Unsafe trucks have to be designated by the trucking company is out of service. The truck cannot be operated in a manner in which is likely to break down or cause an accident. The only time that it can be driven in that situation is really when the purpose is to take it to the repair facility. The Federal Highway Administration routinely inspects trucks and they will oftentimes declare trucks as being out of service whenever it is likely that the truck will cause an accident or break down.
The Federal Highway Administration will actually prepare a written report on the truck. If the truck fails inspections then the Federal Highway administrators will note that in their records and also, they maintain a record of all the trucks as far as whether the truck has passed inspection, not passed inspection, or what exactly the mechanical issue may have been with the vehicle.
Now once the Federal Highway Administration has determined that the truck should be placed out of the service, a actual sticker is placed on the truck and no person has the authority to remove that sticker from that truck until the issue has been cleared and until the vehicle has actually been cleared for safety purposes, obviously, by the Federal Highway Administration. If you have questions about whether the truck in your truck accident case was actually an unsafe vehicle and should not have been on the highways, call my office at 770-792-1000.