Last year, Congress mandated the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) to enforce the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) hours of service rules (HOS). The HOS rules were put in place to make sure that commercial truck drivers took breaks and got enough sleep time to prevent truck driver fatigue. ELDs were mandated to [...]
A commercial truck accident is different from a collision involving passenger vehicles in many ways. For instance, if you need to file a negligence claim against a truck driver, you have many options of who to sue. Sometimes, the company which employs the driver can also be held liable for your injuries. Determining who will [...]
Trucking companies can help protect the public, as well as their own drivers, from truck accidents if they take necessary precautions. It’s not enough just to check that the driver has a valid commercial driver’s license. Shipping companies need to make sure their drivers comply with state and federal laws, including FMCSA regulations. Drivers should [...]
Trucking Info recently reported that the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has enacted new guides for autonomous vehicles. These guidelines are meant to help safely integrate new technology in cars, commercial vehicles, on-road transit and even the roads – to better protect the public. The guidelines, announced by Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, are voluntary. [...]
In the 1990s, according to a story in the Kansas City Star, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) require that heavy trucks have “forward-crash avoidance and mitigation systems.” The Board has made the recommendation at least 10 times – and yet the NHTSA hasn’t even made [...]
Every day on our Nashville interstates – I-65, I-24, and I-40 – thousands of big tractor-trailer trucks roll down at speeds that are very dangerous. Tractor-trailer truck wrecks happen every day in Tennessee, and if you're hit by one of these semi-trucks, you're gonna need a lawyer to help you. There are several reasons [...]
KVIA reported in August 2018 that a study by the American Trucking Association (ATA) revealed that it’s getting harder to find new drivers, even though the median salary for a truck driver is more than $53,000. One truck driver said the hard work is making it difficult to attract more drivers. Many drivers are on [...]
MSN reported on September 3, 2018 that Mike Kennedy, who was a longtime drummer for country music superstar George Strait, was killed in a Lebanon, Tennessee car crash on Interstate 40. The accident involved three vehicles. Mr. Kennedy’s SUV merged onto the right lane of I-40 when it collided with a tractor-trailer. The truck then [...]
Driver fatigue among truck drivers is a real problem. That is why the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has imposed strict regulations about how often a driver can be on the road, and for long he or she may drive each day. If the FMCSA tells you to stop driving, you have to know [...]
The New York Times reported in July 2018, that the new head of the EPA, Andrew W. Wheeler, is reversing a truck pollution loophole his predecessor had granted. The loophole permitted truck manufacturers the ability to avoid a cap on “glider” trucks. Glider trucks are essentially trucks that have low efficiency engines which pollute the [...]
