Q: I drive truck for 7up. Work truck ball joints are bad. Boss told me it would get fixed. Next day txt my truck fixed. NOT
He didn't even have it sent in. He lied to me about making a company vehicle safe for me to drive. I had to drive to West Virginia almost 200 miles that day. I have pictures before after. I have text messages between a coworker also from me and my boss about it. And the text he lied about my truck being fixed. Just knowing that my or anyone else on the road are not safe is not right.
A:
A commercial truck driver may not operate a truck or other vehicle with a known safety issue or defect. This is a "you" problem as much as a "boss" problem. Your evidence collection establishes that "YOU" had scienter--that is, actual knowledge of the dangerous condition. God forbid had the ball joint failed and caused a collision with another vehicle and injuries to another person; you may well have had criminal liability under the circumstances.
If this were to happen again, in reply to a text message from your boss that the truck has been fixed, I recommend you send back a message that during your walk-around inspection before departing, you can see that your boss was misinformed about repairs having been made to your truck and that the ball joints on your truck have not been repaired. Because it is safety issue, you are unable to operate the truck until the condition has been corrected. And then do not drive the truck.
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