Why Do Trucking Companies Hire Disqualified Drivers?

Disqualified drivers are by definition incompetent to drive. They pose a danger to anyone on the road. If you were injured by one of them, you might have avoided your injuries if the trucking company had followed the rules. Understanding why trucking companies take the risk of hiring a disqualified driver can help you investigate your claim.

Important background information: vicarious liability, employees and independent contractors

Both Ohio and Kentucky distinguish between employees and independent contractors. There is no bright-line distinction—courts decide this question on a case-by-case basis. In a nutshell, an employee is far more dependent on their employer than an independent contractor is. Here is an example of the basic distinction:

• A trucking company hires a driver, assigns them a company-owned truck, sets their schedule, and requires them to follow company policies every day. That driver is likely an employee.
• A trucking company hires an owner-operator who drives their own rig, chooses when and how to complete deliveries (within contract terms), and pays their own expenses. That driver is typically an independent contractor.

Legal consequences

So what’s the difference between an employee and an independent contractor for legal purposes? Legally speaking, if an employee negligently harms you, you can sue both the employee and their employer, as long as the employee was acting within the scope of their employment at the time they injured you. You don’t have to prove that the employer was negligent to win a lawsuit against both of them.

Generally, companies are not vicariously liable for the negligence of independent contractors. However, both Ohio and Kentucky recognize limited exceptions.

What qualifies as a truck driver disqualification?

The federal and state governments all maintain standards for suspending or revoking a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Offenses that the federal government might use to disqualify a driver include:

• Serious traffic violations, including violations less severe than a DUI such as reckless driving.
• Positive drug/alcohol tests. If you’re driving on a CDL, a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of only 0.04% is enough for a DUI.
• Disqualifications for medical conditions such as poor eyesight.
• A truck accident caused by the CDL holder.

Individual states have their own standards for disqualification, Ohio, for example, can suspend a CDL for failure to stop for a school bus even in a non-commercial vehicle. Kentucky can suspend a CDL for refusal to submit to alcohol testing even in a non-commercial vehicle. Both of these examples are non-exclusive-–many other bases for disqualification exist.

Why some trucking companies ignore the rules

Why do some trucking companies ignore the rules? A tempting short answer is “human nature.” More specifically, common reasons include:

• Pressure to meet delivery schedules.
• Shortages of drivers, leading to desperation hiring.
• Financial pressure to avoid downtime.
• Negligent hiring practices (systemic failure to check a candidate’s driving record, for example).
• Inadequate background checks.

Any of these failures can put the lives of other motorists and passengers at risk. Unfortunately, all of them are distressingly common.

How unqualified drivers evade the rules

There are dozens of tricks that an unqualified driver might use to beat the system, including:

• Presenting forged or falsified driving records (a criminal offense).
• Using third-party contractors with lax hiring standards.
• Working as an out-of-state hire (it’s easier to slip through the cracks that way).
• Taking advantage of a trucking company culture that prioritizes profits over safety.

A complete list of ways to evade the rules is limited only by human creativity.

The dangers posed by disqualified drivers

Drivers are not disqualified arbitrarily. A disqualification represents a weakness in driving ability or personal character that generates real consequences:

• A higher likelihood of serious or fatal crashes.
• Poor decision-making under pressure.
• Inability to handle the inevitable driving emergencies that punctuate a commercial driver’s career.

In the long run, hiring disqualified drivers doesn’t pay off. Instead, it increases the risk of rule violations and imposes unnecessary liability on the company.

Your rights if you were injured by a disqualified driver

If you have been injured in an accident with a disqualified driver, you have legal rights that you can enforce, just as if you were hurt in a car accident.

Negligent hiring

As mentioned above, some truck drivers are independent contractors of the trucking companies they work for, not employees. In such cases, you might not be able to successfully sue the trucking company for the negligence of its driver. Sometimes, the truck driver is an actual employee and you can indeed sue the trucking company for the driver’s negligence, even if the trucking company didn’t do anything wrong.

Even if the truck driver is an independent contractor, however, you can sue a trucking company for its own negligence. And trucking companies are obligated to make sure their drivers are qualified. Failure to do so (by hiring a driver with two DUIs, for example), could constitute negligence. You can use negligence as a basis to sue the trucking company for negligent hiring. You can also sue the driver for negligent driving.

Ohio and Kentucky both recognize the offense of negligent hiring, but they apply it differently. You need a lawyer who knows how to build an effective case in the relevant jurisdiction.

Evidence of a driver disqualification can strengthen your claim because it is difficult for a trucking company to deny negligence if they hired a disqualified driver. It’s possible, however, if the disqualified driver was skilled enough at concealing their disqualification.

Your next move matters

Don’t let a trucking company’s shortcuts destroy your health or your finances. You have the right to seek fair compensation for all of your losses, both tangible and intangible. Crandall & Pera Law, LLC operates seven offices in Ohio and Kentucky, and we are ready to lace up our gloves and fight for you.

Contact us today to schedule a free initial consultation, where we can listen to your story and explore your legal options. We won’t charge you a dime in attorney’s fees unless we win your case.