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ABF | HOS

I think it is standard procedure to sue every time a trucking company is involved in an accident regardless of who is at fault. If the company is not in violation of a law it is more difficult to prove liability. I was involved in an accident when a vehicle driver went to sleep. There was no violation by me or the company. If a lawyer can find any violation even it it did not contribute to the accident he can persuade the jury to rule against the company. Something as simple as a light out can go against the trucking company.
 
Boilerpeddle said:
So you could theoretically drive 16 hours pedaling freight with a tractor trailer, then load a skid on the pickup and go deliver that with no limit on hours worked?
Edit:
I bring this up because at a previous employer we had some rental vans to do some school deliveries/pickups and one Friday night as I am approaching my 60 hours the supervisor tells me that he could force me out in one of those vans because they don't meet the definition of a cmv and thus the hos don't apply.
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Nope you would be under dispatch and the hos rules would apply
 
And how could you drive 16hrs? You are ONLY allowed up to 2 hrs over your 11 driving hrs in a emergency.as defined by the DOT..
 
DCM_Doc said:
I think it is standard procedure to sue every time a trucking company is involved in an accident regardless of who is at fault. If the company is not in violation of a law it is more difficult to prove liability. I was involved in an accident when a vehicle driver went to sleep. There was no violation by me or the company. If a lawyer can find any violation even it it did not contribute to the accident he can persuade the jury to rule against the company. Something as simple as a light out can go against the trucking company.
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I know of a case right now that will cost 2 million just because the reflective tape was not applied back on trailer the way it was from factory.
 
Years ago the DOT mandated all trailers to come equipped with under ride bumpers to restrain cars that rear ended them. I think Joan Claybrook was instrumental in this law. The bumpers were lower than what had been used forever & were designed to break away to absorb the impact. These bumpers could not legally be repaired because the repair might make it weaker or stronger than the original design. I read recently that there had been a proposal to require the bumpers to be made stronger. Bureaucrats are never satisfied & continually make ridiculous laws that have cost the trucking industry untold millions & millions. Yes even reflective tape not correctly installed can give an ambulance chasing lawyer grounds for a lawsuit.
 
DCM_Doc said:
Bureaucrats are never satisfied & continually make ridiculous laws that have cost the trucking industry untold millions & millions. Yes even reflective tape not correctly installed can give an ambulance chasing lawyer grounds for a lawsuit.
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The day of self accountability has left our nation long ago...you hit my truck? I'm sorry, it was my fault for being there. It was more sturdy than your car? I'm sorry, that's my fault too. It is a damn shame for our country the way that has all gone.
 
It's called hitting the Legal lottery......And, it's promoted by every personal liability lawyer out there,...just turn on the TV and see. In Pennsylvania, there's a lawyer named Edgar Snyder who has commercials about "deadly, lethal, speeding trucks" that I find personally offensive. His name has become a byword for suing someone,......and I'm sure he's happy about that,.....saying that someone's getting "Edgar Snydered".......I would say that all time behind the wheel counts, ....whether it's a moped, pickup, or CMV,.....mainly because you personally hold a CMV license. If you drove for, say, a heavy equipment operator, switching back and forth between a spotter truck and an oversize load,.....all of your time driving would count as "Driving",.....regardless of the size of the vehicle.

FCMSA 395.2 says all time a driver drives, is driving time,.....it does not specify the size of vehicle.

Good question, though,......it's making us all think.
 
canaryinthemine said:
FCMSA 395.2 says all time a driver drives, is driving time,.....it does not specify the size of vehicle.
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According to one DOT man who came out to a seminar on it any work at all that you get compensated for counts towards your hours of service. And he used helping your friend roof his house for a case of beer as one example of working for compensation.
 
canaryinthemine said:
It's called hitting the Legal lottery......And, it's promoted by every personal liability lawyer out there,...just turn on the TV and see. In Pennsylvania, there's a lawyer named Edgar Snyder who has commercials about "deadly, lethal, speeding trucks" that I find personally offensive. His name has become a byword for suing someone,......and I'm sure he's happy about that,.....saying that someone's getting "Edgar Snydered".......I would say that all time behind the wheel counts, ....whether it's a moped, pickup, or CMV,.....mainly because you personally hold a CMV license. If you drove for, say, a heavy equipment operator, switching back and forth between a spotter truck and an oversize load,.....all of your time driving would count as "Driving",.....regardless of the size of the vehicle.

FCMSA 395.2 says all time a driver drives, is driving time,.....it does not specify the size of vehicle.

Good question, though,......it's making us all think.
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'
'It’s making us all think'. Thanks Canary, that was my point. To get many responses & see how many came to the same conclusion. von.
 
ABFer said:
According to one DOT man who came out to a seminar on it any work at all that you get compensated for counts towards your hours of service. And he used helping your friend roof his house for a case of beer as one example of working for compensation.
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I used to cut grass before I came in to work @ 3pm. Did I start my 14 hour clock when I started cutting grass. Of course ***.
 
I'll put it this way. Every DOT officer and cop I've ever talked to believe that paid time is duty time. If you're willing to take the chance of contesting that under the FMCSA, I think you'd find that the average judge would rule in favor of the officer's discretion, especially if you were pulled over due to impaired driving ability (owed to being exhausted after a 16hr shift) or got into an accident.

Take a cab. Get a hotel. Bill the company. If they argue it, you'd have a considerably more sound case justifying your SAFE behavior in doing so. I wouldn't drive home in my personal vehicle after working that many hours because it's just not safe to drive tired.
 
useless said:
i'm too tired trumps all
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Yes it does. But if you file under the STA Act for relief to gain back your job & monies, be able to support your case with previous instances of being tired, bumping the 14 hour clock, etc. Anything less & you will lose your case. von.
 
nightowl said:
An exception to this would be if the carrier relieved you of all duty and you drove said vehicle be it pick up or bobtail to your house and was followed by 10 hrs off duty, and are not dispatched from your house, your travel time could be logged off duty.
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It would be the same as driving a company tractor to a hotel, logged as off duty because you have been relieved of duty and are using the company vehicle for personal conveyance right?
 
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