant County at the time.
- A $25 million recovery resolved a claim arising from a commercial motor vehicle collision.
- A $4 million recovery compensated a client injured in a truck accident.
Our firm applies that record to every 18-wheeler claim it accepts as a personal injury lawyer in Midland, TX.
What Is Important to Understand About an 18-Wheeler Accident Case?
What Should You Bring to Your 18-Wheeler Accident Consultation?
An 18-wheeler accident lawyer in Midland, TX begins with the records from the scene, because the carrier has already collected its own.
- Bring the crash report, or its report number, along with the name of the trucking company shown on the trailer.
- Bring photographs of both vehicles, the roadway, and any skid marks.
- Bring the medical records and bills from the emergency room visit onward.
- Bring any letter from the carrier’s insurer, and do not give that insurer a recorded statement before the meeting.
The consultation is free. At that meeting, we explain how fault is likely to be contested and what the truck’s own data can prove.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for 18-Wheeler Accident Cases
Liability in an 18-wheeler case reaches past the driver. The carrier is responsible for its driver’s negligence. It is also responsible for its own negligence in hiring, maintenance, and scheduling. A shipper that overloaded the trailer or a maintenance contractor that missed a brake defect can share that liability. An 18-wheeler accident lawyer in Midland names each of those companies in the claim and locates the policy that covers it. When a carrier’s conduct amounts to gross negligence, the state’s recoverable damages chapter allows exemplary damages on clear and convincing evidence.
The compensation itself falls into four categories.
- Medical expenses. Past and future treatment, including surgery, is the largest category in most 18-wheeler claims.
- Lost income. Wages lost during recovery and the loss of future earning capacity are both recoverable.
- Noneconomic losses. Physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, and disfigurement are compensated separately from the bills.
- Property damage. The value of the vehicle and its contents is part of the claim.
Carrier policies are far larger than personal auto policies, which is one reason the carrier’s insurer contests fault so early.
What Is The 18-Wheeler Accident Case Timeline?
The first stage of an 18-wheeler claim is compressed into days, because the carrier keeps its electronic records for a limited time.
- Within the first week, we send a preservation demand to the carrier for the logs, the camera footage, and the maintenance file.
- In the first month, we obtain the crash report and the truck’s event data. Witness interviews follow.
- Medical treatment continues while the investigation proceeds, and the settlement demand is not sent until the physicians can describe permanent limitations.
- The carrier’s insurer then negotiates or disputes fault, and a dispute leads to suit in Midland County or in the county where the carrier can be sued.
- Discovery, depositions, mediation, and trial follow in that order, with the driver’s deposition first.
What Are Important Aspects of an 18-Wheeler Accident Case?
Most 18-wheeler claims involve the same four questions, and the carrier holds the records that bear on each one.
- Who owns what. The tractor, the trailer, and the cargo often belong to different companies, so the claim may involve more than one insurer.
- The carrier’s safety record. A carrier’s inspection history, out-of-service record, and crash history are public through the FMCSA’s Company Snapshot. That record is evidence of what the carrier knew about its own drivers and equipment.
- Comparative fault. The carrier’s insurer usually argues that the other driver caused the crash. Under Texas law, a claimant found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing, so a Midland 18-wheeler accident attorney uses the truck’s own data to settle that question early.
- The deadline. Texas gives an injured person two years from the crash to file suit under the state’s suit deadline, and the carrier’s records may be gone long before then. Interstate 20 through Midland County is maintained by the TxDOT Odessa District, which holds the roadway and signal records for a crash on the state system.
Reach Out to Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
A Midland, TX 18-wheeler accident attorney can send the preservation demand to the carrier as soon as we are retained. The consultation is free, and we charge no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. At that first meeting, we explain what the carrier’s records should contain and how the claim will proceed. We reply to every new inquiry promptly. Contact us to schedule a free consultation about an 18-wheeler accident claim in Midland, TX.
