Diesel Spills

A few years ago I had just topped off my hot oil tanker on a job we were doing at tonapa nevada it was north of town a few miles and nothing but desert out there, but a gal was in a single axle dump truck that they had taken the hinges loose and laid the tail gate down, and had a water tank slid into ,to use for a water truck backed in to my back tanker. I felt her bump it, but looked in the mirror and didn't see any leak, till she pulled up and we had a gusher. It had about a 5 inch hole in it. lol I grabbed a cross tie and threw it down in front of the tires and pulled it up on it so it was at a little slant, but didn't save much of it.
The state inspector was standing about 50 feet away, no hiding this deal. lol
The company lucked out, they made us fill a 55 gallon drum with contaminated dirt and send it off, and we buried the rest. That stuff acts like fertilizer, probably a big pine tree standing out there in the desert now. lol

 

Unless they indemnified themselves from such incidents, by having the OP signed something, it should be their general liability and their bill, which it is so far...


Question is, are they legally able to delegate such non trivial liabilities to a contractor, even if they have him sign some paperwork explaining that rather obscurely? It would be all too easy to swindle people into lots of things by having them sign or click a 50 page long document containing 105 different clauses, some of them rather obscure...unless they are explicitly explained and mutually agreed on and initalled...so there are no surprises.

You know...I am also thinking about those long multi page BOLs we sign every day.

 

$10k for a fuel spill is cheap..
Although the insurance deductible can be a costly pill to swallow.

 

Start by asking your carrier why this isn't covered by the liability insurance.
Have an attorney check your contract.
Probilily the most you are responsible for will the insurance deductible.
Bear in mind that the deductible will be anywhere from $1000. to $1,000,000. depending on the size of the company.
If you decide to fight the charge, be prepared to have your lease cancelled, and possibly lose your escrow deposit, or at least have to fight tooth and nail to get any or all of it back.
If the carrier can prove your driver was willfully negligent you have a problem.

 

You

You are responsible for any & all damages you do.