Joshua Mark Bullock sues former boss over truck crash

A regional truck driver has filed a whopping negligence lawsuit for a rollover that he claims resulted in the loss of his high paying job. But his former employer is fighting the claim.

Joshua Bullock had been driving from Mount Colin mine to Ernest Henry mine to unload a cargo of copper ore when the rollover occurred on September 12, 2019. Picture: Steve Pohlner

A truck driver has filed an $850,000 negligence lawsuit for a rollover that occurred between mine sites that he claims caused him to suffer post traumatic stress disorder resulting in the loss of his high paying job.

Tiaro resident Joshua Mark Bullock alleges he suffers from “intrusive thoughts and dreams” of the crash, regular panic attacks, suicidal ideation and that his psychiatric prognosis is poor.

In documents filed in Mackay Supreme Court the 40 year old claimed he was earning $1406.50 net per week but lost his job soon after the crash when he was unable to return to work and was “now precluded from work as a truck driver as a direct result of the PTSD”.

However his former employer had hit back alleging Mr Bullock’s employment was terminated because he refused to take a drug test and that he had been driving too fast which was the cause of the crash.

The company also alleged Mr Bullock had been travelling too fast and as a result caused the rollover.

Mr Bullock had been driving between Ernest Henry and Mount Colin mines when the incident occurred on September 12, 2019 – “as the truck approached a crest on a sharp corner of an unsealed road, namely Mount Colin Access Rd, its brakes failed”.

“The truck started to pick up speed and partially drove up a rock wall to the side of the road way before rolling,” court documents alleged.

The Ernest Henry mine and plant, 38km northeast of Cloncurry.

“The brake line of the truck failed due to it being struck by an object, such as a rock, and disconnecting the brake lines push and twist air fittings as a result.”

In court documents sighted by the Daily Mercury, the 40 year old claimed he completed a pre-start check of “the truck that revealed no problems/issues”.

“Given the brakes of the truck have been in working order up until very shortly before the incident, the object must had struck the brake line as the truck travelled along Mount Colin Access Rd,” court documents read.

Mr Bullock claimed the brake line would not have failed if an object struck it had it been fitted with fail safe fittings.

He is suing his former employer Dirt Diesel and Dust Pty Ltd trading as Queensland Bulk Haulage for $853,912.90 for negligence and breach of contract.

He alleged the company was aware the truck had been “fitted with push and twist air fittings … rather than fail safe air fittings” and that because of his PTSD he was restricted to unskilled labour with an earning capacity that does not extend beyond $600 per week.

Queensland Bulk Haulage, in its defence, denied the brakes failed before the truck rolled or that an object struck the brake line “because there is an absence of any evidence” to support this claim.

“The material contributor to the incident was (Mr Bullock’s) failure to drive the truck at the speed he knew to have been required to control the operation of the truck through the section of road where the incident occurred,” Queensland Bulk Haulage’s defence claim stated.

It alleges Mr Bullock had been travelling in excess of 40kmh when he hit the sharp bend, rather than between the 10-20kmh that his “knowledge and history” dictated.

Queensland Bulk Haulage stated they believe Mr Bullock attempted to change gears to reduce speed “but was unable to do so or attempted to do so too late”.

It also denied Mr Bullock suffered PTSD from the crash and said his statement of claim failed to account for his “ongoing dependence upon illicit substances which impact his capacity for work, motivations for work and employability”.

“The fact that (Mr Bullock) returned to his normal duties as a truck driver immediately following the incident and was only terminated … and ceased work due to his refusal to undergo a drug test by reason of his use of illicit substances,” the company alleged in its defence paperwork.

The company also alleged Mr Bullock had a poor record of sustaining employment and a dependence on social security benefits.

Originally published as Joshua Mark Bullock sues former boss over truck crash