Coffee breaks and Logs

No worries. It's a confusing topic because the word for driving a CMV is the same as the word for driving any vehicle. So in my mind the question is, if you're driving a 4 wheeler while on duty, can your employer be held liable for the damage.

 

In this case no. Actually just watched a lawyer do a simple explanation of it. If the wreck happened while doing work related stuff, say I am in wreck going to pick up parts for the shop the company can be held liable. If I'm substantially out of work related tasks the company isn't liable.

The example used was say an office worker drove to staples to pick up some paper and pens, goes into a Starbucks that they are passing to get coffee and gets in a wreck when leaving Starbucks. It's likely it will be ruled as the company is liable as the detour was very minor. Same example, but the employee goes 5 miles out of their way to pick up something at Best Buy and gets in a wreck. It's likely the company isn't liable as the employee was way outside the scope of the task given by the employer.

Same thing here, On duty / Off duty doesn't matter. I'm not doing anything a reasonable person would say is work related so no liability to the company, Unless I'm getting lunch for a company cookout, of course....

And this was a Michigan lawyer talking about Michigan law.

I'm not worried in either case. First I can accurately go back and set it to off duty and be 100% legal in that. There would also have to be another car on the road, which is rare on that 1/2 mile stretch at 2-4 am. Then it would have to be more than a simple fender bender (enough to get lawyers involved, because why else would logs even come into it?) which would again be rare at that time of night. Of all the things to worry about, that is so far down the list as to be irrelevant in my mind.

 

I guess maybe, but it seems to me any halfway decent lawyer would have a field day with that.... "he CLAIMED that he was just on his way to a restaurant, although his log showed him on duty at the time of the accident - but only until later, when he retroactively changed it to make it APPEAR that he was not involved in company business at the time of the accident..."

 

This thread has made my point for me. Hell, you guys can’t keep up with whether he’s gone to lunch on company time or not without getting confused. Lol

 

Your comment is no more accurate than your logs.