Understanding Hours-of-Service Violations in Trucking

Truck accidents are less common than other types of vehicle collisions, but when they happen, the fallout is often catastrophic. Commercial trucks are capable of doing massive amounts of damage at any speed, and accidents often leave behind multiple totaled vehicles, severe or fatal injuries, and road damage.

Behind some of these accidents are drivers so fatigued they can barely stay awake behind the wheel—and that’s why the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has stringent regulations in place to prevent driver fatigue. If you’ve been injured in a crash caused by a fatigued truck driver, call Carmody and Ging, Injury & Accident Lawyers to set up a free consultation.

What are hours-of-service regulations?

The FMCSA has a set list of regulations for trucks and other property-carrying drivers. These regulations are meant to get drivers off the road when they’ve been driving too long to stay awake, ensure that they get enough rest before getting back on the road, and give them a long enough extended break between work weeks. These regulations include:

• 11-hour driving limit: This limits how long a driver can drive after being off-duty for at least 10 hours; adverse weather may allow a driver to extend this up to two hours.
• 14-hour limit: A driver must stop driving 14 hours after getting back on duty, no matter how much of that 14-hour window has been spent off-duty; adverse weather can extend this window up to two hours.
• 30-minute break: When a driver has driven eight cumulative hours without at least a half-hour break, they must take 30 minutes.
• 60/70-hour limit: A driver cannot drive more than 60 hours in seven days or 70 hours in eight days. Following this time period, they must spend at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty.
• Sleeper berth provision: A driver’s 10-hour off-duty period can be split up, as long as one period is at least two hours and one is at least seven hours in the sleeper berth.

How drivers may violate hours-of-service regulations

Drivers can intentionally or unintentionally violate any of these regulations. Unfortunately, there are times when drivers know they are in violation of hours-of-service regulations but choose to drive anyway. They may believe that they are not fatigued and can safely drive beyond what regulations allow. Among violations, it’s fairly common to see drivers exceed the 11-hour limit and the 60- or 70-hour limit. In both cases, sticking to these regulations may mean delivering loads late. Truck drivers and trucking companies alike try to avoid this whenever possible, and if they think that getting caught is unlikely, they may choose to take the risk.

When violations lead to accidents

But we know that getting caught isn’t the worst thing that can happen when a truck driver violates hours-of-service regulations; it’s causing an accident that causes preventable injury and property loss to others. Fatigue is one of the most common factors in serious accidents, which is why many experts compare it to impaired driving. In 2023, drowsy driving crashes led to 633 deaths. If fatigued driving is dangerous in the general population, imagine how much more dangerous it is when the affected driver is controlling a truck that weighs up to 40 tons. Truck accident lawyers can uncover violations during their investigations of accidents and use that information to help their clients.

How the FMCSA handles regulation violations

While the FMCSA sets hours-of-service regulations, enforcement of these regulations largely falls on each state’s Department of Transportation officers. Violations may also be caught when trucks go through weigh stations. This is why the FMCSA requires that truck drivers track their hours via electronic logging devices or written forms (although only certain trucks are not required to use electronic logging devices for this purpose.)

If a driver is caught outside of their allowed hours-of-service, a DOT officer can force the driver to stop driving for a set period of time until they are back in compliance. This can affect a company’s ability to deliver loads on time and impact their safety rating.

The importance of proving HOS violations in an accident claim

One of the key differences between crashes involving commercial trucks and crashes that don’t involve commercial trucks is the presence of FMCSA regulations. These regulations exist to make the roads safer for everyone, and when truck drivers violate these regulations, they may be considered to be actively endangering others on the road. Your truck accident attorney may access the truck driver’s written logs or electronic logging device records to determine whether or not they were in compliance with every aspect of HOS regulations at the time of the crash. Many trucks are now required to use ELDs, which is good for crash victims—ELD records are nearly impossible to falsify, especially when compared to paper records.

If your truck accident lawyer believes that fatigue is at the heart of your accident, they may go to great lengths to access ELD records and other evidence to prove their case. Not only can data from devices like ELDs prove that a driver was out of compliance when they caused a crash, they can show other signs of fatigued driving. ELDs mainly track driving hours and engine data, but other onboard systems like telematics or dashcams may provide additional insights into sudden braking, drifting, or other signs of driver fatigue.

It’s important to work specifically with a trucking accident lawyer, not one who generally only handles other types of vehicle accident claims. Truck accident claims involve ELDs, FMCSA regulations, paper logs, and trucking company protocols—all of which can strengthen or weaken your case, depending on what they show and how your attorney uses them.

Contact Carmody and Ging, Injury & Accident Lawyers today

If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, don’t wait any longer to find out if you have a case against a negligent truck driver. Let’s talk about your options now. Call us or get in touch online now.