Hours of Service Violation Accident Lawyer
Hours-of-service (HOS) rules are federal regulations limiting how long commercial drivers can be on the road. A crash caused by an HOS violation can support a negligence per se claim — the broken rule itself proves the breach of duty — dramatically strengthening a victim's case against the driver and carrier.
Key Takeaways
- HOS rules live in 49 CFR Part 395 and are enforced by the FMCSA.
- Violations discovered in ELD logs can establish negligence per se in many states.
- Carriers with patterns of HOS violations in their CSA scores face punitive damage exposure.
- ELD data must be preserved quickly — send a spoliation letter immediately.
The rules trucking companies break most
The most common violations are driving past the 11-hour limit, working past the 14-hour window, skipping the required 30-minute break, and falsifying duty status. FMCSA roadside inspection data consistently lists hours-of-service violations among the most frequent driver out-of-service violations in the country.
Some carriers build schedules that cannot be met legally. When discovery reveals dispatch records demanding 700-mile overnight runs, the case stops being about one tired driver and becomes about a company policy — the kind of evidence that supports punitive damages.
Why an HOS violation transforms your claim
In most states, violating a safety regulation designed to protect the public is negligence per se: the plaintiff no longer has to convince the jury that the driver acted unreasonably — the violation itself establishes it. That shifts the entire fight to causation and damages, where truck crash victims typically hold the stronger ground.
Even in states without a formal negligence per se doctrine, HOS violations are powerful evidence of carelessness, and a documented pattern of violations puts the carrier's own safety management on trial.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is negligence per se?+
A legal doctrine where breaking a safety law or regulation automatically establishes negligence, so long as the violation caused the type of harm the rule was designed to prevent.
How long are ELD records kept?+
Carriers must retain ELD records and supporting documents for six months. After that they can be destroyed — which is why preservation letters must be sent immediately after a crash.
Do HOS rules apply to local delivery drivers?+
Short-haul exemptions apply within a 150 air-mile radius, but most commercial drivers remain subject to core limits, and many states apply similar rules to intrastate carriers.