My driver ran out of fuel

No you can't charge him. You hired him that is your responsibility for little mistakes that shouldn't happen. Let me ask though.

was it a Columbia and was he going u hill?

 

you sound like a horrible boss and as a great driver I would never work for you. I can say with confidence you will never get a great driver for any length of time which is good because you don't deserve one. Either fire him or eat it and move on. Stealing his pay is illegal and immoral.

I had an experience recently where I was backing up to a chute several miles down a dirt road in a rain/lightning storm in BFE Nebraska at 3am at the end of a long run. I dumped the fat girls off on my own and brought the door back down and tied er off.

I wasn't paying attention well enough when I brought down the door and tied off the rope. When I pulled away the rope stuck on the chute snapped. The boss tied the two ends together and told me not to worry about it. Happens to everyone sooner or later. He asks me If i want a load. Doesn't tell me i need to take a load and their is no consequence or any further talk after turning down a load if I so decide for whatever reason. When we go to the bars or any restaurant together he always picks up the tab. Doesn't make me work on the trucks, but doesn't stop me from doing it either. Company Credit Card with my name on it will buy whatever I need whenever I need it wherever I need it.

Best guy I've ever worked for and I do my best for him,the animals welfare and the ranchers profitability.

I wouldn't steal anything from you, but I certainly wouldn't go the extra mile ever or do anything to help your bottom line.

<Mod edit, line deleted: No personal attacks, please>

 

i dont think a boss worrying about some driver that runs out of fuel makes him a bad boss
makes the driver not a valued employee thou

 

Worrying about a driver running out of fuel is fine. Stealing from the drivers paycheck is a scumbag move. It's not the drivers financial responsibility. If you come to a point where you no longer feel he's profitable you get rid of him. PERIOD. Just like I wouldn't steal from you it's not ok for you to steal from me.

Before I would steal from a boss I would quit. Before a boss would steal from a driver he should fire him. IF he's not profitable then get rid of the driver, but you NEVER steal from his paycheck. Pure scumbag move.

 

^^^^ I can read very well. Your not stealing from him now because you don't think you can get away with it, but you've already formulated a plan to legally steal from your drivers in the future.

My boss still drives and thankfully his moral compass reads true

 

If he is putting the company in jeopardy then fire him, but if a 300 dollar service bill is putting your company in jeopardy then you have bigger problems.

My boss has requested I wait until the red light comes on to fuel. I don't normally do it, but I come close

 

I can think of a couple good excuses. But, as you said. This driver in particular continued to cut it close and it was only a matter of time.

I've heard of guys parking their truck at an angle and losing prime before they can level out when they were a little too low on fuel. Sometimes your crossover tube can clog and you'll run out of fuel with one full tank and one empty. Maybe you all of a sudden are getting really poor mileage and didn't realize it. Lots of reasons to run out. But continually running it down to the wire just out of laziness is obviously negligence.

I was at first with the FIRE HIM!! crowd. But there are many angles to the situation. I didn't even think about labor laws and right to work states and unemployment claims. I hope you can find a better driver and hopefully your lazy drivers move on.

I like the idea of rewarding good behavior versus disciplining poor behavior. I like the idea of good driver bonuses. Unfortunately lots of companies use bonus scams to just cut driver pay all together.

 

I've never seen a low fuel light in my FLD, but I'm way too chicken to run it that low. My old truck the International would have a yellow low fuel light kick on early, even on a slight turn when the fuel would slosh.

But I'm with you. I hate running too low. You just never know when you might get stranded or delayed and need that quarter tank to keep you going safe.