The most frequent truck driver violations for which truck drivers may receive fines are listed below.
Truckers must make sure they are constantly in compliance with all state and federal regulations governing interstate transportation, from moving offenses like reckless driving and inappropriate lane changes to driving under the influence and forging log books.
What should you be more careful of to prevent truck driver violations?
Service Hours
Some of the most frequent truck driver violations in the sector include hours of service. Every trucker is aware of the regulations governing the number of hours a truck driver is permitted to drive each day.
These regulations were developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to ensure the safety of other drivers and truck drivers. It’s crucial that you stick to the permitted driving time.
What are the repercussions of breaking the hours of service regulations?
If you break any of the FMCSA’s Hours of Service regulations, you will not only be subject to fines but your truck will also be taken out of operation until you have accrued enough off-duty hours to be back in compliance. This might be up to 34 hours, based on which HOS regulation you broke. Your CDL may be revoked for serious transgressions and frequent infractions.
Keeping Records
It’s crucial that you keep track of every hour you work. With the help of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), you may quickly and easily record your status and confirm that you are keeping to your time restrictions.
Every 24 hours, a driver is required to register their status as on duty. Your duty records will be in violation of FMCSA record-keeping regulations if there are any gaps in them. This is regarded as a critical offense, and penalties of more than $1,000 per day are possible. The penalties might be more harsh and the fines are greater if you are driving dangerous goods.
Forging logs is a major record-keeping offense that is much worse than failing to report your duty status. You risk receiving fines of more than $13,000 if you fabricate your records, much like the 14% of drivers who were suspended from duty throughout the 2021 CVSA Road Check.
Overloading
Being overloaded or inadequately loaded is one of the most serious truck driver violations. Inadequately loaded trailers pose a severe risk to other drivers and truckers’ safety. Overly large vehicles take more time to come to a stop, are more likely to become imbalanced, and can cause major accidents like jackknifing and overturning.
Make sure your load stays safe since there are federal and state restrictions governing the maximum load weight. You’ll avoid paying penalties, and safer roads will result from it.
Traffic Offenses
A CDL holder can speed, tailgate, change lanes without signaling, drive recklessly, run a red light, and commit other traffic infractions.
Depending on how serious the infringement was, different penalties apply. However, if you commit the same infraction too often, you risk losing your CDL.
How can you prevent the most common truck driver violations?
How can you prevent the most common mistakes made by truck drivers?
A copy of the most recent FMCSA regulations may be posted in your base office, so you can check the rules and regulations whenever you are there. To make sure you’re driving responsibly and according to company best practices, companies will likely put rookie drivers through an instruction program.
Driving properly, abiding by all applicable rules and regulations, maintaining correct duty records, and routinely checking your rig for any possible mechanical concerns are all ways that drivers may prevent the most common violations.