Federal rules tell a trucking company how long it has to keep each record after a crash. Once that window closes, destroying the record breaks no rule. Duty status logs go at six months. Inspection reports go at three. And the single most valuable piece of evidence in most truck cases, the data recorded by the engine itself, carries no federal retention requirement whatsoever.
We pulled every retention period out of 49 CFR and sorted them by what disappears first. The windows fall into three groups, and the difference between them decides what a lawyer chases in week one.
Evidence with no federal retention rule
Start here, because this is the part almost nobody knows. Nothing in the federal regulations requires a carrier to preserve any of the following. It is usually the most probative evidence in the case and the first to disappear.
| Record | Retention |
|---|---|
| Engine control module download. Speed, throttle position, brake application, and hard-brake events in the seconds before impact. Commonly overwritten when the tractor returns to service or on the next triggering event. | No rule. Assume days. |
| Dashcam and in-cab video. Forward-facing and driver-facing footage. Most platforms overwrite on a rolling loop unless someone flags the clip. Ask which vendor the carrier uses, then ask whether anyone flagged it. | No rule. Vendor cycle. |
| Telematics and GPS records. Position, speed, and route history held by the provider rather than the carrier. Retention is set by contract. Portions used as hours-of-service supporting documents fall under the six-month rule below. | No rule. Vendor cycle. |
| The tractor and trailer. Crush profile, tire condition, brake adjustment, and lamp function. Repair or resale destroys all of it, and a carrier can put the truck back on the road within days. | No rule. Until repaired. |
No provision of 49 CFR Parts 379, 390, 395, or 396 imposes a retention period on onboard event data, video, or telematics held by a third-party vendor.
Start the clock
Enter the date of the crash. The deadline column in the next table will fill in with the exact date each window closes.
Fixed windows that run from the crash date
These run on a set clock you can calculate exactly. Listed by what closes first.
| Record | Regulation | Minimum | Window closes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver vehicle inspection reports. Daily post-trip reports showing whether the driver flagged a defect and whether anyone repaired it before the truck rolled again. Property carriers need not file a report when no defect is found. | 49 CFR 396.11 | 3 months | Enter a date |
| ELD records and duty status logs. Records of duty status plus supporting documents: dispatch records, fuel receipts, bills of lading, and tolls. The hours-of-service evidence in almost every fatigue case. | 49 CFR 395.8(k) | 6 months | Enter a date |
| ELD backup copy. A second copy held on a device separate from the original. Worth demanding by name, because it sometimes survives when the primary set does not. | 49 CFR 395.22(i) | 6 months | Enter a date |
| Negative and cancelled test results. Includes post-accident testing. Runs from the date of the record, which for post-accident testing falls within a day or two of the crash. | 49 CFR 382.401(b) | 1 year | Enter a date |
| Test collection process records. Chain of custody forms and collection site documentation. | 49 CFR 382.401(b) | 2 years | Enter a date |
| Accident register. The carrier's own list of every reportable crash, plus copies of all accident reports required by state agencies or insurers. Shows the pattern across the fleet, not just this crash. | 49 CFR 390.15(b) | 3 years | Enter a date |
| Positive results, refusals, and summaries. Alcohol results of 0.02 or higher, verified positive drug results, refusals to test, and annual program summaries. | 49 CFR 382.401(b) | 5 years | Enter a date |
Retention periods run from the date of the record rather than the date of the crash. For records created at or immediately after a crash, the two dates are the same or within a day of each other.
Windows keyed to something other than the crash
These do not run from the crash date, so no countdown applies. Find the trigger date first, then calculate.
| Record | Regulation | Window runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle maintenance file. Systematic inspection, repair, and maintenance history for the tractor and trailer. Selling the truck starts a six-month fuse on the paperwork. | 49 CFR 396.3(b)(3) | One year while the vehicle stays under the carrier's control, then six months after it leaves |
| Periodic inspection report. The annual DOT safety inspection. Fourteen months, so the current and prior reports overlap. | 49 CFR 396.21(b) | Fourteen months from the inspection date |
| Driver qualification file. Application, motor vehicle record, medical certificate, road test, and annual review. If the driver quits after the crash, the three years start then. | 49 CFR 391.51(c) | Employment, plus three years after the driver leaves |
| Safety performance history. The background investigation into the driver's prior employers, crashes, and testing violations. Often the strongest negligent hiring evidence in the file. | 49 CFR 391.53 | Employment, plus three years after the driver leaves |
Under 49 CFR 391.51(d), certain component documents inside a qualification file may be purged three years after execution while the driver is still employed, including prior annual motor vehicle records and superseded medical certificates.
The deadline that runs in hours, not months
One clock in this area is measured in hours and it starts the moment the crash happens. Under 49 CFR 382.303, a carrier must test a surviving driver for alcohol within 8 hours and for controlled substances within 32 hours after a qualifying crash. A fatality triggers testing regardless of whether the driver was cited.
Here is the part that matters after the fact. If a controlled substance test is not administered within 32 hours, the carrier must stop trying and prepare a record stating why the test was not promptly administered. That record has to be kept and produced to FMCSA on request. When a carrier skipped post-accident testing, the explanation it wrote down at the time is itself evidence.
How this fits with the Texas deadline
Two separate clocks run after a Texas truck crash, and people confuse them constantly.
The first is yours. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003 gives you two years from the date of the crash to file suit. Our deadlines page covers that clock and the shorter notice periods that apply when a government vehicle is involved.
The second is the carrier's, and it is the one on this page. Most of these windows close long before your two years runs. Duty status data can be gone at six months. Inspection reports at three. Engine data within days. A case filed at twenty-three months is perfectly timely and evidentially empty.
Texas adds no retention requirement of its own on top of the federal minimums. What Texas law adds is the consequence for destroying evidence after notice, which is where a spoliation instruction comes in.
What this page cannot tell you
- Whether the carrier actually kept the record. These are minimums, not guarantees. Many fleets keep far more than required. Some keep less than required, which is its own violation.
- Whether a window has been extended. A preservation letter, a litigation hold, a subpoena, or an open FMCSA investigation all override these dates.
- The exact hour. The 8-hour and 32-hour testing windows run from the time of the crash, not from midnight, so the calculator above estimates them from the date alone.
- What a carrier's own policy requires. Many fleets commit contractually to longer retention with their insurers, which creates records the regulations never contemplated.
- How intrastate rules differ elsewhere. Texas adopts the federal safety regulations for intrastate carriers, but that is not universal across states.
Use this reference
Reporters, researchers, safety consultants, and other attorneys are welcome to this table. Every window cites the regulation it comes from, so any figure can be verified at eCFR directly. Reproduce it with attribution and a link back.
Download the full table as CSV ↓
Texas Truck Accident Lawyer (2026). Truck Crash Evidence Retention Clock: Federal Recordkeeping Minimums Under 49 CFR. Compiled from 49 CFR Parts 382, 390, 391, 395, and 396.
The windows at the top of this page are the ones that matter, and they are measured in days. Engine data, camera footage, and telematics carry no federal protection at all. A carrier can put that truck back on the road this week and overwrite every bit of it without breaking a single rule.
What stops it is written notice from someone who can enforce it, naming the systems specifically: the engine control module by make and model, the telematics vendor, the camera platform and its retention cycle, the tractor and trailer by VIN. A generic demand to preserve everything gives the carrier room to argue about scope. Sgt. Pike sends these within days of taking a case, at no cost to you.
Sources
- 49 CFR 395.8, Driver's record of duty status, eCFR
- 49 CFR 396.11, Driver vehicle inspection reports, eCFR
- 49 CFR 390.15, Assistance in investigations and special studies, eCFR
- 49 CFR 391.51, General requirements for driver qualification files, eCFR
- 49 CFR 382.303, Post-accident testing, eCFR
- Record Keeping Requirements, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Electronic Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports, final rule, 91 FR 7896, February 19, 2026
Reviewed August 26, 2026 against the current eCFR text of 49 CFR Parts 382, 390, 391, 395, and 396. This review accounts for the eDVIR final rule published at 91 FR 7896 on February 19, 2026, which added electronic-format language to 396.11 and 396.13 and did not change the 90-day retention period or the 11-item inspection minimum. FMCSA amends these parts periodically. Confirm any figure against eCFR before relying on it. This page summarizes federal regulations and is not legal advice about any particular claim.
Talk to someone who chases these records for a living
Sgt. Pike has spent 30 years pulling duty logs, engine data, and maintenance files out of trucking companies that would rather not produce them. If a truck hit you or someone in your family, our 18-wheeler crash page covers what happens next, and our county crash data shows where these wrecks happen across Texas.
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