Trucks and truck drivers play a vital role in keeping our economy moving by hauling goods across the US every single day. Because of this, the trucking industry is heavily regulated to better ensure safety on the roads.

Still, in spite of these regulations, violations still happen, and when they do they often lead to truck accidents and legal disputes. Understanding the most commonly violated rules can shed light on the risks associated with trucking and highlight areas where enforcement may need improvement.

According to a report by TruckInfo, there were more than 168,000 truck accidents in 2023. Roughly 32% of these involved injuries and around 3% resulted in one or more deaths.

These truck accidents can be overwhelming and complex, and victims are often left unsure of what steps to take next. The claims process for a truck accident can often involves multiple parties, detailed investigations, and negotiations with insurance companies.

Understanding how the process works can help accident victims protect their rights and pursue fair compensation.

Truck drivers, in general, cannot spend all day on the road. Long-haul truckers, for example, must abide by the federal Hours of Service rules, which generally limit them to spending 11 hours behind the wheel of their truck.

Given how many employers in the fleet industry pay their tractor-trailer operators on a per-mile basis, many of them see it as worth the risk to drive faster to get done hauling their load sooner rather than later. By doing so, they often believe it will make them more appealing to dispatchers to allow them to carry additional cargo since they can get it there quicker than anticipated, pleasing the customer.

Driving a truck can be a difficult job. When a driver is tired, it can cause that individual to have a slow reaction time and misjudge situations on the road, all of which could lead to a deadly accident. Fortunately, there are rules that state how long a driver can operate a vehicle on any given day. If they fail to abide by these regulations, it can mean fines and other serious consequences.

If you would like to learn more about how long truckers drive during a single shift, the legal team at Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC is here to help answer that question.

Driving down the interstate or on the streets of Jackson, you may see semi-trucks with shiny metal spikes sticking out of the center of their wheels. It draws your attention and makes you wonder why the truck driver put them there.

Tire spikes, also called wheel covers or lug nut covers, are not uncommon on big trucks, and you may have seen them on passenger vehicles as well. But what are the spikes on big truck tires used for?

Here in the south, warm weather often beckons for outdoor adventures and road trips. Thus, the question of whether it’s legal to ride in the bed of a pickup truck in Mississippi arises frequently.

With its sprawling rural landscapes and deeply rooted truck culture, Mississippi offers plenty of opportunities for riding in the bed of a pickup truck. However, safety regulations and state laws govern this practice, prompting individuals to inquire about its legality and safety implications.

Let’s delve into the details to understand the rules and considerations associated with riding in the bed of a pickup truck in Mississippi.

As you travel down the interstate, whether we’re talking about the ones that surround Jackson, MS, including I-220, I-20, or I-55, or even area highways, routes, and just your average surface streets, you’re bound to encounter your fair share of work zones. These are the ones where you’ll find county, city, or state workers tinkering away, fixing potholes, resurfacing or lining streets, and more. You may be accustomed to seeing roadside signs or public service announcements (PSAs) about worker safety and wonder how big of a problem work zone-related accidents must be—especially ones involving large trucks. Keep reading where we’ll discuss just that.

Driving anywhere can be a risk, because even if we’re paying attention and driving defensively, other drivers around us may not be driving as safely as we do. This makes it all the more dangerous when we drive near large trucks like 18-wheelers because large trucks can’t stop or maneuver like smaller cars can, and they have much larger blind spots.

Accidents involving large trucks cause much greater damage and are often far more deadly as they can easily create a multi-vehicle accident. It’s important to know what courses of action are available if you’ve been involved in a large truck accident, and that information is easier to access and understand when you talk to experienced lawyers like our team at Pittman, Roberts & Welsh, PLLC.

It takes a significant amount of skill and knowledge to safely drive tractor-trailers in even the safest driving conditions. When conditions are anything less than ideal, truckers must take extra care when sharing the road with other vehicles.

Unfortunately, even the safest and most experienced truck driver can still cause an accident—especially if the weather isn’t great.

Truck accidents involving bad weather can be especially severe, resulting in serious injuries and significant amounts of property damage. Bad weather doesn’t give truckers who cause crashes a free pass. Weather and poor driving conditions are not an excuse for negligence, and we should expect professional drivers to exercise even greater caution than usual when the weather is bad.

Sharing the road with tractor-trailers can be stressful, but we trust that commercial vehicle drivers do everything within their power to travel safely on Mississippi roads. A recent report indicates that some of that trust could be misplaced.

Drug use among truck drivers and operators is at its highest levels since the establishment of the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in 2019. Let’s take a closer look at current drug use trends in the trucking industry and what that could mean for the safety of Mississippi motorists.