Georgia Truck Accident Lawyers Blog

Under the Code of Federal Regulations, no motor carrier/employer shall knowingly allow, require, permit or authorize a “disqualified driver” to operate a commercial motor vehicle. “Disqualifying offenses” include driving a commercial vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; leaving the scene of an accident; using a commercial motor vehicle to commit a felony or serious traffic violation and/or using a commercial vehicle to violate the railroad/highway grade crossing rule.

Drivers can be disqualified for a period of one year to life if convicted of various offenses. These offenses include being under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled substances, having an alcohol concentration of .04 or greater while operating a commercial motor vehicle, refusing to take an alcohol test, leaving the scene of an accident, using a commercial vehicle to commit a felony and/or using the commercial vehicle in the commission of a felony involving manufacturing, distributing or dispensing a controlled substance. Thus, the Federal Regulations not only disqualify drivers who have been convicted of these offenses, they can disqualify them for a period of one year to life depending upon the severity of the violation.

Many traffic violations can result in suspensions of driving privileges for sixty (60) days to one hundred and twenty (120) days such as certain speeding offenses or other moving violations such as making improper or erratic traffic lane changes. For the more serious offenses set forth herein, drivers can be totally disqualified and should be disqualified as they are a danger to the public. Any trucking company that allows a disqualified driver to operate a commercial truck can be sued for negligent hiring if an accident involving such a driver occurs.

The Code of Federal Regulations specify that all drivers must be physically fit to perform their duties. There are many examples of physical requirements which drivers must pass in order to get a medical certificate certifying their qualification to drive a commercial motor vehicle. As an example, they must have 20/40 vision or better without corrective visions, they must have ability to recognize colors; they must have no clinical diagnosis of alcoholism and no history of drug abuse; they must have no impairment of a hand or finger which interferes with power grasping and no impairment of an arm, foot or leg which interferes with the ability to perform the normal tasks associated with operating a commercial motor vehicle; they must have no clinical diagnosis or clinical history of epilepsy and must have no mental, nervous, organic or functional disease or psychiatric disorder.

While there are other physical requirements set forth under the Code of Federal Regulations, these are the major ones which all motor vehicle carriers for hire must observe prior to hiring a driver. Failure to verify that a driver meets these required qualifications can result in liability for negligent hiring should an accident involving an unqualified driver later occur.

The federal qualification for commercial truck drivers are set forth at 49 C.F.R. § 391. The rules in this part specify minimum duties of motor carriers with respect to the required qualifications of their employee/drivers.

In order to be qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle, a driver must meet the following minimum requirements and responsibilities: They must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age and speak and read English well enough to converse with the general public and understand highway signals; they must be able to drive the vehicle safely and be in good health and physically able to perform all duties of a driver; they must possess a valid medical certificate and have only one valid commercial motor vehicle operator’s license. They must also provide an employer/motor carrier with a list of all motor vehicle violations or a signed statement that they have not been convicted of any motor vehicle violation during the past twelve (12) months. Obviously, they must be qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle, pass a driver’s road test or its equivalent and know how to safely load and secure cargo.

A trucking company must not allow any employee to drive a commercial vehicle unless he or she has completed and signed an application for employment. The motor carrier must have the driver’s driving record for the preceding three (3) years and must not allow such a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle until he or she has successfully completed a road test and has been issued a certificate or a copy of the license or certificate which the motor carrier has accepted as being equivalent to the driver’s road test. A motor carrier must request the driving record annually for each of its drivers and must carefully review and certify annually that all of its drivers meet the minimum requirements for safe driving and have no “disqualifying offenses” enumerated in the Code of Federal Regulations. Obviously, the motor carrier must make sure that there is a proper medical examiner’s certificate in the file which the driver has passed certifying the ability to perform driver duties. In addition, as set forth in earlier blogs, an investigation of the driver’s employment record for the preceding three (3) years must have occurred. The trucking company must also obtain an accident history for three years with an alcohol and controlled substance testing records for three (3) years.

These minimum qualifications must be observed by the trucking company/employer. If not, the company can be sued for negligent hiring and negligent entrustment.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (FMCSR) requires diligence on the part of a trucking company, not only when it employs a driver, but also after he/she begins operating one of its vehicles. In previous entries, we have discussed mandatory pre-employment background checks which must be conducted by trucking companies.

Section 391.25 of the FMCSR requires as well that a trucking company conduct a review of each of its driver’s driving records for the preceding 12 months. A motor carrier must also obtain reports from each of its drivers with a list of all violations of motor vehicle traffic law and citations of which the driver had been convicted and/or forfeited a bond or collateral during the preceding 12 months.

A trucking company must not only obtain such reports of employee/driver accidents or violations, but must also analyze these reports to determine whether any of the violations are such that the driver must be disqualified from driving for a period of up to one year. As in example, a disqualifying offense would be driving a trucking rig while under the influence of alcohol.

In addition, a trucking company’s supervision obligations include the duty to monitor the actual hours being logged by its drivers to make sure that they are not operating their rigs more than is allowed by law. The failure to monitor driver logs can be a grounds of liability against a trucking company, particularly in situations where a fatigued driver causes a collision.

Thus, among the many duties imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a trucking company must diligently supervise all of the drivers in its employ, not only checking out their background thoroughly before employing them, but also during the period of their employ, constantly monitoring their activities to make sure they are in compliance with all applicable safety regulations.

Failure to properly supervise a driver can be an independent basis for liability against a trucking company - as it should be.

The applicable regulation is reprinted below:

Continue reading "Federal Requirements For Supervision of Truck Driver/Employees" »

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations set out very strict requirements for pre-employment investigation of truck drivers. Any motor carrier is required to obtain information about the prospective driver/employee’s driving record and his/her employment history for the preceding three (3) years. The driver/applicant must provide a list of employers for the prior three (3) years and must also provide a list by name and address of all employers for the previous ten (10) years for whom the applicant operated a commercial motor vehicle. Once obtaining this information, the motor carrier is required to investigate the same.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that the trucking company inquire into the applicant’s driving record for the prior three (3) years in every state in which he/she held a license and investigate the driver’s employment record for the preceding three (3) years as well. This investigation must take place within thirty (30) days of the date of that a driver’s employment begins. As with any other violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a failure to conduct this pre-employment investigation can be an independent basis for liability against the trucking company and potentially a basis for punitive damages as well.

To be qualified to drive a tractor-trailer in interstate commerce, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require that an individual must meet the followed specified separate criteria: The driver:

1. Must be at least 21-years old;
2. Must be able to read and speak English;
3. By reason of experience and/or training, must be able to safely operate a vehicle;
4. Must be physically qualified to drive a commercial vehicle in accordance with the physical qualifications and examinations required;
5. Must have a commercially valid motor vehicle license issued by only one state;
6. Have prepared and furnished the hiring motor carrier a list of prior violations;
7. Is not disqualified under the rules;
8. Has successfully completed a driver’s road test and has been issued a certificate or has presented an operator’s license or certificate of road test which the motor carrier that employee’s has accepted as equivalent to a road test.

An individual driver who fails to meet any of these criteria subjects both himself and his employer to liability which may include a claim for punitive damages. In short, if a motor carrier driver is not qualified and/or competent as set forth herein, then he or she has no right to operate a tractor-trailer rig in interstate commerce and liability for a collision by an unqualified driver can be established on this basis alone.

Because these criteria for minimum qualifications and competence are so important to minimum federal safety standards, they shall be discussed separately in future blogs. If a trucking company fails to determine whether a driver is qualified to drive, fails to give a driving test or obtain an adequate employment history of prior traffic violations and/or fails to conduct pre-employment screening and otherwise fails to observe all of the safety regulations applicable to interstate trucking companies, then in that event, the trucking company can be held not only for any damages caused by the unqualified driver but also can be held liable for punitive damages for a willful violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. See Smith v. Tommy Roberts Trucking Company, 209 Ga. App. 826 435 S.E. 2d 54 (1993).