Civil Lawsuit protection / Is there insurance a driver can get while driving as company driver.

I'm not. Unless there is some rule or law that prohibits it, I suspect if you have the $$$ you can find an insurance underwriter that will cover you. My first comment in this thread was saying this might not be in the proper forum. I'm thinking this would be better asked by an OO running their own numbers. I have a friend that sells aviation hull insurance, and I think he also is an agent for an insurance company that sells things like medical malpractice insurance and other forms of personal liability insurance. He told me several companies would underwrite, but the cost would be prohibitive, the liability they assume is horrendous.

 

That would be a first....

 

Yes, but this just means that they are able to sue the driver. I think we were assuming that. The question I was trying to get at was why they would want to sue a driver who most likely isn't going to be able to pay a judgement anyway. The answer is that it's one way they can get the employer to pay, even though the employer did nothing wrong.

BTW, vicarious liability doesn't mean the employee cannot be held personally liable for torts he commits while on the job. It just means that his employer, the one who controls and directs his actions, can be.

 

I spoke to a good friend last night about this topic. She and her husband filed a lawsuit in a Virginia Court about 10 years ago. It was against a company that one of their drivers was operating drunk. He ran over her, and her hospital and Doctor'sbills were well in excess of $100,000. They filed against the company, then got the dispatcher because he knew (and they could establish he knew ) and hid the fact this driver drank on the job. Then they added the driver. The case was settled out of court. I can't say what they got. I will say they did get those bills paid and had a few bucks left over to live on for a while. They did NOT settle with the dispatcher and that driver at the same time. They did later. Even after almost 10 years, that driver is still having his wages garnished. The dispatcher died several years ago and they settled with his estate.

 

Getting them to pay is another issue, but overall most of the time the employer will pay, more or less by the insurance policy.

To addresss the second part of your post. I'll try to explain it as I have been told.

Your assuming that the employee has a blanket coverage to limit their personal liability because the company is controling and directing them but as I said, the driver is licensed by the state through federal guidance and by law and regulation as the last responsible Party for the operation of the truck, including safe condition of it and load securement. They is a legally separation from the company control to maintain what is considered chain of custody of the vehicle through being on duty with truck possession then relieved from duty. Pretrips, cargo inspections, load control, driving techniques and other actions are part of that responsibility with the company monitors that activity but it is the sole responsibility of the driver to take those actions.

Because the driver has a higher responsibility for the safe operation of the truck compared to say the food worker who feeds someone tainted food, they hold a liability that can be and has been separate from the company.

This is not the same as a 1099 driver, they are independent contractors and hold a full liability.