While Georgia is a long way from the Mexican border, as a tractor trailer and big rig accident trial lawyer based in Atlanta, I have for several years followed the controversy over allowing Mexican trucking companies to operate in the United States. Concerns about safety rules and practices in Mexican…
Articles Posted in Trucking regulations
Safe Roads Act would require trucker drug test database
The Safe Roads Act, proposed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Mark Pryor and John Boozman, both of Arkansas, would tighten the handling of truckers‘ drug and alcohol tests. If passed into law, this bill would require medical review officers, employers, and service agents to report to the Federal Motor Carrier…
Feds propose ban on handheld cellphone use by Hazmat truck drivers
Federal trucking safety rules continue to expand on commercial truck drivers’ texting or calling while they drive As a trial attorney handling tractor trailer and big rig crash cases throughout Georgia, I see how important this can be in trucking accident cases. The latest Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published…
Man killed crashing into unmarked tractor trailer on shoulder of Atlanta freeway ramp
Monday morning, an unidentified man died when he drove his Honda into the rear of an unoccupied tractor-trailer truck parked on the shoulder of a southbound ramp on to Interstate 85 in DeKalb County., according to a report by Rhonda Cash of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. While strange to the…
Trucking safety practices changing under Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA)
Trucking safety practices over the past year and a half have been impacted by adoption of the Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) program. The CSA has three components that measure safety performance, evaluating high-risk behaviors and crafting appropriate interventions. For commercial motor carriers, the standards significantly alter how truckers and companies…
Hours of service battles go on … and on and on
For nearly as long as I’ve been an attorney representing people hurt in tractor trailer accidents in Georgia, we have seen a running battle over the hours of service rules that are supposed to protect people from the dangers of truck driver fatigue. Without reviewing the whole history (see this,…
Electronic truck driver logs slowly making headway
For many years, interstate truck drivers have referred to the driver logs required by federal law as “comic books.” Falsification of logs has been so common that many drivers kept two sets of logs, one for their own use and another to show to inspectors. As a trucking accident trial…
Federal court clears publication of trucking safety data
In truck crash litigation in Georgia, I often find that smaller trucking companies have the least focus on enforcing safety rules. For example, we are now preparing for trial a case in which the trucking company repeatedly had been fined for scores of violations of the same basic safety management…
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sets listening sessions on proposed hours of service rule change
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has scheduled a public listening session on its proposal to revise hours-of-service (HOS) rules for commercial truck drivers on February 17, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia. The agency will also webcast the session live with a forum on its website for comments and questions…
Truck Safety Coaliation works for safer highways
As a trucking safety trial attorney in Georgia, I find that one of the most valuable sources of information about accident prevention in the trucking industry is the Truck Safety Coalition. It is a partnership between The Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) Foundation, and Parents Against Tired Truckers…