Trucker awarded nearly $30k after termination for oversize load safety concerns

A truck driver was awarded almost $30,000 after being fired for refusing to haul an oversize load without the proper escort. 

The reslts of the federal investigation by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration were published on September 17th for an incident that began at a rest stop in Tennessee in December of 2023. 

According to the documents, the unnamed truck driver was at a Tennessee rest stop going over the next leg of his route for an oversize load when he noticed that the next portion of the route required an escort. The driver contacted his company, Truestart Transport, and informed his dispatcher, Alex, of the escort requirements. Alex reportedly told the trucker “not to follow the permitted route that required an escort.”

“Complainant was told he was not going to get an escort vehicle and complainant relayed he was not moving without one,” the investigation report states. “Alex told him if he was not going to make the transit without an escort, he was to take his stuff out of the truck and Alex would send his father to make the transit. Complainant would then be sent home. Complainant interpreted these statements to mean that he was being terminated.”

Dispatcher Alex’s father arrived at the rest stop the next day and the driver says he was given the option to either haul the oversize load illegally or be fired. The driver refused the load and was subsequently forced to travel home to Texas on his own dime. 

“OSHA believes that complainant and his family suffered tremendously from respondents’ illegal conduct and compensatory damages for pain and suffering are appropriate. OSHA also believes that respondents’ conduct warrants punitive damages. In addition to first threatening complainant with firing him from employment unless he agreed to violate DOT regulations, respondents stranded complainant in a rest stop parking lot.”

Representatives of the trucking company did not respond to notifications from OSHA regarding the investigation of due process letters. Truestart Transport LLC has been ordered to pay the unnamed driver $9,698 in back wages and interest, $10,000 in punitive damages, and $10,000 in compensatory damages.