Driver Damages a Trailer Door - What to Do?

if not a policy before this, youpay for the door. establish a policy and have drivers sign confirmation as to what the policy is.

all these folks talking this is illegal must not have ever had a company establish an escrow acct to cover things like this. it all depends on how it is handled from the start.

actually kind of hard to understand how with 30 trucks a policy for this isn't in place. fact is, hired drivers can tear out the inside of a crowbar.

 

Im not going to jump into the fray about payments....just want to throw this out there for some of the newer drivers...one of the mistakes Ive seen many many times over the years is when/how drivers open doors--especially those of us who pull reefers in tighter area...It has been my experieince that many drivers open their doors too soon...typically a driver gets a door and goes out and immediately opens their doors...and I know I have gotten funny looks many many times as I back into tight docks with my doors closed.......BUT..many of yall will find that you can line up a door--keeping your visibility BETTER...w/your doors closed--(not to mention some of the older trailers where doors do NOT latch tightly to the trailer)
Line the door up--pull as far back as you need to to straighten out--then pull up and open your doors..it seems in this case a driver popped a door on a pole--that although I cannot see the area--my first thought is--the pole is out on the street and most likely on the drivers blind side..and probably did not need to have their doors open yet...and I may be wrong in this instance..but wanted to throw this thought out there--because i guarantee you--this has kept ME out of trouble many many times over the years..
Just my $.02

 

Hang the driver up by his toes, and beat him with a broom handle.

Seriously, all you can do is deny him whatever performance bonuses he might have been otherwise expecting to recover the loss, or fire him. If he's generally been a decent driver and you don't offer bonuses, the only other options you have are to suck it up and eat the cost, or see if he'd be willing to reimburse you for the cost of his screw-up. The ONLY way you can get away with payroll deductions is if there is a signed agreement stipulating how much is being withheld and for how long...and depending upon the state, there may be other restrictions such as minimum amount of the paycheck after deductions (so that the employee won't get negative checks or go several weeks without pay if things are slow). That can get complicated, though, so if you don't know what is allowable in your jurisdiction, you might spend more developing/defending your policy or recruiting/training a new hire than you would just eating the cost of this minor incident and putting the driver on probation IF he's been a good driver.

 

I'm sure their excuse was, "that pole wasn't there when I backed in".

 

I'm honestly wondering what kind of profit the OP is making if a 300 dollar door repair has him pondering a safety bonus. I'm not an owner op, but seriously, isn't this a relatively minor cost? How can you expect other drivers to drive your trucks and incur no minor incidents?

 

The same way I drive my truck with no minor incidents. There is never a good reason to bump into things or otherwise damage the equipment.

 

Hi Brandson, Like Pedigreed Bulldog sez, it's not so much the cost of the incident, it's the type of incident. This should never happen, and like I said earlier, it could be a harbinger of things to come.

 

Working @ Large Fleet; myself, im an experienced driver trainer, 2 million safe miles.

However, when i was younger, i did the exact same thing. Myself, i was backing into a garage style dock, did a well enuff job backing-in, however, while pulling out, darkness & the door moved farther away from the side of the trailer hitting a post, while shearing the door off its hinges.

The Company, directed me to the closest dealer trailer shop. Company paid for the damage.

Myself, that year i didnt receive my yearly safety bonus. Also, One of my last mistakes before getting it right.

Introspection: hard to keep good drivers...there are difficult underlining questions: how to retrain a driver during periods the driver was trying to do good work...poor recognition & subterfuge can look the same. The drivers history of performance, when looking back over the total amount of money the driver generated while working for you, using monetary controls by looking @ drivers costs when operating a truck: fuel, tires, lights, repairs... how profitable was this operator over his employment. Legally, unintentional accidents caused by employees cannot be charged back. However, Purposeful vandalism is a different question.

 

With my company.. any preventable incidents or accidents cost the driver their safety bonus as well as some of the other bonuses and further down the road it cost them with their performance pay increase... so, actually the driver can lose more in bonuses and pay increase than the $300 damage...

I actually do think knowing all that I have to lose with an incident is has made me a more conscientious driver.. I have not had any incidents and so recieved all my bonuses and my full pay increase...

I agree with what SemiRetired pointed out... this could be a learning lesson and the driver will pay more attention .. or it could be a sign of things to come...