TYLER, Texas — Recent crashes involving semi-trucks — including a deadly wreck — highlight how driver fatigue remains one of the leading causes of large truck collisions in the United States, according to East Texas attorney Brent Goudarzi.

Federal regulations are clear: commercial drivers are limited to 11 hours behind the wheel after 10 hours off duty, cannot work more than 14 hours in a day, and must take a 30-minute break after eight hours of driving. Modern electronic logging devices (ELDs) are supposed to track these hours digitally to prevent logbook fraud.

But according to Goudarzi, founding partner of Goudarzi & Young, some trucking companies and drivers still bend the rules.

“There are ways around properly filling them out. Companies across this state and across the nation are allowing their drivers to falsify their driving logs,” Goudarzi told KLTV. “The majority of the biggest settlements and verdicts I ever had were a consequence of corporate misconduct.”

With the pressure of tight delivery schedules and rising freight demand, some companies push drivers beyond safe limits, he said. But Goudarzi noted that even drivers who follow the law can still pose a danger if they’re exhausted.

“Study after study shows that driving while fatigued has the same effect as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” he said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reported that 13% of commercial driver crashes in 2022 involved driver fatigue — a statistic that safety advocates say must improve if the industry wants to reduce preventable deaths and injuries.

Related stories: