Hours of Service Violations in Trucking Accidents: When the Driver Had Been on the Road Too Long

Truck accidents don’t always happen because of distracted driving or reckless behavior. Some of the most serious crashes on Dallas highways happen because the driver behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound commercial truck simply hadn’t slept enough. Federal law sets strict limits on how many hours a commercial truck driver can operate before they’re required to stop and rest. When those limits are violated and a crash occurs, it changes the legal picture significantly, both in terms of who is responsible and what you may be entitled to recover. A Farmers Branch, TX truck accident lawyer can investigate whether violations of federal hours-of-service regulations contributed to a crash, preserve critical evidence such as driver logs and electronic records, and pursue the compensation available to injured victims under Texas law. 

What the Federal Hours of Service Rules Actually Say

Federal regulations under 49 CFR Part 395 set clear limits on how long a commercial truck driver can be behind the wheel. The main rules most people need to know are these:

• A driver cannot operate a commercial truck for more than 11 consecutive hours after taking 10 consecutive hours off duty
• A driver cannot be on duty for more than 14 consecutive hours from the time they start their shift, regardless of how much of that time was actually spent driving
• A driver cannot exceed 60 hours on duty over 7 consecutive days, or 70 hours over 8 consecutive days

These rules exist because fatigued driving impairs reaction time, decision-making, and awareness in ways that are similar to driving under the influence of alcohol. A driver who has been on the road for 13 or 14 hours is not operating the same way they were at the start of the shift, and the companies that employ or contract with those drivers know it.

How We Know the Driver Was Over the Limit

This is where the electronic logging device, or ELD, becomes critical. Federal law requires most commercial trucks to use these devices, which automatically record how long the driver has been on duty, how long they’ve been driving, and when they took rest breaks. Unlike the paper logs drivers used to fill out by hand, ELD data is harder to falsify and creates a detailed, timestamped record of everything that happened before the crash.

As personal injury attorneys, one of the first things we do in a truck accident case is inspect the truck and obtain that ELD data.  We also request preservation ofthe driver’s paper logs, dispatch records, and delivery schedules. Together, those records can show whether the driver exceeded their legal hours, whether the trucking company pressured the driver to stay on the road past legal limits, and whether this wasn’t the first time the company ignored these rules.

Why the Trucking Company Often Shares Responsibility

An hours-of-service violation doesn’t happen by mistake. Trucking companies set the delivery schedules. They assign the routes. They know, or should know, how many hours their drivers have been on the road. When a company creates a schedule that can only be met by a driver skipping required rest breaks, or when dispatchers keep calling drivers who are legally required to be off duty, the company’s own conduct becomes part of the case.

A personal injury attorney can pursue the trucking company directly for its role in putting a fatigued driver on the road, not just the driver for the crash itself.

Why Acting Quickly Matters

ELD data and driver logs are only required to be retained for a limited period of time. Once that window closes, records that could prove exactly how long the driver had been on the road before the crash can be gone. If you have been involved in a collision with a commercial truck in the Dallas area, it is in your best interest to retain a personal injury attorney who can move quickly to preserve this evidence before it disappears.

Kelso Law was founded by Rhiannon Kelso, a Dallas-Fort Worth native with over a decade of experience handling personal injury cases and more than 25 trials in front of Texas juries. If you were hurt in a truck accident and want to know whether driver fatigue was a factor, reach out to a Dallas truck accident lawyer. We’ll find out what those records show.