Unfortunately, accidents between big commercial trucks (big rigs, semis, tractor-trailers, 18 wheelers) usually means fatalities will be involved in the crash.  The simple matter of weight and speed differences mean that these huge vehicles are monsterously damaging to most other vehicles on the road: sedans, minivans, pickups, motorcycles, and the like.

Still, accidents are accidents and truck drivers are human beings: some truck wrecks are tragedies, but they aren’t criminal actions.  Until they are.

Here are some recent examples from across the country where a commercial truck driver involved in a crash or accident has been arrested by the local law enforcement authorities on homicide charges because someone died in the wreck of the big rig / semi / 18 wheeler / tractor-trailer and the other motor vehicle on the road:

Pennsylvania Dump Truck Driver charged with homicide and other felony charges after truck crash with 2011 Ford passenger car.

Illinois Tractor Trailer Truck Driver charged with homicide in Kentucky crash involving Amish buggy.

Wisconsin Semi Truck Driver charged with vehicular homicide in Ohio crash involving pick up truck.

Texas Semi Truck Driver charged with criminally negligent homicide in Texas crash involving another semi truck.

Michigan Semi Truck Driver charged with three counts each of vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, and causing a fatality through negligent operation of a motor vehicle in Ohio chain-reaction crash that involved several vehicles.

It’s not always the truck driver that gets charged with homicide in this big rig crashes, though.  Consider last month’s crash in Austin, Texas:  here, the driver who ran a red light and slammed into the semi truck is facing homicide charges.

On March 15, 2012, the American Trucking Association (ATA) filed its Statement of Issues with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing that the Hours of Service (HOS) rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) should be overturned by the federal court as being “arbitrary and capricious.”

In its argument, the ATA points the finger at 4 places in the FMCSA HOS Rule that it argues fail the necessary legal requirements for administrative agency regulation of trucking activities. Read the FMCSA HOS Rule here (76 Fed. Reg. 81134).

The American Trucking Association is challenging the Final Rule because of the following:

1. changes to the restart provision requiring that it include two consecutive periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.;
2. limits on the frequency with which a driver may use the restart;
3. the requirement that a mandatory 30-minute break from driving also exclude all other on-duty activity; and
4. narrowing—without prior notice—certain exceptions to drive-time regulations for local delivery drivers.

Here is the official summary of the new rule:

SUMMARY: FMCSA revises the hours of service (HOS) regulations to limit the use of the 34-hour restart provision to once every 168 hours and to require that anyone using the 34-hour restart provision have as part of the restart two periods that include 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. It also includes a provision that allows truckers to drive if they have had a break of at least 30 minutes, at a time of their choosing, sometime within the previous 8 hours. This rule does not include a change to the daily driving limit because the Agency is unable to definitively demonstrate that a 10-hour limit—which it favored in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)—would have higher net benefits than an 11-hour limit. The current 11-hour limit is therefore unchanged at this time. The 60- and 70-hour limits are also unchanged. The purpose of the rule is to limit the ability of drivers to work the maximum number of hours  currently allowed, or close to the maximum, on a continuing basis to reduce the possibility of driver fatigue. Long daily and weekly hours are associated with an increased risk of crashes and with the chronic health conditions associated with lack of sleep. These changes will affect only the small minority of drivers who regularly work the longer hours.

Read the ATA’s Statement of Issues as it has been filed in federal court online here.

For the long trek that the Hours of Service Rule has taken over the past several years, read our prior posts here.

With the new federal regulations going into effect in 2012 that are fighting against distracted driving of commercial vehicles, it makes sense that products would be developed to help enforce those new federal requirements.

And from a legal take on things, it’s something to help the trucking industry meet its legal duty to keep everyone as safe as possible on the roads that are shared with the huge, heavy big rigs, semis, and tractor trailers that are rolling along at very high speeds.

For example, there are new federal regulations that make it illegal for a commercial truck driver (be it a bus, big rig, delivery van, semi, tractor trailer or other big truck) to use a cell phone with their hands to either talk or text.

No phone should be held by a truck driver moving his vehicle down the road, bottom line.

For more details on these federal regulations, check out our earlier posts and read the Final Rule for Drivers of CMVs: Restricting the Use of Cellular Phones, 49 CFR Parts 177, 383, 384, 390, 391, and 392.

This week, a company named ZoomSafer announced its FleetSafer(R) Mobile safe driving software, proclaming it to be the company’s patented software that offers trucking companies the only distracted driving product that can make sure that drivers are in compliance with the new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) guidelines on hand-held mobile phone use while driving a commercial vehicle.

Will This Keep Truck Drivers From Using Their Cell Phones? The New FleetSafer Mobile with SafeDial(TM)

What they are offering is software that goes onto the truck driver’s smartphone. This new FleetSafer Mobile software will then stop any calls from going out or coming into the phone as well as blocking texts and emails (in or out) as long as the truck is being driven.

“The FMCSA’s ban on hand-held use of mobile phones while driving is an important step forward in solving the serious issue of distracted driving, but the rule provides employers with no guidance on how to foster employee compliance,” said ZoomSafer CEO Matt Howard. “This latest enhancement to our FleetSafer Mobile safe driving software provides corporate fleet operators with a simple, affordable way to promote safe, legal and FMCSA-compliant use of mobile phones while driving.”

Step in the Right Direction But Not a Total Solution

Having commercial truck fleets require their truckers with smartphones to install this software on their smartphones sounds good.  It’s definitely a step in the right direction to keep the roads safe.  However, the software only applies to smartphones, not all cell phones.  This isn’t going to halt all distracted phone use by truck drivers.

Approximately one month from today, on February 27, 2012, federal law will change regarding commercial trucks driven on American roads as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule changes go into effect.  These are a part of the Hours of Service regulations that have been so hotly debated over the past few years.

We’ve posted about aspects of these new rules before along with the trucking industry’s response to the agency’s proposals; however, it’s important to know the extent of what these new laws are – especially when trucking companies are already voicing their concerns that these new regulations will burden those trying to logistically plan trucking routes.

Summary of the New FMCSA Truck Driver Rules Effective February 2012

Here is a summary of the new February 2012 rules that govern truck drivers driving commercial trucks (big rigs; semis; tractor trailers; etc.) as passed by FMCSA (others will become law later in the year):

1.  Restarts. Two rules work together to impose a new regulation involving 34-hour restarts.

• 34 hour restarts can be used once a week
• must have 1 AM to 5 AM home terminal time

2.  Rest Breaks. Now, a new rule requires that trucks cannot drive any longer than 8 hours without taking a 30 minute rest break.

3.  On-Duty Time.  If the truck driver is resting in a parked truck, then he or she can count this as rest time; it is no longer considered on-duty time even though they technically may be setting behind the wheel. It can extend the weekly limits but it cannot extend the 14 consecutive hour daily limit. There is no limit on how long the trucker can rest in a parked truck.

4.  In Attendance Time. This can be tallied as break time if the truck driver is not doing any other work tasks at the time.

5.  Daily HOS Violations. FMCSA considers that 3 hours of HOS violations as ‘egregious’ (i.e., going over the 11 hour per day limit by 3 or more hours) which will be reflected in higher fines, to the tune of $2,750 for the driver and $11,000 for the carrier.

Hours of Service regulations are designed to protect the truck driver and those with whom he shares the road from the ramifications of driving too far and too long without a break behind the wheel of a big commercial vehicle.  The tragedies of big rig semi trucks crashing with other vehicles on the road (which usually weigh so much less than that tractor trailer truck) are often horrific as fatalities are usually involved.

These new regulations are designed to save lives.  And they will.  If truck drivers and carriers follow them.