liked my job till now, any good lawers out there?....

Like I said before...if ya cant do the job with the equipment provided dont take the job. That eliminates all of the drama

 

Yes, the driver does share responsibility, and, as I laid out in a prior post in this thread, there are many other ways to deal with that. This is not about clearing the driver of all responsibility. The employer sought revenge, basically, by trying to place an unburdenable financial risk onto the driver in exchange for keeping his current position.

Let's guess the damages cost $2000 to the company, let's say a small carrier with 5 trucks, gross revenue of $1000000 per year. That is a loss of 0.2% of gross. Now compare that with a typical local driver earning $15/hr at 2000hrs per year, is $30000/yr. So the driver's burden is 6.7%. That is a burden 335 times greater than what that same loss would impact the owner. To put that in perspective for the owner of a business with $1mil in gross revenue, that $2000 loss would feal like $67000! Do you think this is still a fair way to deal with an otherwise great employee, except for the fact he is human, and there is a higher accident rate in city P&D work?

I think the owners are going to think back and wish they still had this driver, after they see what bad drivers with bad attitudes will cost them

 

If he is a great employee they should be making an effort to keep him but they arent under any obligation to do so. I suspect that theres more to the story than we're being told too. As far as percentages go the driver made 100% of the decision not to get out and look when hes backing up That said IF he wasto the company otherwise it might be wise to eat the cost but about all you can sue for is being unwise.

 

Here is something to think about for all and mostly the folks that think all drivers are responsible for paying a deductible.
Just recently a buddy of mine was relaying a story in response to me telling him about some of the crazy things these companies are getting away with that i read about on this forum.
My friend changed his career and got a CDL after many years doing construction and being injured on the job about 5 years ago.
He drove locally never OTR, one job he held for a short time was for a builders supply company who delivered via a tractor and trailer.
He of course was promised a large paycheck every week which of course never materialized, i think he was payed by either each delivery or truckload or percentage but not hourly - (i cant remember) but that really has no bearing on this analogy.
Anyway at some point his boss, the owner of the builders supply asked my friend "when he was going to wash the truck?". My friend, very wise in a redneck sort of way replied "How much are you paying me to wash your truck?". My friends question apparently was never heard by this boss man before and quickly stumped him. The boss man replied "nothing" to which my friend responded "well then , i aint washing your truck".
Just because drivers and companies do things that really aren't part of your job description - doesnt make them right. Just because you sign a paper saying you will pay a deductible, dont fool yourself --its still not right -the companies are just getting away with it because "WE" stupidly agree to their rules --still doesnt make it right.
FYI: Back in 1985 i also signed or agreed to one of the 2 companies i worked for pulling $$$$ out of my checks for a deductible (i knew if i didnt sign or agree to it i wouldn't get the job). I cant remember how much money it was, but i do know i eventually got all the money back a few weeks after i quit.

 

Hang man and you other guys posting on good and better thing are doing a good job. You can only hope for the best in this hat trick industry and you never know wene its going to go down the hole.

One thing is if you got a good deal that works out for you try to do what you can to keep it.

Happy New Years guys best wishes for you this year.

In the OP's case it went down the hole what can you do. You shake the spot, you know the company regret losing good drivers in the end.

One thing is the OP probably got a good chance to collect unemployment. It's probably worth a good try.

 

Regarding companies having a driver sign a promise to pay the deductible on damages.

This is a method of negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement works best. So, employer could instead offer an annual safety bonus in the amount of the deductible. This way that amount is already withheld without any signing of papers. This turns a lemon into lemonade.

Also, true "family" ran companies will spend time and money to invest in making their people better; not make a habit of beating them over the head for everything, or just creating a negative atmosphere in general. We help family; we don't treat them like disposible garbage to be thrown out.

 

Indiana is a "at will" state meaning that can let you go for NO reason! Unfortunately!!

 

I don't know about Indiana, in California the law prohibits employers from making employees pay for damages done in the performance of their duties, unless intentionally done.( criminal vandalism) but you better have proof that only YOU have to sign such a document. I'm sorry, but if you hit a fixed object, you are to blame. You would be better off looking for another job. once you find one, report what occurred to the state labour board if they retain your final paycheck for 'damages'. A lawyer probably will not take this on contingency, so you will need deep pockets to fight this, the company will fight this until you are broke or give up. It's a small matter, best to move on

 

And you are the perfect driver who never did any damage and never ever ever got blamed for someone else's damage ? Why are you against the driver and not the system which seems suspect in my opinion.

 

This isn't the first time I have seen Pattyj write something in favour of companies, I guess this driver is perfect has never had an issue or caused one. Wow a perfect driver, nice, very few like pattj on the road.