I can't read the article again due to paywall but when I read it the first time, the idea I got is not that they were "told to skip inspect" but a disagreement between employees and management on the level of oil seepage that was required in order to consider the train car in need of repair.
“The regulation at the time stated that a wheel bearing was bad when it had ‘visible seepage’. But that was very vague, and the bosses used that vagueness to their advantage. For me, it was whenever oil was visible on the bearing. For my bosses, they wanted actual droplets and proof it would leak on the ground.
