Texas commercial vehicle crash statistics, 2014-2025

Texas recorded 38,533 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in 2025, according to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Those crashes killed 528 people and seriously injured 1,611.¹ Deaths fell 13.2% from 608 in 2024 (Texas Mobility Outlook’s arithmetic) to the lowest count in TxDOT’s published series for 2014 to 2025.

Texas commercial vehicle crashes by year

The crash count rose from 33,136 in 2014 to 39,257 in 2019, fell to 32,585 in 2020, and reached a series high of 39,393 in 2024.² The 2025 count was 2.2% lower than 2024’s.

Deaths followed a different curve. They stayed between 580 and 618 a year from 2014 to 2020, jumped to 706 in both 2021 and 2022, then declined each year to 528 in 2025. Fatal crashes fell 14.1% in 2025 alone, from 546 to 469.^1,2

Older TxDOT tables report 453 deaths in 2010 and 422 in 2011, from data extracts dated 2020 and 2021.³ Texas Mobility Outlook did not retrieve the 2012 and 2013 tables, so the series here starts in 2014.

Commercial vehicles’ share of Texas traffic deaths

CMV crashes were 7.2% of all reportable crashes in Texas in 2025 but 14.0% of traffic deaths: 528 of 3,769.^1,4 They also accounted for 13.5% of fatal crashes. Those shares are calculated by Texas Mobility Outlook from TxDOT’s statewide tables.

Harris County had 5,913 of the state’s CMV crashes in 2025, or 15.3%, and 43 of the deaths, or 8.1%.¹ The county’s yearly figures and comparisons with other counties are on Houston truck crash statistics.

Large-truck crash deaths: Texas ranks first

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) counted 720 deaths in Texas crashes involving large trucks in 2024. California was next with 391 and Florida third with 353. Texas had the most such deaths of any state in every year from 2015 to 2024, based on each year’s state table.^5,6

Most people killed were not in the truck. In 2024, 511 of the 720 Texas deaths were occupants of other vehicles, 136 were truck occupants and 73 were pedestrians or other people outside a vehicle.⁵ Nationally, 70% of people killed in large-truck crashes in 2024 were in other vehicles.⁵

Texas accounted for between 12.9% and 13.9% of U.S. large-truck crash deaths in each year from 2015 to 2024 (computed from NHTSA’s state and national totals). Texas deaths in these crashes rose 28.3% from 561 in 2015 to 720 in 2024.^5,6

Truck and bus crash deaths in Texas (FMCSA)

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) counts deaths in crashes involving large trucks or buses. By that measure, 736 people died in Texas in 2024, or 0.239 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.⁷ The rate was highest in 2021, at 0.289, among the years from 2019 to 2024.

Why the three Texas truck crash counts differ

For 2024, the three federal and state sources give 608 deaths (TxDOT), 720 (NHTSA) and 736 (FMCSA). Each counts something different:

The TxDOT figure is as of April 9, 2025. NHTSA’s figure comes from the preliminary FARS Annual Report File and can change when the final file is released.^2,5,7 Which Texas truck crash count to cite compares the three series year by year.

Crashes involving trailers

TxDOT also publishes a table of crashes involving any trailer. It recorded 41,335 such crashes and 507 deaths in 2025, down from 537 deaths in 2024.^8,9 This table includes trailers towed by pickups and passenger vehicles, so it is not a count of tractor-trailer crashes. It overlaps the CMV table only in part.

What these numbers do not show

• Fault. A crash is counted whether or not the commercial vehicle driver contributed to it. Research on causes is summarized on leading causes of commercial truck crashes, and the federal and Texas rules carriers must follow are tracked in truck rule changes for 2025 and 2026.
• Vehicle type. TxDOT’s published table does not separate tractor-trailers from buses or smaller trucks.
• Exposure. The TxDOT table counts crashes, not miles driven by commercial vehicles, so it does not give a truck-specific crash rate.
• A break in NHTSA’s series. NHTSA notes that its vehicle classification from 2020 on is not comparable to 2019 and earlier, so compare the two periods with care.⁵

Roadside inspection and out-of-service data for Texas are covered in commercial vehicle safety in Houston.