DEER HIT-a preventable accident??

I am not an employee and it is part of the contract.

I had a unit vandalized and did not think it was substantial and failed to get a police report. It came out of my pocket.

 

At Maverick, we are told not to swerve. It is cheaper to repair the truck then what will happen when you try to miss the deer...ie...hitting oncoming traffic, or running off the road or rolling the truck.

 

Must be a cheesey company...You drive their equipment and they make you pay for damage for hitting a deer?

I've never hit a deer...I've never hit anything!

I was hit by a drunk once in the eighties and the truck was totaled in the ensuing roll over but it was a non chargeable accident...Hitting a deer is sometimes unavoidable from what I'm told, I've had some near misses but I have always seen them from a distance and gotten slowed down enough to deal with them in the event that they get in front of me. In my opinion any company that would charge you for the repairs if you hit one is not worth working for!

 

It was a company I used to work for as lease operator. I have only heard the stories from other drivers for their damages.

I have not had a claim for even a scratch.

Except for the vandalized unit that someone did in a truck stop parking lot.

 

on another board (here on this site) someone said its a non=preventable.

i went on to say that i personally have worked for companies that will CHARGE you with a preventable, IF the deer strike was in a well marked area, and we have all seen those signs. now, i had never hit a deer, so i cannot tell you if anyone that did (with those companies) had to pay for damages.

and by the way, it absolutely DOES NOT MATTER what the insurance institute says about deer strikes.............its what the TRUCKING company says.......!!!!!

maybe for repairs to the car, truck, whatever, the insurance industry views it as non-preventable.......but NOT to the safety dept.

its a toss........you'll find out by asking your safety dept about this. that will pretty much end that argument.

 

I was trained too hit the deer then serve ,and one deer i hit with my freightshaker, i musta got her rear hind legs cause all the damage was too lower quater left bumper, that big plastic bumper , they come in sections, i tore off the left corner part, they couldnt belive that was the only damage too truck, they dug out the rest of carcass off the left steer knuckle beem assembly , told em im in no hurry , check out the rest of truck, my load didnt deliver till 5 days latter, so it was good it was close terminal,no outa pocket cost too me and they wrote it off on there ins, but that just the company i worked for, Everett.

 

If the deer jumps out into the road leaving you no time to slow down, you have a choice in most cases, hit the deer or risk rolling your rig. If you see it early enough and can slow down do so. Otherwise, hit the deer.

The first company my hubby drove for had some newbie roll an almost new pete avoiding a deer. Idjit.

 

Don't bet your load, or your life on those things working. Yes, sometimes they will, but then sometimes they won't. Also, if you insist on having them, make sure you mount them correctly. Otherwise, there is NO chance of them working. They have to be mounted per instructions on the package for any chance at all.

I personally don't think they are worth anything, and I have spent most of my life, and all of my trucking career in deer country.

 

i hit a few of them when i worked for roadway----- never took the cruise off till i got to the next rest area... a broken fender (had to get a vendor with duct tape) couple of headlight bulbs we ran the volvo coventionals then (real hood) short bumpers that extended just past the frame rails ....... that was it just wrote them up in the daily report book and showed them to the shop foreman.....that was it...... never counted against my million mile award......

 

Allow me to paraphrase Ironpony:

Yeah, they work, as long as the deer isn't stupid and runs at the truck anyways.