Truck Accidents and Driver Fatigue
Truck accident attorney Michael Leizerman describes the FMCSA regulations regarding truck drivers hours of service and notes the importance of drivers obtaining adequate sleep.
Read transcript...A truck driver is only legally allowed to drive for so many hours before taking a break. The law is found at 49 CFR 391. Let me try to summarize it for you:
Truck drivers must have a 10-hour break, and then they can drive 11 hours out of a 14-hour period. If a driver has a sleeper berth"”a little room to sleep in within the cab, then they can split their break. To qualify for a split break, at least one of the breaks has to be 8 hours in the sleeper berth. The other break must be at least 2 hours, but it can be in the sleeper, off duty, or a combination of both. In addition to the 11 and 14-hour rules, drivers cannot drive more than EITHER 60 hours in 70 days or 70 hours in 8 days. It is illegal for a driver to drive if they are over this 11, 14, or 60 or 70-hour rule. Drivers are required to keep a logbook that is in a uniform format to keep track of all this information and to show to law enforcement when asked. Fatigue is a major problem in truck collisions. It is crucial for drivers to get adequate rest and sleep. The world's leading sleep centers have provided input to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration urging laws to track the natural Circadian sleep patterns of human beings. So far, it has not adopted a rule based on this information. The federal law governing hours of service can be found at 49 Code of Federal Regulations 395. For your convenience, you can find it and all FMCSA regulations at my website TruckAccidents.com.