While the hours of service regulations aren’t too difficult to understand, truck drivers and the companies they work for can run into problems with keeping accurate logs of these hours, thus resulting in violations.
Hours of service (HOS) regulations are in place to keep drivers and others on the road safe. These rules dictate when and how long truck drivers can be on duty and driving for their carrier companies. While the hours of service regulations aren’t too difficult to understand, truck drivers and the companies they work for can run into problems with keeping accurate logs of these hours, thus resulting in violations. Further, these can seem like minor infractions at the time, but accruing several HOS violations reflects poorly on a trucking service. These are the most common violations truck drivers can make when it comes to abiding by their hours of service.
Form & Manner
Form and manner issues refer to problems with the clerical tasks associated with filling out a driver’s log of their HOS. Pieces of information include recording the driver’s duty status, the date, carrier information, the total miles driven in the day, vehicle number, etc. Inspectors can easily determine when these pieces of information are missing, incorrect, or sometimes illegible. All of these instances would count as a HOS violation.
Driving Beyond Time
As part of HOS regulations, truck drivers have a 14-hour duty period per day, within which they are able to drive for a maximum of 11 hours. New and veteran drivers can have difficulties keeping track of these hours. Whether they don’t realize the 14-hour window is finished for the day or they drive beyond their allotted 11 hours, drivers can far too easily accidentally violate this HOS rule. Some unethical drivers would purposefully drive more than the designated time because of pressures to finish deliveries.
Falsifying Records
Falsifying records is a major violation that can be committed knowingly or unknowingly. Some inspectors can quickly catch when the documents are false if the hours, drive time, or mileage of the vehicle don’t add up. Some drivers will try to falsify records after knowingly driving more than the allowed time. Others can actually accidentally record incorrect information when drivers try to catch up with logs at the end of a time period or end of a trip. Their faulty memory can cost them a violation.
Missing or No Record of Duty Status
Failing to record and retain copies of driver’s logs for the last seven days can also be considered grounds for receiving a HOS violation. Misplacing the paperwork of this information is not a valid excuse that a HOS inspector will overlook. This is because missing records are as good as not having recorded at all!
Today, many modern trucking carriers take advantage of trucking technologies like telematics and Electronic Logging Devices to help their drivers avoid making these violations.
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