Understanding FMCSA Regulations in Your Oklahoma Trucking Injury Claim

Of the 5,000+ truck crashes Oklahomans reported in 2021, nearly 2,000 resulted in injuries or fatalities. Large truck crashes often have devastating consequences and pose a range of unique dangers to our local motorists. In addition to causing extensive and costly property damage to vehicles and infrastructure, these accidents can result in devastating physical injuries that come with long-lasting and even permanent price tags.

Unfortunately, determining liability in these accidents isn’t always straightforward, and many victims wind up feeling re-traumatized by the insurance and civil claims processes. Fortunately, there are several safety regulations that survivors of truck accidents can leverage to their advantage when seeking compensation. Here’s a quick overview of the guidelines set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for commercial trucking companies and an explanation of how these regulations can factor into a truck accident claim.

What is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration?

The FMCSA is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that is specifically tasked with overseeing commercial trucking practices. They regularly develop, evaluate, and implement specific regulations and protocols to help ensure the safety of truck drivers and other motorists and mitigate the substantial risks posed by unsafe trucking practices.

The FMCSA specifically regulates things like how long drivers can stay behind the wheel, what kinds of insurance coverage truckers need to have, what inspection procedures companies must follow, and more. While it might seem a little nitpicky, all of these requirements help to prevent serious safety errors and enhance the safety of everyone on our interstates and local roads. Truckers or carriers who violate FMCSA regulations often face serious consequences, and when violations result in accidents, the fallout can be even more substantial for drivers, companies, and other employees.

FMCSA regulations at a glance

FMCSA regulations outline a number of safety measures intended to mitigate some of the risks commonly associated with large truck accidents. Here is a category-by-category breakdown of some of the most critical safety regulations set forth by the FMCSA:

Hours of service (HOS) rules

Driver fatigue has long been considered one of the leading causes of commercial trucking accidents. That’s because drivers have historically worked long hours and observed irregular breaks. The FMCSA sought to address these missteps by outlining strict hours of service regulations that specifically limit the number of hours a driver can operate a commercial vehicle before they are obligated to take a rest.

Generally speaking, the rules are as follows:

• Drivers may not drive for more than 11 hours in a given shift and may do so only after spending at least 10 consecutive hours off duty.
• Drivers may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, even if they have not used all 11 hours of driving time.
• Drivers must take a 30-minute rest break after 8 cumulative hours of driving.
• Drivers may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days. Drivers may restart this 7 or 8 day period by taking 34 or more consecutive hours off-duty.

When drivers ignore these limits or attempt to push the envelope, they are actively threatening their own safety as well as the safety of everyone else on their route. Nevertheless, driver fatigue continues to play a role in a staggering number of truck accidents every year.

Driver qualification and testing requirements

To ensure drivers are sufficiently trained and educated prior to operating their vehicles, the FMCSA requires drivers to meet strict qualification standards prior to hitting the open road. For example, drivers must maintain active commercial driver’s licenses, pass mandated drug and alcohol screenings, and even meet certain health and fitness standards. If a company allows an unqualified driver to operate a vehicle and that driver causes a crash, the driver and the company could be held liable for any resulting damages.

Maintenance and inspection requirements

Trucking companies are responsible for keeping their equipment safe and functional. Subsequently, the FMCSA expects carriers to perform regular maintenance and safety inspections on their fleets and invest in maintenance and repair services as necessary. Additionally, carriers must maintain records of their inspections and maintenance services to keep them accountable to the agency and to the public.

These records can be vital if a mechanical failure causes a crash. If inspection and maintenance reports indicate that the carrier knew or should have known about a mechanical issue and failed to address it, the carrier or the third party responsible for performing maintenance could face claims of liability for a resulting crash.

Cargo loading regulations

Unbalanced or unsecured cargo can cause or contribute to a variety of traffic accidents. When loose cargo shifts around inside a truck, it can throw off the overall balance of the vehicle and cause rollovers or jackknife accidents. Similarly, if cargo falls off an open cargo truck or trailer, it can do serious damage to any vehicles or pedestrians in its direct path.

Subsequently, the FMCSA requires carriers to make sure all cargo is properly distributed, balanced, and secured before transport. If a carrier does not follow these requirements, it could face serious legal consequences if unsecured cargo causes an accident.

Recordkeeping and reporting requirements

The FMCSA mandates that carriers document reportable accidents and maintain records of those accidents for a period of at least three years. These accident registers help the FMCSA and other public safety agencies track safety performance and play a vital role in keeping logistics companies and individual drivers accountable. If a company fails to report an accident, does not maintain its accident register, or attempts to alter its records in some way, it could find itself in a heap of legal trouble.

Carrier safety ratings

Commercial carriers receive safety ratings based on a combination of compliance reviews, inspection results, and accident reports. These ratings provide a clear and concise overview of a carrier’s level of compliance, and low ratings can seriously compromise the public’s faith in a carrier. If a carrier with a poor safety rating is involved in a crash, its rating history could become relevant evidence during determinations about liability.

FMCSA requirements are extremely detailed and are subject to periodic changes and updates. In fact, in 2025, the federal government started rulemaking efforts to reduce outdated regulatory burdens and update safety rules, including driver qualification standards. These proposals are still evolving so it helps to have an attorney who can explain which FMCSA rules were actually in effect at the time of your crash. If you’ve been involved in a truck accident in Oklahoma, you should seriously consider consulting with a qualified truck accident attorney who can help you understand the most up-to-date FMCSA regulations and work with you to assess whether any FMCSA violations may have played a role in your crash.

How FMCSA violations affect truck accident claims

One of the most important things you need to understand about liability in truck accidents is the relationship between findings of negligence and determinations of fault. If you’re hoping to recover damages from a truck driver or their employer, you’ll need to be able to show:

1. That the driver owed you a legal duty of care in some capacity
2. The driver violated their legal duty of care through their actions or inactions
3. You suffered identifiable harm in the accident
4. The driver’s breach of care directly caused that harm

Sometimes, it can be hard to prove that a driver violated their legal duty of care – especially in the absence of eyewitnesses or other supporting evidence. However, if you and your legal team can show that a driver violated applicable FMCSA regulations and that the violation contributed to the crash, that evidence could support a finding of negligence.

For this reason, it’s important to review all records of a driver’s qualifications, past accidents, inspection reports, and HOS logs to establish whether a violation may have caused or contributed to your crash. If, for example, you can show that a driver violated HOS limits, you may be able to convincingly argue that they were fatigued at the time of your crash.

Final thoughts

The average motorist is hardly expected to know the ins and outs of FMCSA’s trucking regulations. However, having a basic understanding of these requirements could prove invaluable should you fall victim to a truck accident. At the end of the day, these rules exist to keep motorists safe, and if truckers cause harm by violating established standards, they could be held liable for any damage they cause.

At Cunningham & Mears, our team has 105 years of combined experience representing community members who have been harmed by negligent and reckless drivers. Even if you’ve only just begun to suspect an FMCSA violation played a role in your accident, we would be more than happy to help you pursue the answers you deserve.

Give us a call today or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team, and let’s see what we can do to help you fight for accountability after your truck accident.