Commercial trucks are constantly on Georgia highways, carrying goods through Atlanta, Fulton, and DeKalb Counties. While most truck drivers operate responsibly, fatigue remains one of the most dangerous—and least visible—factors contributing to devastating collisions. Proving driver fatigue can be difficult without immediate legal action, but doing so is often key to holding the right parties accountable and recovering full compensation for your injuries.
Why Is Fatigue So Dangerous in the Trucking Industry?
Fatigue dulls reaction time, clouds judgment, and leads to lapses in attention behind the wheel. For truck drivers operating vehicles weighing 80,000 pounds or more, even a brief drowsiness can cause irreversible harm.
Although federal hours-of-service (HOS) rules limit truckers’ time on the road without rest, these rules are often ignored or manipulated.
Drivers may:
- Log more hours than allowed to meet tight delivery schedules.
- Skip required breaks or sleep in poorly maintained rest areas.
- Feel pressure from dispatchers or carriers to keep driving despite exhaustion.
Because fatigue isn’t always apparent at the scene, it often goes unreported—unless someone investigates thoroughly and quickly.
Signs Fatigue May Have Played a Role
Truck driver fatigue doesn’t leave skid marks.
But there are red flags that experienced investigators and attorneys look for, including:
- Logbooks that show long hours with few breaks.
- Gaps between entries or falsified records.
- Lack of recent rest periods near the time of the collision.
- Erratic driving or failure to brake before impact.
- Eyewitness reports of the truck weaving or drifting.
- Absence of mechanical failure or external causes.
Electronic logging devices (ELDs), GPS data, and dispatch records can also reveal important clues, but if not preserved immediately, they can be deleted or overwritten.
Why Time Is Critical
Trucking companies are quick to protect themselves after a serious crash. Their insurers often dispatch rapid response teams to the scene within hours to gather evidence supporting their version of events.
To level the playing field, you must act fast. Here’s why:
- Logbooks and digital data can be lost if not requested quickly.
- Driver statements may change after time has passed or under coaching from the company.
- Evidence from the truck, such as dashboard data, brake function, and GPS tracking, can be altered or erased.
- Witness memories fade, and surveillance footage from nearby businesses may be deleted.
The earlier your legal team can start investigating, the better your chances of uncovering fatigue as a contributing cause—and building a strong case.
How Ashby Thelen Lowry Can Help
At Ashby Thelen Lowry, our Atlanta-based personal injury attorneys are known for uncovering what others miss. We understand how trucking companies operate and know where to look for evidence of driver fatigue. Our team works with experts in transportation safety, electronic data recovery, and sleep science to prove what happened and why you deserve full accountability.
If you or your loved one was harmed in a Georgia trucking collision, don’t wait. Contact us today for a free consultation. The sooner we get involved, the stronger your case can be.