Is an Employer Responsible for a Truck Driver Fatigue Accident?

Commercial truck drivers are held to strict limits on how long they can drive without rest, and there is a reason for it. This is because drowsy or fatigued driving causes impaired judgment, and worse, heightens the risk of becoming unconscious behind the wheel. So while you may want to automatically blame a truck driver for choosing to drive while sleepy, you must consider whether their trucking company was behind their careless decision. With this, please continue reading to learn more about who should be held liable in the event of a truck driver’s fatigue, and how an experienced Passaic County truck accident lawyer at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis can help you direct your legal claim to the appropriate party.

What are the hours of service rules that truck drivers must comply with?

Of note, at the federal level, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) enforces Hours of Service (HOS) rules for almost all commercial truck drivers engaged in interstate commerce. Generally speaking, these set driving limits read as follows:

• Drivers can only drive up to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. 
• Drivers cannot drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. 
• Drivers must take 10 consecutive hours off duty after a 14-hour shift. 
• Drivers must take a 30-minute driving break after eight cumulative hours of driving. 
• Drivers cannot drive after 60 hours on duty in seven days or 70 hours in eight days.
• Drivers must take 34 consecutive hours off duty before a 60/70-hour duty reset.

Can an employer be held responsible for a truck driver fatigue accident?

If you plan to claim truck driver fatigue as the primary cause of your auto accident, you must collect sufficient evidence to point to this. Specifically, your lawyer may assist you in acquiring data from the commercial truck’s electronic logging device (ELD), which should have recorded the truck driver’s driving hours immediately before the time of your accident. This may be alongside the trucking company’s logbook, which the FMCSA legally requires them to have to track their employees’ duty statuses. 

Here, you may detect that the ELD shows different information than the logbook, which may indicate that the employer has falsified their recordings. Under these circumstances, you may have reason to believe that the employer committed the negligent act of imposing unrealistic delivery schedules, failing to monitor that their employees were taking the necessary breaks, or otherwise scheduling them for too much time on the road. If this is true, you may hold the employer vicariously or directly liable in your personal injury lawsuit.  

If you want to ensure you have a strong legal strategy with a reliable team in your corner, please look no further than the Law Offices of August R. Soltis. A skilled Passaic County auto accident lawyer from our law firm is ready to be of any service to you.