Commercial Truck Driver Fatigue Accidents: What You Need to Know

Fatigue-Related Truck Accidents: Our History of Record-Setting Victories for Victims of Fatigued Truck Drivers | Undefeated Houston Truck Accident Attorneys

Undefeated Texas Truck Accident Attorneys

It’s no secret that drowsy drivers are dangerous, but few realize just how common the threat of fatigued-driving is on Texas roadways, especially when it involves those behind the wheel of a large truck or 18-wheeler. Research by the National Transportation Safety Board suggests that driver fatigue contributes to up to 40% of all heavy truck crashes. In the Lone Star State, that number is likely much higher. Worse still, these accidents are all 100% avoidable.

The fact is, a fatigued trucker is just as impaired as a drunk driver—yet too many trucking companies push their drivers past legal limits, turn a blind eye to federal safety regulations, and disregard safety every day in the pursuit of profit.

When their reckless actions cause devastating harm, we are the team that steps up, holds them fully accountable, and fights to secure the maximum recovery possible.

Read on to learn more about our history of securing justice for victims of fatigue-related truck accidents and how our Texas truck accident attorneys can stand up, fight, and win for your family.

Billions Won for Accident Victims

When exhaustion leads to a devastating 18-wheeler crash, victims and their families deserve justice. But not every personal injury law firm has the resources, experience, or willingness to take on the trucking industry and win.

From the moment of impact, trucking companies and their teams of defense attorneys and insurance adjusters focus on one thing—protecting their bottom line by paying victims as little as possible.

At Zehl & Associates, we have a proven track record of standing up to the largest trucking companies in the world and not only winning, but recovering the largest record-setting verdicts and settlements in U.S. history.

With Billions won and having successfully represented thousands of truck accident victims, our results include some of the most significant recoveries for victims of fatigue-related truck crashes in Texas, including cases involving:

Undiagnosed sleep disorders
Untreated obstructive sleep apnea
Fatigue-related symptoms
Excessive driving hours & Hours of Service (HOS) violations
Falsified logbooks
Overnight driving
Inverted sleep schedules & chronic fatigue
Defective or missing safety equipment & fatigue-monitoring systems
Corporate negligence
Other contributing factors such as speeding and distraction

The sad truth is that most fatigue-related truck accident cases involve many, if not all, of the factors listed above — making it even easier for trucking companies and their insurers to deny responsibility.

That’s why it’s critical to have an experienced legal team that knows how to investigate these crashes, counter industry tactics, and uncover the evidence needed to prove what really happened and recover the full compensation you deserve.

The trucking industry has a long history of violating safety regulations to increase profits. Companies routinely:

Encourage drivers to exceed legal hours of service
Ignore federal rest and sleep requirements
Fail to screen drivers for sleep disorders like sleep apnea
Manipulate logbooks to hide violations

These reckless actions put everyone on the road in danger. When they lead to tragedy, Zehl & Associates is the firm that stands up, fights back, and holds them FULLY accountable.

We Are the First Law Firm in Texas to Obtain a Court-Ordered Sleep Study on a Commercial Driver

Holding trucking companies accountable for violating safety regulations and putting profits over lives isn’t just about securing justice for our clients—it’s about making Texas roads safer for everyone.

At Zehl & Associates, our record-setting recoveries don’t just secure families’ futures — they drive change. Our victories have prompted federal investigations into the dangers of fatigued truck and bus drivers and brought national media attention to the issue.

We are the first law firm in Texas to successfully obtain a court order requiring a commercial truck or bus driver to undergo an overnight sleep study — setting a precedent that helps expose and prevent fatigue-related crashes.

In 2024, our undefeated truck accident lawyers secured a $35 million settlement for the Longoria family whose loved one was tragically killed by a fatigued Ben E. Keith truck driver on Interstate 35 in Dallas, Texas.

Not only was the driver fatigued and distracted by his phone, but he also had untreated sleep apnea, was suffering from an inverted sleep schedule at the time of the crash, and was operating a big rig that the company had failed to equip with industry-standard safety monitoring equipment—technology that could have prevented the accident in the first place.

How We Held Ben E. Keith Accountable — And How We Can Fight for You

Despite Ben E. Keith — one of the nation’s largest food distributors — adamantly denying gross negligence leading up to trial, our undefeated truck accident attorneys knew exactly how to hold the company fully accountable:

1. Uncovering Critical Evidence Through Immediate Investigation

We dispatched top experts, photographers, and forensic analysts to examine the crash site, vehicle data, and other key evidence. Our investigation revealed:

The truck’s throttle was maxed out at 100% leading up to the crash.
The driver never applied the brakes, proving he wasn’t paying attention.
Police bodycam footage showed the driver only “looked up” at the moment of impact—leaving no time to react.

2. Exposing a History of Corporate Negligence

Under oath, we forced Ben E. Keith to admit that:

The company removed all dash cameras from its fleet before the crash, directly compromising driver and public safety.
This decision violated industry safety standards and increased the likelihood of fatigue-related crashes.

3. Assembling a Network of Top Experts to Prove What Really Happened

With unmatched resources, we worked with:

The nation’s top forensic cell phone examiner, who proved the driver was using a company-issued device at the time of the crash.
A world-renowned sleep expert, who confirmed the driver suffered from untreated sleep apnea and was dispatched on an inverted sleep schedule, making fatigue inevitable.

4. Proving The Driver Was Fatigued

Because of our resources, experience, and deep knowledge of the trucking industry and how it operates, we knew how to prove fatigue was the root cause—and we built an airtight case that resulted in the largest settlement involving driver fatigue in Ben E. Keith’s corporate history.

5. Standing by Our Clients Every Step of the Way

Unlike other firms, we limit the number of cases we take to ensure that every client receives the full attention, resources, and dedication they deserve. From making sure they receive the best medical treatment available to ensuring that their bills and reasonable living expenses are covered while their case is pending, we do whatever it takes to help—without hesitation.

Drowsy driving is one of the leading causes of fatal truck and commercial motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. Between 2017 and 2022, thousands of lives were lost in fatigue-related crashes nationwide—and Texas is at the center of this growing crisis.

A nationwide truck driver shortage has led many companies to push drivers beyond legal limits, creating a culture where skipping rest breaks feels necessary to keep their jobs. In Texas, our vast highway system, long-haul routes, and heavy oilfield traffic only increase the risks, forcing exhausted truckers to drive through dark rural areas where a single moment of drowsiness can be deadly.

Texas consistently leads the U.S. in fatal truck crashes, with fatigue playing a major role. In 2022 alone, 31 fatigue-related truck crashes in the state resulted in 42 deaths and hundreds of injuries, per National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fatality data.

A closer look at the numbers highlights the scale of the crisis:

1 in 4 of all fatigue-related truck crashes in the U.S. occurred in Texas.
31% of all lives lost in drowsy-driving truck crashes were in Texas.
25% of Texas fatigue-related crashes involved an 18-wheeler or large truck.

This trend continues to worsen. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data suggests fatigue-related truck crashes in Texas are still rising—even as other types of truck accidents decline. In 2024, 35% of all truck crash fatalities in Texas occurred between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., when drowsy driving is most likely, surpassing the national average of 30%. Another 1,844 people suffered serious injuries during these high-risk hours.

How Does Fatigue Cause Truck Accidents?

Long hours behind the wheel, tight delivery schedules, and pressure from trucking companies often push drivers beyond their physical and mental limits, leading to slower reaction times, impaired judgment, and even microsleeps—brief, uncontrollable moments of unconsciousness that can have deadly consequences.

Some of the most common causes of fatigue-related truck accidents include:

Hours of Service (HOS) Violations – Federal regulations limit truck drivers to 11 hours of driving time within a 14-hour work period, with required rest breaks. However, drivers and trucking companies often ignore these rules to meet delivery deadlines, putting exhausted drivers on the road.
Unrealistic Schedules and Employer Pressure – Many trucking companies prioritize profit over safety, pressuring drivers to stay on the road longer than is legally or physically safe.
Inconsistent or Inverted Sleep Schedules – Many truck drivers operate on erratic sleep cycles, especially those driving overnight shifts, leading to chronic fatigue and reduced alertness.
Undiagnosed or Untreated Sleep Disorders – Conditions like sleep apnea prevent drivers from getting restful sleep, increasing the risk of a crash by as much as 123% according to one study.
Medication and Stimulant Use – Some drivers rely on caffeine, over-the-counter medications, or even illegal stimulants to stay awake, leading to dangerous side effects such as impaired focus or sudden crashes in alertness.

When an exhausted truck driver causes a crash, the results are far more catastrophic than any other type of truck accident, let alone a crash involving cars alone. Unlike distracted or impaired drivers, drowsy truckers often fail to take any corrective action before impact, leading to devastating high-speed collisions.

Fatigue-related truck accidents are not just the result of a single driver’s mistake—they are often caused by systemic negligence within the trucking industry. Many trucking companies push their drivers past legal limits, ignore clear warning signs of exhaustion, and even encourage falsifying logbooks to meet unrealistic delivery deadlines.

Only a team with in-depth knowledge of federal Hours of Service (HOS) regulations knows how to uncover violations, expose corporate negligence, and hold major trucking companies accountable.

But proving fatigue goes far beyond simply showing a driver was tired. Our undefeated truck accident lawyers:

Use cutting-edge accident reconstruction to show exactly what happened
Recover black box data to uncover driving hours and speed
Obtain logbooks to expose hours-of-service violations
Secure witness testimony from former drivers and industry experts
Demand internal company records to prove negligence

We don’t just hold the driver accountable—we take on the entire trucking company and all at-fault parties, and make them pay for the harm they caused. As a result, we have repeatedly recovered record-setting verdicts and settlements for our clients.

If you or a loved one were injured in a crash involving a drowsy truck driver, contact us today for a free consultation.

How We Can Help if You or a Loved One Were Injured by a Fatigued Truck Driver

At Zehl & Associates, we are known for holding companies accountable, and we’re going to devote whatever resources necessary to delivering justice and the full compensation to our clients and their families.

From day one, our commitment to clients includes:

Immediately assembling the best and brightest lawyers and safety experts. Trucking companies have teams of lawyers and corporate safety “experts” working to minimize their liability after a crash. We outmatch them at every turn, working with former federal trucking regulators, accident reconstructionists and top sleep disorder specialists to prove what really happened.

Relentlessly combating the trucking industry’s dirty tactics. Trucking companies and their insurers will do anything to protect their profits—including destroying evidence, falsifying logbooks, and blaming innocent victims. Our team immediately launches an aggressive investigation, securing black box data, driver logs, and internal company records to prove negligence before the evidence disappears.
Never settling for less than full compensation. We will always refuse any settlement offer that doesn’t provide our clients with the maximum compensation possible for all of their injuries and losses.
Preparing every case for trial. If the defendant refuses to offer a settlement that fully compensates our clients for all their injuries and losses, we will take the case to trial, where we remain undefeated.

Our clients are more than cases. That’s why we always strive to go above and beyond — including helping with reasonable living expenses while their cases are pending, ensuring they’re able to access the best doctors and medical treatments available, and assisting them create trusts and with their financial planning once their case is successfully resolved.

But don’t just take our word for it. Hear why our clients repeatedly say: Zehl treats you like family.

Undefeated Truck Accident Lawyers: 1-888-603-3636 for a Free Consultation

Our Undefeated Truck Accident Lawyers have won Billions on behalf of our clients — including hundreds of those seriously injured or tragically killed in collisions involving 18-wheelers and other large, commercial vehicles operated by fatigued drivers. With the resources, skills and expertise needed to ensure that our clients receive the maximum compensation possible for all of their injuries and losses, we do whatever it takes to secure your family’s future.

If you or someone you love was injured in by a drowsy truck driver, call 1-888-603-3636 or by using the form on the right or by clicking here to send us a confidential email.

All consultations are free and, because we exclusively represent clients on a contingency-fee basis, you’ll pay nothing unless we win your case.