18 wheeler wreck in San Antonio: truck routes, records to save, and finding a truck accident attorney

Last checked November 8, 2026

Bexar County had 2,581 crashes with commercial vehicles in 2025, and 16 people died.1 Trucking companies must keep driver hours logs for only 6 months, so ask for them fast.2 You generally have 2 years to sue in Texas.3 If a City of San Antonio truck hit you, written notice is due in 90 days.4

See if you are owed money

$0 upfront. No fee unless you win.
Road map of San Antonio showing I-35 between Loop 1604 and Loop 410, ranked 15th in Texas for truck delay in 2024
San Antonio truck crash? Driver hours logs may be kept only 6 months. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Where can 18 wheelers legally drive in San Antonio?

San Antonio limits where heavy trucks can go. City code makes every numbered interstate, U.S. highway and state highway in town a truck route.5 A truck over 18,000 pounds may not use a street that is not on that list.6

There is an exception that insurers will bring up. A truck with a real pickup or delivery off the route may take the shortest path over city arterial streets, meaning streets marked with two or more lanes each way, to or from the nearest truck route.7

So if a big rig hit you on a narrow neighborhood street, ask why it was there. Get the delivery paperwork if you can. A broken route rule does not prove fault alone, but it can help show the driver or company cut corners.

Which San Antonio highways have the most truck trouble?

I-35 stands out. TxDOT ranked the stretch from Loop 1604 to Loop 410 15th in Texas for truck delay in 2024.8 TxDOT also calls I-35 from N. Walters Street to FM 1103 one of the region's most heavily traveled corridors.9 On the east side, TxDOT lists large truck volumes among the reasons for its I-10 work from I-410 to the county line.10

Stop-and-go traffic is dangerous around a loaded trailer, which needs far more room to stop. Bexar County also had 3,847 work zone crashes in 2025.11 If your wreck happened in a construction area on one of these roads, write down the nearest exit or mile marker and the names on any contractor signs.

Can trucks carry hazardous material through downtown San Antonio?

City code bans placarded hazardous material trucks from downtown stretches of I-35, I-10 and I-37, on both upper and lower levels where those exist.12 Such a load generally has to start or end at a Bexar County terminal and follow the route rules.13

If you saw diamond-shaped placards on the truck, take a picture and tell the investigator. Required coverage can be much larger for these loads, as the insurance section below shows.

What proof can disappear after a truck crash in San Antonio?

What to ask forHow long or what the federal rule requiresHow it can help
Driver hours logsAt least 6 months2May show the driver ran past the limit
Hours limitsUp to 11 hours driving after 10 hours off, none after 14 hours on the clock14The measure for those logs
Company crash register3 years after each crash15May reveal a pattern
Alcohol test after a deadly crashAs soon as the company can16May show impairment

Trucking companies have little reason to hold on to these records unless someone asks. A preservation letter, sent soon after the wreck, puts the company on notice. A truck accident attorney in San Antonio can send one. Until then, photograph the name and DOT number on the cab, the trailer number and the load.

How do I get the report for an 18 wheeler crash in San Antonio?

Where it happenedWho usually respondsWhere to ask
City street or freeway in the citySan Antonio Police17SAPD Records, 315 S. Santa Rosa, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,1819 or TxDOT, once it appears20
County area outside the cityBexar County SheriffThe Sheriff points people to TxDOT21
Rural highwayTexas Highway Patrol22TxDOT holds the record23

A regular copy costs $6, and a certified copy costs $8 through TxDOT.24 Large truck wrecks often involve more than one agency, so keep every case number you are given.

How much insurance does a trucking company need in San Antonio?

  • Freight haulers paid to cross state lines: at least $750,000.25
  • Certain bulk hazardous materials: at least $5 million.26
  • An ordinary Texas car policy, by comparison: $30,000 per person.27

Those federal floors apply to the carriers named in the rule. A local truck that never leaves Texas may have different limits. Find out who owned the tractor, who owned the trailer, who hired the driver and what was being hauled.

What if a city garbage truck or VIA bus hit me in San Antonio?

The charter gives you 90 days to send written notice to the City of San Antonio.4 The Office of Risk Management's Liability Division is at P.O. Box 839966, 210-207-7204.28 A VIA, CPS Energy or SAWS vehicle means a claim with that agency instead.29 Do not wait on these.

What should I ask a truck accident lawyer in San Antonio?

  • Will you send a preservation letter this week?
  • Have you handled cases under the federal trucking rules?
  • Could the shipper, loader or repair shop share the blame?
  • How would Texas's 50 percent rule apply to me?30

Questions

How long do I have to sue after an 18 wheeler accident in San Antonio?

Generally 2 years.3 If the City of San Antonio is involved, written notice is due within 90 days after the injury.4

Can a semi drive on my street in San Antonio?

Trucks over 18,000 pounds must stay on truck routes,6 but one with a stop off the route may use the shortest path over arterial streets.7

Who investigates a truck wreck on Loop 1604 or I-35?

Inside the city it is usually San Antonio Police.17 The Texas Highway Patrol handles rural highways.22

Who pays after a truck hits me in San Antonio?

Often the company or its insurer, depending on who was at fault and who owned the truck. If you are more than 50 percent at fault, you recover nothing.30

Find out if you are owed money.

A free case review. $0 upfront. No fee unless you win.

See if I’m owed money

Keep reading

San Antonio

Truck accident

Texas

Sources

  1. TxDOT, 2025 CMV Involved Crashes and Injuries by County, checked 2026-11-08. “Bexar 12 16 32 37 277 390 213 368 2,013 6,207 34 407 2,581”
  2. 49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1), checked 2026-11-08. “A motor carrier shall retain records of duty status and supporting documents required under this part for each of its drivers for a period of not less than 6 months from the date of receipt.”
  3. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, checked 2026-11-08. “not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues”
  4. San Antonio City Charter, Article XII, Sec. 150 (Municode), checked 2026-11-08. “notice in writing of such death, injury or destruction within ninety days after the injury has been sustained”
  5. San Antonio City Code, Sec. 19-292 (Municode), checked 2026-11-08. “All Interstate Highway, U.S. Highway and State Highway numbered routes within the city are designated as truck routes.”
  6. San Antonio City Code, Sec. 19-292 (Municode), checked 2026-11-08. “It shall be unlawful for any truck over 18,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight rating”
  7. San Antonio City Code, Sec. 19-292 (Municode), checked 2026-11-08. “the truck may proceed by the shortest possible route, consisting of city arterial streets”
  8. TxDOT, 2024 Texas 100 Most Congested Road Segments - Trucks, checked 2026-11-08. “15 15-SAT 015 Bexar N PanAm Expy / IH 35 Charles W Anderson Loop / SL 1604 NE Connally Loop NE / IH 410”
  9. TxDOT, I-35 Northeast Expansion program, checked 2026-11-08. “one of the region's most heavily traveled transportation corridors”
  10. TxDOT, I-10 East from I-410 to the Bexar/Guadalupe County Line, checked 2026-11-08. “heavy traffic use, large truck volumes”
  11. TxDOT, 2025 Work Zone Crashes by County, checked 2026-11-08. “Bexar 8 9 42 57 512 727 533 828 2,670 7,819 82 770 3,847”
  12. San Antonio City Code, Art. XVI, Sec. 19-600 (Municode), checked 2026-11-08. “Both upper and lower highway levels and both directions of IH 10 from the IH 10 interchange at the 1,000 block of Fredericksburg Road”
  13. San Antonio City Code, Art. XVI, Sec. 19-601 (Municode), checked 2026-11-08. “unless his/her destination or point of departure is a Bexar County terminal”
  14. 49 C.F.R. § 395.3(a)(2)-(3), checked 2026-11-08. “(2) 14-hour period. A driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty following 10 consecutive hours off-duty. (3) Driving time and interruptions of driving periods — (i) Driving time. A driver may drive a total of 11 hours during the period specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.”
  15. 49 C.F.R. § 390.15(b), checked 2026-11-08. “Motor carriers must maintain an accident register for 3 years after the date of each accident.”
  16. 49 C.F.R. § 382.303(a)(1), checked 2026-11-08. “As soon as practicable following an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a public road in commerce, each employer shall test for alcohol for each of its surviving drivers: (1) Who was performing safety-sensitive functions with respect to the vehicle, if the accident involved the loss of human life”
  17. City of San Antonio, Police Open Records Requests, checked 2026-11-08. “You may submit police records requests through San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), including crash reports.”
  18. City of San Antonio, Police Open Records Requests, checked 2026-11-08. “San Antonio Police Department Records Office 315 S. Santa Rosa”
  19. City of San Antonio, Police Open Records Requests, checked 2026-11-08. “Monday - Friday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.”
  20. City of San Antonio, Police Open Records Requests, checked 2026-11-08. “Reports can take up to 14 days to appear in the system.”
  21. Bexar County Sheriff, Central Records, checked 2026-11-08. “For accident reports, please visit the TXDOT website”
  22. Texas DPS, Highway Patrol Service, checked 2026-11-08. “responsible for general police traffic supervision, traffic, and criminal law enforcement on the rural highways of Texas”
  23. TxDOT, Crash reports and records, checked 2026-11-08. “TxDOT is the custodian of crash records for the state of Texas”
  24. TxDOT, Crash reports and records, checked 2026-11-08. “$6 for a regular copy. $8 for a certified copy”
  25. 49 C.F.R. § 387.9, checked 2026-11-08. “(1) For-hire (In interstate or foreign commerce, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds) Property (nonhazardous) $750,000”
  26. 49 C.F.R. § 387.9, checked 2026-11-08. “(2) For-hire and Private (In interstate, foreign, or intrastate commerce, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds) Hazardous substances, as defined in 49 CFR 171.8, transported in bulk in cargo tanks, portable tanks, or hopper-type vehicles [...] 5,000,000”
  27. Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072(a-1), checked 2026-11-08. “(1) $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one collision; (2) $60,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one collision, subject to the amount provided by Subdivision (1) for bodily injury to or death of one of the persons; and (3) $25,000 for damage to or destruction of property of others in one collision.”
  28. City of San Antonio, Notice of Claim form, checked 2026-11-08. “P.O. Box 839966 San Antonio, Texas 78283-3966 210-207-7204”
  29. City of San Antonio, Notice of Claim form, checked 2026-11-08. “No, you would need to file a claim with the corresponding entity.”
  30. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001, checked 2026-11-08. “a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent”

Editorial policy

See if I’m owed moneyNo fee unless you win
AccidentsCitiesStatesGuides
See if I’m owed money