What a Truck Accident Lawyer Checks in a Driver's Logs
When a semi-truck crash happens near the end of a long shift, one of the first questions is whether the driver had stayed inside the federal hours-of-service limits. https://truckaccidentlawyer.wiki/topics/hours-of-service/ Fatigue leaves little physical trace at a crash scene, which is why the answer tends to come from records instead of the road itself. A truck accident attorney looking at one of these claims usually starts by comparing the driver's logs against every other record of the trip.
How the federal hours-of-service rules work
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets the hours-of-service rules in 49 CFR Part 395, a section of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations found in 49 CFR Parts 390-399. For property-carrying drivers, the core limits are simple to state. A driver may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. Driving is not allowed beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, and off-duty time does not extend that 14-hour window. A 30-minute break is required after 8 cumulative hours of driving without at least a 30-minute interruption. Over the week, a driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days, although a 34-hour restart starts the count over.
The regulations also include exceptions. The sleeper berth provision lets a driver split the 10-hour off-duty period, as long as one period is at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth and the other is at least 2 hours. Adverse driving conditions can extend the 11-hour and 14-hour limits by up to 2 hours, and the short-haul exception applies to drivers who stay within a 150 air-mile radius and are released within 14 hours. Whether any exception fits is a factual question, and the trucking company usually holds the records that answer it.
Finding an hours-of-service violation
Most drivers who must keep records of duty status now use an electronic logging device (ELD) instead of a paper logbook. According to the FMCSA, an ELD synchronizes with the vehicle engine to automatically record driving time, and Congress mandated the ELD rule as part of MAP-21. Electronic logs are harder to falsify than paper logs, yet the log alone is seldom the whole story. Experienced 18-wheeler accident lawyers know that edits, unassigned driving time and malfunction reports deserve a close look.
A thorough review lines the ELD data up against the supporting documents that 49 CFR 395.11 requires trucking companies to keep, including bills of lading, dispatch records, expense receipts, fleet management messages and payroll records. GPS and telematics data, toll transponder records, scale tickets and data from the engine control module (ECM) can show where the truck actually was and when it moved. When those records disagree with the log, the gap itself becomes evidence.
Responsibility beyond the driver
The duties in Part 395 reach beyond the driver. The rules bar a trucking company from requiring or permitting a driver to exceed the limits, and 49 CFR 392.3 prohibits operating a truck while the driver's alertness is impaired by fatigue, regardless of what the log says. Delivery schedules that cannot be met legally and pay structures that reward speed can support claims against the company itself, including negligent supervision, alongside vicarious liability for the driver's conduct.
Research cited by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that a truck driver's hours-of-service or logbook violations increased the likelihood that the driver would be found to have precipitated the crash. No study decides an individual case, but it does explain why a commercial truck accident lawyer treats the logs as a priority.
Preserving the evidence early
Under 49 CFR 395.8, the minimum retention period for records of duty status and supporting documents is six months. This is one reason a tractor-trailer crash attorney will often send a preservation letter early, asking the trucking company to keep the ELD data, ECM downloads, dispatch messages and the driver qualification file. A preservation letter does not prove what existed, but it gives the company notice, and evidence destroyed after notice can lead to spoliation sanctions in many courts.
Filing deadlines and comparative fault
Every state sets its own statute of limitations for injury and wrongful death claims, and the periods vary by state. Most states also use comparative negligence, which can reduce what an injured person recovers by that person's share of fault. This is general information and not legal advice, and no article can predict the result of a particular claim.