Trucking Accidents and FMCSA Violations in Georgia

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A trucking claim has a second body of rules behind it: the federal motor carrier safety regulations, which limit how long a driver may drive, bar a driver from operating while too fatigued to do so safely, set how long a carrier must keep a driver’s records, and fix the minimum insurance a for-hire carrier must hold. How those regulations enter a Georgia negligence claim is a separate question: the Court of Appeals has weighed a violation against causation in one case and left a regulation’s applicability to the jury in another, and it has sanctioned carriers that destroyed the records the regulations require.

Hours of Service

Under 49 CFR 395.3(a), “[e]xcept as otherwise provided in § 395.1, no motor carrier shall permit or require any driver used by it to drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, nor shall any such driver drive a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver’s services, unless the driver complies with the following requirements.” A driver “may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty,” “may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty following 10 consecutive hours off-duty,” and “may drive a total of 11 hours during the period specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.” Except for drivers who qualify for the short-haul exceptions, “driving is not permitted if more than 8 hours of driving time have passed without at least a consecutive 30-minute interruption in driving status.”

For example, imagine a driver who comes on duty at 6:00 a.m. after 10 consecutive hours off duty and has driven 9 hours in total by 8:00 p.m. Under 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2), the 14-hour period ends at 8:00 p.m., so driving after that time is barred even though the total is below 11 hours.

Fatigue and the Causation Question

Under 49 CFR 392.3, “[n]o driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, while the driver’s ability or alertness is so impaired, or so likely to become impaired, through fatigue, illness, or any other cause, as to make it unsafe for him/her to begin or continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle.” In Parker v. R & L Carriers, Inc., 253 Ga. App. 628 (2002), the Court of Appeals affirmed for the defense on a fatigue claim, writing that “[s]ince the alleged violation of the regulation was not the proximate cause of the accident, we discern no error and affirm.” In Collins v. Mitchell, 282 Ga. App. 860 (2006), a tractor-trailer was parked in a right-hand lane, and the court held that “it was for the jury to decide the applicability of the regulation to the collision at issue on the basis of the evidence placed before it by the parties.” The regulation’s text sets the duty. Whether the breach caused the collision, and whether the regulation applies to the facts, was decided by the record in each case.

How a Regulation Enters the Claim

OCGA 51-1-6 provides that “[w]hen the law requires a person to perform an act for the benefit of another or to refrain from doing an act which may injure another, although no cause of action is given in express terms, the injured party may recover for the breach of such legal duty if he suffers damage thereby.” In the decisions above, the violation of a federal regulation was weighed against causation (Parker) and applicability (Collins).

Records and Preservation

A motor carrier “shall retain records of duty status and supporting documents required under this part for each of its drivers for a period of not less than 6 months from the date of receipt” (49 CFR 395.8(k)(1)). The regulation states a minimum. For example, imagine a carrier that receives a driver’s record of duty status on March 1, 2027; the minimum retention period runs through September 1, 2027.

Once a carrier anticipates litigation, a routine retention period does not excuse destroying records, and in the decisions below the courts sanctioned spoliation while requiring the sanction to fit the findings:

  • Destroying records after notice. In Howard v. Alegria, 321 Ga. App. 178 (2013), a six-month policy did not protect the carrier once a crash was known. The carrier’s claims manager admitted receiving the plaintiff’s spoliation letter and anticipating litigation right after the collision, yet testified that many requested documents had not existed or “had been destroyed pursuant to the company’s six month record retention policy”; some later turned up in a drawer. The trial court struck the defendants’ joint answer and counterclaim “as a sanction for intentionally destroying material evidence, for committing fraud on the court and the plaintiff, and for intentionally filing false responses to discovery requests,” and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
  • Sanctions must fit the findings. In Sentry Select Insurance Co. v. Treadwell, 318 Ga. App. 844 (2012), the court wrote that “[t]here was spoliation,” but reversed the harshest sanction because “the trial court’s findings as to spoliation of certain categories of evidence are not supported by the record.” In Cowan Systems, LLC v. Collier, No. A21A1697 (Ga. Ct. App. Nov. 3, 2021), the court held that “although the trial court properly found that a spoliation sanction was warranted, it erred in the sanction it imposed.”

Minimum Insurance

For a for-hire carrier “[i]n interstate or foreign commerce, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 or more pounds” transporting nonhazardous property, the minimum level of public liability financial responsibility is $750,000 (49 CFR 387.9, Table 1, row 1).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a weekly limit on a truck driver’s hours?
Yes. A driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days if the carrier does not operate every day of the week, or after 70 hours in 8 consecutive days if it does, and either period may end with the beginning of 34 or more consecutive hours off duty (49 CFR 395.3(b), (c)).

Do the federal rules reach a carrier that operates only inside Georgia?
In Onsite Communication Services, LLC v. Gooch, No. A26A0424 (Ga. Ct. App. June 24, 2026), the Court of Appeals applied a Georgia rule adopting the federal regulations for intrastate carriers, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-16-4-.01 (2021), and, applying the 2021 version of OCGA 40-2-140, wrote: “We hold that Onsite is a motor carrier under that statute.”

What sanctions can a court impose for lost evidence?
Kelley v. Blue Line Carriers, LLC, 300 Ga. App. 577 (2009), named three: a jury charge that spoliation creates a rebuttable presumption that the evidence would have harmed the party that destroyed it, dismissal of the case, or exclusion of testimony about the evidence. The court also noted that the plaintiff in that case had not moved for sanctions, and without a trial court ruling on spoliation it declined to address the issue on appeal.

Do carriers of hazardous materials need more insurance?
Yes. The same table sets $5,000,000 for listed bulk hazardous materials and $1,000,000 for other listed oil, hazardous waste, hazardous materials, and hazardous substances carried by vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more (49 CFR 387.9, Table 1, rows 2 and 3).

  • 49 CFR 395.3; 49 CFR 392.3; 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1); 49 CFR 387.9
  • Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-16-4-.01 (2021), as applied in Onsite Communication Services, LLC v. Gooch, No. A26A0424 (Ga. Ct. App. June 24, 2026)
  • OCGA 51-1-6; Parker v. R & L Carriers, Inc., 253 Ga. App. 628 (2002); Collins v. Mitchell, 282 Ga. App. 860 (2006)
  • Howard v. Alegria, 321 Ga. App. 178 (2013); Sentry Select Insurance Co. v. Treadwell, 318 Ga. App. 844 (2012); Cowan Systems, LLC v. Collier, No. A21A1697 (Ga. Ct. App. Nov. 3, 2021); Kelley v. Blue Line Carriers, LLC, 300 Ga. App. 577 (2009)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about trucking accident claims under Georgia and federal law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Liability depends on the carrier, the driver, the records, and the specific facts. A person injured in a trucking accident should consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

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