Trucking Company - Negligent Hiring - Truck Drivers

The Motor Carrier—that is the employer of a negligent truck driver, may be responsible for the harms caused by a driver.  One issue we look into is whether the trucking company allowed a driver to operate one of its trucks when the driver did not meet all of the necessary legal requirements. 

Drivers who operate in two or more states have to be 21 years old, be able to speak, understand and converse in English, have a current and valid Commercial Driver’s License, be able to physically handle the job and perhaps meet other qualifications or requirements.  The Motor Carrier (employer) may be responsible for allowing a driver to operate one of its trucks if the driver did not meet all of the necessary requirements.  The employer has a duty to regularly run the driver’s record to see if he has been issued tickets.  Failing to do this and many other things may also point to the employer’s negligence. 

Some specifics the employer should investigate may include some of the law cited here:

DRIVER QUALIFICATIONS: Both federal and state laws require that drivers of semi trucks (tractor trailers) meet certain qualifications. Each driver employed by a motor carrier is required to have a “driver qualification file”.

                                                              i.      Motor carriers, or employers or semi truck drivers, do not have the authority to disqualify a semi truck driver. Disqualifying offenses are listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. (§383; §391).

                                                            ii.      Some disqualifying offenses of semi truck drivers include (but are not limited to):

1.      Railroad crossing violations when driving the semi truck

2.      Committing a felony with the use of a commercial motor vehicle (semi truck)

3.      Improper and/or erratic traffic lane changes

4.      Driving with a revoked or suspended license

5.      Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs

6.      Leaving an accident scene that involves a commercial motor vehicle (semi truck)

7.      Speeding or Reckless Driving

8.      Following another vehicle too closely when driving the semi truck

2. Age of Driver:

                                                              i.      Interstate Travel: (traveling within 2 or more states). The required age of a driver is at least 21 years old.

                                                            ii.      Intrastate Travel: (within a single state). The required age of a driver is at least 18 years old.

3. English Language:

                                                              i.      English: Driver must be able to speak, understand, and converse in the English language.

                                                            ii.      Must understand traffic signs.

                                                          iii.      Must be able to make records and reports in English.

4. Operation of Motor Carrier:

                                                              i.      Experience or training qualifies driver to safely operate a motor carrier

                                                            ii.      Has physical capability to operate motor carrier

                                                          iii.      Drivers are required to reduce speed and to take into consideration bad weather conditions. A truck driver must reduce speeds for snow, ice, fog, rain, smoke, dust, or other conditions that affect visibility or traction adversely. Certain conditions make it a requirement for the driver to stop their vehicle all together.

1.      Must take into account weather conditions (§392.14)

5. Valid Special License:

                                                              i.      Currently valid C.D.L. (Commercial Driver’s License)

                                                            ii.      Issued by one state or jurisdiction.

                                                          iii.      Successfully completed road test

6. Certifications:

                                                              i.      Has any and all certifications required by employer

                                                            ii.      Is not disqualified to operate a motor carrier

7. Driver Responsibility:
   1. Hours of Service 

                                                              i.      The trucking carrier and the driver are both responsible for this type of Hours-of-Service (HOS) violation. The driver of a semi truck (tractor trailer) may not drive more than 11 hours following at least 10 consecutive hours off duty. (§395.3) The reason for these hour restrictions is to prevent driver fatigue. It has been a proven fact that driver fatigue often is a cause of interstate trucking accidents.

1.      Drivers can only drive 11 consecutive hours, after resting for at least 10 hours. (§395.3) Failure to comply with this rule constitutes an Hours-of-Service (HOS) violation.

                                                              i.      The employer or motor carrier is required to inspect the drivers’ logs to confirm compliance with these regulations. A tractor trailer (semi truck) driver is required to keep certain specific logs to prove that he or she has not violated these Hours-of-Service rules.

1.      Drivers must log their hours every 24 hours, in written format. (§395.8)

                                                            ii.      Truck Driver Logs: §395.8 involve a driver making a record of his duty status. A driver must keep a log of his or her status for every 24 hour period. Pursuant to Section 395.8 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, the log is usually in written form and on a grid.

                                                          iii.      Because of technology, the driver log is often kept by an on-board recording device. The log indicates when the driver is on and off duty and whether they are driving or in the “sleeper birth”, which is usually designated as “SB”. The motor carrier is responsible if the tractor trailer driver submits a false log.

1.      There are sometimes investigations regarding whether a driver keeps two sets of logs or books, so that he or she could driver longer than they are allowed to drive by law.

                                                          iv.      A motor carrier (that would be the trucking company) is responsible and required to fashion or schedule their truck driver’s runs and routes in a way that would allow drivers to complete them without violating any speed limits or Hours-of-Service violations.

1.      The company that employs the driver must schedule drivers in such a way that they will not violate their Hours of Service. (§392.6)

                                                              i.      The rules involving truck drivers are extremely strict. The motor carrier must look into whether a driver has had any alcohol or drug issues, violations, convictions, etc.

1.      There is no tolerance for any amount of alcohol in a driver’s system while operating a semi-truck or while in the physical control of a semi-truck. (§392.4-.5)

                                                              i.      A driver of a tractor trailer (semi truck) and the owner of the truck must make sure that the subject truck (trailer, or cab) and its equipment are in good working order at all times.

1.      A driver must maintain the semi-truck and its equipment is in good working order at all times. (§392.7)

Here more law from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations that we investigate to see if the Motor Carrier did its due diligence in its investigation into the driver: 

§391.23 Investigation and inquiries.

(a) Except as provided in Subpart G of this part, each motor carrier shall make the following investigations and inquiries with respect to each driver it employs, other than a person who has been a regularly employed driver of the motor carrier for a continuous period which began before January 1, 1971:

(a)(1) An inquiry into the driver’s driving record during the preceding 3 years to the appropriate agency of every State in which the driver held a motor vehicle operator’s license or permit during those 3 years; and

(a)(2) An investigation of the driver’s safety performance history with Department of Transportation regulated employers during the preceding three years.

(b) A copy of the driver record(s) obtained in response to the inquiry or inquiries to each State driver record agency required by paragraph (a)(1) of this section must be placed in the driver qualification file within 30 days of the date the driver’s employment begins and be retained in compliance with §391.51. If no driving record exists from the State or States, the motor carrier must document a good faith effort to obtain such information, and certify that no record exists for that driver in that State. The inquiry to the State driver record agencies must be made in the form and manner each agency prescribes.

(c)(1) Replies to the investigations of the driver’s safety performance history required by paragraph (a)(2) of this section, or documentation of good faith efforts to obtain the investigation data, must be placed in the driver investigation history file, after October 29, 2004, within 30 days of the date the driver’s employment begins. Any period of time required to exercise the driver’s due process rights to review the information received, request a previous employer to correct or include a rebuttal, is separate and apart from this 30-day requirement to document investigation of the driver safety performance history data.

(c)(2) The investigation may consist of personal interviews, telephone interviews, letters, or any other method for investigating that the carrier deems appropriate. Each motor carrier must make a written record with respect to each previous employer contacted, or good faith efforts to do so. The record must include the previous employer’s name and address, the date the previous employer was contacted, or the attempts made, and the information received about the driver from the previous employer. Failures to contact a previous employer, or of them to provide the required safety performance history information, must be documented. The record must be maintained pursuant to §391.53.

(c)(3) Prospective employers should report failures of previous employers to respond to an investigation to the FMCSA following procedures specified at §386.12 of this chapter and keep a copy of such reports in the Driver Investigation file as part of documenting a good faith effort to obtain the required information.

(c)(4) Exception. For drivers with no previous employment experience working for a DOT regulated employer during the preceding three years, documentation that no investigation was possible must be placed in the driver history investigation file, after October 29, 2004, within the required 30 days of the date the driver’s employment begins.

(d) The prospective motor carrier must investigate, at a minimum, the information listed in this paragraph from all previous employers of the applicant that employed the driver to operate a CMV within the previous three years. The investigation request must contain specific contact information on where the previous motor carrier employers should send the information requested.

(d)(1) General driver identification and employment verification information.

(d)(2) The data elements as specified in §390.15(b)(1) of this chapter for accidents involving the driver that occurred in the three-year period preceding the date of the employment application.

(d)(2)(i) Any accidents as defined by §390.5 of this chapter.

(d)(2)(ii) Any accidents the previous employer may wish to provide that are retained pursuant to §390.15(b)(2), or pursuant to the employer’s internal policies for retaining more detailed minor accident information.

(e) In addition to the investigations required by paragraph (d) of this section, the prospective motor carrier employers must investigate the information listed below in this paragraph from all previous DOT regulated employers that employed the driver within the previous three years from the date of the employment application, in a safety-sensitive function that required alcohol and controlled substance testing specified by 49 CFR part 40.

(e)(1) Whether, within the previous three years, the driver had violated the alcohol and controlled substances prohibitions under subpart B of part 382 of this chapter, or 49 CFR part 40.

(e)(2) Whether the driver failed to undertake or complete a rehabilitation program prescribed by a substance abuse professional (SAP) pursuant to §382.605 of this chapter, or 49 CFR part 40, subpart O. If the previous employer does not know this information (e.g., an employer that terminated an employee who tested positive on a drug test), the prospective motor carrier must obtain documentation of the driver’s successful completion of the SAP’s referral directly from the driver.

(e)(3) For a driver who had successfully completed a SAP’s rehabilitation referral, and remained in the employ of the referring employer, information on whether the driver had the following testing violations subsequent to completion of a §382.605 or 49 CFR part 40, subpart O referral:

(e)(3)(i) Alcohol tests with a result of 0.04 or higher alcohol concentration;

(e)(3)(ii) Verified positive drug tests;

(e)(3)(iii) Refusals to be tested (including verified adulterated or substituted drug test results).

(f) A prospective motor carrier employer must provide to the previous employer the driver’s written consent meeting the requirements of §40.321(b) for the release of the information in paragraph (e) of this section. If the driver refuses to provide this written consent, the prospective motor carrier employer must not permit the driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle for that motor carrier.

(g) After October 29, 2004, previous employers must:

(g)(1) Respond to each request for the DOT defined information in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section within 30 days after the request is received. If there is no safety performance history information to report for that driver, previous motor carrier employers are nonetheless required to send a response confirming the non-existence of any such data, including the driver identification information and dates of employment.

(g)(2) Take all precautions reasonably necessary to ensure the accuracy of the records.

(g)(3) Provide specific contact information in case a driver chooses to contact the previous employer regarding correction or rebuttal of the data.

(g)(4) Keep a record of each request and the response for one year, including the date, the party to whom it was released, and a summary identifying what was provided.

(g)(5) Exception. Until May 1, 2006, carriers need only provide information for accidents that occurred after April 29, 2003.

(h) The release of information under this section may take any form that reasonably ensures confidentiality, including letter, facsimile, or e-mail. The previous employer and its agents and insurers must take all precautions reasonably necessary to protect the driver safety performance history records from disclosure to any person not directly involved in forwarding the records, except the previous employer’s insurer, except that the previous employer may not provide any alcohol or controlled substances information to the previous employer’s insurer.

(i)(1) The prospective employer must expressly notify drivers with Department of Transportation regulated employment during the preceding three years—via the application form or other written document prior to any hiring decision—that he or she has the following rights regarding the investigative information that will be provided to the prospective employer pursuant to paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section:

(i)(1)(i) The right to review information provided by previous employers;

(i)(1)(ii) The right to have errors in the information corrected by the previous employer and for that previous employer to re-send the corrected information to the prospective employer;

(i)(1)(iii) The right to have a rebuttal statement attached to the alleged erroneous information, if the previous employer and the driver cannot agree on the accuracy of the information.

(i)(2) Drivers who have previous Department of Transportation regulated employment history in the preceding three years, and wish to review previous employer-provided investigative information must submit a written request to the prospective employer, which may be done at any time, including when applying, or as late as 30 days after being employed or being notified of denial of employment. The prospective employer must provide this information to the applicant within five (5) business days of receiving the written request. If the prospective employer has not yet received the requested information from the previous employer(s), then the five-business days deadline will begin when the prospective employer receives the requested safety performance history information. If the driver has not arranged to pick up or receive the requested records within thirty (30) days of the prospective employer making them available, the prospective motor carrier may consider the driver to have waived his/her request to review the records.

(j)(1) Drivers wishing to request correction of erroneous information in records received pursuant to paragraph (i) of this section must send the request for the correction to the previous employer that provided the records to the prospective employer.

(j)(2) After October 29, 2004, the previous employer must either correct and forward the information to the prospective motor carrier employer, or notify the driver within 15 days of receiving a driver’s request to correct the data that it does not agree to correct the data. If the previous employer corrects and forwards the data as requested, that employer must also retain the corrected information as part of the driver’s safety performance history record and provide it to subsequent prospective employers when requests for this information are received. If the previous employer corrects the data and forwards it to the prospective motor carrier employer, there is no need to notify the driver.

(j)(3) Drivers wishing to rebut information in records received pursuant to paragraph (i) of this section must send the rebuttal to the previous employer with instructions to include the rebuttal in that driver’s safety performance history.

(j)(4) After October 29, 2004, within five business days of receiving a rebuttal from a driver, the previous employer must:

(j)(4)(i) Forward a copy of the rebuttal to the prospective motor carrier employer;

(j)(4)(ii) Append the rebuttal to the driver’s information in the carrier’s appropriate file, to be included as part of the response for any subsequent investigating prospective employers for the duration of the three-year data retention requirement.

(j)(5) The driver may submit a rebuttal initially without a request for correction, or subsequent to a request for correction.

(j)(6) The driver may report failures of previous employers to correct information or include the driver’s rebuttal as part of the safety performance information, to the FMCSA following procedures specified at §386.12.

(k)(1) The prospective motor carrier employer must use the information described in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section only as part of deciding whether to hire the driver.

(k)(2) The prospective motor carrier employer, its agents and insurers must take all precautions reasonably necessary to protect the records from disclosure to any person not directly involved in deciding whether to hire the driver. The prospective motor carrier employer may not provide any alcohol or controlled substances information to the prospective motor carrier employer’s insurer.

(l)(1) No action or proceeding for defamation, invasion of privacy, or interference with a contract that is based on the furnishing or use of information in accordance with this section may be brought against—

(i) A motor carrier investigating the information, described in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, of an individual under consideration for employment as a commercial motor vehicle driver,

(l)(1)(ii) A person who has provided such information; or

(l)(1)(iii) The agents or insurers of a person described in paragraph (l)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section, except insurers are not granted a limitation on liability for any alcohol and controlled substance information.

(l)(2) The protections in paragraph (l)(1) of this section do not apply to persons who knowingly furnish false information, or who are not in compliance with the procedures specified for these investigations.