How the Trucking Industry’s National Safety Crisis May Affect You

The extremely long hours many interstate truck drivers sit behind the wheel of their trucks has contributed to a National Safety Crisis—one in which you or a loved one may one day be the victim. A Texas truck wreck takes the lives of over 280 people each year with another 2200-2600 serious injuries. Of the large truck accident fatalities, only 14 percent were the occupants of the truck with the remainder being occupants of the much smaller vehicles. A study done by the NHTSA showed the most common contributing factors in large truck crashes include:

·         Truck driver fatigue

·         Aggressive driving on the part of the truck driver

·         Excessive speed for the road conditions

·         Work-related pressures of the truck driver

·         Inattention on the part of both drivers

·         Truck brake or tire failure

·         Shifting of the truck’s cargo or improperly secured loads

·         Alcohol or prescription drug use on the part of the truck driver

·         Truck driver unfamiliarity with the roadway

·         Traffic congestion

Experts estimate that over a third of all truck driving accidents can be directly tied to truck driver fatigue. Those who take a trip in a passenger vehicle, perhaps on vacation or a business trip, will find a motel or pull off the road in order to get some sleep or even a short catnap to enable them to feel more alert. Truck drivers don’t have the same luxury; they are constantly under pressure to deliver loads quickly, no matter how fatigued they may be.

Regulations for the Trucking Industry

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration mandates rules and regulations for truck drivers and truck driving companies. Drivers are limited to driving a continuous eleven hours within a fourteen-hour period with a required ten-hour rest period. If you think about how you feel after driving eleven continuous hours you will understand why the FMCSA is attempting to lower that number to ten (in the face of serious opposition from the industry).

The demands on truck drivers are severe—customers want their products quickly, the trucking company wants a fast turnaround on their loads in order to increase profits and even the truck driver’s family may unconsciously add to the pressure simply because they need the regular paycheck to survive. Even if the industry lessens their opposition to cutting the number of hours a truck driver may continuously drive, it is a sad fact that logbooks are commonly falsified.

The Reality of Trucker Logbooks

Many truck drivers routinely keep two sets of logbooks; one set is considered the “official” set which are shown to DOT officials in the event of a stop while the other set contains the actual hours driven. The trucking company is only required to keep logbooks for a period of six months, therefore unless an accident occurs it is unlikely that the driver’s actual history of hours driven will ever be seen by anyone other than the company for the purpose of calculating paychecks.

There are as many as 200,000 logbook violations discovered each year by DOT officials, therefore there are likely many times that number which are not detected. In the end, the trucking industry is linked to the death or serious injury of thousands of innocent people each year. Victims of these truck accidents could benefit from speaking to a Texas truck accidentattorney.