Federal Truck Driver Rules and Regulations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) that regulates the trucking and busing industries. For a company or a person to operate a commercial motor vehicle for interstate commerce, they must be licensed by the FMCSA and abide by FMCSA rules.
The FMCSA’s primary mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. Among the elements of the trucking and busing industries that the agency regulates are the maximum weight a commercial motor vehicle can weigh, the physical requirements for truck drivers, the amount of consecutive hours a driver can drive, and the amount of time drivers must take off between shifts, and much more.If a carrier violates these rules and regulations they can be fined and eventually lose their licenses. A commercial vehicle is defined as any self propelled or towed motor vehicle using highways or interstates for commerce and weighing over 10,001 pounds, is designed to carry eight or more passengers, or is used to haul material determined to be hazardous by the Secretary of Transportation.
