Skip to content

What is considered a truck in Texas?

In Texas, a truck is a vehicle that usually hauls property or items. Commercial trucks can weigh upwards of 80,000 pounds, which means the truck weighs almost 20 times more than the average passenger vehicle. Commercial trucks need more time to stop than a car. A car, at about 4,000 pounds and going 65 miles per hour, needs about 316 feet to stop. A truck weighing 80,000 pounds needs about 525 feet to stop.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) cites 4,761 deaths in collisions involving large trucks in 2017. Only 18 percent of those fatalities were occupants of the truck. Seventy-two percent of occupants of other vehicles died in accidents between trucks and cars.

In 2019, 462 people died in 408 crashes and 7,399 people were injured. There was a total of 12,523 crashes in Texas that involved a large truck or bus.

In the Lone Star State, a commercial truck includes the following vehicles:

  • Oil tankers
  • Gas tankers
  • Box trucks
  • Big rigs
  • Semi-trucks
  • 18-wheelers
  • Delivery trucks
  • Refrigerated trucks
  • Tow trucks
  • Tractor-trailers
  • Dump trucks

In Texas, in some situations even a small pickup truck can be a commercial vehicle, especially in the construction industry. Those cases need to be evaluated on different standards because different rules and regulations may apply.

Other Truck Accident FAQs: