One of the most important Federal Motor Carrier regulations requires truck drivers to maintain detailed logs of the actual hours a driver spends behind the wheel and the progress of his trip. The Hours of Service regulations help avoid metro Atlanta trucking accidents by minimizing driver fatigue. The Georgia Department of Public Safety Motor Carrier Compliance Division has inspection stations along the interstates around metro Atlanta to check truck driver logs and maintenance records.
At the Georgia Inspection Stations, the most commonly violated safety regulations which can lead to trucking accidents include exceeding hours of service, not keeping time records, and no medical examination for the driver. At the end of a trip, truck drivers complete post-trip inspection reports which include any work orders and the condition of the brakes, lights, coupling devices and other equipment. These records along with the driver logs are very important in the event of a semi truck accident.
Knowing the regulations as they relate to the hours a driver may be on the road and the hours he must take as a break before returning to the road are critical to a trial attorney pursuing a case for a trucking accident victim. A good truck accident attorney will know what records must be kept and how to access all records maintained by the commercial trucking company. We all know, knowledge is power and it certainly is in trucking accident cases.
Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration SAFER System: Check safety records of individual carriers.
