Any o/o hire a driver?

CODB

Cost Of Doing Business

####'s gonna happen. Dings, scratches, dents, paint peels, etc. Look at it from an overall perspective. Is it real damage? Was it preventable or non-preventable (that doesn't mean fault or non-fault, it means could the driver have done something to prevent it or not). Is it insured? Is it worth reporting to insurance?

It's also very subjective. What I may consider an insignificant scratch, you may flip your lid thinking it's the deepest gash this side you wife.

So, if you're so concerned and it's a show truck in your eyes... why would you hire someone else to drive it?

 

It's not just wrong to ask the driver to pay for damages... it's also illegal. To recover costs of repairs that you believe were the act of negligence on the driver's part, requires documented proof and a lawsuit. You can attempt to recover it other ways, but you'll likely fail. And if you withhold pay from the driver, that's a huge no-no that can get you massive fines and open yourself to a lawsuit from the driver that you'd be guaranteed to lose and with the driver having the right to claim up to 10x the pay you withheld (depending on state).

Literally, you'll be told from a judge, that it was YOUR responsibility to have insurance on the vehicle. And that's what it is for. And if you are telling the judge that you would rather collect from your employee, then that brings to question if you actually have insurance. (cue huge stink and trouble while judge demands to inspect all of your insurance documents).

I'm going off on a pretty wild tangent. Sorry. But basically, if it's worth an insurance claim, then you'd have a reason to fire a driver. If it's not even worth that... and you're still wondering whether to fire the driver?... I'd say you've already made your decision. You shouldn't buy another truck.

 

I'm going to amend my last post. About it being wrong to ask for the driver to pay. I meant that in a "You must pay! Here's the bill! Pay or get fired!" kind of way.

There's nothing wrong with asking for the driver to pay, in a civilized, and conversational and friendly way. "Hey man, you rubbed the pole. Took the paint off of the fairing. You mind covering the repairs? It's only the fair thing."

 

I say no, unless you're paying them killer money.. paying them on 1099 and not offering benefits etc is saving you money, which means you can pay for it, its your truck...

 

Most truck drivers barely make enough to live a comfortable lifestyle with their families, couldn't imagine the stress it would cause if they had to pay for every incident out of pocket

 

If you were required to pay for a tire wither under threat of loosing your job OR withheld from your paycheck then the person/company you were working for broke a few laws and that was not "giving you a chance" for anything, it was stealing from monies owed to you.

I'm not going to judge but based on your original question and the follow up posts, do not put a driver in a truck, your looking for way to get things that haven't even happened yet paid for and setting up a recipe for disaster, failure and lawsuits. Things happening to a truck driven by a paid driver are all a part of the cost of doing business. If your going into business and not willing to absorb these costs then don't go into this business.

Or do what every company seems to be doing, buy the truck, charge the driver rent for his/her job and shift the burden of getting the truck repairs paid for to the driver since they are now owner-operators. Oh and be prepared to get the truck back 10 or more times during the ensuing 5 years and each time the truck being in a lot worse shape than it was the last time till it's basically junk.