Truck Driver Negligence

Federal Hours of Service regulations exist for one reason: fatigued drivers kill people. Under 49 CFR Part 395, commercial drivers may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. They must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving. They cannot drive after the 14th hour following the start of their work shift. When companies pressure drivers to meet impossible delivery windows, these rules get broken — sometimes with falsified paper logs, sometimes with manipulated electronic logging device (ELD) data. In a crash investigation, HOS records are among the first documents an attorney will subpoena.

A fully loaded semi-truck weighing 80,000 pounds traveling at highway speed needs the length of two football fields to stop. A driver who glances at a phone for five seconds at 55 mph has traveled the length of a football field without looking at the road. Federal regulations prohibit commercial drivers from texting or using handheld phones while driving. Drug and alcohol testing is mandatory after accidents. Yet violations persist. When a driver is found to have been distracted or impaired, the investigation must also ask: did the company know about prior violations? Did they conduct required drug testing? Did they ignore warning signs?

Commercial trucks are required to operate within posted speed limits, and many carriers impose their own internal speed limits. Speeding dramatically increases stopping distance and crash severity. Reckless lane changes, following too closely (tailgating), and failure to adjust for weather conditions are all forms of driver negligence that frequently appear in Texas truck accident cases. Black box data — formally called the Electronic Control Module (ECM) — records speed, braking, and throttle data in the seconds before a crash. This data is critical evidence and must be preserved immediately after an accident.

Not every driver behind the wheel of a commercial truck is qualified to be there. Federal regulations require carriers to verify a driver’s CDL, check their driving record through the FMCSA Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP), and conduct road tests before hiring. When companies skip these steps — or hire drivers with known violations — they create liability that extends far beyond the driver. If a driver caused your accident and was unqualified, undertrained, or had a history of violations the company ignored, the company itself may bear significant responsibility.