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Drivers are required to follow the posted speed limits at all times. A motor carrier may not schedule, permit, or require a run that would require the driver to travel at speeds greater than those prescribed by the jurisdictions in or through which the commercial motor vehicle is being operated.
Scope
This requirement applies to both the motor carrier and its drivers.
Regulatory citations
- 49 CFR 392.6 — Schedules to conform with speed limits
Key definitions
- Speed limit: The maximum speed that a vehicle may legally travel on a road/highway.
Summary of requirements
Commercial vehicle drivers, like all other drivers, are prohibited from exceeding posted speed limits. A driver who exceeds the limit can get a speeding ticket and fine, but the motor carrier may also be penalized for allowing the speeding to take place.
During an audit, enforcement personnel can compare a driver’s hours-of-service records against the speed limits along the traveled route and use guidelines from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to determine if the driver was speeding. Those guidelines assume that drivers average at least 10 mph below the average speed limit over a 10-hour period of time (due to scheduled stops, breaks, etc.). Therefore, for example:
- When the speed limit is 65 mph, trips of 550 to 600 miles completed in 10 hours are considered questionable and the motor carrier may be asked to document that such trips can be made. Trips of 600 miles or more will be assumed to be incapable of being completed without violations.
- When the speed limit is 55 mph, trips of 450 to 500 miles are open to question, and runs of 500 miles or more are considered incapable of being made in compliance with the speed limit and hours-of-service limits.