San Antonio is the first major metro north of Laredo on the busiest commercial land corridor in North America. The traffic that makes the region work is also what makes I-35 what it is.
In 2024, TxDOT recorded 3,358,578 northbound commercial vehicle crossings in the Laredo region — Laredo, Eagle Pass and Del Rio. In the department’s own words, “more than six of every ten commercial trucks crossing the Texas–Mexico border in 2024 crossed in the Laredo region.” Regional U.S.–Mexico trade ran to $380.3 billion, with the Laredo port of entry alone accounting for $331.2 billion of it.
Nearly all of that freight moves north on I-35, and San Antonio is the first major metropolitan area it reaches. The corridor through and northeast of downtown carries the region’s two worst truck-delay segments in the state.
Sadovsky & Ellis handles crashes along this corridor from Laredo through Bexar County and up into Comal and Guadalupe. Call (210) 832-9090.
TxDOT and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute publish an annual ranking of the state’s 100 most congested road segments, including a separate ranking by truck delay. Several San Antonio segments appear, and the truck rankings are more telling than the overall ones:
I-35 north from the North PanAm Expressway to I-410 northeast — 44th most congested in Texas, and 25th worst in the state for truck delay.
I-35 / I-10 (PanAm Expressway) to US-90, the Cleto Rodriguez Freeway — 43rd overall, 37th for truck delay.
I-35 through Guadalupe County — 73rd overall, 42nd for truck delay.
I-10 / US-90 south (Jose Lopez Freeway) to the I-37 / US-281 interchange — 64th overall, 59th for truck delay.
One honest note, because it distinguishes this page from most of what you will find. TxDOT does not publish a table of truck crashes by named highway. Any page telling you flatly that a particular San Antonio freeway is the “deadliest” for trucks is inferring it. What the state does publish is county-level crash data and this corridor-level truck-delay ranking, and we would rather cite what exists than invent what does not.
The practical consequence of the freight numbers is that a significant share of the trucks on I-35 through Bexar County are running long-haul interstate loads originating in Mexico, often for carriers domiciled elsewhere, sometimes under a broker rather than a direct shipper contract.
That shapes the investigation. There may be a cross-border carrier, a U.S. drayage company, a freight broker, and a shipper, each with separate insurance and each pointing at the others. Federal minimum coverage under 49 C.F.R. § 387.9 is $750,000 for general freight, $1,000,000 for hazardous materials — figures unchanged since 1985 and frequently inadequate to a corridor crash at highway speed.
It also shapes the evidence clock. A long-haul tractor does not sit in a yard in San Antonio waiting to be inspected; it goes back into service. The driver’s records of duty status and supporting documents are protected for six months under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1) and no longer. The ECM data has no federal retention requirement at all for a Class 8 tractor, and can be overwritten by further driving.
Bexar County recorded 2,581 crashes involving a commercial motor vehicle in 2025, with 16 people killed. Add the ring counties and greater San Antonio produces roughly 3,600 in a year.
A long-haul unit will be back on the road within days. Inspection and ECM download have to be demanded immediately.
Motor carrier, drayage company, broker, shipper and lessor — a cross-border load frequently involves all five.
Fuel receipts, tolls, scale tickets and delivery records are how a falsified or incomplete log gets exposed.
Scene documentation, TxDOT and municipal camera footage, and any commercial cameras along the corridor — most of which overwrite quickly.
Generally yes, where the crash happened in Texas. Cross-border operations add complexity — the identity of the U.S. motor carrier, which insurance applies to the U.S. leg, and whether a drayage company or broker was involved — but a crash on Texas soil is ordinarily a Texas case. Identifying the correct carrier and the correct policy early is the critical part.
It carries more truck traffic, which is a different claim. TxDOT does not publish truck crashes by named highway, so anyone asserting a ranking of “deadliest” freeways is estimating. What the state does publish is that two I-35 segments in and near downtown San Antonio rank 25th and 37th worst in Texas for truck delay, and that the Laredo region handles more than six of every ten commercial border crossings. Congestion and freight volume are measurable; a per-highway fatality ranking is not published.
It can. Brokers have been sued on negligent-selection theories for placing loads with carriers whose safety records should have disqualified them, though the law in this area is contested and preemption defenses are frequently raised. Whether a broker is a viable defendant depends on the facts and on what the carrier’s FMCSA record showed at the time of the booking — which is why we pull that record early.
Immediately, and the reason is specific rather than a sales pitch. Federal law protects a driver’s records of duty status for six months and no longer. A long-haul tractor returns to service in days, and heavy-truck ECM data carries no federal retention requirement at all. Every week of delay removes evidence from your case permanently.
The tractor will be back in service within days and the logs are protected for six months. Call (210) 832-9090.