Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/550385
Logbook August 2015 | Overdrive | 19 Two trucking companies last month were ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupa- tional Safety and Health Admin- istration to pay one of their driv- ers $20,000 in punitive damages following lengthy legal cases. Oak Harbor Freight Lines Inc. was ordered for a second time to stop retaliating against drivers who refuse to drive when they feel too ill or fatigued. The company suspended a driver with 25 years of experience without pay for saying he didn't feel well enough to drive. The driver filed a whistleblow- er complaint, citing violation of safe operating rules under the Surface Transportation Safety Act, which protects drivers from retaliation by employers for refusing to drive when doing so would violate safety laws. OSHA investigators found that the company's attendance policy encouraged drivers to operate trucks while sick or exhausted, and that drivers absent due to illness or exhaus- tion faced possible discipline or termination. OSHA said it re- peatedly had asked Oak Harbor to change the attendance policy but that the company did not comply. In the other case, New Prime Inc., part of Prime Inc., was fined following the driver's 2008 firing and New Prime's subsequent changes to his DAC report. Judge Lystra Harris' ruling is a continuation of a 2014 ruling in which OSHA said New Prime had violated federal law by in- cluding "damaging and mislead- ing information" on the driver's Drive-A-Check pre-employment report. OSHA's $100,000 order, however, was knocked down by Harris, who heard the case following Prime's appeal of the 2014 order. Lystra instead ordered that New Prime pay the driver $9,600 in back wages and $10,000 for mental pain. In 2008, after hurting his back on the job, the driver was prescribed pain medication that prevented him from operating a truck. He wasn't able to drive again until July 2009, when he was cleared by his doctor to return to work. It was then he saw that Prime had submitted negative information about him to DAC. – Staff reports Speci cations are subject to change without notice. Detroit Diesel Corporation is registered to ISO 9001:2008. Copyright © 2015 Detroit Diesel Corporation. All rights reserved. Detroit ™ is a brand of Detroit Diesel Corporation, a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America LLC, a Daimler company. DEMANDDETROIT.COM Engines, axles and a transmission all engineered and designed to work together as one. An entire powertrain built and backed by a single manufacturer for greater ef ciency and pro tability. That is the power and value of Detroit. ONLY DETROIT CAN DELIVER THIS LEVEL OF integration. Daimler Detroit_82574_Western Star Ad 4C_2.25"w x 9.5"h_1/3 Page_Non-Bleed Overdrive DET_82574_WesternStar_Overdrive.indd 1 4/10/15 4:44 PM are calculated. In addition to allowing testing of hair samples to satisfy driver drug testing requirements, the bill would direct FMCSA "to estab- lish a six-year pilot program to allow states to enter into interstate compacts to allow for appropri- ately licensed drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 to travel in interstate commerce." The bill also would change windshield-mounting rules to let carriers mount safety devices, such as forward- and driver-facing cameras, to windshields. – James Jaillet (Continued from Page 16) Two carriers ordered to pay drivers $20,000