Over the years in my Atlanta based trucking litigation practice, I have had truck drivers tell me – reluctantly in deposition testimony, and sometimes voluntarily in confidential talks over coffee at roadside Waffle Houses – how paper logs of their hours of service are easily fabricated “comic books.” Often I…
NOTE TO TRUCK DRIVERS: Our law practice focuses on representation of people who are seriously injured, and families of those killed, in crashes with large commercial vehicles. While those are often truck drivers, we do not handle truckers’ employment law matters. For legal advice on issues with your employer, see…
As a trucking trial attorney in Atlanta, I represent both people in other vehicles who are injured in wrecks with trucks and truck drivers who are injured in collisions. Truck driving is among the most dangerous occupations. I recognize that most truck drivers are safety conscious and hard working folks…
Driver fatigue is a major cause of truck crashes among drivers of commercial tractor trailers, semis and big rigs. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations mandate that truck drivers can drive only 11 hours out of a 14 hour work day, followed by a 10 hour rest break. There are also…
NOTE TO TRUCK DRIVERS: Our law practice focuses on representation of people who are seriously injured, and families of those killed, in crashes with large commercial vehicles. While those are often truck drivers, we do not handle truckers’ employment law matters. For legal advice on issues with your employer, see…
Large truck operations are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and largely identical state trucking safety rules. Sometimes people are surprised that these safety rules no not apply to tractor trailers only. Under 49 CFR 390.5, a commercial motor vehicle is defined to include any self-propelled or towed…
When a loved one is killed or catastrophically injured in a collision with a tractor trailer, there may be a temptation to wait for a “decent interval” before hiring a lawyer who specializes in commercial trucking trial practice. The trucking company’s insurer may encourage that reluctance by saying some soothing…
Fatalities in large truck accidents increased 8.7% in 2010, according to a report released last week by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. NHTSA said in its annual report that 3,675 people died in trucking related accidents in 2010, an increase of 295 over the 3,380 fatalities in 2009. The…
Plans for truck-only lanes on metro Atlanta expressways are among the aspirations cut from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s transportation long-range plans released this week. The ailing economy and strapped government budgets led the ARC to ax or defer beyond my likely lifetime: – optional toll lanes alongside I-75 and I-575…
In a major crossroads of interstate truck traffic, we in metro Atlanta frequently see tractor trailers from the nation’s largest trucking companies on our roads. Wherever they travel in the United States, they are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Here are the top 100 public trucking carriers…