Payment for Damage ?

The point all of you are missing is that it's about being responsible. Everyone of you who says that your company should pay and not you, it's p&l, cool, can I borrow your personal vehicle? I'd really like to try my hand at stunt car driving, heck, that's why you have insurance, so what if you have a $500 deductible, take it out of your P&L.

 

if you are gonna stunt with my car, no you cant borrow it. however, if you are gonna use it in a responsible manner, then yes, friend whats mine is yours. so.... you apply for a job, you meet qualifications and requirements and do your best as an employee, then you deserve every penny of what you've earned. and if damage happens then you are written up, or fired or nothing at all comes of it. but, you didnt invest millions to lose money on trailer tires, someone else did invest money to lose or profit. your thinking says to me that your boss is protected from losses, as his employees pay for any loss he may take. my opinion- you're a good employee and a good person, but someones influence has got you covering thier losses... wanna job? i got some losses that i can pin on an employee....

 

i once worked for a staffing company driving cars to and from the airport for enterprise and they held the staffing company for any damages we did to the vehicles, the company in return would take a percentage of our paycheck to pay for it (up to 500) to pay the deductible it costs them. if we damaged the gas pumps or a gate we would have to pay for that fully also because insurance would not cover it. its perfectly fair in my opinion. drive cautiously and man up to it if you mess up or quit

 

But what would happen if someone backed into the car while you were away and took off?
You bring it back and tell them you didn't do it...do they believe you?
Doubtful...odds are they're taking $$$$ out of your paycheck for something you didn't do.
Then they're filing an insurance claim and getting $$$ from the insurance company on top of what they took from you.
That's why there's laws against this kind of thing....but drivers seem to enjoy being abused for some reason.

 

Please tell me, Paddington, how it could possibly not be your fault if you tear a trailer door off while you are moving it into or out of a dock. That was the question here. Nobody else was in contact with the trailer and there was no phantom car that hit the trailer.

The wind blew it around? It came off the moorings? There was some stationary object there? For the first two, get your trusty bungee cord and use it. I keep two between the driver side door and my seat. For the last one? Get your butt out of the truck and look where you're backing. And for gosh sakes, hang up that &*$#ing phone!

Phantom cars are not part of the discussion. But, since you brought it up, that's what your accident kit is for. Take pictures of everything, document everything. If it is clearly not your fault....a parking lot collision where your vehicle was legally parked...I don't believe you should or will be held liable.

 

a former driver I knew was in an accident, he was sitting on a bridge at a stoplight, another driver running fast came by & trailers touched, tore up top side of his trailer pretty good & the other driver kept going, he called police, & filed a report, but his company wanted him to pay for damages to the nearly new trailer, he quit. he said he did his part, & he was hit by someone else, & company acted like he was responsible for someone actions.

he worked for a couple other companies, & then found a woman & settled down & quit driving completely. last I heard he is doiong mechanic work.

Randy

 

If you go to work for a company, and their policy is that you pay for damage, and they make you aware of this, then suck it up or go elsewhere. This thread is about a less than $500 claim, so the average driver could probably handle that with a payment plan. My concern is over a company that might want to make a driver pay 2-3K, or more for damages. Maybe they are self insured or have a very high deductible. Where is the line drawn?
A mature driver might be able to avoid the trap of a company that makes the driver become their unofficial insurance carrier, but too many new drivers might just think this is the norm.
It is easy to see a newbie having a mishap or accident, get fired, then get a company bill that turns into a small claims judgement, and get "Dac'ed" to top it off.

 

Driver. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. We expect Mexican drivers to know and adhere to our laws while driving here. The expectation for us going into another country is no different. If I see any spring damage, the trailer gets red tagged out of service and I refuse to haul it. Spring damage does not take long to spread.

Let me add a caveat to that: if the driver notified the company, the company said run it anyway and the driver has documentation to show this, the company pays it.

 

Drivers make decisions about who they want to work for and what they'll accept. In some cases, they may decide to stay where they're at and hold the ###### end of the stick rather than make the effort to find a better deal. That's their choice; maybe not the best one, or the one you'd make, but they're free to do so. I'd rather see that than more intervention by the nanny state.