When an 18-wheeler crash is caused by a driver who never should have been behind the wheel, the trucking company can be held responsible not only for the driver’s mistake but for its own decision to hire, keep or supervise that driver. These are called negligent hiring, retention, supervision and entrustment claims. Texas changed the rules for these claims in 2021, so it matters how and when they are raised. The Burkett Law Firm represents people hurt in truck crashes in Corpus Christi and across South Texas, and we look closely at every carrier’s hiring and safety records.
What is a negligent hiring claim?
A negligent hiring claim says the trucking company itself was careless when it put a driver on the road. It is different from the ordinary rule that an employer is responsible for an employee’s negligence on the job. The company may be liable for its own conduct if it:
- Hired a driver with a poor driving record, prior crashes or failed drug tests
- Failed to check the driver’s background, licensing or prior employers as required
- Kept a driver after learning of serious violations or complaints
- Failed to train or supervise the driver for the type of truck or cargo
- Let a driver operate a truck the company knew was unsafe, which is called negligent entrustment
What screening are trucking companies required to do?
Federal motor carrier safety rules set minimum steps a carrier must take before and after hiring a commercial driver. They include:
- Keeping a driver qualification file with the application, road test or equivalent, medical certificate and license records
- Investigating the driver’s safety performance history with prior employers for the previous three years
- Obtaining the driver’s motor vehicle record and reviewing it at least once a year
- Conducting a pre-employment drug test and enrolling the driver in random testing
- Querying the federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for prior violations
When a carrier skips these steps, or completes them and hires the driver anyway despite warning signs, that history can become central to the case.
How did House Bill 19 change these claims in Texas?
In 2021 Texas passed House Bill 19, which added Chapter 72 to the Civil Practice and Remedies Code for cases involving commercial motor vehicles. In general terms, the law lets a trucking company ask the court to split the trial into two phases. The first phase decides whether the driver was negligent and what damages were caused. The second phase, if it happens, deals with the company’s own conduct and any claim for exemplary damages.
The law also says that if the company admits the driver was acting in the course and scope of employment, claims based on the company’s hiring, training, supervision or retention generally cannot go forward unless the injured person is also seeking exemplary damages based on the company’s conduct. These rules affect what a jury hears and when, so they shape how a truck case is built from the beginning. That is one reason to work with an experienced Corpus Christi truck accident lawyer rather than trying to deal with the carrier’s insurer alone.
When can you seek exemplary damages against a trucking company?
Exemplary damages, sometimes called punitive damages, are meant to punish especially bad conduct. In Texas you must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the harm resulted from fraud, malice or gross negligence, and the jury must agree unanimously. Gross negligence means the company knew about an extreme risk and went ahead anyway with conscious indifference to the safety of others. Examples can include knowingly keeping a driver with repeated drug violations, pressuring drivers to falsify logs, or ignoring a pattern of serious crashes. Texas caps most exemplary awards, and the details of the cap depend on the economic and non-economic damages in the case.
What evidence proves a negligent hiring claim?
The proof usually comes from the company’s own files and from public safety data, including:
- The driver qualification file and employment application
- Prior employer safety performance history responses
- Motor vehicle records, prior citations and crash history
- Drug and alcohol test results and Clearinghouse queries
- Training records and company safety policies
- The carrier’s federal safety record, inspection results and out-of-service orders
- Internal emails, dispatch messages and disciplinary records
Carriers are required to keep some of these records for only limited periods, so a preservation letter should go out quickly after a serious crash.
Does a negligent hiring claim increase what you can recover?
Not always. If the driver was on the job, the company is usually responsible for the driver’s negligence anyway, so the compensatory damages may be the same. The value of a hiring claim often lies in what it reveals about the company, its ability to support an exemplary damages claim, and the pressure it puts on a carrier that would rather not have its safety practices examined in court. Each case is different, and the strategy depends on the evidence.
How do trucking companies defend negligent hiring claims?
Carriers and their insurers usually respond in a few predictable ways. They may stipulate that the driver was on the job to keep hiring evidence away from the jury under Chapter 72. They may argue that the driver’s past violations were minor or too old to matter, or that nothing in the driver’s history made this particular crash foreseeable. They may also claim the driver was an independent contractor or that another company was responsible for screening. Each of these defenses can be tested against the documents. A strong case connects the specific warning sign the company ignored to the specific way the crash happened.
What does a strong negligent hiring case look like?
Consider a driver hired despite two prior preventable crashes and a failed drug test with a former employer, which a proper safety performance history check would have revealed. Months later, that driver causes a rear-end crash on Interstate 37 while impaired. The link between the ignored history and the crash is direct, and the company’s failure to follow its own screening rules is documented in its files. Compare that to a driver with one old speeding ticket who is hurt by an unexpected tire failure. The first case supports a claim against the company’s own conduct. The second probably does not, although the tire failure may lead to a maintenance or product claim instead. Sorting out which theories fit the facts is part of building the case.
What should you do after a serious truck crash?
- Get medical care and follow your doctor’s treatment plan.
- Write down the company name, DOT number and truck number if you can.
- Keep the police report number and any photos or video.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer.
- Talk to a lawyer quickly so key records can be preserved.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sue the trucking company even if the driver was clearly at fault?
Yes. The company is generally responsible for its driver’s negligence on the job, and it may also be liable for its own negligence in hiring or supervising the driver.
What if the driver was an owner-operator?
Under federal leasing rules and Texas law, the motor carrier whose authority the truck was operating under can still be responsible. We look at the lease and the carrier’s operating authority.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Most Texas injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash. Wrongful death claims generally have a two-year deadline as well.
How much does it cost to hire The Burkett Law Firm?
Nothing up front. Our fee comes only from a settlement or verdict.
Talk to a Corpus Christi truck accident lawyer
If a truck driver with a bad record or a careless carrier caused your crash, call The Burkett Law Firm at 361-882-8822. We have represented injured people in Corpus Christi since 1960, and we know where trucking companies keep the records that matter. If you lost a family member, our wrongful death attorneys can help.
