Not been on for a while and have just come back to this thread, wow, you couldn’t make this up, I’m really sorry for the way this has gone Matt, I was one who had taken a young inexperienced driver on with good results in the past, the thing is you never know what your going to get till they make a start, even with allegedly more experienced drivers you can easily end up with a feckless idiot who cares nothing for the ramifications to your business that their lack of care and concentration can bring, they walk away with their wages whilst you are left to pick up the pieces of your business and try to recover from the financial losses.
I wish you well for the future Matt, keep your chin up.
gutted for you matt.
there can’t be many other drivers that’ve had a worse start to their driving career, can there? you’ve been very unlucky matt
i think this thread may get brought up when people are whinging about no-one giving them a chance, it shows what a chance firms are taking
xfmatt:
Not me mate!! He said he was doing 10mph to the police but I dont believe it. The lad obviously doesn’t have any sense of responsibility as it took him 26 hours to contact me about it and say ‘sorry’. That word doesn’t quite cut it when I now have an absolute mess to sort out. He even managed a slight laugh when I asked what the [zb] had gone on. Thats 3 years of 7 days a week hard work gone in 4 days. Never again will I employ a driver.
What can I say 
. As has already been said, you gotta get back on the horse if you have work for a second motor. You have been spectacularly unlucky, next time you might get a really good driver. I’ve got 18 drivers and about 12 or so are fantastic, the rest are good, just not as good as the others; it takes time to get them though.
We’ve all been there at some point. Best wishes sorting it out.
But its not unlucky…What it was… was carelessness by driver …
Did this driver pass his test at first attempt and which company did he train with. ? Would be interesting to hear the trainers opinion.
cliffystephens:
But its not unlucky…What it was… was carelessness by driver …
I meant that matt was unlucky that his first experience of employing someone has been such a disaster. I’ve got two lads under 25 on for me at the moment and ( touching wood like you wouldn’t believe 
) they’ve been good, or not careless!, drivers. But I was lucky that they have been OK so far.
I mean how can one bloke get it so wrong in a week!? I appreciate he’s a young lad & I wouldn’t let this stop you employing blokes in the future Matt if the shillings there buy I bet you wont take on green horns, Jesus, how did he pass his test?
Just shows they should be 44 tonne up for the test rather than this DCPC BS!!!
R143-500:
Not been on for a while and have just come back to this thread, wow, you couldn’t make this up, I’m really sorry for the way this has gone Matt, I was one who had taken a young inexperienced driver on with good results in the past, the thing is you never know what your going to get till they make a start, even with allegedly more experienced drivers you can easily end up with a feckless idiot who cares nothing for the ramifications to your business that their lack of care and concentration can bring, they walk away with their wages whilst you are left to pick up the pieces of your business and try to recover from the financial losses.
I wish you well for the future Matt, keep your chin up.
Very true, you rolls the dice on anyone unless your mates & even then, they can be worse.
He’s only just had a new engine in him ain’t he Matt, have to see if he can be salvaged.
On a plus note I’m sure the XF is running like a well oiled filly!!
Christ you couldnt make this up hope you was fully comp was it a total loss?
I don’t post very often on here, I tend to read and learn from what others write but having read through this thread from beginning to end, I’m absolutely gutted for Matt. I’ve not long passed my Class 1 and we all know it’s bloody nerve wracking to jump in a unit and do the job you’ve been striving to do… Since childhood in some cases. But this idiot Matt employed clearly had no respect for his employer or gratitude for the faith he’d shown in him. Instead he chose to drive an artic like it was a Ford Fiesta and now Matt has to pay for this tunc’s stupidity!!! If it weren’t for decent blokes like you Matt who are prepared to give people a chance then the industry would be in an even worse state. It’s just a shame some new drivers feel the need to live up to the stereotype of being useless. Hope you get back on the up mate and I hope this kid gets a job in McDonald’s where he belongs… Hopefully not a drive through!!!
Just read this thread from beginning to end and bloody hell Matt what a nightmare for you.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but wish and hope everything turns out for the best with you in the end.
Wow we all really feel for you Matt, things will turn out good for you in the end I’m sure.
Certainly made me sit and think, Hadn’t actually considered the implications of driver error.
Flippin heck I am really lucky with the drives I have, might pull back a little on the extra truck idea after reading this.
Silver_Surfer:
He’s only just had a new engine in him ain’t he Matt, have to see if he can be salvaged.On a plus note I’m sure the XF is running like a well oiled filly!!
Daf not running too bad thanks mate had a few niggles with ad blue sensors and she runs a bit warm so maybe a new radiator needed when work dies off a bit! Yeah engine was only in that MAN 4 months but hopefully that’ll be reflected on insurance claim.
Matt
kr79:
Christ you couldnt make this up hope you was fully comp was it a total loss?
Yes fully insured but still waiting to hear back from insurers. Looking at it im expecting total loss due to age/mileage.
Matt
Thanks for all your replies on this subject. Ive sort of been dipping in and out of it between mood swings! It is all down to insurers to sort out now so will wait and see what they come up with. To add salt to the wound accountant rung when doing his P45 and said hes accrued £80 holiday pay in 7 days!!
xfmatt:
Silver_Surfer:
He’s only just had a new engine in him ain’t he Matt, have to see if he can be salvaged.On a plus note I’m sure the XF is running like a well oiled filly!!
Daf not running too bad thanks mate had a few niggles with ad blue sensors and she runs a bit warm so maybe a new radiator needed when work dies off a bit! Yeah engine was only in that MAN 4 months but hopefully that’ll be reflected on insurance claim.
Matt
It is important to stay positive but I think you might need to brace yourself for it not being reflected to be totally honest.
never ever got the offer or payout I sometimes wanted off insurance companies…
To be fair to the insurance companies I’ve had to deal with 3 total losses (write offs) in my career and the loss adjusters have been very fair, in fact more than fair on all occasions.
Matt I would get all your documents together if you’ve not already done so, cost of vehicle when you bought it and all you have spent on it since. Try to negotiate the offer they make you up as high as you can get it, using your documents as ammunition to get a better settlement. Don’t forget, you can negotiate, and when they ring you with the first offer act disappointed and sigh a lot, even if the offer is where you thought it would be.
^ ^ ^ this.
Blimey, what a trauma. You did right Matt to give the lad a chance so don’t beat yourself up over it.
Not contacting you for over 24 hrs is totally inexcusable.
Adding insult to injury that you have to pay him + holiday pay!
There’s just 1 thing I would have done differently. I would never let anybody drive a truck for me (not that I’m likely to be an o/d again) unless I had personally witnessed their driving. Might be revving the nuts off it, crunching the gears, harsh/late on the brakes and sudden steering input.
He may indeed not have been going very fast when it went over, catching a kerb wrong with the trl wheels can send them over at low speed. Initially the driver would not know the trl wheels were off the ground. Still, no excuse for this diabolical 4 day destruction mayhem.
It sounds like this lad had no respect for a loaded artic. As someone else said, who trained him? I probably wouldn’t be the one to tell him this, but possibly he has a claim against them.
Remember some of the most successful small (and large) hauliers will have been through similar in times past. You’ll have a tad less out of the job over the next few years due to increased insurance costs, but if the insurance was already that price you would be paying it anyway.
This time next year things will be much easier.