How many hours do truck drivers work?

Truck drivers can be on the road for no more than eleven hours of daily driving with a fourteen-hour workday cap. Because fatigued truck driving is a leading cause of truck accidents, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) established hours-of-service regulations.

These rules restrict the number of hours that a commercial truck driver can be on the road during defined stretches of time, and they require truckers and trucking companies to keep detailed records of these hours for review if necessary. Under the current regulations, a trucker can be on the road for:

• No more than eleven hours of daily driving

• No more than a minimum average of seventy hours per workweek

If the weekly limit is reached, they can continue after thirty-four hours of consecutive rest. Drivers must work no more than fourteen hours per day. Truckers are also required to take at least a thirty-minute break within the first eight hours of their shift.

These regulations have been formulated by scientific testing to guarantee as far as possible that drivers have the necessary rest in order to drive without fatigue. While there are certain exceptions to the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, it is in a trucker's best interests to adhere to these rules to avoid dangerous accidents or mistakes.

Federal HOS regulations apply to all truck drivers operating large trucks that:

• Weigh more than 10,000 pounds

• Have a gross vehicle weight rating of at least 10,000 pounds

• Transport materials in quantity requiring placards

• Transport materials involved in either interstate commerce

Truckers are required by law to keep a log for recording their hours. Any person subject to these regulations must complete this log every day of driving. Unfortunately, logbooks can be fabricated, falsified, or altered by truckers who violate the regulations, making it difficult to keep track of the number of rest drivers actually get.

Numerous trucking accidents have been revealed to be caused by a driver who was simply on the road for far too long. In these cases, the trucker can be held liable, as well as the trucking company, if it can be proved that they encouraged the driver to violate the hours-of-service regulations in order to meet a deadline or were negligent.