Trucking Company Safety Record After a Georgia Crash

Yes, you can check a trucking company’s safety record after a Georgia crash, and much of that information is public. This guide covers the trucking company safety record after crash Georgia residents most often ask about: what is public, how to read it, and where it stops. Start with the USDOT number on the truck. Federal and Georgia records can then show the carrier’s registration, safety scores, crashes and inspections.

Why the Trucking Company’s Safety Record Matters After a Georgia Crash

A carrier’s safety history can show how the company ran its operation before your crash. It cannot settle the question alone.

You didn’t choose this crash, and now you have questions about the truck, the driver and the company behind it. Those questions are fair. Public records can help you understand what the company’s rules and checks looked like before the day you were hurt. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) keeps public carrier records. Georgia also has its own motor carrier rules for trucks that stay inside the state.

Treat these records as a starting point. What they show depends on the facts of each crash. Below, we walk through the steps in order so you can work at your own pace.

For the bigger picture, read our truck accident lawyer Georgia guide. T. Madden & Associates, P.C. has practiced personal injury law since 1999. The firm has offices in Jonesboro, Atlanta, Decatur, Macon and Augusta.

Start With the USDOT Number on the Truck

The USDOT number on the truck is the most reliable way to identify the carrier.

Look for it on the cab doors, the trailer, or the truck’s side and rear markings. Take photos of every place it appears, if you can do so safely. If you can’t, ask someone with you to do it.

Write the number down with the date and location. The number ties the truck to one motor carrier. That link matters because company names can differ.

The company named on a bill of lading, insurance papers or a police report may not be the company that operates the truck. Shippers, brokers and leasing companies often appear on load papers. Each name is a lead, but the USDOT number is the cleaner identifier.

Note which document each name came from. A dated note is easier to use later than a memory of a name on a form. Keep these photos in the same folder as your crash report and medical records.

Confirm Federal Registration and Operating Authority

You can confirm federal registration and operating authority through FMCSA’s public carrier records, using the USDOT number.

Search the USDOT number, or the MC number if the paperwork lists one. Write down the legal name, the USDOT status and whether the carrier shows as active.

Then check the operating authority type. It describes what kind of hauling the carrier is approved to do.

Compare the company name on the record with the name on the truck and the paperwork. If the names don’t match, write down the difference. A mismatch is not proof of wrongdoing. It is a fact worth raising when you talk through your crash.

Intrastate carriers, which run only inside Georgia, register with the state. We cover that below.

Save a printout or screenshot with the date. Public records change over time, so the date tells you what the record showed when you looked.

Review the CSA and SMS Scores for Safety Violations

CSA and SMS scores summarize a carrier’s safety data by category, which shows where it may have problems.

CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability. SMS stands for Safety Measurement System. The system sorts a carrier’s inspection and crash data into safety categories, called BASICs.

The categories include unsafe driving, hours of service, vehicle maintenance and driver fitness. Each one shows a percentile score on the carrier’s snapshot.

Scores compare a carrier with other carriers. An alert appears when a category crosses a set threshold. Read the alerts first. Then note which categories raise the most concern.

Hours of service and vehicle maintenance connect directly to many of the questions people ask after a crash. Compare those categories with what you know about your crash.

Scores update as new data arrives. Write the date you looked, so you can explain later what the page showed.

Check Crash History and Roadside Inspection Violations

The snapshot lists reported crashes and roadside inspections, including any violations found.

Each entry generally records the date, the location and the vehicle involved. Make a simple table with four columns: date, state, type of event and type of violation.

Look for patterns. A repeated type of violation, such as brake problems, tells a different story than one isolated entry. Note any out-of-service entries and their dates.

Keep the limits in mind. These records cover only events that were reported or inspected. A clean entry does not, by itself, show what happened in your crash.

Compare the carrier’s entries with the crash report you received. Differences are worth writing down, along with your reason for thinking they exist. Set your notes beside your crash report, so matching dates and locations stand out.

Georgia Applies These Rules to Intrastate Trucks, Too

A truck that runs only inside Georgia must still register with the state.

Georgia law requires an intrastate motor carrier operating on a Georgia public highway to register with the commissioner and pay a fee the commissioner sets. See O.C.G.A. § 40-2-140.

Ask where the truck was running. A load that crossed state lines points you toward federal records. A truck that made deliveries only around Jonesboro, Atlanta or Macon may have operated only within Georgia.

Georgia’s motor carrier statute, O.C.G.A. § 40-1-8, requires drivers employed to operate a motor vehicle for a motor carrier to be fully competent and sufficiently rested. It also requires accidents involving commercial vehicles to be reported to the commissioner of transportation.

For crash reports, the Georgia DPS open records notice describes how to request them from the appropriate Georgia State Patrol post.

Hours of Service: The Federal Fatigue Rules

Federal hours-of-service rules limit how long a truck driver may drive and how much rest the driver needs.

Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.3, a driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. A driver may not drive after 14 consecutive hours following that rest. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.3, a driver of a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle may drive a total of 11 hours during the period specified in paragraph (a)(2) of that section.

Driving is not permitted after more than 8 hours of driving time without a consecutive 30-minute break from driving. Some short-haul drivers qualify for an exception to that break rule.

Longer limits apply across several days. A driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in any 7 consecutive days if the carrier does not operate every day of the week, or after 70 hours on duty in any 8 consecutive days if the carrier operates every day of the week, unless the period ends with the beginning of an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.

Separately, 49 C.F.R. § 392.3 bars a driver from operating when fatigue, illness or another cause makes the driver’s alertness unsafe. In a grave emergency where compliance would increase the hazard, the driver may continue to the nearest place at which that hazard is removed.

Note which records would show these limits. They include the driver’s record of duty status and any electronic logging device (ELD) data. Federal rules require carriers that use an ELD to use one on FMCSA’s registered list, under 49 C.F.R. § 395.22. Note any fatigue concerns too, such as a long run that same day.

Evidence to Preserve After a Truck Crash

Preserve photos, the USDOT number, the police report number, witness names and your medical records as early as you can.

Photograph the truck, the scene, visible damage and any cargo. Save texts or messages about the crash. Keep witnesses’ names and phone numbers.

The carrier holds much of the rest. Dashcam footage, driver logs and maintenance paperwork often sit with the company, not with you.

Federal retention periods are short. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8, carriers must keep records of duty status and supporting documents for at least 6 months from receipt. Under 49 C.F.R. § 396.11, driver vehicle inspection reports must be kept for three months from the date the written report was prepared, except that these rules do not apply to a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), a driveaway-towaway operation, or any motor carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle. ELD back-up records must be kept for 6 months under 49 C.F.R. § 395.22.

Federal rules also bar anyone from obscuring, destroying or altering supporting documents. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.11, no motor carrier or driver may obscure, deface, destroy or alter existing information in a supporting document.

Write a dated account of what you remember. Stick to what you saw and heard. Avoid guesses about who was at fault. If cargo may not have been secured, see our unsecured load crash guide.

How a Georgia Truck Accident Lawyer Can Use These Records in a Claim

Your own look at a trucking company safety record after crash Georgia records show helps you ask better questions. A formal request is a separate step in a claim.

A formal request can seek maintenance files, inspection records, driver qualification files and hours-of-service records. Under 49 C.F.R. § 391.51, driver qualification files are kept for as long as the driver works for the carrier and three years after, though some records in the file, such as annual driving-record checks and medical certificates, may be removed three years after they were made.

These records connect to the crash facts, the carrier’s insurance and the injuries involved. Each claim depends on its own facts.

Georgia law can reach the company, too.

Clayton County readers can read our Clayton County truck accident page. Timing differs from case to case. Our semi truck settlement timing guide explains the process.

Talk Through Your Crash With T. Madden & Associates, P.C.

Our team can talk through your truck crash with you, including the records you have already gathered.

Common Questions

This page is general information, not legal advice about any specific claim. Terance Madden is the responsible lawyer for this page at T. Madden & Associates, P.C., which has offices in Jonesboro, Atlanta, Decatur, Macon and Augusta. Contact the firm at tmaddenlaw.com/contact.