Not all Louisiana truck operators are equal before the law.

Service hours of Louisiana truck drivers are strictly regulated. In an effort to prevent driver fatigue and curb truck accidents due to exhausted drivers falling asleep behind the wheel, the federal government has enacted detailed hours-of-service (HOS) rules. HOS basically include not just time spent driving the truck, but also hours spent on other duties like loading, unloading, truck servicing, etc. Minimum rest time between on-duty hours is also specified.

The truck accident attorneys of the Young Firm have long been advocating stricter enforcement of HOS regulations, and more specifically the implementation of on board electronic recorders (EOBR) replacing the paper and carbon copy logbooks that are so easily faked.

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This is, however, not the end of the story; a proliferation of motor carrier safety exemptions is out of control, weakening further the HOS enforcement. In a recent report to the Senate Committee on Surface Transportation, Mr. Francis France, president of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) stressed how important it is to repeal existing safety exemptions and to grant exemptions only when sufficient safety monitoring can be guaranteed.

The most blatant abuse of hours of service exemptions is in the utility service industry, where drivers are at times required to work 16 to 18 hours per day, adding up to 120 hours in 7 days during emergencies. In some cases, a driver having worked under these conditions is allowed only 8 hours of rest before returning to work. In that short period he has to commute, work on personal duties, eat and try to sleep a couple of hours. Many accidents are the result of these reckless practices, the utility companies being protected by their exempted status.

There is no justification for the lack of oversight of “exempted” motor carriers. Some companies, due to the nature of their activities, need more flexibility in the implementation of HOS rules. But this should not prevent them from oversight by inspectors and from setting up other HOS rules that guarantee the safety of truck drivers and the public.

For those who have suffered terrible injuries or the loss of a loved one in a Louisiana truck crash, securing decent compensation for their grief, pain, suffering, medical expenses and loss of income can be an uphill battle. Some motor carriers tend to be quite adept at removing or hiding evidence, and they are defended by powerful insurance companies who deal with accidents daily and know how to protect their balance sheets. If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident caused by a truck contact the attorneys of the Young Firm immediately for a FREE consultation on your case at (504) 680-4100 (local) or (866) 660-7220 (toll free) or by sending us an e-mail.