Picked up a hitchhiker annnd got randomly inspected.

FMCSA has a policy concerning just about anything you can think of. I spend time every day staying up with their latest ideas and communications.
In this case is it a policy or is it an actual law?
Our insurance company forbids us to take unauthorized passengers. However, in an emergency we're allowed to transport people to the nearest place of safety. It's left up to us to determine what constitutes an emergency.
I'll never fire a man for stopping to help or transport someone in trouble or distress.
I might fire him if he didn't.

 

SHORT STORY.....
A driver from a well known Company....(see picture), picked Up this hitchicker (because it was Cold outside). They arrived to a Truck Stop, the driver was going to Top off the Tanks, Stops number Two in Line, The passenger gets Out to go to the Restroom, Then the truck in front rolls Out of the Pumps....Driver drives over a bump that he thought it was a Speed bump. Others started screaming to him to Stop. Well he did...........Not before he drove over his passenger. Of course it was Not intentional. Now think about the repercussions after such an action. (See the picture)(True Story)

 

Why are you asking me?

It is a regulation, not a law or policy.

I have a different take on it, my insurance company and the last auditor in here both have said its not allowed unless I follow the regulations, which means an insurance coverage and a release by the person on file with a live (original) signature so picking anyone up is not allowed.

If it is a safety issue, then my drivers are supposed to call one of us 24/7 and tell us the situation and allow US to make that decision, this limits all of our liabilities.

IF they don't call, or at least attempt to call, then I will terminate them if I found out and have.

 

Yeah I heard that.

Here is a short story.

There was an accident a while back (1989) where a truck hit another truck that was slowing down. The driver lost control, ended up flipping it on its right side trapping the driver in the seat when it slide into a guard rail. They got the driver out, pretty messed up could not talk or anything. They took him to the hospital. The tow company talked to the company and the company said to bring the truck to the recovery lot and they will get the insurance company involved. They started to clean the mess up, pulled the truck away from the guard rail only to discover there was someone smashed under the guard rail mess who was in the passenger seat.

The driver picked up some hitcher when he fueled up, didn't tell anyone.

The company was sued by the family of the hitcher for wrongful death, the insurance company would not cover it and was also sued. The company with ten trucks was out of business in 11 months because of this stunt.

I will have to see if there is a link to the story, I have it in a news clippings that my safety girl ran across a few years back.

 

Always willing to help someone -- came across a utility service truck on the shoulder on I80, nasty Wyoming winter -- below zero and getting dark. He had run out of diesel. Someone ran him to a truck stop and he got a ride back with a can of fuel and couldn't get it going. I spent a half hour trying to prime the thing but it would not start. So I gave him a ride back to the truck stop. At least he wasn't going to freeze to death. I really hope he got it sorted!
I'd do it again in a heartbeat-- especially for a fellow driver.

 

Some people willing to help some not.

 

"Good call"......and justified. Happy Trails..!

 

If you don't trust your drivers to make a good decision you're probably doing the right thing by having them call you.
I trust our drivers. They know that they're not allowed to pick up hitchhikers or take unauthorized passengers. They also know when and how to bend the rules a little when the situation calls for it. I know, nobody likes to talk about that but we all do it to some extent.
They also know that, in an emegency or in a time of need...stranded motorist with no options, bad weather, small children, somebody being ill...that it's their call. If the situation is bad enough and if the need is great enough that a decision and an action is an immediate necessity I don't want them taking the time to screw around with phone calls.
They'll have to document what they've done and the reasons for doing so will have to be good ones. We trust them to do that. They in turn trust us not to bust them for what they've done.
At some point in this business we have to remember that humans are involved and act accordingly.

 

That's exactly the kind of situation I was talking about in my previous post. You did the right thing.

 

I've picked up many passengers in a company vehicle when I was running Coast to Coast but it was for a fairly small outfit and we had lots of leeway.
Definitely hard to get away with that sort of thing when you work for one of the big Mega outfits.