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Federal Trucking Regulations Help Prevent Accidents

Updated July 31, 2020 | By Wilson Kehoe Winingham staff

Accidents involving commercial trucks are often catastrophic. There are many federal trucking regulations in place to prevent as many of these accidents as possible.

One of the regulations that truckers must abide by is hours of service, which is intended to prevent truck accidents caused by truck drivers becoming too tired to operate their vehicle safely on the road. On-duty hours are limited and include driving time as well as time loading or unloading cargo, the inspection process, non-driving time spent in the truck (with the exception of rest time in the sleeper), time spent performing work for the carrier, or compensated work for a non-carrier business.

Federal Trucking Regulations

Trucking regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration differ based on the purpose of the delivery.

Property-Carrying Drivers

  • Drivers can drive a maximum of 11 hours, provided those hours are preceded by 10 hours off-duty
  • Drivers cannot be on-duty for more than 14 hours following a 10-hour off-duty period
  • Drivers cannot drive more than 60 hours in any seven consecutive days or more than 70 hours in eight consecutive days, which must be followed by a minimum of 34 hours off-duty

Passenger-Carrying Drivers

  • Drivers can drive a maximum of 10 hours, provided those hours are preceded by eight hours off-duty
  • Drivers cannot be on-duty for more than 15 hours following an eight-hour off-duty period
  • Drivers cannot drive more than 60 hours in any seven consecutive days or more than 70 hours in eight consecutive days

Contact a Truck Accident Attorney Today

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident caused by a commercial truck or you would like to know more about federal trucking regulations, please contact us. The Indianapolis Truck Accident Attorneys of Wilson Kehoe Winingham have over thirty years of experience handling truck accident cases. Call 317.920.6400 or fill out an online contact form for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.

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Let WKW put our experience to work for you. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

 

Or, call us today at (317) 920-6400

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