Federal and Georgia laws and regulations govern the commercial trucking industry to ensure the safe operation of trucks on public roads. These regulations cover various aspects of trucking, including limits on drivers’ hours, truck maintenance, cargo loading, insurance, and truck weight/size limits. Violations of state and federal commercial truck regulations can lead to devastating truck accidents and impose liability on at-fault truck drivers or trucking companies who face a lawsuit.
Which Commercial Trucking Vehicles Are Subject to Both State and Federal Regulations?
Commercial trucks that operate entirely within the borders of one state (picking up cargo from an origin location and delivering it to a destination in the same state) typically only follow state trucking regulations. However, trucks that operate in interstate commerce (transporting cargo from one state to another or across the Canadian or Mexican borders) must follow federal truck regulations issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
What Is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration?
The FMCSA is the federal agency primarily responsible for regulating the operation of commercial motor vehicles in the U.S. It focuses on preventing injuries and fatalities from commercial motor vehicle-related accidents, which it accomplishes through:
- The issuance and enforcement of safety regulations
- Taking legal action against high-risk trucking companies and truck drivers
- Adoption of commercial motor vehicle standards
- Facilitating the improvement of commercial motor vehicle safety technologies
What Are the GDOT Regulations for Commercial Truckers?
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) issues various regulations that govern the operation of commercial trucks within the state. These regulations cover multiple aspects of the trucking industry, including the following:
- Truck driver qualifications
- Vehicle markings
- Truck safety equipment
- Loading and securing of cargo
- Weight and size limits based on a truck’s configuration, weight restrictions for various roads, and procedures for obtaining oversized/overweight permits
- Hours of service rules that govern how long truckers may spend on duty and behind the wheel
- Transportation of hazardous materials
- Truck inspection and maintenance requirements
- Truck driver alcohol/drug testing
- Truck insurance requirements
Does Georgia Have Laws Regarding Log Books for Truckers?
In Georgia, truckers and their employers must maintain accurate records of a driver’s duty and driving hours for at least the past six months. Truckers must log the time they spend on duty, off duty, on break, and in their sleeper berth while on the road. Drivers must also log the number of miles they cover each day.
How Many Hours Can a Commercial Trucker Legally Drive in a Day?
State and federal regulations limit the time a trucker may spend on duty or behind the wheel. Authorities require truck drivers to log their hours, with police officers or regulatory enforcement officials entitled to inspect drivers’ logbooks to ensure their compliance with hours of service rules.
Federal hours of service rules include the following:
- Truckers may not drive more than 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off-duty or drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off-duty.
- Drivers must take a 30-minute break after driving for eight total hours without such a break.
- Truckers may not drive after spending 60 hours on duty in a seven-day period or 70 hours on duty in an eight-day period. These periods reset after a driver takes an off-duty period of at least 34 consecutive hours.
- Drivers may extend their 11-/14-hour limits by up to two hours when they encounter adverse driving conditions. Under Georgia’s hours of service rules, drivers may extend this limit only once every seven days if they meet certain conditions.
What Are Some Commonly Violated Trucking Regulations?
Some of the most commonly violated trucking regulations include the following:
- Hours of Service Violations – Truck drivers may exceed their hours of service limits when they lose track of time or intentionally disregard limits to make delivery deadlines, catch up on lost time caused by delays, or take advantage of favorable driving conditions.
- Speeding – Truck drivers may exceed posted speed limits or drive faster than reasonable given road conditions for various reasons, including needing to meet strict delivery deadlines or making up time lost due to traffic delays.
- Reckless Driving – Reckless driving occurs when a motorist operates their vehicle with a conscious disregard for others’ safety. Examples of reckless driving behavior include tailgating, cutting off other vehicles, illegal turns/lane changes, and disregarding yield/stop signs or traffic signals.
- Weight Limit Violations – State and federal law impose limits on the total weight of a commercial truck based on the truck’s configuration, overall length, number of axles, and distance between axles. Trucks that exceed these limits must obtain overweight permits. Furthermore, weight limit violations may involve truckers operating their vehicles over roads or bridges with weight restrictions.
- Maintenance Requirement Violations – Truck owners/operators must follow the truck manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule. State and federal regulations also require trucking companies to keep records of maintenance and repairs performed on the trucks in their fleets.
- Drug and Alcohol Violations – Truck drivers face stricter rules on intoxicated driving. Whereas most drivers may face a DUI charge if they drive with a blood/breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, truck drivers cannot operate a commercial vehicle with a BAC of 0.04 or more. Truckers can face stiff penalties for driving with open alcohol containers in their vehicle or consuming alcohol right before or after their shift.
- Licensing/Credentialing Violations – Truck drivers may operate commercial trucks without a valid CDL or necessary endorsements on their license for the type of vehicle or cargo they operate/haul. Truckers may also drive with outdated medical certifications, which ensure a driver’s physical fitness to operate a commercial truck.
Contact a Georgia Truck Accident Lawyer
If you suffered injuries in a truck accident in Georgia, FMCSA violations or GDOT violations may play a critical role in holding a truck driver or trucking company liable for your injuries and losses. At Spiva Law Group, our lawyers have a proven track record in complex cases. We’ve recovered more than $500 million for clients, as our focus on catastrophic injury cases gives us the knowledge and skills to tackle challenging issues.
Contact Spiva Law Group today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a truck accident attorney to discuss the importance of state and federal trucking regulations to your case.
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