Trucking Laws
There are many laws in place that protect our rights on the road. These laws aim to set the standard for safe driving and provide us with a safe and efficient method of transportation. Unfortunately, those drivers who don’t abide by the rules put everyone at risk. As a result, in 2009 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 33,808 people were killed in automobile related accidents.
As the number of truck accidents has always been too high, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was established on January 1, 2000, to regulate the trucking industry in the United States. FMCSA is headquartered in Washington, DC and employs more than 1,000 people in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. The primary mission of the FMCSA is improving the safety of commercial motor vehicles (CMV) and truck drivers through enactment and enforcement of safety regulations.
The federal government’s establishment of the FMCSA, coupled with state laws, has established strict guidelines for trucks and their drivers. These laws discuss many issues in the trucking industry including: