Vehicle Abandonment

They happen to be correct. Their insurance policies probably have no provisions for non employees operating their vehicles. Once you left their employment, you are no longer covered under their policies. You never leave employment while you are still holding the assets of the employer. That means that until you turn the truck in, at a suitable mutually agreed upon location, you remain on the payroll.

I wish I could put a better spin on this for you, but from the description you have provided, there is a pretty clear case of vehicle abandonment here and the company is within their reasonable rights to take the action that they have taken. You had better hope that they don't charge you for the costs they will incur in picking up the vehicle as well. Sometimes they send out a person to do it, sometimes they send out a wrecker to haul it back.

Get your stuff cleaned out of the truck if you already haven't. And if you are around when they pick up the truck, get a signature on an inspection form covering the condition of the vehicle. You could end up being liable for any damages to the truck, depending on the deal you have signed up for.

You're in a lousy situation, and it won't get much better. At this point, your best bet may be to apply for a name and social security nunber change, or remain working in the factory.

Just a note: I'm not unsympathetic to your situation, but there isn't much positive I can offer here. You have made a potential career ending mistake, and all you can do is try to get past it. All things can be healed with time, but this may take a bit more than some of the more common items. If you do get back into a truck, it's probably going to be a long enough time that you will have to go back through a school and start over from scratch.

 

Sounds like the company is making an assumption--that assumption being you're sitting at home cooling off and will be back at work soon. If they were sure you weren't coming back, they'd be on your behind trying to get that truck back, as it IS their property and a bread winner for the outfit. I guess they COULD also call the fuzz on you over this. Take it back if you can ASAP. Also, take plenty of pictures of it and keep copies of your final inspection report in case they try to bust you/your DAC for bogus damage. Get that report signed off by somebody at the company. Somebody who matters, like the shop foreman or the head of safety.

 

Ditto!!!
:smt023

 

He can't "Take it back" as he is no longer an employee of the company and is not covered under their insurance. That option is no longer on the table. As it sits right now, he is extremely lucky that they have not reported the truck as stolen and gotten the police involved. His situation could easily meet the definition of theft of the vehicle, though the odds of being convicted are not so great. Something like that would hit the plea bargaining ystem and be dropped down.

But him returning the truck is no longer an option. And he has been informed of that, so if he does return it himself, he's in even worse shape.

 

Yeap, it may be too late to take the truck back. Actually I think it IS too late to take it back on your own. You can consider yourself lucky the lawman hasn't come knocking at your door. When you quit 'em, that made your driving that vehicle a possible criminal offense, as you probably (99&#37 wouldn't be insured. They could even view it as stolen property, depending on how anal they decided to be.

When the company guy comes to fetch the rig from wherever it's sitting, be sure to be there with an inspection report he can sign off on. Keep a copy of the report. If a mere driver shows up and retrieves it, you may need to go to the terminal and get the shop foreman to sign off on that report. Also be sure to take those pictures. You don't want to be held responsible for bogus damage later. Speaking of 'later'--check your DAC in about 6 months no matter what.

Know the company is going to bust you for the cost of retrieving this thing. Shoulda driven it to the terminal before cleaning it out.