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Federal and State Regulations for Trucks
The commercial trucking industry is subject to a vast array of state and federal regulations, which dictate driver qualifications, hours of service rules, vehicle inspection and maintenance, load securement, and other safety standards. When commercial truck drivers or trucking companies fail to comply with safety regulations for trucks, they put the lives of everyone else on the road in danger.
Federal Regulations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) mandates safety standards for the commercial trucking industry with the goal of reducing the number of crashes, injuries, and deaths involving large trucks and buses.
Hours of Service Rules
FMCSA limits the number of hours a truck driver may operate a vehicle in a day or workweek to help avoid or reduce fatigue. The current hours of service rules include:
- Truck drivers may not drive more than 11 hours or drive after 14 hours since starting a shift until they have taken a 10-hour break.
- Truck drivers may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours on duty in 8 consecutive days.
- Permits truck drivers who reach the maximum 70 hours of driving within a week to resume if they rest for 34 consecutive hours, including at least two nights when their body needs to sleep the most – from 1- 5 a.m. and
- Mandates a 30-minute break during the first eight hours of a shift.
Truck drivers are required to maintain logbooks, which must contain an accurate and complete record of their activities for each 24-hour period. According to a recent report, the most common violation in roadside inspections in 2015 was the failure to log, update, or provide accurate records of their duty status. Overall, there were 136,585 hours of service violations in 2015.
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