Most people know that drunk driving kills. Fewer think about drowsy driving the same way, even though the effects can look a lot alike. When the tired driver is behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck, the results can be devastating.
At Langdon & Emison, we look for signs of fatigue in every truck crash we investigate. Fatigue isn’t a factor in every case. But if no one checks, the cases where it mattered are easy to miss.
Drowsy driving is impaired driving
Going without sleep affects your body much like alcohol does. According to the CDC, being awake for 17 hours causes impairment similar to a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05%, and being awake for 24 hours is similar to a BAC of 0.10%. That is higher than the legal limit in every state.
The toll is real. NHTSA reports that 644 people died in drowsy-driving crashes in 2024. The agency also says the true number is hard to measure, because drowsiness doesn’t always leave clear clues at a crash scene. That makes the reported figures likely an undercount.
Fatigue is a known problem in trucking
Federal safety officials have studied truck crashes for years. In the Large Truck Crash Causation Study, a national study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and NHTSA, 13% of truck drivers were considered fatigued at the time of their crash.
Fatigue doesn’t only mean falling asleep at the wheel. A tired driver may be less alert, slower to react, or distracted. Any of those can lead to a crash.
Long-haul trucking makes fatigue more likely. Drivers often spend days away from home, sleep in a truck cab, and drive at night or at hours when their bodies want to rest. The FMCSA advises drivers to avoid driving, when possible, between midnight and 6 a.m. and between 2 and 4 p.m., when the body is naturally drowsy.
The rules truckers must follow
Federal law says plainly that a truck driver may not drive while too tired to do so safely. Under 49 CFR 392.3, no driver may operate a commercial truck while their ability or alertness is impaired, or likely to become impaired, by fatigue or illness. The same rule says a trucking company may not require or permit its driver to do so.
Federal hours-of-service rules also limit how long drivers can work. For most truck drivers hauling freight, the FMCSA’s rules include:
- 11-hour driving limit: A maximum of 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty.
- 14-hour limit: No driving beyond the 14th hour after coming on duty.
- 30-minute break: A break of at least 30 minutes after 8 total hours of driving.
- 60/70-hour limit: No driving after 60 or 70 hours on duty in 7 or 8 days. A driver may restart the count by taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.
Most trucks must now track these hours with an electronic logging device (ELD), which records driving time, location, engine hours, and miles.
Sleep apnea: a hidden danger
Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person’s breathing stops and starts during sleep. It keeps the body from getting real rest, which can cause dangerous daytime sleepiness. According to the FMCSA, almost one-third (28%) of commercial truck drivers have mild to severe sleep apnea.
Many cases are never diagnosed. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine estimated that undiagnosed sleep apnea cost the U.S. nearly $150 billion in 2015, including $26.2 billion from motor vehicle crashes.
The FMCSA considers moderate to severe sleep apnea a disqualifying level that interferes with safe driving, though a driver may regain medical clearance once treated. Common risk factors include being overweight, a large neck size, smoking, alcohol use, and being 40 or older.
Many trucking companies have sleep apnea policies. But a policy only helps if the company acts on it. In one of our cases, a trucking company flagged its driver as high-risk for sleep apnea about a month before he caused a crash. The company didn’t take him off the road or rush his testing. A week after the crash, a sleep study found he had severe, untreated sleep apnea.
Signs fatigue may have played a role
After a truck crash, these details can point to driver fatigue:
- Time of day: Crashes late at night, early in the morning, or in mid-afternoon.
- How it happened: A truck weaving across lanes, or a driver who never braked or swerved for something in plain view.
- Hours worked: Long days or a heavy schedule in the days and weeks before the crash.
- Records that don’t add up: Fuel, toll, or lodging receipts, delivery paperwork, or distances that don’t match the driver’s logs.
- Medical history: Health conditions, such as sleep apnea, that affect alertness.
Trucking companies share responsibility
It’s easy to blame only the tired driver. But many drivers are paid by the mile and pushed to keep the freight moving. Some run brutal schedules just to keep their jobs.
Trucking companies have their own legal duty to keep fatigued drivers off the road. When a company pushes drivers past safe limits, ignores warning signs, or delays medical testing, it can be held accountable for the harm that follows.
Act quickly to protect the evidence
Proving fatigue takes evidence: driver logs, ELD data, receipts, dispatch records, and medical records. Some of these records are only kept for a limited time. Trucking companies, for example, must keep ELD records for six months. The sooner an attorney sends a preservation letter, the better the chance that key records will still exist.
We’re here to help
If you or someone you love was hurt in a crash with a truck, Langdon & Emison can help you understand what happened and who should be held responsible. Contact us for a free consultation at 866-931-2115.
