A Heavy Weight Versus A Light Weight
Did you know that 18-wheel trucks weigh 80,000 pounds and the average automobile weighs only 5,000 pounds? If your truck accident lawyer does not appreciate the significant difference in weight between 18-wheel vehicles and standard automobiles, your lawyer may not be able to explain to the jury how significant injuries can result from relatively minor [...]
What Regulations Govern Interstate Truck Drivers?
An experienced truck accident lawyer will be very familiar with the specific regulations that govern truck drivers and their employers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. This is considered “the bible” in regard to regulating truck drivers and their employers. It is also referred to as “the little green book” by many truck drivers. These [...]
Inspections Required
Under federal trucking laws, each truck driver must perform many inspections of his vehicle and cargo while he is operating his truck. These inspections and their reports can be very important in proving that the truck driver was negligent in causing your injury or accident.
The driver must perform pre-trip inspections, post-trip inspections and even cargo [...]
Overweight Trucks
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations which govern truck drivers and apply to all truck accidents, a truck is not allowed to weigh more than 80,000 pounds including all of its load and cargo. This is the reason that the interstate highways have weigh stations throughout the country. The truck driver and trucking company can [...]
Is The Truth Really ‘The Truth’?
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each truck driver must maintain a detailed log book documenting how they spend all of their hours while employed by a federal trucking company. This includes documenting the number of hours worked when they were driving the truck as well as off time, loading time and working but [...]
What Happens After Your Truck Accident?
Many good lawyers are successful in obtaining documents which were created before a negligent truck driver caused your injury and accident. However, an excellent truck accident lawyer will also try to obtain documents which were created immediately following your accident. Most trucking companies have an “accident countermeasure program” in place which requires that an investigation [...]
The “We Did Not Employ The Driver” Defense
In many truck accident cases the defendant employer of the negligent driver asserts what is known as an independent contractor defense to your legal claim. The employer may try to argue that it did not employ the negligent truck driver that caused your accident and injury and therefore you cannot file suit against the employer [...]
Time For Your Annual Certificate?
Did you know that truck drivers must submit an Annual Certificate of Violations to their employers each year. This is required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations which govern interstate truck drivers and their employers. This certificate must include a complete list of any violations that the driver received during the last year.
If you [...]
Truck Driver Log Books
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each driver of an 18-wheeler interstate truck must maintain log books for a period of at least six months. This is mandated by 49 C.F.R. 395.8. This regulation requires detailed log books tracking the number of hours worked by the truck driver. All of the [...]
What Is The Driver Qualification File?
Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations each employer of an interstate truck driver must maintain a driver qualification file for each driver. If you have been injured due to the negligence of an 18-wheeler, it is very important that your lawyer or attorney obtain a complete copy of the driver qualification file for the [...]
