Michael T. Burns’ voice began to quiver and his eyes teared when he began recounting the day he was involved in a crash that killed 64-year-old Valencia resident Dale T. Major.

Burns of Houston, Pa., took the stand Wednesday for the second day of his jury trial. He had only been working with Air Equipment Corp. for two weeks when, on July 26, 2016, he ran a red light using the company’s Sterling truck at the intersection of Route 8 and Glade Mill Road in Middlesex Township and hit Major, who was riding on his motorcycle.

Major died of blunt force trauma.

That day, Burns was to take an Air Equipment truck from Morgan, Pa., where the company is headquartered, up to a construction site south of Butler where he was to retrieve an air compressor and transport it back to base.

Burns had used a Western Star truck in most of his previous assignments, but the transmission on that truck had recently broken. So he instead used a Ford F-550 and began to make his way north. The vehicle began to overheat and Burns finally decided to abort the trip and went back to Morgan.

Burns was ultimately instructed to use a Sterling truck that had sat on the company’s lot with a “for sale” sign on it. The Sterling truck had been purchased by the company in 2014 after having been in an accident.

The truck was inspected soon after the purchase by one of the company’s mechanics, Barry Ray Stringer, who was called to testify.

Stringer said in court that he doesn’t have a certificate to work on commercial vehicles and that his expertise is in fixing air compressors. Stringer “adjusted” the brakes as part of his inspection of the Sterling truck in 2014.

For the next two years, the truck wasn’t used often, Stringer testified. Then, on the fateful day in 2016, after Burns brought the overheating Ford truck back to Morgan, Stringer was instructed to give the Sterling truck to Burns so that he could retrieve the company’s air compressor.

Burns complied and after driving to the construction site where the device was, he attached it to the truck using a flatbed, which had its own electrical brake system — an important detail in a case revolving around the compatibility of the Sterling truck and the flatbed’s brake system.

The prosecution argues that this system wasn’t properly tested and connected. The defense, headed by Al Lindsay, argues that Burns did the best he could and took due care under the circumstances.

The responsibility, Lindsay argues, is on the company then employing Burns. Regardless, when Burns came to the intersection at Route 8, he failed to stop at a red light.

Addressing the jury, Burns struggled to gain control of his voice as he told about the moments leading up to the accident.

“I’m pumping the brakes and leaning on the steering wheel,” Burns said, his face turning red, explaining that he continually hit the brake pedal but the truck wouldn’t stop. “And I knew I wasn’t going to get stopped in time.”

He then explained how he ended up in a field just off Route 8.

“I saw the access road and just held on, held on, held on,” his voice trailed off as he began to cry and took a moment to collect himself.

The state is charging Burns with felony homicide by vehicle, misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.

Assistant District Attorney Ben Simon, who is representing the state in this case, argued that Burns was ultimately responsible for Major’s death because he neglected his responsibility as a commercial driver to take all necessary precautions before the trip to make sure the Sterling truck was road worthy.

Using the testimony of Middlesex Township officer Conrad Pfeifer, who was called to testify as an expert witness Wednesday, the prosecution argued that Burns ultimately failed to realize the lethal danger of driving the Sterling truck.

“It’s the driver’s responsibility to say if the truck is fit for the road,” said Pfeifer, who inspected the wrecked truck. “It was very apparent that the brake system wasn’t working. It did not stop as soon as it should.”

Lindsay questioned why investigators didn’t hold Air Equipment Corp. accountable for the accident since it purchased and did not properly maintain the Sterling truck.

Once Burns came to a halt after clearing Route 8, he said he got out of the truck and realized what had happened: Major was dead.

“I was a mess, completely a mess. Crying. Maybe in shock. I just couldn’t focus,” Burns said.

He said he saw a grief counselor after and has never driven a truck commercially, since.

“He’s been like this for two years,” Burns’ mother, Diane, said at the end of Wednesday’s session. “He said to me, ‘Mom, I don’t know if I could ever be normal again.’ And we just pray we can go on.”

The jury is expected to hear closing arguments Thursday morning.