If you are injured in a truck crash, your first port of call for compensation should be the truck driver. Yet, in some cases, you can also claim against the trucking company that employed them.
The dangers that trucks pose to other road users are no secret, so you would assume truck companies would do all they can to ensure their drivers are up to the job. Yet Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) figures for 2021 show that is far from the truth.
MOST COMPANIES FAIL TO COMPLY WITH ALL THE RULES
The statistics show that a mere 5.5% of the trucking companies the Department of Transport (DOT) audited passed clean. The average number of violations per company was 6, with some companies having many more.
It would be unfair to claim that every violation directly relates to safety, yet many do. Here are the topmost frequent reasons that companies were fined:
- Allowing someone to drive with a revoked or suspended commercial driver’s license (CDL)
- Not having or running an alcohol and drug testing program that meets DOT requirements
- Permitting drivers to drive when they held more than one CDL. Having two CDLs may allow drivers to continue when one license is suspended or revoked.
- Using drivers who do not hold a CDL
- Using drivers who are disqualified from driving
Those are all serious offenses that could have serious consequences for the safety of anyone else out on the roads.
If a trucker injures you it is crucial to investigate what went wrong and whether the driver should have been behind the wheel of a truck in the first place.
