How do federal hours-of-service limits help prove a tired truck driver caused my crash?

Last updated October 7, 2026.

Federal rules let a truck driver drive 11 hours, only within 14 hours of coming on duty after 10 hours off, with weekly caps of 60 or 70 hours. The driver's log records each hour, so checking it against the crash time can show the driver was over a limit or that the log is false. A separate rule bars driving while too fatigued to drive safely, even within the hours.

Fatigue is hard to prove from the scene alone. Drivers rarely admit it, and unlike alcohol, it does not show up on a breath test. In a Las Vegas truck accident claim, the hours rules turn a vague suspicion into numbers you can check.

How are the hours checked after a crash in Las Vegas?

The work happens mostly on paper and in data, and the order matters because some of the records can be thrown away within months.

Identify the carrier and the truck. The crash report and photos usually show the company name, truck and trailer numbers and the driver. Our guide to getting a Las Vegas crash report explains how to request it.
Ask the carrier, in writing, to keep the records. Duty-status records and their supporting documents only have to be kept for 6 months (49 CFR 395.8). Our page on what records a trucking company must keep after a crash lists every retention clock.
Get the logs for the days before the crash, not just the day of. The weekly limit looks back 7 or 8 days (49 CFR 395.3), and the driver must carry the last 7 days of records while on duty (49 CFR 395.8).
Build a timeline. Line up the log with outside records: fuel and toll receipts, delivery and pickup times, dispatch messages, phone records and the police report's time of the crash.
Check each limit. Count the 10 hours off before the shift, the 14-hour window, the 11 hours of driving, the 30-minute break, and the 60 or 70 hours for the week, using the table below.
Look for the company's role. A carrier may not permit or require a driver to break the hours limits (49 CFR 395.3), or to drive while fatigued (49 CFR 392.3). Dispatch schedules and delivery deadlines can show whether the company set up a run that could not be done legally.
Use the formal process if needed. In a case filed in Clark County district court, you can serve written requests for the logs and supporting documents, and the company must respond in writing within 30 days (NRCP 34). An injury lawsuit in Nevada generally must be filed within 2 years (NRS 11.190).

What are the federal hours limits for truck drivers?

These limits apply to drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles, no matter how many carriers use the driver's services (49 CFR 395.3). Passenger vehicles such as buses fall under separate limits.

Limit	What the rule says	What a violation can look like in the records	Rule
Rest before driving	10 hours off duty in a row before driving	A shift that starts 7 hours after the last one ended	49 CFR 395.3(a)(1)
14-hour window	No driving after the 14th hour since coming on duty	Crash at 5 a.m. for a driver who came on duty at 2 p.m. the day before	49 CFR 395.3(a)(2)
Driving time	11 hours of driving within the 14-hour window	Miles covered that need more than 11 hours at legal speeds	49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(i)
30-minute break	No driving once 8 hours of driving have passed without a 30-minute break	A long stretch of "driving" with no stop on the log	49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii)
Weekly limit	No driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days if the carrier runs every day	Several long days in a row with no 34-hour reset	49 CFR 395.3(b)
34-hour restart	The 7- or 8-day count may restart after 34 hours off in a row	A "restart" that was really a shorter break	49 CFR 395.3(c)
Fatigue at any hour	No driving while alertness is impaired, or likely to be, by fatigue or illness	A driver who was within the hours but had been awake much longer	49 CFR 392.3

One detail changes many calculations: on-duty time is not just driving. It includes time waiting to be dispatched at a terminal or shipper, inspecting or fueling the truck, loading and unloading, and attending a disabled truck (49 CFR 395.2). A driver who sat at a warehouse for four hours before setting out has used four hours of the 14-hour window before driving a mile.

How do logs prove fatigue if the driver was "legal"?

The hours limits are a ceiling, not proof of rest. The fatigue rule stands on its own: no driver may drive, and no carrier may require or permit a driver to drive, while the driver's alertness is so impaired, or so likely to become impaired, through fatigue, illness or any other cause, that driving is unsafe (49 CFR 392.3). A driver who spent the "off-duty" hours working a second job, or who could not sleep, can be within the clock and still be too tired to drive.

The logs still help in that case. They show when the driver last had a real break, and records from outside the log can show what the driver did during "off-duty" time. Logs are also a target for falsifying: no driver or carrier may make a false report about duty status, or tamper with an electronic logging device so it does not record accurately (49 CFR 395.8). A fuel receipt in Primm at a time the log shows the driver asleep in a sleeper berth is the kind of mismatch that undercuts the whole log.

Other signs at the scene fit the same picture: no skid marks before a rear-end impact, a slow drift across lanes, or a driver who says they "didn't see" stopped traffic. Fatigue and distraction often look alike, so the driver's phone use matters too, which our page on truck driver phone and texting rules covers.

What changes the answer

Whether the federal rules apply. The hours rules apply to carriers and drivers of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, generally trucks rated or weighing 10,001 pounds or more (49 CFR 390.3T, 390.5T). Nevada has adopted the federal safety rules by regulation for many carriers that stay inside the state (NAC 706.297). For smaller trucks, see whether federal trucking law applies to a box truck or delivery van.

Short-haul drivers. A driver who stays within a 150 air-mile radius of the normal work reporting location and is released within 14 hours can be exempt from the log rule and the 30-minute break; the carrier must instead keep time records showing when the driver reported, the hours on duty and when the driver was released, for 6 months (49 CFR 395.1(e), 395.3(a)(3)(ii)). Local gravel, construction and delivery trucks in the valley often run this way, so the evidence is a time record instead of an ELD log.

Adverse driving conditions. If snow, fog or unusual road or traffic conditions that were not known before the trip prevent a safe finish within the limits, a driver may drive up to 2 extra hours to finish the run or reach a safe place (49 CFR 395.1(b), 395.2). A traffic jam that dispatch knew about before the driver left does not qualify.

Sleeper berth splits. A driver using a sleeper berth may split the 10 hours off into two periods, one of at least 7 hours in the berth, under detailed conditions (49 CFR 395.1(g)). This can make a log look like a violation when it is not, so the math needs care.

Your own share of fault. Nevada lets you recover if your negligence was not greater than the combined negligence of those you sue, reduced by your percentage (NRS 41.141). A trucking company may argue you braked suddenly or changed lanes; proof that the driver was over the hours limit can shift those percentages. Our post on comparative negligence in auto accidents explains how shared fault works.

Who pays. When an employee causes an injury, Nevada law makes the employer responsible for that conduct liable too, subject to an exception for some intentional acts (NRS 41.130, 41.745). If the company also pushed the driver past the limits, its own fault may be counted separately, since each defendant generally pays its own share (NRS 41.141). Our page on who can be held responsible for a truck accident in Nevada explains each party.

For example: an early-morning crash on US 95

Imagine a hypothetical driver named Owen heading to work on US 95 at 5:10 a.m. A tractor-trailer drifts out of its lane and sideswipes his car into the barrier. The truck driver tells the officer he "must have zoned out for a second." Owen is treated at a hospital for a broken wrist and a back injury.

Owen's attorney sends a preservation letter that week and later obtains the driver's records. The ELD shows the driver came on duty at 2:30 p.m. the day before, waited 3 hours at a distribution center to load, then drove. By 5:10 a.m. he had been on duty for more than 14 hours, so under 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2) he should not have been driving at all. The log shows a 45-minute break in Primm, but a fuel receipt shows the truck at a pump in Primm for only 9 minutes.

The company's dispatch messages show it asked the driver to "make the morning dock time." In this hypothetical, the records support three points: the driver broke the 14-hour rule, the break on the log was not real (49 CFR 395.8), and the carrier set a schedule that required driving past the limit (49 CFR 395.3, 392.3). None of that decides the case on its own, but it moves the case from "he zoned out" to a documented timeline.

Common mistakes in truck fatigue cases

Asking only for the crash-day log. The weekly limits look back 7 or 8 days, and the last real rest may be days earlier. The full sequence of a truck case is in what happens after a truck accident in Las Vegas.
Counting only driving time. Loading, waiting and inspection time all count as on duty and use up the 14-hour window (49 CFR 395.2).
Trusting the log without checking it. Fuel receipts, tolls, delivery times and phone records are how a false log gets caught.
Waiting past 6 months. Duty records only have to be kept 6 months from when the carrier received them (49 CFR 395.8).
Assuming a "legal" log ends the question. The fatigue rule in 49 CFR 392.3 applies even within the hours limits.
Ignoring the short-haul exception. If the driver was exempt from logs, ask for the carrier's time records instead of an ELD file.

What to do this week

Write down the exact time of the crash, and anything the truck driver said about being tired, rushing or running late.
Note the carrier's name, the truck and trailer numbers, and any USDOT number you saw on the truck.
Send the carrier a written request to keep logs, ELD data, supporting documents, dispatch messages and the driver's time records for at least the 8 days before the crash.
Request the crash report and check the time and location it lists.
Find out whether the driver was drug or alcohol tested after the crash; see when a truck driver must be tested after a crash.
Read our post on proving fault in an auto accident for the scene evidence that supports a fatigue claim.

Frequently asked questions

Is breaking the hours rules automatically negligence in Nevada?

Not automatically. A violation is strong evidence that the driver and carrier did not act safely, but you still have to show the violation helped cause the crash and your injuries. The jury then assigns percentages of fault to each party (NRS 41.141).

What is the 14-hour rule in plain words?

After 10 hours off, a driver has a 14-hour window to drive, and once 14 hours have passed since coming on duty, driving must stop until the next 10-hour break (49 CFR 395.3). Breaks taken during the window generally do not extend it.

Can a driver work for two companies to get around the limits?

No. The limits apply regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver's services (49 CFR 395.3). A driver used by more than one carrier in a day must give each one a copy of the record showing all duty time (49 CFR 395.8).

Do bus and tour coach drivers follow the same limits?

No. The limits on this page are for property-carrying trucks. Passenger-carrying vehicles have their own hours rules, and Las Vegas tour and shuttle crashes need those checked separately.

What if the driver says traffic or weather made him late?

The adverse driving conditions exception allows up to 2 extra hours only for conditions that were not known, and could not reasonably have been known, before the trip or before dispatch (49 CFR 395.1, 395.2). Routine rush-hour traffic on a known route usually does not fit that description.

Do I need the ELD data, or is the printed log enough?

Ask for both. The printed log is a summary, while the carrier must also keep supporting documents for 6 months (49 CFR 395.8), and those are often where a mismatch shows up.

If a truck driver who may have been tired or overworked hit you in the Las Vegas Valley, attorney Maysoun Fletcher can review what the records may show. Call 702-333-6339 for a free consultation, available 24/7.