The Accident Register: Overview A motor carrier is required to prepare and maintain a list of certain accidents. This “accident register” provides significant information regarding the type of accidents involved. It may allow a motor carrier to be compared statistically with other motor carriers using data available on the SAFER…
Nature & Amount of Security Required: Overview The regulations prescribe what form the “evidence of financial responsibility” shall take, how it may be cancelled, and how it may be obtained by a member of the public. Further, the regulations prescribe certain levels of financial responsibility based on the nature of…
The regulations require an interstate motor carrier to produce “evidence of financial responsibility” to the FMCSA in order to obtain and maintain a permit to operate. The many variations of this topic and the related subject of insurance coverage for motor carriers and independent owner-operators, are beyond the scope of…
Pertinent Case Law First, the USDOT has interpreted regulation to say that it is the driver, not the motor carrier, who makes the call on discontinuing operation. If the driver says he wanted to pull over but was told by the motor carrier that no shut-down had been declared, both…
Pertinent Case Law The courts recognize a distinction between a claim of a shipper against a motor carrier when cargo is damaged, as opposed to a claim by a member of the traveling public injured by an improperly secured load. This distinction was illustrated in the case of Syngenta Crop…
Schedules and Speed Limits: Overview This regulation is quite simple, straightforward and often overlooked. It may provide a powerful argument against a motor carrier, particularly when coupled with the DOT interpretation which accompanies it. The regulation essentially codifies the requirement that a motor carrier who imposes some time limitation upon…
CMV Maximum Driving Time: Observations These rules limit driving to eleven hours over a fourteen-hour period between ten hours of rest for property-carrying vehicles, and ten hours driving over a fifteen-hour period after eight hours rest for a passenger-carrying CMV. However, as the “11 hours driving in a 14 hour…