The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently made some significant changes to their HOS regulations. As of now, truck and other commercial vehicle drivers are limited to the following:
- Operators may only put in 10 hours behind the wheel after at least 10 hours off duty.
- Operators may only drive during a 14-hour window after each 10-hour off duty period.
- Drivers must take at least a 30-minute break during every eight hours of driving.
- Drivers may not drive more than 60 hours in seven days or 70 hours in eight days.
The FMCSA encourages compliance by requiring commercial drivers to keep logs of their hours on duty that detail their time behind the wheel and on breaks. These logs can become a valuable resource for North Carolina truck accident attorneys when there is reason to believe that driver distraction or fatigue played a role in a client’s accident and subsequent injury. Plaintiffs’ lawyers should promptly request logbooks and thoroughly review them for compliance. Their investigations should include close inspection and crosschecking to determine if the records are accurate and to expose situations in which logbooks may have been altered or contrived in order to avoid liability.
