The Coercion law

... Ummm better call law enforcement for something like that

 

I'm not so convinced about how well this coercion law will be enforced. The so-called whistle-blower regs haven't held up well, I've read of some cases where the FMSCA refused to do anything because the cases were in "right to work" states. The shippers, receivers, most brokers and companies could give a rats tail about it. They'll find some way around it by pushing employees or contractors out with crappy loads and/or miles and other abuses the the entire industry in general pulls with drivers(while complaining about turnover being too high). A lot of people think those right to work laws are just to get rid of unions. It's worse than they think. It just gives employers more leeway to screw employees over and to get around labor and safety regs.

 

it's been enforced. Martin Transport I believe has been fined over 150k for breaking that law.

With the way it is written now there us no wiggle room to weasel out of it. Try to force a driver to drive illegal after they have stated it's illegal to do so and they have no way out.


On what that other guy said... try forcing me out my truck and I will kill you

 

Best thing to do is avoid this situation as best you can. If not, tell whomever to call local law enforcement, (or do it yourself), video the whole thing, locals will not supersede the Feds, if they do the old iPhone will get you paid later.

 

Here's what local cops tell me. "I just don't understand why people think they have the right to park when the property owner says not to."

The ones I've spoken to consider HOS to be the driver's responsibility. If the state troopers nail you they don't care. They care that someone is trespassing. They enforce local ordinances and they might understand that a driver is in a tough position but that's not his concern. They can arrest you for trespassing and impound your truck.

HellI saw that play out at a truck stop last year. Guy sat in a fuel lane for five hours claiming he couldn't move becauce there were no parking spaces and he was out of HOS. I've had security call the cops on me when I was out of HOS at a consigned, I called my carrier and they had the truck towed to a Walmart two miles away at their expense before the cops showed up. Just part of the price a carrier has to pay for putting a QC in that starts recording driving as soon as you move 500'.

I've asked local cops before about federal vs local and HOS and their response is almosr always "which set is the guy with the badge enforcing?"

In Indiana it's not even a question. Several years ago the state supreme court ruled that there is no right to refuse an unlawful order given by a peace officer. Your sole remedy is to file a civil suit against his department after everything else has been taken care of. Every state I have heard about sovereign immunity means that the police can't get in trouble for enforcing local over federal rules. The courts can overturn whatever penalties might be put in place but threatening the guy with the badge with a complaint to the FMCSA isn't going to win you any favors. Unless they are DOT certified inspectors (some locals send officers for that) there's no leverage there.

I think the best you could do is get an agreement for your truck to be towed somewhere other than the impound lot if they are intent on backing up the property owner on this issue.

 

see that's where the driver messed up. A local cop does not have the correct jurisdiction. When in doubt call state troopers as they are DOT certified.

Local laws do not supercede federal ones.

 

I had an incident involving an irate customer the other day and Houston I park there for the night and the night shift supervisor come out and told me to move and leave I said well technically I'm out of hours and under the law you cannot make me move and then he didn't proceeded to cuss me out and tell me he was going to whoop my ###... I told him to bring it on because he was going to end up getting taken out if you did he said he didn't give a #### what the laws were it was going to be his way... Needless to say the next morning when the management came in I told him what had happened and gave them the picture of the idiot and come to find out the guy had been a troublemaker before and done this numerous times so they canned his ###

 

it's a $16.5k fine if you pursue it though dot and shippers and receivers know it..

####### rent a cops have no clue that pretending they have power can cost their supervisor more then they are worth

 

I did not read the whole thing but what I did read about the coercion law posted pertained to an "employee" and the loss of work due to the load being given to someone else because of HOS violation so the "employee" lost work because of it. Didn't see anything about a contractor, or anything about after the load has been delivered. If someone could point out the exact spot that pertains to a non-employee, much appreciated. To my knowledge, when I am told that I have to get off of private property, I have to go. Have heard stories of the drivers resisting and dot coming and telling the driver he has to leave. As a matter of fact I cannot recall ever hearing a story of the law telling the shipper/receiver that the truck stays. From what I recall the dot tells the drive to go and make a note of why you moved.

The only coercion law that I know of that pertains to me is coerced lumping.

 

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/coercion


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