Can you think of the day you went for a drive and didn’t encounter a truck on the road? When you consider all the regular deliveries to grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations combined with the thousands of personal deliveries from online stores such as Amazon, it is rare that you wouldn’t share the road with a truck.
Here in Pennsylvania, there are 89,920 truck drivers living in the commonwealth, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At any given time, countless out-of-state trucks make their pickups and deliveries. What all these trucks have in common is they have to follow state and federal regulations. Those regulations are designed to keep the truckers and every other motorist safe.
The following are some of the laws that truck drivers have to follow in Pennsylvania.
Obtain a Commercial Driver’s License
Before accepting employment as a truck driver, you must obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). That license is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Prospective applicants will be tested on aspects of vehicle inspection, basic control skills, and an on-the-road skills test.
Additionally, truck drivers need to undergo additional certification referred to as endorsements. These endorsements allow truck drivers to transport specific hazardous materials. Truckers must also undergo ongoing training that helps them stay up to date with any new regulations, technology, or changes to the laws.
Alcohol and Drug Testing
In Pennsylvania, a driver is considered legally intoxicated if he has a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08%. With a truck driver, that standard is lowered to .04%, and rightfully so. Even the slightest level of impairment when you’re behind a cumbersome rig weighing 80,000 pounds can lead to tragic consequences. That is why Pennsylvania enforces strict protocols for alcohol and drug testing. Those protocols are the following:
- Pre-Employment Testing
- Random Testing
- Post-Accident Testing
These measures are in place to ensure that only sober, focused drivers are operating commercial trucks on Pennsylvania’s roads.
Hours of Service
Many of the commonwealth’s regulations for truck drivers defer to the federal standards set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These regulations are put into place to limit the amount of time a truck driver is allowed to be on the road. The longer the drive, the more likely the risks increase for that truck driver to be compromised on the road.
Here are the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations that apply to truck drivers in Pennsylvania:
Daily Driving Limit
A truck driver is allowed to drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off time on the road.
14-Hour Driving Window
With this regulation, a truck driver can engage in non-driving work but is restricted from driving for a 14-hour window after coming on duty, following 10 hours of non-driving work. In other words, if a truck driver takes a second job at a warehouse and works there for 10 hours, they need to wait 14 hours before they can drive a truck for their other job.
Rest Breaks
Truck drivers are required to take a 30-minute break if they have been on the road for 8 consecutive hours without a break.
Weekly Limits
Unlike a typical 40-hour, 9 to 5 gig, a truck driver is allowed a 60/70 hour work week. They can drive those hours over a 7 or 8-day period, but then they must take a break of 34 consecutive hours (approximately a day and a half) before starting up again.
All of these hours of service must also be electronically logged and submitted. Those records can be an important piece of evidence in the event of an accident.
Regular Vehicle Inspections
It is not just the behavior of the truck driver that is regulated but also the truck itself. In addition to following the rules for cargo securement, truck drivers are responsible for regularly inspecting their vehicles. A mandated law requires at least one comprehensive inspection of the rig that looks at the following:
- Braking systems
- Tires
- Lighting systems
- Steering mechanisms
- Cargo securement
- Transmission
- Electronic systems
- Other critical elements
Truck drivers are also required to undergo a pre-trip inspection. While not as thorough as the annual inspection, it does look at many of the same issues, especially tire pressure, fluids, brakes, and lights. As with the service hours, these inspections must also generate records to affirm they occurred and what might have been uncovered.
Weight and Size Limits
The commonwealth’s trucker’s manual also mandates weight and size limits for trucks. An overloaded truck can be a challenge to control, especially on sharp turns or in adverse weather conditions.
Failure to comply with these requirements can result in major fines for the truck driver and a potential grounding of the truck.
A truck driver’s history of compliance can be an important component of any potential truck accident claim. The attorneys at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan are extremely familiar with this kind of evidence. We know what matters in a truck accident investigation, and that begins with truck drivers following the law.