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Fatal Kentucky Truck Accident Leads to FMCSA Policy Change

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fatal Kentucky truck accident that killed 11 people in March, but they are looking at changing federal policies that could prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.

On March 26, a tractor-trailer crashed through a median and struck a 15-passenger van head-on, resulting in the deaths of 11 people, including the truck driver. On April 1, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which oversees trucking regulations for the entire country, issued a new rule that will require trucking companies with a sub-par safety record to install electronic onboard recorders to monitor truck drivers and their hours spent behind the wheel.

There is currently a federal regulation mandating that truck drivers cannot drive more than 11 hours per shift and cannot be on-duty for more than 14 hours. Trucking companies looking to increase their profits often neglect these rules.

Hester Inc., the Alabama-based trucking company who owned the truck involved in the March 26 crash, has been cited at least 13 times in the last 30 months for drivers logging too many hours and breaking federal law.

Now, the FMCSA is changing its policies and forcing any trucking company with an "unsatisfactory" review to install the electronic recording devices, which will monitor the exact number of hours a truck driver spends on the road, as well as their required break times.

This new requirement will apply to truck companies with a 10% rating of hours-of-service violations (determined during a compliance review). The trucking companies will be required to keep the electronic onboard recording devices installed in all of their vehicles for at least 2 years. The FMCSA predicts this new rule will affect approximately 5, 700 companies during its first year of implementation.

Hopefully this new regulation will force trucking companies to manage their fleets and drivers with safety as their No. 1 priority and help prevent future tragedies like the March 26 truck crash.

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