New Trucking Regulation to Protect Against Repeated Hours of Service Violations

According to a press release from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (part of the United States Department of Transportation), an important regulation affecting interstate commercial truck and bus companies goes into effect June 1st, 2012.  This regulation will require that those agencies having significant patterns of hours-of-service (HOS) violations must install electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) in their vehicles.

How will this impact trucking safety?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a person is killed or injured in a truck accident every sixteen minutes in the United States.  Truck driver fatigue is often a contributing factor in many of these accidents.

Tennessee truck accident lawyers at Gilreath & Associates know that truck drivers, by law, may only work for a certain number of hours before they must take rest breaks.  Drivers must also record the hours that they work in log books, and those books may be used as evidence in the event of a lawsuit.

However, it has long been believed that truck drivers and their agencies often falsely record such hours of work, stating that the drivers drove fewer hours than they actually did.  This allows assigned routes to be completed faster, resulting in less time lost to the driver, and more money for the trucking industry, all at the expense of safety.

Such practices result in more fatigue-related accidents.  The new rule requiring that EOBRs be attached to certain commercial vehicles means the number of hours drivers spend operating their vehicles will be automatically recorded.  As a result, truck operators and their companies will no longer be able to falsely record hours in their logbooks.  It is hoped that this regulation will encourage drivers to take the required number of rest breaks for an appropriate duration, thereby reducing the number of fatigue-related accidents.

Contact a Tennessee truck accident lawyer today

The Tennessee truck accident lawyers at Gilreath & Associates want to help resolve your legal issues.  You can count on our compassion, experience and skill to pursue a positive outcome for your case. Gilreath & Associates is a member of the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. Sid Gilreath is a national board member. AITLA is a national association of committed lawyers who have joined together to improve roadway safety by working to eliminate unsafe and illegal interstate trucking practices. Don’t fall for the claims of attorneys promising fast cash and no hassle. Contact us or call toll free: 866-584-7015 for an experienced Tennessee truck accident attorney.

By Chris Gilreath

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