Legal?? Abandoned Load

About as right and legal as abandoning the load. It's called karma. Had a driver hide my equipment with a load on, withhold paperwork on the load previous to that one as well. Found my truck/trailer/load, docked him for recovery of equipment and replacing BOL/POD and replacement of 4 tires he gouged with slider winches, called the cops and his PO, gave away his belongings (clothes, shoes, CB, etc.) and presented him with a weekly settlement showing him he owed me money. Good riddance I say.

 

Amazing.
I had a company truck repo'd from the company lot where I parked it. The company did me a favor and cleaned out the truck. Put everything inside the garage for all of the drivers to shop at random. They NEVER called me until 1 1/2 days later to tell me I would be using another truck. Legal recourse to the company, NONE. They paid nothing for the lost tv, vcr, dvd player, fridge, micro, movies, tools. All I got, was the clothes that were there.

I can see both sides here. But 2 wrongs do not make a right.

 

I didn't say either of those things. I will say two things;

1.) I DESPISE any ####### driver that would ever abandon a truck and especially one under a load. There is NO valid excuse for doing such a thing. If a driver was ever stupid enough to do it to me, I would blackball him both on DAC/USIS and when companies call to verify employment until the cows come home.

2.) Most large and even some small companies have a document mixed in with all of the other documents that you sign at orientation giving the company the authorization to withhold the employees final paycheck to offset recovery costs if they abandon the truck. Most people sign it without even realizing what they just signed.

Now once again...I said "It happens everyday". I didn't say it is right, legal, moral...pick your description.

 

First, let me say, I can respond without the bad characters.
Second, I did not say I condoned such an action as what the driver did. However, there are 2 sides to every story. Without knowing the ENTIRE story, I will not pass judgement. Remember, blackmail threats must be substantiated or you could be liable for slander.

As far as paperwork that a company may try to put through. It is still illegal in most states. The key is not the company where he works. A lawsuit can be filed by the employee and the employer can be found liable for the final paycheck and the attorney fees.

I make no exception to my feelings for both parties here. Again, 2 wrongs do not make a right. If people can sleep at night, more power to them. I was raised with ethics, and morality.

 

What that company did with your stuff is just wrong and totally uncalled for. As for my former driver, I had a standing offer with him to turn in the keys and paperwork and I would be happy to return his things. I quit calling him after 3 weeks; he never called back. I gave his stuff to Goodwill.

And I agree that two wrongs do not make a right. But I am also not going to take it in the shorts to prove I can be a bigger person.

 

I am a bit confused. What are you talking about when you mention "Blackmail threats"?

I am not sure about the laws in regards to what we have been talking about, so I will assume that you are correct. I do know that for every driver that knows that law and would actually file a lawsuit, there are probably 9 more that don't know about it. Therefor, companies are playing the odds in that regard.

Just for the record, I have never had a driver abandon a truck while working for me. I will say though, that due to the nature of my main outbound loads, if a driver ever was to abandon a load or hold it hostage, I may well be out of business. That is one reason that I have to be very, very selective as to whom I hire.

As for the vulgar adjective I used in describing a driver in the previous post, I do apologize. Any of you that know me, also know that I don't normally have to stoop to that level to get my point across.

Roadmedic, you and I have had a heated discussion before on other issues. While I respect your opinion, this is a topic that we will never see eye to eye on. I will always contend that there is NO EXCUSE for an abandoned truck/load, and I don't need to hear the other side of the story. The only way I would back off of that is if the company or employer flat out lied just to screw the driver(which has been known to happen as well.), and he actually didn't abandon anything. If that is the case, then I feel bad for that driver, as that is a tough row to hoe once you have that accusation on your back.

 

Sorry, was a double post due to a bad internet connection.

 

Typed blackmail, meant blackball.



As far as agreement, we are there. I only said I would not pass judgement on the issue. In today's society, there is really no need to ever abandon a load.

I was only referring to the possibility, that maybe an employer was expecting him to deliver the load and maybe (not this guy) had never paid him for several weeks. Is it justified then, maybe not. Is it understandable, maybe so.

Generally, I would sign for you since I am an employer in the past. I just try to be open minded.

By the way, I take no offense at your posting or your stance. Your reason for backing off is where I was referring to.

We both got there in the end.

 

What your driver actually did, was the same as my company did. Outright theft. That is not acceptable at any level. You gave plenty of warning.

 

You and I just have this issue with semantics...LOL