A federal court has sided with a truck driver who was fired for abandoning his trailer on the side of the road when his trailer brake lines froze and his cab’s heat stopped working.
Trucker Alphonse Maddin was faced with a tough decision on a frigid night in January on I-88 in Illinois. He was running low on fuel and there was no company-approved gas station nearby. He called in to ask what he should do, but in the 10 minutes of sitting on the side of the road it took to make the call, the brake lines in his trailer had frozen. Now unable to drive safely, he called back in and requested a repairman to be dispatched.
Even though the heat in his cab wasn’t working due to a faulty APU, Maddin settled in and tried to get some sleep in the sub-zero temperatures. He was awoken two hours later by a phone call from his cousin who reported that Maddin was slurring his speech and sounded confused. When Maddin tried sitting up, his torso was numb and he couldn’t feel his feet.
Understandably concerned, Maddin contacted his supervisor to ask when the repairman would be there and told him about his condition. His supervisor allegedly repeatedly told him to turn on the APU – even though he had been told it wasn’t working – and stay put.
A half hour after this conversation, Maddin unhitched the trailer and pulled a few feet away. When he called his supervisor to tell him he was leaving to get help, he was told to either stay where he was or take the trailer with him – frozen brakes or no.
Maddin drove away, leaving the trailer where it was. When the repairman arrived, he returned to the trailer and hauled it away. Less than a week later, he was fired.
This incident happened way back in 2009, and has been held up in courts for so long because the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) protects employees who refuse to drive an unsafe vehicle or in unsafe conditions, but does not expressly protect employees who DO drive in order to avoid unsafe conditions.
Luckily for the driver, though the letter of the law may not have been broken, the federal judge hearing the case agreed that the carrier had violated the STAA by firing Maddin for refusing to allow himself to be kept in unsafe conditions.
Interestingly, when Maddin first filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, they rejected his claim. Unwilling to go down without a fight however, Maddin persisted and filed a complaint directly with the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.
Though the court has not yet confirmed a specific payment amount, the STAA requires that an employer who violates the statute must “pay compensatory damages, including backpay with interest.”
According to an interview published in Legal NewsLine, Maddin could easily be awarded “$280,000 plus salary and benefits going forward.”
Source: legalnewsline, law360, 10th circuit court of appeals
I have mixed feelings about all this.
I would have handled it differently.
Sounds like the truck was a rolling pile of broken parts ,however, advanced planning is always the rule of the day when it comes to temperature extremes.
Heater -broken.
APU-broken
Air dryer -broken
Air governor- possibly broken
Driver let fuel get low on tractor
Driver was not proactive in fueling tractor because fuel card not authorized in immediate location.
The DRIVER sounded inexperienced .
The company dispatcher sounded inexperienced AND apathetic.
No matter what, at the end of the day, we are basically on our own out here.
I have noticed an alarming trend, truck drivers are being dumbed down on purpose. Just knowing how to drive the truck is not enough. Just being able to drive the truck, even if you are top shelf at it, is a good way to end up dead.
A person needs at least a working knowledge of every department in the company to safely survive the stupidity of too much compartmentalization.
Compartmentalization makes the whole company strong but every individual weak. You gotta rise above all the B.S. to survive out here.
Learn, learn, learn!!!!!
Goll–ee, Royce, I think you missed an important issue. Most drivers do not get the choice of where to fill up with fuel, they are ASSIGNED a brand of truck stop and sometimes, a specific truck stop, and they OFTEN run low on fuel before they can get to the ASSIGNED truck stop. “there was no company-approved gas station nearby”. His dispatcher told him to use
his APU,, even though he knew the APU was broken. That ought to be cause for termination of the dispatcher, a bunch of lying low-life creeps.
I don t get it,why was he running low on fuel? Any company worth it s salt will tell you: in winter DO NOT RUN with less that half tanks and try to keep them full to avoid condensation in the fuel.
APU’s heater wasn t working,what of the truck’s heater?
I agree with Royce and I place part of the blame on the driver, the company was obviously doing everything they could to fix the trailer,and it looks like they did,but running low on fuel? That s on the driver,everything else cascades from there,the air dryer lets us know when it s going bad,looks like he didn t pay attention to it,if the ait dryer was working fine then the trailer lines would ve been ok.
The judge who ruled on this case must not know much about trucking,I certainly would not have fired the driver,but train him,teach him and make him a better one,as to reward his inexperience with that kind of loot??? Wow!!! Stupidity,inexperience pays off… For the record,my air dryer went south on me once and we got the tail end of winter that night,so condensation+ subzero temps= one very bad night on the side of the road,but I am always prepared,so I survived it warm and cozy…if newbies are reading this: get yourself a -10 rated sleeping bag(lower rated if you run MN),it may save your life one day,it did mine.
So,I am sorry that this newbie got caught in a bad aituation,but the company should not have to pay anything,perhaps re hire him,but that s about that…ok pay him 10k for being wrongfully fired,and even that,he abandoned the trailer….it s hard to sympathize with the driver.
The reason that the amount was so high, was because the company was so slow to accept their part of the responsibility for the incident. Had they rehired him a few weeks or months after the event, then $10k might have been enough. As it was, they spent years appealing the decision and denying their portion of the responsibility. This is a common tactic by large carriers, and yes; it was TransAm – one of the larger carriers out there, (and a training company).
Now, a lot of the problem might have been solved by a more thorough inspection of the equipment, before setting out; it’s not a great idea to head out in January with no heat. But who among us, seriously does such a thorough pre-trip inspection, as to check the safe operation of the bunk heater? We can lay blame (as his carrier probably did) for failing to do so, but we all know how thorough of a pre-trip inspection is really practical, versus what we are held responsible for. The pressures that lead to the difference are real, and in evidence, here. He was told to drag the trailer with it’s frozen brakes, down the road, or stay where he was. The former solution is unbelievably dangerous for everyone on the road, including the driver, and he would certainly have been fired for the damage to the trailer tires. The latter might well have resulted in the death of the driver. They fired him for not following these instructions. The person that gave him these instructions, died, before the hearing – that’s how long the carrier dragged it’s feet. Imagine if the driver had died – right or wrong, the case would likely have been dropped, and the carrier would have gotten away with their part in it.
There needs to be a penalty for the delay in owning up to their part, because they certainly had a part in it.
I’ll tell you this – I would have stopped at a truck stop, and likely been fired there, for refusing to continue under those conditions. The Department of Labor would not have protected or sided with me, even though doing so would have been a better decision than getting stuck on the side of the road, and the next newbie driver would have gotten stuck with the same truck and/or trailer, and it would have happened to him, instead. While that might give me a better chance of survival, it does nothing to improve the frequency with which these situations occur, because they simply happen to someone else, instead of no longer happening, at all. To put a stop to this sort of thing, the carriers need to address the pressures that their dispatchers put on the drivers, their fueling and idling requirements/policies, and their equipment maintenance procedures.
A trailer inspection is not a signed piece of paper; it’s a maintenance activity – which should actually be happening, and not consist solely of signing a piece of paper. That won’t happen, as long as we continue to lay final (and nearly total) responsibility for everything that goes wrong, at the feet of the driver. The driver has the least capacity to get problems resolved, and the most vulnerability to problems, out of any part of the transportation industry – and yet we continue to lay responsibility at their feet, as though refusing to drive were a practical solution to every problem. It might be, if the Department of Labor had our backs, when we do so – but we all know that they don’t, and most of us have families to feed. We cannot afford to refuse to drive, all the time, and that is the only recourse that we ultimately have. Carriers have many other options, and that they choose not to exercise them, because they can lay it all at the feet of the drivers, should be penalized.
Id suggest take your dispatcher for a ride week,but lets do it right,january 1-8.run pa.,east coast,nw.but let them see from a drivers jump seat,since they couldnt do it from behind the wheel.
I’ve had friends run completely out of fuel because of this. When your company bounces you around places where there’s not any “approved” fuel stops it can and it will happen. These companies don’t give two craps about their drivers. We are expendable.
Royce, you are correct, drivers a not only being dumbed down. It’s very important for drivers to realize that they have the final say in whether a truck goes down the road or not. The law will hold them responsible for the actions of the company if the equipment is not save. In this particular case, I agree with you 100%, the driver should have resolved the fuel problem rather than chance it, especially in cold weather as this. The driver should have pulled in to a fuelling location and informed the company he needed fuel, it is up to the company to then resolve the payment method, not the driver. However, it is up to the driver to resolve his fuelling problem by refusing to drive another mile without fuelling up.
The issue is any intelligent person would not drive a truck. An intelligent person would not drive a truck that was company garbage. An intelligent person would flip burgers at a FF joint rather than drive a truck. Truck driving is for the stupid/ignorant for a reason. At least in today’s context. Been there / done that / took a warehouse job with no AC in Florida just to get out of the truck. Stupid people, stupid companies, stupid people maintaining trucks = #fail. Get out and be a Walmart greeter. At least you’ll be home every night and you won’t have to deal with dumb-ass dispatchers *who don’t give a sh!t because they do go home every night*
Yeah, it’s the driver’s fault. Problem solved.
I worked for the company though it’s not listed here. The company drivers like prisoners. You drive where they tell you, fuel where they tell you and you fuel up however much they tell you. You deviate from any of that and your ass is grass. They don’t fair well with lease drivers either. That’s why their is also a pending class action against them right now because they aren’t paying the lease drivers their full miles they have driven for loads.
Sounds like the crap CRST would pull
Cedar Rapids Super Trucker???
Cedar Rapids Stupor Truckin’
Read the story,pay attention son,the driver has more fault than the company,he informed them that the trailer had a problem,the company sent out help,he was running low on fuel, how was the company supposed to know that?? When I was a company man I was told and it was company policy to always,always keep our fuel tanks as full as possible,why? Bc if we had to idle to survive,we could idle as long as any ice storm would last,the driver failed to do that,keeping an eye on one’s fuel level is one’s responsability,the co. Pays it… you think the company wants a human icycle in the truck? No way….if the driver had kept the fuel levels up over half tanks,he would ve had fuel to idle,kept the red valve down and air circulating in the system…but NO,his negligence was the cause of all…I would hire this driver,re train him and make sure he stocks his truck up for winter,he was ill prepared like most inexperienced drivers,I would appeal the case,driver didn t deserve to be fired,but neither did he deserve this 228k …and something tells me,if he has any decency,if he has learned anything since then,he knows that he bears some of the blame,and if the trailer/truck had any issues he should ve made sure it was fixed before he left.
Some APUs are small motors that constantly break because they are not isolated from vibration.
Bunk heaters are not always reliable and operate from fuel tank.
Company trucks have Idle timers that may be 3 – 5 min before shut down.
Big Companies use Fuel management software and TELL the Driver when and where to Fuel regardless of Truck load weight some times allowing fuel level to stretch to lower tank levels, (Not a good practice in Winter or Hot Summer).
And yes, Drivers not wanting to buck the system, Drain water from air or fuel system, lose time for repairs, or unreasonable Dispatchers who worry more about loads than Drivers, can make Bad decisions into Worse Events !
Any time a company would even think about compromising safety of a driver over a load it should be left IMMEDIATELY. Given the driver might have been new the company should have done everything ASAP to help him out. I’m sure this same company would have blamed the driver as not following safety protocols had he stayed and died while waiting. This is just one of thousands of examples of why the driving industry can’t get drivers. This company should be fined to the max and it should be communicated loud and clear to all. Support your drivers or pay a big price for failure to do so. Good for this driver for fighting and winning. Hope his company gets the message or maybe if we’re all lucky goes under.
I had a dispatcher that once told a fellow driver ” Whats more important,that load or your family.” I had to step in between them or my friend would have killed him . His son had been taken to the ER and dispatch never notifyed him.
Dispatchers are a heartless bunch .
Mostly brainless, too.
Anybody that runs on zero fuel in the dead of winter should be drawn and quartered for being an unnecessary risk to public safety….I’m not talking about the driver here, it’s the penny-pinching morons that make stupid decisions from the comfort of an office chair
But as long as the drivers are willing to execute the stupid decisions by penny-pinching morons, then nothing will change. In this case the driver should have stopped before being caught short of fuel. Better to fight your battle back at the terminal with management, then to risk your live and other’s on the road. Had he stopped and refused to drive until he fueled up, he might have gotten fired, but at least he wouldn’t have risked his life by almost freezing to death.
But then he wouldn’t now be in line to collect $280K back wages and damages.
I believe the relationship with newbie drivers and management, should replicate that of loving parents and their own baby.Nurture, protect, direct and teach every step of the way. I believe a truckers experiences and accolades should be scored similar to martial arts… (yellow ,gold,orange…..etc) and not just truckers bellowing out the years, they’ve tinkered in trucking. The same goes for dispatch and management. Sounds like Ray Charles helping Stevie Wonder get across a busy street…destined for failure. ..
I didn’t run out of fuel in the dead of winter on the NY thruway east of Syracuse but I had a wire on the fuel governor break off and thats almost as bad . Got cold real quick.
OK let’s say that the driver was a dummy like Royce,basically was saying, I’m wondering if his daughter ran into the back of the trailer and died,would this move more resonsibility towards the company. Yeah ,he was a rookie,but the company also put him in this position and it is their equipment and it is their dumb fuel policy and their resonsibility to have someone knowledge to handle this. I am not a suing kind,but I say make an example out of the blood suckling companies. Sue the hell,out of them,it will cut short a few golf games for the CEO.
Dispatchers push rookies to run without heat, they tell them that they can push out fuel stops, and cry becauseof idle time in freezing weather. I’m a mechanic and Ive seen and heard it. The experienced drivers know how to deal with it, but the rookies let themselves get painted into corners.
Need to get fuel before you get low in a area that you are not approved to use.
https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/15/15-9504.pdf
After driving 26 years it doesn’t surprise me that driver should be more proactive, if the Apu, and other essential parts on the lower unit don’t work, then get them the company to repair, or replace those affected parts if the company refuses then refuse to leave the terminal, turn down the load your and those on the road rely on your good judgement, and by leaving the terminal then you accepted the responsibility of dealing with any breakdowns, fuel is another of those very important issues why continue to drive and go past fuel stops, if dispatch refuses to allow you to refuel then you make life saving decision and refuel deal with dispatch when you return and confront the terminal manager and give him or her the full rundown
I know its part of your safety check but sometimes drivers don’t always check to make sure their APU is working .Knowing where he was going though should have awakened him to the fact that if he breaks down he’s screwed . The company will retreave the truck and get it rolling again but you will be dead.
you do that at my outfit…….you get “punished”
This is why I will never drive another company truck. Paying my own bills, I will always have what I need on the road to survive and get the job done. I am not shy about preventive maintenance or fixing problems on my truck. Screw that dispatcher and his blood sucking boss. Sue him till he is in the poor house. He deserves it.
“Drawn and quartered for running low on fuel,.”
knowing just how much fuel was in the tanks is irrelevant,. Nowhere in the info posted does it say the driver ran out of fuel. His comfort level with fuel reserves might be much less than another driver. The heater not working created a hardship above and beyond his pay scale. I personally think the driver exercised his options, and it was his cold ass state of mind that was seeking warmth after 2+ hrs of waiting and outside diagnosing a froze up trailer.
I’ve trucked in remote places the places you might see on a reality tv show, you meke sure of your own comfort and survival first. To hell with the truck trailer and load.
BOTTOM LINE like last guy said, FIX TRUCK or im not leaving terminal. …. collect the fax later and file complaints, or sue. It will stop.
I don’t think that the driver was totally at fault here. This is all due to the companies’ financial policies. If the driver was a rookie, he shouldn’t have been allowed to drive solo under those conditions. When I started driving, I was 56 years old, so I had plenty of time to become the person I was then, & that meant not putting up with any employer’s bullshit. I refused to move only one time in the 8+ years that I drove & finally had to threaten to abandon the load, the trailer, & the tractor before the dispatcher decided that he wasn’t going to force me to move & that he wasn’t giving me a service failure for being late either. It’s tough out there, being a driver, & there is a whole lot of knowledge that is required for the job; people assume that drivers are all stupid & that seems to be true of the companies’ upper management & owners. You can’t be stupid & be a truck driver!! As long as the companies continue to hire young people with little life experience, not capable of making logical decisions on their own, there will always be crap like this happening. Imagine if the guy’s cousin hadn’t awakened him with his phone call; he’d have frozen to death. And that was apparently preferable to the company than for him to get himself to a safe place. And 7 years it took to get this verdict???!!? $280,000 for 7 years!! Amazing. I’m glad I’m not out there any more; I’m retired now. I loved being a trucker, but that was then…
Certainly, the driver could have handled things differently. (Personally, I wouldn’t have left the terminal in the winter with no APU or bunk heater.) However, they guy was likely freezing to death! At that point he had to do something, and he did. At that point, his only other option was to let himself get dangerously cold and possibly even die. He went back and recovered the trailer once roadside repairs were completed.
Then the idiot desk jockeys who run his company fired him.
I’m glad he won his lawsuit. I hope he takes his cheap-ass company to the cleaners, financially.
When rules and regulations collide with common sense, then common sense should prevail…
What you said!!!!
If the company does not allow me, the responsible the truck and it’s load to decide when to fuel or when it is safe to drive. I will not work for that company. We as drivers need to take back control of our rigs. Remember it is our responsibility to make sure we and others on the road are safe.
The company trusts you to make sure the truck is up and running. As far as fuel , if they pay for it you have to fuel where they say. My company wanted me to fuel at this particular truck stop that at the time fuel was 4.25 per gal. I told him I can get it cheaper at another place that isn’t out of route .They told me to continue fueling where I was . One day I ha a problem ,my fuel jelled up.and I don’t understand how because I had just driven 75 miles and the fuel should be warm enough to melt any ice crystals. From that day on I was fueling at another truckstop.
Some companies designate specific fuel stops because they get rebates or lower prices because of buying ahead.
Alot of big talkers on this channel. Refuse this, fix that, yeah it what universe is that happening. How many have 5 years to file law suits, go through the denial and appeals process, and the possibility of losing the case and having no decent job in between because they loaded your dac with negative comments. Refused loads is code for trouble maker. Glad this worked out for this guy and hopefully with the new laws more companies will take maintenence more serious. Frankly lawsuits are included when doing business plans. Large carriers factor in a roll over a day as part of doing business. If they send out 1000 shitty trucks a day and profit 200 from each truck thats 200 thousand bucks. So in two days they paid this guys lawsuit. Business as usuall.
APU or webasto does not work if fuel level is too low.
JB did this to me up in the U P. They told me how much fuel I had while I’m arguing, I am looking at the Guage. Needless to say I ran out of fuel. I quit when I got back to Chicago.
What kinda idiot rolls down the road in extreme weather low on fuel? He should have made sure he had enough fuel to complete his trip or at the very least to get to his companies next authorized fuel stop. Basically he was going to run out of fuel regardless. If he had the appropriate amount of fuel he wouldn’t have stopped therefore the trailer brakes wouldn’t have froze. No heat, broken APU sounds like a great company to work for. Drivers responsibility to make sure his truck is ready to go, driving in sub zero temperature with no heat, not very smart.
This Driver probably saved his own life. He deserves compensation. Trucking companies (including the one I drove for, for 5+ years), DO tell Drivers to do things that are unsafe, and life threatening; Drive OVER the 11 hours by going back into our E-Logs, scraping up every minute over the 15 that we used fueling and truck maintenance, and putting THAT extra time onto Driving Time, in order for US to make it to a delivery. This totally defeats the main purpose of HAVING the E-Logs, doesn’t it?! I was ‘forced’ to do that many times. Their APUs ALWAYS quit working!….so much so, that they finally were taking them ALL OFF, and selling them. This company now has around 600 trucks on the road, every day.
What happened to the good ole days when it was 10 hrs driving 8 hours sleep. About the fuel I not only made sure I had enough fuel but also put antiwax additives in the tank in sub weather
Rule # 1 never set your trailer brakes in freezing temps unless you plan on staying there. Rule #2 carrry a bottle of alcohol to pour in the air lines. Rule #3 Carry a heavy maul to beat the brakes loose. Having enough fuel is common sense too.
If this isn’t a reason to get an education and get the hell out of this occupation, nothing is. Seriously. Could you imagine this scenario in any other semi-skilled work environment with women or educated men or women (professionals)? C’mon guys. Our industry is all about bullying, coercion and intimidation. Have you had enough yet?
many companies management smart enough to blame driver for all incidents,
never take responsibility for anything, and never review driver feed back,
this is one among them need a lesson to learn at bigger expense.
Wow, so many experts here. “The driver should….”
Are you employed within the trucking industry? if your answer is yes, please tell me where, because 99% of the trucking companies are POS who consider the trucker as the enemy. If you work for that 1% of companies who respect your decisions, please let us know to go apply asap.
Who’s to say that the Driver didn’t check the APU before it broke as most are making it seem. Mechanical things break. And normally at the worst possible times, thats why we have mechanics! As for him running out of fuel, many said he should have gotten fuel before he ran out….well duh! He didn’t run out. He called to report he was running low and he probably wasn’t going to make his next fuel stop. If he’s a rook as many think he is, then he probably thought he had to make it to his next fuel stop and his prior solution probably was short to begin with. That’s the problem with many drivers, quick to criticize another driver without knowing all the facts.
Of course we super truckers would have all went to a fuel stop and sat until we got fuel and heat too for many!
The company could have (should have) just routed the driver to the nearest fuel stop….PERIOD! They had to know how far THEIR authorized station was from where he was when he called in and knew he wasn’t going to make it. What would have been the difference in fuel price from the stations he was close to compared to THEIR authorized station? Probably pennies. Now guess how much they’re gonna pay??? LOL
Driver safety means nothing to many Carriers, it seems all they care about is their load and it arriving on time. Carriers need to become more accountable. I’m glad to see the carrier is being held accountable in this instance. I may not drive truck, but my husband does and there is no way in heck I would put up with the garbage he does in this industry, or the attitude you do it or we will find someone who will do it, by many carriers. I would have left the truck parked and walked away.
This sounds like the outfit I work for. (they are based in Wisconsin). Its a revolving door, lots, (lots) of Noobs. They don’t last long. I wont go “long with them for all the reasons listed above. Luckily, I only do local work for them. There “rules” are stupid enough. IE: Traffic, accidents, washouts, (not considered “road conditions”)and not an excuse for being late! Go figure!!
This just me, he pulled the trailer brake big no no in cold weather they will freeze. I would got underneath the trailer with a hammer and unfreeze them. I do all my minor work on my truck sadly that is going by the wayside. I have seen drivers come into a shop and have a headlight changed a simple job no tools needed.
Yep. I’m not paid to do repairs.
I think there was much more to the story. And there was a misscommunication, pissed driver and huge argument, with everybody he talked to that day. Driver must stay calm and peacefull at all times. Explain hes problem as understudable as possible for dispatch who probably knows nothing about trux. If this dispatch is very dumb call another one. Make sure your problem gets to manager, servise dept or even boss depends on size and structure of the company. Never get pissed at peopple they didnt brake your truck. In case if everyone knows about ur problem and they tell you to do something illegal and dangerous. You are the captain of this ship its under your responsibility, your desision is final. No one will go to jail for you if you kill some one. And no one will feed your kids if you die out there. So peasefuly and calmly put them in front of the fact that you are leaving to closest truck stop to refuel and warm your self up cuz you are freezing. Find nearest truck service and fix your cab heater. Since this is must work component during sub zero tempratures. And next time refuse to pull out of the yard if you have such problem. Again dont yell at peopple always be calm and peasefull, make them feel stupid. Dont make them feel like you are. When you screaming and f…..ing at them. If everything done rigt and calm. And they still fire you for refusing to drive equipment with minimum basic functions working. You shouldnt even be sorry. Find your self a better company. Let their managers or boss drive their crapy trucks.
Too much to state. My company knows how much we have in our tanks thru the qualcom. Most companies including mine won’t let you idle, and install the no idle software. Mind you we are going back to 2009. I remember how I-88 would freeze over in some parts. I blame the company more. We all know the do what you have to do before HOS ELECTRONIC surveillance came into play. Before audio started recording this guys saying your fired if you dont keep going. Yes i agree just 7 8 years later they are (drivers) being dumb down but give this guy some slack. Proper planing doesn’t mean anything if your company is strict on where to fuel and your stuck in a blizzard.
Carrier: run it till it’s ragged maintenance model (no cab heat + apparent lack of brake conditioner use). The driver, whom was Talking with the Corporation to describe the problem is very good. The Carrier turned into a belligerent when they refused to give greater gravity to what the driver was viewing. Genuinely, one must ask the question: why did Carrier allow the driver to operate their equipment in such reckless weather conditions…it sounds like the roads were icy. i.e. the brake lines freeze are freezing up.