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What Federal Regulations Govern Commercial Truck Drivers Operating in Georgia?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 C.F.R.) govern a commercial truck in interstate commerce on Georgia roads: Part 383 for the commercial driver’s license, Part 391 for driver qualifications and medical certification, Part 395 for hours of service and electronic logs, Part 382 for alcohol and drug testing, and Part 396 for inspection and maintenance. In an injury claim, they define what the driver and the carrier were required to do.
Which trucks and which trips
Part 390 defines a commercial motor vehicle as one used on a highway in interstate commerce to carry passengers or property that has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or actual weight, of 10,001 pounds or more; or is designed or used to carry more than 8 passengers including the driver for compensation, or more than 15 without compensation; or carries hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placards (49 C.F.R. § 390.5).
“Interstate” is wider than crossing a state line. The definition includes transportation between two places in one state “as part of trade, traffic, or transportation originating or terminating outside the State or the United States” (§ 390.5). For example, a load moving from Atlanta to Savannah can be interstate commerce if the freight began its journey in another state. When a trip was purely intrastate, the federal parts below are not the starting point, and the question becomes which Georgia rules applied to that trip and whether they adopt the federal rule at issue.
Who may drive
A driver is qualified under § 391.11(b), subject to the exceptions in Subpart G of Part 391, only if the driver, among other requirements, is at least 21 years old, can read and speak English well enough for traffic signs, official inquiries, and records, can “by reason of experience, training, or both, safely operate the type of commercial motor vehicle he/she drives”, and is physically qualified. A driver “must not operate a commercial motor vehicle unless he or she is medically certified as physically qualified to do so” (§ 391.41(a)(1)(i)). Whether the driver must also carry the medical examiner’s certificate depends on the license. Since June 23, 2025, a driver required to hold a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit who has a current certificate no longer needs to carry it on his or her person (§ 391.41(a)(2)(i)(B)), but a holder certified on the basis of an FMCSA medical variance must keep the variance documentation in his or her possession whenever on duty (§ 391.41(a)(2)(iii)). Other drivers subject to Part 391 must, when on duty, have the original or a copy of a current certificate on their person (§ 391.41(a)(1)(i)), subject to a note in that paragraph that accepts certain Canadian and Mexican commercial licenses as proof of medical fitness.
The commercial driver’s license comes in three groups (§ 383.91(a)):
- Group A: a combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, where the towed vehicle is rated above 10,000 pounds.
- Group B: a single vehicle rated at 26,001 pounds or more, including one towing a vehicle rated at no more than 10,000 pounds.
- Group C: a vehicle that fits neither A nor B but is designed to carry 16 or more passengers including the driver, or carries hazardous materials as defined in § 383.5.
How long the driver may drive
For a property-carrying truck, § 395.3 sets these limits:
| Limit | Rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Rest before driving | 10 consecutive hours off duty | § 395.3(a)(1) |
| Duty window | No driving after 14 consecutive hours following coming on duty | § 395.3(a)(2) |
| Driving time | 11 hours within that window | § 395.3(a)(3)(i) |
| Break | A consecutive 30-minute interruption after 8 hours of driving, with short-haul exceptions | § 395.3(a)(3)(ii) |
| Weekly | No driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days if the carrier operates every day | § 395.3(b) |
| Restart | A 7- or 8-day period "may end" with an off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours | § 395.3(c) |
Two exceptions change how a log is read. A driver using the sleeper-berth option may split the required 10 hours into two periods, one of at least 7 consecutive hours in the berth, neither shorter than 2 hours, totaling at least 10, and “The 14-hour driving window for purposes of § 395.3(a)(2) does not include qualifying rest periods” (§ 395.1(g)(1)(ii)-(iii)). And a driver who meets adverse driving conditions and cannot safely finish the run within the limits may drive “for not more than two additional hours beyond the maximum allowable hours permitted under § 395.3(a)” to complete the run or reach a safe place (§ 395.1(b)(1)). A log showing more than 11 hours of driving therefore raises a question about these exceptions before it proves a violation.
The electronic log
A motor carrier “must install and require each of its drivers to use an ELD to record the driver’s duty status”, with exceptions for drivers who keep records of duty status on no more than 8 days in any 30-day period, certain driveaway-towaway operations, and vehicles manufactured before model year 2000 (§ 395.8(a)(1)). How long the carrier must keep those records, and the other records that start disappearing after a crash, is set out in the evidence to secure after a commercial truck crash.
Alcohol and drugs
“No driver shall report for duty or remain on duty requiring the performance of safety-sensitive functions while having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater”, and no employer that knows of it may let the driver continue (§ 382.201). Georgia’s DUI statute sets the same 0.04 figure for anyone driving or in actual physical control of a moving commercial motor vehicle (O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(i)).
After a crash, § 382.303 requires the employer to test each surviving driver for alcohol and controlled substances when the crash involved a death, or when the driver receives a citation for a moving violation arising from the crash (within 8 hours for the alcohol test trigger, 32 hours for the drug test trigger) and someone was taken for medical treatment away from the scene or a vehicle had to be towed. An alcohol test not given within 2 hours must be explained in a record, and attempts stop at 8 hours; for controlled substances the limit is 32 hours.
Inspection and maintenance
Before driving, the driver must “Be satisfied that the motor vehicle is in safe operating condition”, review the last driver vehicle inspection report if one was required, and sign it (§ 396.13). At the end of each day’s work, the driver prepares a written report on each vehicle covering brakes, steering, lights, tires, coupling devices, and other listed parts, but drivers “are not required to prepare a report if no defect or deficiency is discovered by or reported to the driver” (§ 396.11(a)). Separately, every motor carrier “must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain” the vehicles under its control (§ 396.3(a)).
How a violation counts in a Georgia injury case
A federal safety rule tells the jury what the driver or carrier was required to do. Whether breaking it counts as negligence by itself is the negligence per se question under O.C.G.A. § 51-1-6, covered in negligence per se in Georgia; as with state traffic statutes, the violation still has to be connected to the injury. Rules aimed at the carrier itself, such as the background investigation before hiring a driver, can bear on claims against the company itself, explained in negligent hiring and entrustment claims against a trucking company.
Five Macon firms that publish truck accident pages, with what each firm’s own page covers, are listed in truck accident law firms in Macon.
Sources
- 49 C.F.R. § 390.5; § 391.11; § 395.3; § 395.1; § 395.8; § 382.303; §§ 382.201, 383.91, 391.41, 396.3, 396.11, 396.13 (Cornell Legal Information Institute, read October 2026).
- O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(i); § 51-1-6.
This page describes Georgia law as of October 2026 for general information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.