Ever charge a shipper for damage to your trailer?

Im sute it works out very well for you threatening people with a binder p

Yeah untill reality sets in and the police show up. But for a couple minutes i probably be very satisfied.

 

It actually has worked out very well, I've only had to pull my phone out and record once so far.

And something else for you flatbed guys, I always thank them for not beating up the side of my trailer when done. Even the ones that start out bad.

 

Hey, it ain't my insurance that I call, if anything it is my lawyer who calls their insurance.

They carry a liability policy for these things, if they have too many claims, it ain't my problem - it is theirs and they need to fire the forklift driver or dock super for it.

I have a claim against one or another shipper almost every week for something, this week a forklift driver was running her forks on the ground going into one of my reefers that had a porch and lift gate, the girl caught then ripped up the threshold plate, after the driver warned her several times. you think that the driver would leave without talking to a manager and making a report then having them contact us for a settlement. I expect that little ditty to set them back about $2300 for the plate and if there is any damage to the floor, then that will be addressed too. It is their problem, I won't let my insurance get involved because it happened to the trailer while it was in their control.

 

How do you get the shipper's insurance info?

 

That should be part of the information when the reports are completed.

 

Steel mill I used to work out of dropped a 66,000lbs mill roll on mine. They paid and were very good about it. It hit so hard that the main rail rolled out and bent the back of the side box.

 

When I talk to the forklift driver before loading or unloading I always give a speech in a nice pleasant way. Something like “please do not bump this trailer, I worked hard to buy it.”

If they do bump the trailer I got the original idea from this website somewhere and it has worked for me. I put 2 J hooks on one of my 4x4 lumber dunnage. I hook it to the rubrail so he bumps into the wood not the rail.

 

I seen a guy do that the other day with his conestoga without the hooks. The 4x4 fit in the track. One reason I haven't had an interest in a conee but totally changed my mind.

 

If somebody was driving a forklift or other truck and damaged your trailer, I’d say you’d be justified in making them pay for it. I think this one is on you though. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, but if they say no I wouldn’t push it.

Hardly anybody inspects s dock before they back into it, but I usually do. We don’t pull any vans, but we do occasionally back a flat to a dock.

 

I once had a forklift damage Side rail on my dry van. They slid during rain. Luckily I saw it happen. Sent them an estimate for whole new rail. They paid $700 for partial rail replacement. Never did actuall fix it. Another time Old Guy went right through fiberglass roof with a rack An obvious mistake. I actually felt bad for Him. Did it while I was standing there and it was raining at time. I did a quick patch job and fixed it later with fiberglass. Easy fix and never bothered billing them. No big deal