As our demand for products increase the demand for more shipments also increases. Therefore, truck drivers are often forced to increase their mileage and even transport heavier loads. Some truck drivers even cut corners (no pun intended) in order to keep up with the high demand. Truck drivers are required to make more trips and often times deprive themselves of sleep in order to meet demands, however, this places other drivers on the road at risk.
There is nothing more frightening than driving down an interstate in your car and suddenly a truck begins to swerve. This is an all too familiar occurrence on highways all across the U.S. A swerving truck is usually a sign of an over worked truck driver falling asleep behind the wheel.
There is no question that many truck drivers suffer from fatigue. There are actually laws that help combat against truck driver fatigue. For instance, the law commonly known as the “hours-of-service regulations” found in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR) Part 3956 restricts the amount of hours a truck driver can drive within a 24-hour time-frame. According to the regulation, truck drivers are allowed to drive on the interstate for no more than 11 hours straight.
Truck drivers are also required to take 10 hours off before starting another work period. There are instances when drivers will falsify log books in order to put more hours in order on the road in order to earn more money. Unfortunately, this isn’t revealed until a tragic accident takes place.
If you or a loved has been injured in a truck accident due to truck driver fatigue, you deserve to be compensated for your injuries. It takes an experienced Georgia attorney to determine this.
Blog Post Provided By – The Atlanta Truck Accident Attorneys at Goldstein & Hayes, P.C.