Trucks are notorious for causing some of the most damaging accidents on the road. Unfortunately, some of these accidents are not as “accidental” as their name entails. In fact, many truck collisions are a direct result of reckless or negligent behaviors that, had they been avoided, could have prevented the accident from occurring altogether. For this reason, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations exist to proactively take measures preventing against unnecessary trucking accidents.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) is a set of governing procedures created and enforced for the sole purpose of protecting against trucking accidents by preventing unsafe driving behaviors. The comprehensive list covers everything from employee hour regulations to truck maintenance operations. It is expected to be strictly followed by truck drivers and the employers of trucking companies in order to protect the general public. In totality, the FMCSR covers every imaginable scenario that could arise and be cause for issue if the proper safety measures are not taken on behalf of the drivers, owners, and inspectors of trucking vehicles. Among the most significant of its stipu
lations include cargo weight limits, and employee hours of service.
Inherent in the dangers produced by large trucks on the road are the sheer size and weight of the over-sized vehicles. Alone, trucks weigh tons and outweigh all of their roadside counterparts; this is before they are loaded with the cargo they were designed to carry from county to county, state to state, etc. Because the weight of a vehicle can play a large role in the level of catastrophe that is inflicted upon an accident in which it is involved, federal guidelines have established a gross vehicle weight of 80,000 pounds. As with all of the government’s trucking regulations, the weight impediment exists to protect from the damaging effects that could be caused by an over-sized, overweight truck. Paved roads and bridges that are made to hold the capacity of a truck in excess of the weight limit could crumble under the pressure. Furthermore, cars or motorcycles involved in an accident with an exceedingly heavy truck stand little chance of survival. Therefore, it is imperative that this law be heavily regulated and dutifully enforced.
Unfortunately, this is a law that is very often neglected by trucking companies and the drivers of truck transportation vehicles. It is far too for a trucking business to cut the costs of operation and transportation by disregarding the weight limits set forth for them under standard truck laws. The bigger the load that a truck can carry from one place to the next, the fewer trips the company will have to execute, thereby effectively cutting the costs and travel time of the products they are shipping. While skirting weight limits may be a surefire way for trucking companies to cut costs and make more money, it is an almost equally surefire way to cause an accident.
Another heavily violated law of both the federal and state systems is that of an employee’s designated hours of service. In order to promote safety and prevent fatigued drivers from operating a large commercial vehicle while they are less than alert, limits have been put in place as to the number of hours a trucker can be on the road. Generally, these “hours-of-service regulations” allot a total of 14 hours per day to truck drivers, 11 of which can be spent driving. Drivers are additionally required to spend no less than ten hours total off duty. Weekly limits exist as well and log entries are used to document and track the number of hours a trucker is on the job each week. Again, although this is one of the most important laws that govern trucking procedures, it is also one of the most frequently violated. Truckers are incentivized to deliver freight quickly in order to satisfy their employers – a practice that promotes false log entries and disregard of the law. Unfortunately, the drive to be better, faster, and more efficient often results in just the opposite. Fatigued truckers suffer from driving impairments that jeopardize not only themselves, but others on the road as well.
Trucking regulations are widely recognized for the significant role they play in the promotion of safety among truckers and other drivers on the road. However, they are also internally recognized as problematic in their adherence. As such, the laws meant to govern trucking operations and behaviors of safety are the same ones that are most often violated. If the truck accident that you were injured in was due to a violation of one of the state or federal laws implemented to govern trucking behaviors, then you are entitled to take legal action, and you owe it to yourself to do so.
