Hours of Service Requirements for Truck Drivers in Indiana

Following hours of service (HOS) rules is crucial for truck drivers in Indiana and elsewhere. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling asleep behind the wheel or driving drowsy, a top cause of truck crashes and serious injuries to victims.

The hours of service restrictions for truckers in Indiana restrict how long they can drive without breaks, dictate how long mandatory breaks must be, and describe how drivers must get rest, even if they do so by staying in the sleeper berth within the truck. Ignoring hours of service requirements is risky since it increases the likelihood of accidents due to drowsy driving. To ensure drivers and motor carriers follow HOS rules, they have to log their activities, and our lawyers can obtain these records when preparing victims’ claims. Evidence of HOS violations can strengthen your compensation case, helping us prove the driver and motor carrier breached their duties of care.

Call Wruck Paupore’s Indiana truck accident attorneys for help with your case today at (219) 322-1166.

What Hours of Service Requirements Do Indiana Truck Drivers Have to Follow?

The federal hours of service requirements for truckers exist to deter drowsy driving and keep the roads safe. Property-carrying vehicles must follow strict guidelines; otherwise, drivers could cause serious accidents in Indiana, making trucking companies liable for victims’ injuries.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) sets the HOS requirements truckers follow in Indiana. On the whole, commercial truckers may not be on duty for more than 60 hours across 7-day workweeks or 70 hours in 8-day workweeks.

To limit how long drivers can work in 24-hour periods, the FMCSA only allows truckers to drive up to 11 hours after 10 straight hours off duty and to be on duty for up to 14 hours (including driving and other activities) after 10 hours off duty. After driving for 8 total hours without at least a 30-minute break, truckers must stop driving for at least 30 consecutive minutes. They don’t necessarily have to be off duty or resting in their sleeper berths, but they cannot be driving during this time.

Sleeper berth provisions make it somewhat easier for truck drivers to rest on the go. Commercial trucks typically have sleeper berths in the cabin areas where drivers can rest and sleep during mandatory breaks. The FMCSA’s sleeper berth provision allows truckers to split their required 10 hours off after driving shifts between resting in sleeper berths and other activities. Truckers adhere to HOS regulations as long as they are in the sleeper berth for seven consecutive hours of the mandatory 10.

Generally speaking, the only times drivers can extend the 11 and 14-hour driving limits is during adverse weather conditions. Unfortunately, this could exacerbate the risk to others on the road, as a fatigued truck driver’s reaction times and decision-making skills could be worse during poor weather.

What Are the Risks of Truck Drivers Exceeding Hours of Service Requirements in Indiana?

Drivers who ignore hours of service requirements or whose employers encourage them to violate these rules could cause devastating accidents because of fatigue, entitling victims to compensatory damages for their economic and non-economic losses.

Many truckers drive through Indiana’s highways at night when visibility may already be low. If drivers are also tired because they have violated any HOS rules or manipulated sleeper berth provisions to benefit themselves, their reaction times might slow substantially. Being unable to respond to changes in traffic, merging drivers, and possible road imperfections due to fatigue could end in serious multi-vehicle accidents, especially on crowded highways.

Operating smaller passenger cars while tired is dangerous in and of itself, but commercial trucks are very large vehicles capable of crushing other cars and causing fatal accidents. Semi trucks might topple over if drivers jolt awake after falling asleep behind the wheel and attempt to maneuver to prevent collisions.

The risk of serious injury is high for everyone involved in truck accidents due to HOS violations, including truck drivers. Since commercial trucks are much larger and more powerful than passenger cars, the consequences for victims are typically more severe. While negligent drivers might suffer facial fractures and other injuries due to airbag deployment, smaller car occupants risk sustaining permanent back, neck, and brain injuries, as well as hard-to-heal broken bones.

Getting Evidence of Hours of Service Violations After Truck Accidents in Indiana

In Indiana, commercial truckers must keep records of duty status (RODS) for every 24 hours. This is typically done electronically so that motor carriers can monitor HOS adherence and possible violations.

After an accident involving a commercial truck in Indiana, our lawyers can obtain hours of service records for the driver and the motor carrier. We can review the driver’s RODS for the period concerning your accident to see if there were clear violations or signs the driver took advantage of the sleeper berth provision. Motor carriers typically need to keep RODS for at least six months, so we should also be able to see the driver’s and the motor carrier’s histories of possible HOS violations. Short-haul exceptions can complicate HOS rules, and our Indiana truck accident attorneys can see if they apply to your case after reviewing all its details.

Evidence of hours of service violations can help us establish that the driver and the motor carrier breached the duty of care they owed you, providing proof of liability for all resulting damages. Encouraging or allowing truckers to ignore rules in place for road safety is reckless, and our lawyers can introduce additional evidence that may support liability or even punitive damages, such as statements from eyewitnesses on the scene or first responders who observed the at-fault driver’s fatigue.

Call Our Indiana Lawyers for Help with Your Truck Accident Case

Call Wruck Paupore’s Evansville, IN truck accident attorneys for a free case review at (219) 322-1166.