Before you fire a driver, read this

Today, what are some of the most common types of cases you're litigating?

My firm represents professional truck drivers in a variety of matters related to the trucking industry. Most of our clients are whistleblowers in wrongful termination cases before the U.S. Department of Labor. These drivers have typically been terminated because they made safety complaints or refused to violate DOT regulations.

Lately, we have had several cases concerning no-fault attendance policies. Under these policies, companies assess attendance points against a driver for every absence, regardless of the reason, and these points advance the employee towards suspension or termination. Some absences, like when a driver calls off because they are too sick to safely operate a commercial vehicle, are legally protected. My firm has challenged several no-fault attendance policies.

We also represent owner-operators in lease disputes with motor carriers. These usually involve some form of underpayment or unauthorized chargebacks. 

When owner-ops enter into lease agreements with carriers, what are the most important terms to review?

The terms in a lease between an owner-operator and a motor carrier are governed by federal law. Among the required terms, the lease must clearly state the compensation to be paid and must identify any items that the motor carrier will charge back to the owner-operator.

Drivers should read and understand their entire lease, but the financial terms are typically the ones at issue in a dispute. Drivers should know what they are entitled to be paid and what costs they might be responsible for.

If a lease seems confusing, I always recommend owner-operators consult with an attorney to review the terms. Unfortunately, plenty of owner-operators do not take a close look at the lease until they have a problem with the motor carrier.

If a trucking exec at a small fleet does unfortunately have to terminate a driver, how do they do so legally and ethically to avoid a potential lawsuit? 

Drivers are legally protected when they make safety complaints that relate to DOT violations, or when they refuse a work assignment that would result in a DOT violation. A driver who refuses to operate defective equipment, even if the violation is minor, cannot be fired for this refusal.

Companies should avoid pressuring drivers who refuse loads based on issues with equipment, driver fitness or hours of service. Many wrongful terminations result from miscommunications, so companies and drivers should clearly communicate about the nature of an issue and how they can collaborate to resolve it before tempers flare.

Small businesses often don't have in-house legal teams. How can they stay compliant without draining resources and budgets?

Each commercial driver and every motor carrier share responsibility for operating commercial vehicles in compliance with safety regulations. You don’t need a law degree to read or understand the DOT’s regulations governing commercial trucks. DOT publishes a lot of guidance on how they interpret the regulations.

There are plenty of free resources available for understanding the regulations and how they are enforced. If someone can’t find an answer directly in the regulations or DOT’s articles, a quick call to a local enforcement officer can usually resolve a question.

In general, what should a small carrier always be prepared with, in case they do end up in court?

A party to a lawsuit, whether they are the employee or the company, benefits from keeping good documentation. Truckers generate a lot of paperwork between pre-trip inspections, duty logs, bills of lading and repair records. When a defect was noticed and reported, how long it took to be repaired and who communicated about it can be central to a dispute.

In many lawsuits, the parties have completely different recollections of key events. Accurate records can eliminate questions about the timeline of events and clear up any misunderstandings.