Large trucks are useful for hauling big loads from place to place, but they can also present serious risks for all drivers on the road. To reduce the danger, lawmakers in California have implemented guidelines that truck drivers are required to follow. One of those is the requirement to keep a logbook. This record ensures that drivers stay within the boundaries set by the government to reduce the risk of an accident.
Knowing what a truck driver is required to keep in his or her logbook can help officers determine cause in the event of an accident. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, drivers are only allowed to operate commercial vehicles for a certain number of hours each day and must keep track of the time in their trucking logs. This generally includes splitting the time to show when they were off-duty, driving, in the sleeper berth and on-duty, but not driving.
The U.S. Department of Transportation lowered the allowed number of hours in one work week to 70 instead of 82 in an effort reduce the number of fatigued drivers on the road. Truck operators are only allowed to reach the maximum number of hours per week if they also take a rest for 34 consecutive hours.
Other guidelines include a limit of only 14 hours of work per day, with 11 of those hours spent behind the wheel, and a requirement to take a break of at least 30 minutes in the first eight hours of each shift. Examining a trucking log can help authorities determine if fatigue was a factor in an accident.
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