Tag: refusal to drive

Business

Trucking Law: Can you refuse to drive in poor weather?

The Trucking Law segment is a new monthly feature on Overdrive, in which we pose commonly asked questions from truckers and owner-operators to legal experts. In this installment, attorney Paul Taylor addresses drivers’ right to refuse to drive in severe winter conditions.

January 21, 2019

Business

Trucker gets nearly $200k from carrier in refusal to drive firing

A truck operator for tank hauling carrier Neier, Inc. has been awarded nearly $200,000 in back pay, punitive and compensatory damages and attorney’s fees after Neier fired him for refusing to accept a load the trucker said would have put him in violation of federal hours of service limits.

August 4, 2016

Business

Truck operator fired for refusing to drive amid HOS concerns could get $275k from carrier

NFI fired the driver in 2012, a day after he refused to deliver a load to its original destination. OSHA says severe weather, flooded roads, traffic and crashes caused the trip to take much longer than anticipated. Per OSHA, the driver “believed he lacked sufficient time to complete the deliver and return home without violating” hours regs.

June 10, 2016

Business

Major carrier again ordered to pay big payout to driver following refusal-to-drive firing

Brandon Hopper claims he was “confronted and baited” by Marten to resign in July 2013 after he refused to haul two allegedly overweight loads and three other loads because, he claims, he would have been in violation of hours of service regulations.

February 24, 2016

Business

Marten ordered to pay former driver $51k after firing him for refusing overweight load

The specific incident that led to Sinkfield’s firing occurred in May 2014, when he refused a load at a shipper’s facility because it was 40 pounds over the 80,000-lb. federal limit and several pounds over allowable axle limits. A judge found his firing, despite being related to several incidents, was wrongful, as the load refusal was protected by federal law.

February 9, 2016

Business

Fleet again ordered to pay $20k to a driver who was sick, refused to drive

A trucking company has been ordered by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to pay $20,000 in punitive damages and $354 to a driver after suspending the driver for refusing to drive for feeling ill.

July 22, 2015

Business

Drivers, foreman awarded $953k after refusal-to-drive firings

Two drivers and a foreman for the Pontiac, Mich.-based Asphalt Specialists have been awarded $953,916 in back wages and damages after the Department of Transportation deemed they were wrongfully terminated for refusing to drive beyond federal hours of service limits.

August 18, 2014