Tired Truckers: How the Logbook Can Decide Your Case

This is the third thing I wanted to follow up on from my post about why 18-wheeler crashes are different. We've covered the evidence and we've covered the parties. Now let's talk about the driver -- specifically, a tired one.

Fatigue is one of the most common things I see behind a serious truck wreck. And unlike a lot of causes, this one comes with a paper trail.

The Rules Truckers Actually Drive By

The FMCSA -- the federal agency that regulates trucking -- puts hard limits on how long a driver can be behind the wheel. The big ones for a freight driver:

• 11 hours -- the most they can drive, and only after 10 hours off.
• 14 hours -- once they start their day, the driving has to stop when that window closes.
• A 30-minute break -- required once they've driven 8 hours straight.
• 60 or 70 hours -- the cap over 7 or 8 days, before a long reset kicks in.

Break those, and a driver is rolling down I-10 when the rules say they should be parked.

Why This Helps Your Case

Here's what changed the game. Trucks used to run on paper logs, and paper logs are easy to fudge -- drivers used to call them "comic books." Now most rigs use an "electronic logging device," the ELD, that records the hours automatically.

The data doesn't lie.

So when a driver pushes past their limit, it's usually sitting right there in the record. That's why I want those logs fast -- a company only has to keep them for six months, and after that, they can be gone for good.

A crash is bad enough. A crash caused by a driver who should have been asleep? That one makes me angry.

If an 18-wheeler hurt you and you think the driver was running on empty, don't guess. Give me a call, and let's find out what the logbook says.