Yesterday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a final rule impacting 49 CFR parts 385 and 395, relating to hours of servers for truck drivers. The rule change is designed to give truck drivers more flexibility. Some of the significant changes include: The short-haul exception is now increased 250 air miles and allows […]
Safety on the roadways is of the utmost importance to the state of Texas. Various laws are in place to protect employees as well as motorists on the streets and highways. One of the dangers for police, fire, paramedic, and road workers is the potential of being hit by a car or a semi-truck. Many […]
Over 2 million semi-trucks are operating in the United States. We share the road with commercial trucks daily. While we need large trucks to deliver our goods across the country, we also need to ensure our safety while we drive. Big rigs can weigh 80,000 pounds when loaded with cargo, so an accident with a […]
Houston has some of the most commercial trucks on the roads. Our area is a hub for transportation, and many trucks need to travel through our city to get to other parts of the country. Trucks can pose a threat to safety on our roads. One of the concerns is for falling cargo. […]
When you see a large semi-truck on the road you notice that it has many more tires than passenger vehicles. You likely assume that the extra tires will prevent it from having a problem in case one of the tires fails. While the extra tires support the truck and keep it on the road, a […]
The National Transportation Safety Board has weighed in on the controversial topic of maximum speed limits on the nation’s highways. Using an automobile accident that occurred on a Texas highway that claimed seven lives as an example – they note that most of America’s roadways were designed for a maximum speed of 60 […]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimates that about 20% of all trucking accidents are rear-ended related crashes. Rear-end collisions with big rigs are incredibly hazardous to the occupants in the vehicles they hit. Some of the reasons for the severity of injury and frequency of 18-wheeler crashes include: • A semi-truck can weigh 80,000 […]
Semi-truck accidents in Texas are all too common. Some estimates place the number of big rigs on Texas roads at over 3 million annually. This is the equivalent of 570,000 railway cars and with numbers this high there are definite consequences. This includes wear and tear on the infrastructure but more important our concern is […]
Passenger vehicles share the roadways with millions of big rigs. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) there are more than 130 million commercial trucks in use nationwide. California and Texas have the most trucks with a combined total of about 25 million. Millions of trucks can make driving on our roads more […]
18-wheeler road safety is of the utmost importance. Big rigs are required to pass stringent safety inspections in order to be deemed safe for the roadways. Recently, three men were arrested on felony charges for allegedly forging Department of Transportation (DOT) inspections on 18-wheelers. After the arrests, their business was shuttered and nobody answered […]
Accidents with big rigs are dangerous and terrifying. Those involved in truck crashes are often seriously hurt. After a crash, all aspects of the situation need to be analyzed. An experienced Houston truck accident attorney will work to gather information and details about the crash. One factor that often comes into play is whether the […]
Commercial trucks are a common sight on our Texas roadways. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are more than 130 million commercial trucks on our roadways and Texas is one of the states with the most trucks. Safety on our roads is a major concern. Truck drivers and trucking companies […]
The shortage of truck drivers is causing the cost of freight to increase and trucking companies much grief. The lack of truck drivers has gotten so acute that companies cannot find qualified drivers and forced to hire drivers with experience much less than they usually would accept. Low Pay and No Social […]
After a truck accident, the focus usually is upon the driver of the big rig and whether or not that driver was responsible for the collision. Sometimes, however, the trucking company or “motor carrier” holds responsibility independently of the acts of their driver. Motor carriers must follow the same set of rules that commercial drivers […]
For more than 30 years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has set rules for drug and alcohol testing that covers commercial truck and bus drivers. What Supervisors of Truckers Need to Know: Section 332.603 require supervisors of commercial motor vehicle drivers to take specialized training relating to alcohol and drug symptoms and identification. The […]
Texas has more fatal truck accidents than any other state in the United States according to a recent report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In 2016, Texas had 484 fatalities in big truck accidents. The margin was significant as the next closest state was California with 293 people killed. […]
We have been holding trucking companies accountable for accidents of their drivers for over three decades with incredible success. Trucking companies and their insurers are always looking for ways to avoid paying fair value for injuries caused by their drivers. One of the tricks they try to use is to suggest that the truck […]
In three decades of litigating truck accident cases including many truck accidents on I10 out of Houston, I’m continuously amazed at how truck drivers and sometimes trucking companies can cover up abuses of the regulatory process by allowing or creating fake log books. Sometimes the safety violation is inadvertent, and sometimes the safety violations are […]
There are many causes of serious injury and wrongful death truck accidents. One of the lesser-known causes of accidents is the dilemma of cargo that has been inadequately or poorly secured on a big rig. Poorly Secured Truck Cargo Truck drivers and motor carriers are paid to transport cargo from one […]
There are many ways in which truckers can create accidents by way of improper driving. While many might immediately think of alcohol and drug abuse, or even speeding or other behaviors that can potentially cause trouble, research has also shown that texting while driving can also cause car accidents. As many may be […]
Most individuals are aware that there have been many accidents and incidents involved with large trucks, such as minor infractions and violations to full scale crashes that have resulted in injury or even fatalities. Oftentimes, these incidents can also come as a result of safety violations, such as ignoring the overall maintenance that is […]
