Trucking companies and truck drivers have tremendous responsibilities. They operate vehicles that can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds when fully loaded, and these vehicles have much larger dimensions than traditional passenger cars, trucks, or SUVs. It is critical for trucking companies to implement policies that emphasize safety over profit, but that is not always what happens. Here, we want to examine how trucking company policies can contribute to horrific accidents on the roadway.
This is a Heavily Regulated Industry
The trucking industry is heavily regulated at both the federal and state levels. In general, state authorities in charge of truck regulations tend to defer to federal regulations already in place, particularly because these vehicles usually cross state lines when carrying their cargo. Thus, federal jurisdiction usually trumps state jurisdiction, but any trucks that do not leave the state to transport goods will be under the full authority of Georgia regulatory officials.
Two of the most important regulations set forth by federal authorities, and upheld by Georgia State truck authorities, include the hours of service rules related to drivers as well as the inspection and maintenance rules for truck companies and independent owner-operators.
- Hours of service regulations. These regulations refer to the number of hours that truck drivers are allowed to operate during each work day as well as during the overall work week.
- Inspection and maintenance regulations. Inspection and maintenance regulations are in place to ensure that these large vehicles are well maintained at all times period inspections should occur before every single trip but also at regular intervals to ensure adequate roadway safety.
Unfortunately, trucking company policies can lead to major safety issues on the roadway and for Georgia drivers, particularly if trucking companies encourage drivers to operate outside of the bounds of federal or state regulations.
Sometimes, trucking companies will encourage drivers to overload their cargo or operate beyond their allowable hours of service. There are also times when trucking companies will skip regular inspection and maintenance in order to cut costs.
Do You Need a Truck Accident Lawyer?
If you or somebody you love has been injured in a truck accident caused by the negligence of a driver or trucking company in the state of Georgia, we encourage you to reach out to a skilled personal injury lawyer immediately. These claims become incredibly challenging very quickly. This is particularly true when insurance carriers and legal teams for the trucking company or the driver get involved.
You need your own personal injury lawyer to represent you at every stage of the claims process. This includes the insurance claim as well as any civil personal injury lawsuit you file in order to recover compensation for your losses. Your attorney will investigate the claim and work to recover compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, property damage expenses, and pain and suffering damages.
If you are unsure about whether or not you need an attorney for your particular claim, we encourage you to reach out for a free consultation as soon as possible.
One major reason that you need an attorney is for the resources. If a truck company policy led to safety issues that caused the truck accident, actually determining a policy violation can be challenging period an attorney will need to conduct a full investigation and dig into the truck driver and truck company records in order to determine exactly what happened.