Fatigued Truck Driver Accidents
Drivers who are tired are dangerous. Everyone in the truck industry knows this. Just about all trucking companies agree. The U.S. Department of Transportation has made numerous rules that address this issue.
Although these rules exist, they are still being broken.
There is no breathalyzer test for fatigue. Evidence of the violation exists in documents. Logs. Scheduling of deliveries. Dispatch messages. Gas receipts. In most cases, the trucking company keeps most of the documentation.
America’s Truck Accident Network connects individuals hurt by fatigued truckers to experienced truck accident lawyers all over the United States. Those attorneys are familiar with the hours-of-service regulations. They know where the records exist. They have years of experience showing that a driver had no business driving that day.
Continue reading to learn how truck wrecks occur because of driver fatigue, what the federal regulations mandate, how documentation shows an hours-of-service violation existed, and what alternatives you have for recovering your costs.
Driver Fatigue
Driver fatigue is more than just feeling sleepy. Driver fatigue is a state of physical and mental exhaustion which impairs a driver’s reaction time, decision-making skills, and attention span. A fatigued driver may veer into an adjacent lane of travel. A fatigued driver may fail to recognize slowing traffic. On occasion, a fatigued driver will fall asleep while traveling down the highway at 65 miles per hour.
The statistics show this:
- About 13 percent of commercial motor vehicle operators involved in a wreck were found to be fatigued at the time of the wreck, according to the FMCSA’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study.
- According to studies referenced by the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an individual who has stayed awake for 17 hours will experience performance reductions comparable to a blood alcohol content level of .05 percent.
- Performance reductions comparable to a blood alcohol content level of .10 percent occur when an individual stays awake for 24 hours.
Compare those last two numbers. A person who has worked without rest for 24 hours is as impaired as a person who drank past the legal limit. And yet our society treats them quite differently under the law. We treat the drunk driver as a criminal. The fatigued driver is typically looked upon as simply doing their best.
Federal law says otherwise. One specific regulation prohibits any commercial motor vehicle operator from driving when the operator’s ability or alertness is impaired by fatigue or illness such that driving would be unsafe (49 C.F.R. § 392.3). The same regulation prohibits carriers from requiring or allowing an impaired driver to operate, even if the driver technically complies with the hours requirements.
Federal law treats fatigued driving as more than an unsafe action. It constitutes a violation.
Hours of Service Regulations
The hours-of-service regulations provide the basis for virtually every fatigued driver claim. Federal regulations impose strict limits on the total number of hours a commercial driver can spend driving and working (49 C.F.R. § 395.3).
The limits are as follows.
- Property-carrying drivers may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours of rest
- Drivers may not drive beyond 14 hours after coming on duty
- Drivers must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving time
- Drivers may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days, or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days
- Weekly limits reset only when the driver takes 34 or more consecutive hours of rest
These numbers matter because they turn the abstract idea of fatigue into cold, hard math.
Fatigue itself is invisible. Violations of hours are visible. Your lawyer does not need to prove the driver was tired. Your lawyer only needs to show that the driver was on hour 13 of driving when he crashed into you. The violation speaks for itself.
Proves a Violation
It proves that the driver broke a federal regulation intended to prevent exactly that type of crash.
Identifies the Carrier
It identifies which carrier scheduled, approved, or ignored the violation.
Supports Punitive Damages
It supports claims for punitive damages when the violation was done knowingly or intentionally.
Logbooks and ELD Data
Commercial drivers must keep a record of duty status. Today that record lives in an electronic logging device connected to the truck’s engine (49 C.F.R. § 395.8 and Part 395, Subpart B). The ELD records driving time, duty status, miles, and location automatically. Altering a log is a separate federal violation (49 C.F.R. § 395.8(e)), and the ELD keeps an edit history that shows after-the-fact changes. The logs get compared against fuel receipts, toll records, GPS data, and delivery timestamps. A log that contradicts the receipts proves the violation and proves the driver knew enough to hide it.
Sleep Disorders
Beyond hours-of-service violations, some of the most common fatigue issues stem from sleep disorders. Obstructive sleep apnea is a leading sleep disorder in the trucking industry.
Federal regulations take medical conditions into consideration:
- Commercial motor vehicle operators must undergo a physical examination and receive a certificate stating they meet the physical qualification requirements (49 C.F.R. §§ 391.41 through 391.45). The purpose of these examinations is to identify individuals with conditions that would interfere with their ability to safely operate a CMV.
- A motor carrier may not allow an operator to drive while suffering from a known condition that impairs their ability to remain awake or attentive, including untreated OSA (49 C.F.R. § 392.3).
If a driver’s OSA goes untreated, the driver will continue to experience excessive daytime fatigue. He will fall asleep unexpectedly at inconvenient times. Other people may notice him falling asleep while sitting in traffic or at red lights.
Cases involving sleep disorders typically revolve around whether the driver knowingly avoided treatment. Carriers often defend these cases by claiming they did not know about the driver’s condition. The evidence used to answer those questions includes the following:
- Medical certification files documenting the driver’s condition and prescribed treatments
- Records indicating whether the driver complied with the prescribed treatments
- Prior incident reports or accident history showing the driver was experiencing excessive daytime fatigue or sleeping episodes while operating
Carrier Pressure
Unfortunately, another reality exists within the world of fatigued driving. The driver is typically the weakest link in the chain of events surrounding these crashes.
Most drivers are paid per mile. A truck that sits idle generates no revenue for the driver or the carrier. Sales teams make promises to customers for delivery windows that cannot be fulfilled under the regulatory restrictions. Dispatchers constantly urge drivers to increase productivity. Load after load is assigned without regard for the driver’s ability to complete the previous assignment. The only way for a driver to generate income under this type of compensation structure is to shave their rest periods.
The federal government recognizes this problem and regulates both the motor carrier and the individual driver. Regulations require motor carriers to ensure their drivers comply with applicable regulations (49 C.F.R. § 390.11). Motor carriers are prohibited from requiring or permitting a fatigued driver to operate. A separate regulation prohibits coercive actions by motor carriers, shippers, receivers, and brokers that lead to hours-of-service violations (49 C.F.R. § 390.6).
Examples of carrier pressure evidence include the following:
- Delivery schedules that create impossible compliance scenarios for drivers
- Messages sent by dispatchers urging drivers to continue operating after they report being tired
- Compensation plans that reward drivers for working beyond their maximum allowed hours
- Disciplinary actions taken against drivers for declining assignments that would have forced them out of compliance
- A pattern of hours violations demonstrated by multiple drivers within a single fleet
Data Disappears Fast
In many instances, electronic records related to the accident will be deleted or destroyed within a few weeks. The spoliation letter must be mailed before the destruction date of those records.
Free Case EvaluationEvidence
Fatigue cases rely heavily on documentation, and the records get obtained quickly or not at all. The process begins with sending a spoliation letter to the trucking company requesting retention of all potentially relevant information. Specifically, the letter demands the following:
- Information concerning the operation of the tractor-trailer, including the electronic control module
- All ELD data and edit histories
- Logs submitted by the driver and the corresponding supporting documents
- Dispatch and messaging records
- Driver qualification files and medical certification records
- Schedules detailing customer delivery expectations, bills of lading, and trip records
Once the spoliation letter is sent, destruction of the requested records becomes a serious problem for the company. Courts can assess sanctions. Juries can be instructed to assume the destroyed evidence contained information damaging to the defendant.
From there, attorneys begin building the case from a variety of sources. Attorneys recreate the driver’s actual hours worked based on ELD data, fuel receipts, tolls, GPS locations, and time-stamped delivery records. They then compare the actual hours worked with the allowable hours under federal law. The violations clearly emerge.
Black box analysis can also show a clear fatigue signature in the final seconds before impact. Examples include little or no braking before the collision, no attempt to steer out of harm’s way, and a slow drift instead of a rapid swerve. (See our Truck Black Box ECM Data page.)
Finally, cell phone usage data can indicate what the driver was doing while purportedly resting. A driver who was actively texting or streaming video while claiming to be resting was likely not getting meaningful rest.
Liability
Most fatigue cases produce a long list of potential defendants.
The Driver
He exceeded his allowed driving hours or operated the vehicle while impaired by fatigue. The hours-of-service violation or fatigued-operator violation helps establish negligence.
Shippers, Receivers, and Brokers
The coercion regulation applies to entities other than carriers (49 C.F.R. § 390.6). A shipper that forces unrealistic delivery windows, or a broker that pushes a driver to violate the hours rules, may share in the liability.
The Medical Examiner
At times the medical certification process fails to detect a sleep disorder. A medical examiner certifying a driver with obvious signs of a sleep disorder raises many questions.
The Trucking Company
Employers are responsible for the negligent acts their employees commit while performing duties on the employer’s behalf under the doctrine of respondeat superior. In addition to vicarious liability, the employer may also be directly liable for scheduling that led to hours-of-service violations, allowing an employee to operate a vehicle while fatigued, failure to ensure compliance with the applicable safety regulations, ignoring log falsification discovered during the company’s own audits, or continuing to employ a driver with known hours violations or a known untreated sleep disorder.
Additional defendants mean additional insurance coverage. This is especially true in catastrophic injury cases where one policy may not provide enough coverage.
Most fatigue cases involve systems working exactly as designed.
Compensation
Damages in fatigued driving truck cases fall into the standard categories.
Economic Damages
Economic damages include the following:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Wage loss during recovery
- Reduced earning capacity due to limitations lasting beyond recovery
- Damage to property
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages include the following:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Disfigurement
Exemplary Damages
Texas allows exemplary damages when the plaintiff proves the defendant acted with fraud, malice, or gross negligence (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003). Fatigue cases tend to provide some of the best facts supporting exemplary damages in trucking litigation.
Examples of facts supporting exemplary damages include a carrier creating load schedules that no legal driver can complete, a company ignoring log falsification for months, or a dispatcher continuing to push a driver after he reports being exhausted.
Some fatigue crashes cause fatalities. Texas law entitles the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased to pursue a wrongful death claim (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004). (See our Wrongful Death Truck Accidents page.)
The defense will look for fault on your side. Texas uses proportionate responsibility (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001). Any fault assigned to you will reduce your recovery by that amount. If you are found more than 50 percent at fault, you are completely barred from recovering damages.
Time to File
The deadline for filing a claim will vary depending upon the state where the incident occurred and whether the defendant is a private individual or an entity of local, state, or federal government.
- Personal injury and wrongful death claims in Texas carry a statutory deadline of two years (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003)
- Some states provide as little as one year for filing a claim
- Additional notice periods may apply when a governmental agency is involved
The practical deadline is shorter than the statutory deadline. In many instances, electronic records related to the accident will be deleted or destroyed within a few weeks. The spoliation letter must be mailed before the destruction date of those records.
Fatigued Truck Driver FAQs
Is there a test to show that a commercial motor vehicle driver was fatigued at the time of the crash?
No roadside test exists to determine whether a CMV driver was fatigued at the time he crashed. Instead, documentation is used to prove the fatigue. That documentation includes hours-of-service logs from the ELD installed on the truck, fuel receipts, tolls paid by the driver, GPS data which may confirm or contradict the hours-of-service records, phone records which indicate when the driver was actually awake, and black box data showing the braking, steering, and accelerating activity immediately before the crash. Together, these documents can show that the driver was not alert enough to avoid causing the crash.
Are there legal limits for fatigue like those established for alcohol?
Yes, though no specific number of hours defines fatigue for purposes of establishing liability. Federal and state law establish hours-of-service limitations for commercial motor vehicle operators. Violations of these provisions provide strong evidence of negligence.
Will clean hours-of-service logs be enough to defeat a lawsuit against the carrier and its driver?
Clean hours-of-service logs merely represent the starting point for investigating how long the driver spent behind the wheel. To determine whether the driver actually complied, investigators compare the logs to other records, including delivery timestamps, fuel receipt data showing the approximate location of the truck at certain times, toll receipts showing when and where tolls were paid, ELD edit histories showing whether the driver altered the logs, and GPS data showing the route taken and the speed traveled. Discrepancies between the logs and other records tend to damage the defense more than an honest violation would.
What if the company forced the driver into an unreasonable schedule?
If the company forced the driver into a schedule that resulted in non-compliance with the federal hours-of-service regulations, then the company has a serious problem. Federal law prohibits all parties in the transportation chain, including carriers, shippers, receivers, and brokers, from coercing drivers to violate the hours-of-service regulations.
Can the company be liable if it knew the driver had sleep apnea but did nothing about it?
Yes. A study sponsored by the FMCSA estimates that approximately 28 percent of commercial motor vehicle drivers have some degree of sleep apnea. Federal regulations require every commercial driver to be examined by a certified medical examiner and to receive a medical certificate before operating a commercial motor vehicle; drivers with untreated sleep apnea, or whose symptoms produce frequent episodes of drowsiness, may not qualify for medical certification unless the condition is treated.
A carrier that allows a driver with an untreated sleep disorder to continue operating poses a safety hazard to everyone on the road. Companies have a responsibility under federal law to address that situation, and they can be held liable if they fail to do so.
Will the driver’s appearance after the crash hurt my case?
Appearance often does not reflect actual physical condition. Adrenaline masks exhaustion, so how a driver appears after a crash is an extremely poor indicator of fatigue. A determination of fatigue is generally based on documents rather than visual observations. How the driver looked after the crash is insignificant compared to what his records show about his hours for the last week.
How much time do I have to file my lawsuit?
Texas law provides two years for bringing personal injury and wrongful death claims. Other jurisdictions may provide less time. Filing requirements for claims against governmental agencies may be measured in months rather than years. And because most companies delete electronic records within a couple of months after an incident, your practical deadline for sending a spoliation letter is usually several months earlier than your statutory deadline.
Get Help Now
You have reached this point. You are aware of the applicable law and procedure for a lawsuit arising from an accident involving a fatigued truck driver. You know that the documents necessary to support your claim already exist. And you know that the trucking company’s staff has access to them right now. That staff began developing its response shortly after the crash.
Don’t let your case run out of time like the driver ran out of rest.
America’s Truck Accident Network connects individuals injured by fatigued truck drivers with experienced attorneys handling commercial truck accident litigation throughout America. These attorneys are familiar with the hours-of-service regulations. They understand which documentation should be sought to establish your case and when that documentation should be obtained. Consultations are free of charge, and payment is contingent upon recovering money for your injuries.
Attorney Advertising & Legal Information Notice: This article provides general educational information and does not constitute formal legal advice. America’s Truck Accident Network is a case evaluation network, not a law firm, and submitting an inquiry does not form an attorney-client relationship. Rules, comparative fault allocations, and filing deadlines vary by jurisdiction. Always consult an attorney licensed in your state.
