When Life Gives You Lemons — Call an Attorney

If you recently started driving a semi truck across the country, then you likely put in a lot of hours on the road. More hours on the road means an increased risk of accidents. Unfortunately, large commercial trucks are more likely to cause serious injuries and fatalities. There are 500,000 accidents a year that involve large trucks, and 5,000 of these incidents involve a fatality. While nobody plans on getting into an accident, you may find yourself in a situation where you hit a car. This may not be your fault. However, the driver can sue you if you do not follow proper conduct as you drive. Conduct and regulations are mandated by the state and federal government. You may need to prove that you follow all regulations to the letter. Keep reading to find out about operating hour regulations and how you can prove that you followed the rules correctly.

Understanding Operating Hours

If you have just started driving a semi, then you likely know a lot of the basic information about how long you can drive. You may know that you are only allowed to drive 60 hours in a seven day period or 70 hours in an eight day period. However, regulations are a bit more complicated than that. You can only be on duty for 14 hours at a time, but you can only drive for 11 hours a day. This means you can drive 11 hours a day and complete other work tasks for an additional 3 hours. However, you will need to take a 10 hour break after driving 11 hours or working 14 hours. This break cannot be broken up, so you will need to stop working completely for the full 10 hours. You should sleep 8 out of the 10 hours of the break, especially if you have a sleeper cab. 

If you decide to work a continuous 7 day work schedule over several weeks, then you will be able to drive on the eighth day as much as you did on the first day of the previous week. This is necessary to maintain a 60 hour work week. For example, if you drove 8 hours on a Monday, then the following Monday you can only drive 8 hours. However, you can completely restart the 60 or 70 hour work schedule by taking an extended break. This break needs to be at least 34 hours long. 

The rules for the 34 hour break have recently changed. Regulations used to state that the 34 hour period needed to include two time periods between 1AM and 5AM. However, you are now allowed to start and complete your 34 hour break at any time.

Keeping A Log Of Hours

Commercial drivers are required to keep a log of all driving, work, and break hours. Most commercial trucks now have electronic monitoring systems that automatically record truck use and stops. Automatic systems have taken place of the traditional log books. However, the monitoring system does not include data about sleep times, rest breaks, and work outside of driving periods. This means that electronic logs may not be detailed and accurate enough to use as evidence of compliance and good conduct after an accident. Also, it is easy to go over the designated 60 or 70 hour work week if detailed logs are not kept.

You can keep better track of your hours of operation by using a physical paper log book or by filling out a spreadsheet on your computer. If you take your computer with you on the road, then download an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of data. If you want to fill out data by hand, then you can print out templates from an online source. 

If you have been in an accident while driving your big rig, a truck accident lawyer can help you use these laws and data to defend yourself.