What a Truck Accident Attorney Checks in a Driver's Logs
After a tractor-trailer crash on a long-haul route, an early question is whether the driver had stayed inside the federal hours-of-service limits. Fatigue rarely leaves skid marks, which is why the answer tends to come from records instead of the road itself. A tractor-trailer crash lawyer reviewing one of these cases will usually compare the driver's logs with every other record of the trip.
What the federal hours-of-service rules require
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) writes the hours-of-service rules in 49 CFR Part 395, a section of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations found in 49 CFR Parts 390-399. For property-carrying drivers, the core limits are simple to state. A driver may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. Driving is not allowed beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, and off-duty time does not extend that 14-hour window. The driver must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving without at least a 30-minute interruption. Over the week, a driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days, although a 34-hour restart starts the count over.
The regulations also include exceptions. The sleeper berth provision lets a driver split the 10-hour off-duty period, provided that one period is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth and the other is at least 2 hours. Adverse driving conditions can extend the 11-hour and 14-hour limits by up to 2 hours, and the short-haul exception applies to drivers who stay within a 150 air-mile radius and finish within 14 hours. Whether an exception applies is a question of fact, and the trucking company usually holds the records that answer it.
Finding an hours-of-service violation
Most drivers required to keep records of duty status now rely on an electronic logging device (ELD) instead of a paper logbook. The FMCSA explains that an ELD synchronizes with the vehicle engine to automatically record driving time, and Congress mandated the ELD rule as part of MAP-21. An electronic log is harder to falsify than a paper one, but a log alone is rarely the whole story. Experienced truck crash attorneys know that edits, unassigned driving time and malfunction reports deserve a close look.
A careful review compares the ELD data with the supporting documents that 49 CFR 395.11 requires trucking companies to keep, such as bills of lading, dispatch records, expense receipts, fleet management messages and payroll records. Telematics and GPS data, toll transponder records, weigh station records and data from the engine control module (ECM) can show where the truck really was and when it moved. If those sources disagree with the logs, the gap itself becomes evidence.
When the company shares responsibility
Part 395 places duties on more than the driver. The rules bar a trucking company from requiring or permitting a driver to exceed the limits, and 49 CFR 392.3 prohibits operating a truck while the driver's alertness is impaired by fatigue, whatever the log shows. https://truckaccidentlawyer.wiki/geography/united-states/ Delivery schedules that cannot be met legally and pay structures that reward speed can support claims against the company itself, such as negligent supervision, alongside vicarious liability for the driver's conduct.
Research cited by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that a truck driver's hours-of-service or logbook violations made it more likely that the driver would be found to have precipitated the crash. A study cannot decide an individual case, but it does explain why a commercial truck accident lawyer treats the logs as a priority.
Acting before records are lost
Under 49 CFR 395.8, the minimum retention period for records of duty status and supporting documents is six months. This is one reason a truck accident attorney often sends a preservation letter early, asking the trucking company to keep the ELD data, ECM downloads, dispatch messages and the driver qualification file. The letter does not prove what existed, but it puts the company on notice, and evidence destroyed after notice can lead to spoliation sanctions in many courts.
Filing deadlines and comparative fault
Every state sets its own statute of limitations for injury and wrongful death claims, and the periods vary by state. Most states also apply comparative negligence, which can reduce a recovery by the injured person's share of fault. This article is general information, not legal advice, and no article can predict the result of a particular claim.