Hour Logging Exceptions Affecting Your San Antonio Trucking Accident

The logging requirements set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are important for a trucking accident because they could be used as a way to prove your case. Sometimes, though, logging may not be necessary. The San Antonio Truck Accident Lawyers at Carabin Shaw Law Firm know when logging could play a crucial factor, and when it cannot.

The FMCSA has set restrictions on when a truck driver can and cannot be operating his vehicle. These are called hours of service. A driver is supposed to log his hours in a log book or they are to be kept by an electronic logging device or some other on-board device.

This information could be crucial because it could help prove that the driver and/or the company was negligent when causing your San Antonio trucking accident that lead to injuries. There are exceptions to keeping a log. This doesn’t make it impossible for our San Antonio Trucking Lawyers to prove a case, but it is important to know the tools available and where to find them.

There are two primary exceptions. The first is the 100-air mile radius that states you don’t have fill a log if you are under 100 air-mile radius. The driver of the truck does not have to keep a log book but instead the company must report the times reported to, and released from, work. This applies where a driver:

• Drives within a 100 air-mile radius of your normal work reporting location
• Return to work reporting location and are released within 12 consecutive hours, and
• Follow all other basic hours of service rules.

There is also the Non-CDL Short Haul Exception that says that the trucker is not required to log a graph and the trucking company must keep time records of reporting to, and released from work each day with the total hours on duty. This applies on when the truck driver:

• Drives a truck that doesn’t require a CDL
• Works within a 150 air-mile radius of normal work reporting location and return there.
• Follow the 0 hour off duty and 11 hour driving requirements
• Does not drive after the 14^th hour after coming on duty on 5 days of any period of 7 consecutive days and
• Does not drive after the 16^th hour after coming on duty on 2 days of any period of 7 consecutive days.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident with a large commercial vehicle or an 18 wheeler, call our San Antonio Trucking Accident Lawyers at Carabin Shaw Law Firm. Our dedicated team of lawyers know the federal rules and regulations that truck drivers, and the trucking companies that employ them, must follow. Call us at 210-222-2288, day or night, for more information.