Rules..Rules... and fines!?

Laws protect all people stupid and those that are not like yourself. This particular law was written to control employers that are not trust worthy to treat employes as they should be treated. If you can not grasp that principle maybe I have misjudged you, if so I am sorry.

 

No, idiotic is saying that a driver should not be held responsible for his/her actions. Let me help you.

Bottom Feeder A has 100 trucks, they hire bottom feeder drivers by the bus load. They pay them $.30 cpm, driving 10 yr old trucks. They hire bottom feeder driver A, he goes through training, becomes an otherwise great driver, no OOS violations, no log book violations, no cargo damage claims, then one day he's rushed, he fuels his tractor but doesn't fuel his reefer. 100 miles later, his reefer runs out of fuel, but since he isn't paying attention, he doesn't notice it for 7 hours. The temp. inside his trailer is rising, the food is thawing, spoiling, because he wasn't paying attention. At then end of the day, he finally notices it when he stops for the night. So now he has to fuel his tractor and the reefer, then try and get the reefer started, but the damage to the load is done. Next day he shows up at his customer with a load of lettuce that is now starting to spoil. They refuse most of the load as a result and file a large damage claim, let's say the company has a $1,000 deductible on their cargo insurance. Instead of telling driver A he's paying for the deductible, they fire him and put bottom feeder driver B in the truck. Driver A has learned nothing, it's not a life lesson, it's an "oh well" lesson. Meanwhile, the company pays the $1,000 for the deductible, their insurance pays the rest. They've lost the $1,000, and everyone continues making $.30 cpm and wonder why. Instead, if the company had paid out the $1,000, held driver A responsible for it, taken it out of his check, $100.00 at a time. Every week, he feels the pain of that, he learns a valuable lesson, makes certain to check his reefer tank. Maybe, 6 months later, the company over looks that screw up and gives him a pay raise, he's tickled pink, the company is otherwise happy, and he sticks around for awhile and becomes an asset to the company instead of another griping driver.

No, as already stated it's only illegal in some states, and even the illegal part is grey depending on the situation. Now, look at my example above and tell me how firing the driver, which as we all know is what most companies will do, benefits the driver?
So you retrain him, wow, you take him by the hand to a reefer tank, and show him where the fuel guage is, yep, he's been retrained......3 months later, he does it again.
So you suspend him, if he's suspended from work while at his home terminal, that give him an excuse to clean out his truck, give the company the middle finger, and move on to the next bottom feeder company.
Putting him OOS will be the same result.
As will firing him.

Maybe, by the time he learns his lesson, he's at bottom feeder company D, 2 yrs down the road.

Or better yet, go back to my prior example of the Western Express driver that hit my truck and was incredulous that I would tell my boss the truth and he might file a damage claim, after all bottom feeders beget bottom feeders.

 

Apparently you don't know the laws as well as you think you do.
http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com/wage-payment-laws/state-wage-payment-laws/michigan/

"Deductions from Wages

An employee must consent in writing each time an employer makes a deduction from his or her wages if the deduction is for the benefit of the employer. These type of deductions include:

• cash shortages
• breakage, damage, or loss of the employer’s property
• required uniforms
• required tools
• other items necessary for employment

Although an employer can deduct the above-listed item with the written consent of an employee, the employer cannot coerce or threaten the employee with discharge to obtain the written consent.
An employer cannot withhold or deduct wages from an employees pay check, unless:

• required or permitted to do so by law,
• required or permitted by a collective bargaining agreement, or
• the employee has consented in writing, without coercion, to the deduction."

BTW, do you know what the definition of coercion in this case is, it's "sign this or you're fired". Do you know how the company gets around it, they wait 24 hrs and unless the employee has a specific contractual working agreement, they tell him they have decided they no longer need his services, he just isn't working out. Oh, and that's the way the law is in pretty much every state, even Colorado.

 

I was recovering a truck from a driver that had a dirty drug test. There was a Werner driver there who refused to drive his truck because it had a trailer side clearance light out and was waiting for roadside service to show up. I just shook my head.

 

Some companies though, will fire or write you up for doing the repair yourself. Friend drove for May for two years, he wasn't allowed to do any repairs himself, even lights, they told him to call road service.

 

I could never deal with a company like that. Gentleman from southern refrig ask me to borrow a crescent wrench to fix a mud flap. He told me he got wrote up for a screwdriver in his sidebox.