The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has enacted regulations concerning limits to the Hours-Of-Service that truck drivers may drive. Anyone who drives a commercial motor vehicle must comply with these regulations.

Fatigue is a major cause of truck accidents. The effects of drowsiness have been shown to be as dangerous as being under the influence of alcohol. The Department of Transportation estimates that 755 deaths and 19,705 injuries result from fatigued drivers of all kinds of vehicles each year.

As of January 4th, 2004 the Hours-Of-Service rules say that a truck driver may not drive:

• More than 11 hours, after 10 hours of off-duty time
• Beyond the 14th hour after coming on-duty, following 10 hours of off-duty time
• After 60(or 70) hours on-duty in 7(or consecutive days

The 7 or 8 consecutive day period is reset after 34 consecutive hours of off-duty time.

Truck drivers are often expected to adhere to unreasonable delivery schedules by the companies they work for or they are paid by the miles that they drive. They are also subjected to many hours of uncompensated work each week as they wait on loading docks. This uncompensated time does count toward their on-duty time. This forces many of them to drive for unreasonable hours to make up for lost time.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2001 there were 429,000 large trucks involved in traffic crashes in the United States. A large truck is defined as having a gross vehicle weight over 10,000 pounds. 4,793 large trucks were involved in fatal crashes, and a total of 5,082 people died and 131,000 people were injured in those crashes. When there is a truck accident involving a large truck, both the driver and the owner of the truck can face negligence claims.

Employer Negligence

Truck accidents are different than other motor vehicle accidents because the semi truck or tractor-trailer is generally operated by someone who is not the owner of the truck. Some truck accidents can be caused by employer negligence.

Some common forms of employer negligence include:

• Failure to maintain the vehicle
• Failure to train employees
• Lack of licensing or testing of operators
• Not performing background checks on employees
• Continuing to use operators that have a record of unsafe driving

There are federal laws in place that require truck companies to properly maintain their vehicles and to perform routine checks on the condition of the vehicle. There are also laws regarding the length of time a driver can remain behind the wheel, but some trucking companies push their drivers to ignore those laws by subjecting them to unreasonable delivery schedules.

Driver Negligence

Sometimes truck accidents are caused by the driver making a mistake or consciously breaking the law. When the accident is caused by driver negligence the driver can be held accountable for the injuries and property damage they have caused.

Some examples of driver negligence include:

• Driving without proper licenses or certification
• Speeding
• Concealing long hours by keeping duplicate log books
• Using drugs to overcome fatigue
• Not ensuring that the load they are hauling is properly secured

Determining who and what is at fault in a large truck accident is not an easy task. Additionally, trucking companies have been known to send representatives to the scene of an accident to speak to the people involved in the accident when they are most vulnerable and more likely to sign away their rights. There is a statute of limitations on how long you can wait to file a negligence claim against the driver and the trucking company.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact a truck accident attorney in your local area for more information about truck accidents.