FMCSA Violations and Reporting Them
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) created strict regulations and guidelines to encourage safe trucking operations in Illinois and throughout the United States. However, these federal trucking regulations only make our roads safer when trucking companies and truck drivers adhere to them.
All too often, FMCSA regulations are violated—either intentionally or by mistake. These violations can be relatively minor, but often contribute to devastating trucking accidents.
Whether you work for a trucking company that’s prioritized profit over obeying federal trucking guidelines or are a third party that’s witnessed a trucking violation, it’s important to report it.
Here’s what you need to know about reporting FMCSA violations.
Where Can I Report Violations of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Trucking Regulation?
The FMCSA established the National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCD) to field complaints about trucking operations in the United States.
Anyone – including consumers, truck drivers, freight brokers, shippers, and cargo owners – can visit the NCCD’s website and report violations of federal trucking regulations.
What’s Involved in Reporting an FMCSA Trucking Violation?
The NCCD complaint form will ask for specific details about the alleged violation.
When you file your complaint, you’ll need to provide:
- The time and date of the incident in question
- A short explanation of the violation you witnessed
You’ll also be asked to identify the specific violation(s) you witnessed, which can include:
- Truck and Driver Related Safety Concerns (e.g., speeding, distracted driving, tailgating, driver fatigue, improper passing, hazardous material leaking from a truck)
- Unsafe cargo loads and/or securement
- Weight violations
- Operating a truck without appropriate licenses and/or permits
Then, you’ll be asked to give more specific details about these allegations and identify the trucking company that’s involved. You can search for trucking companies and choose from a populated list or enter whatever information you can recall.
While you have to provide your name and contact information to the FMCSA, you can ask to have certain information withheld from the company you’ve reported when they’re notified of the complaint.
Why Should I Report FMCSA Violations?
FMCSA trucking regulations govern everything from minimum driver qualifications to safe shipping practices to general inspection requirements. Adherence is critical to safe trucking operations. If a trucking company believes it can ignore FMCSA requirements without a cost, it may do so to save time, money, and resources.
Unfortunately, violations can significantly increase the chances that a truck is involved in a traffic accident.
When you report an FMCSA violation, you play an important part in holding trucking services accountable and, when necessary, making them take responsibility for devastating injuries and deaths.
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident because a trucking service in Illinois violated critical FMCSA regulations, don’t hesitate to call Taxman, Pollock, Murray & Bekkerman, LLC. Our Chicago truck accident lawyers can report the violations on your behalf and fight to make sure that the trucking company and all other liable parties take responsibility for your crash-related damages, which can include your medical bills, lost income, disability, and emotional distress.
We’ve helped injury victims and families win more than $750 million from multinational corporations and other tough adversaries. Now, you can count on us to help you after a truck accident in Chicago, too. Contact us for a free consultation today.