Large commercial vehicles play an important role in moving consumer goods and people across our state. However, with great size and power comes great responsibility. Commercial trucks can easily weigh over 25,000 pounds and are three times taller than an average passenger vehicle. When you get into a truck accident with an 18-wheeler, the results are often catastrophic.
To keep our roadways safe for everyone, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has created a set of regulations truck drivers must follow. These regulations, known as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), cover many areas, such as driver qualifications, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, and safety standards. These regulations apply to all commercial vehicles engaged in interstate commerce, including semi-trucks and buses.
What Are the Federal Regulations For 18 Wheelers?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) are designed to govern the operation of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce to ensure the safety of our roadways. The primary goal of the FMCSRs is to reduce truck crashes. They apply to all commercial vehicles that weigh over 10,000 pounds, transport hazardous materials, and transport more than nine passengers.
The FMCSRs cover a wide range of areas, including:
- Driver Qualifications: These set the standards for commercial driver eligibility, which includes age, medical fitness, and driving record requirements
- Hours of Service: Describes how long a truck driver can be in operation to prevent driver fatigue
- Vehicle Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance: Requirements for regular vehicle inspections and maintenance to ensure mechanical safety
- Drug and Alcohol Testing: Mandates regular testing programs
- Commercial Driver’s License Standards: Defines the requirements for obtaining and maintaining a CDL
- Cargo Securement: Rules for properly securing cargo to prevent shifting and falling during transport
- Parts and Accessories for Safe Operation: This specifies the required safety equipment and standards for vehicle components
- Insurance Requirements: The minimum amount of insurance coverage available for motor carriers
- Hazardous Materials Regulations: Governs the transportation of hazardous goods
- Safety Manage Systems: This outlines the procedures for evaluating and rating safety performance
- Electronic Logging Devices: Mandates the use of the “black box,” an electronic recording device that tracks the driver’s hours of service
- Driver Training: The minimum training requirements for new commercial drivers
How Are the Regulations Enforced?
The primary method of enforcement of the FMCSRs is through roadside inspections. This allows officials to check the drivers and their vehicles for violations immediately. Other methods used to enforce regulations include:
- Compliance reviews of the trucking company’s operations
- Safety audits with new carriers
- The use of a Safety Measurement System to identify any high-risk trucking companies
- The use of the black box to monitor the driving of the truck driver
- A database of CDL holders’ drug and alcohol violations
- Civil and criminal penalties, which include fines and even imprisonment
- The FMCSA can revoke a truck company’s operation authority in extreme cases.
These enforcement methods aim to identify safety issues, correct them, and deter future non-compliance, ultimately improving road safety for everyone.
Example of What Happens When the FMCSR is Ignored
Giddens Law Firm is currently in litigation with a significant trucking outfit with over 600 power units that operate throughout Mexico and the United States. Recently, two of its Mexican-speaking drivers were traveling the highways of Mississippi when one driver decided to pull over to urinate. This is not only against his training but also against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and the Mississippi Commercial Driver’s Manual requirements. The truck driver’s training should have told him never to pull over on the shoulder unless it was an emergency.
Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Safety Regulations prohibit this action for good reason. The driver never put his triangles out, and when he got back on the road, he pulled right in front of the vehicle of a client of Giddens Law Firm. To add insult to injury, neither of the drivers could communicate in English to assist the investigating highway patrol, which also violates the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations.
What to Do If You Are Involved in a Truck Accident in Mississippi
Truck accidents are often the result of the trucking company breaking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. If you get into an accident with a truck driver in Mississippi, gather evidence, get the driver’s contact information and the company they work for, seek medical attention immediately, and call a truck accident lawyer at Giddens Law Firm immediately.
Giddens Law Firm has been helping trucking accident victims throughout Mississippi for nearly 30 years. We understand these cases’ complexities and will stand up for your rights to be heard.
Don’t delay after a car accident with a truck. Contact Giddens Law Firm now for a free consultation.
