How can a normal day turn bad easy here is my story of my day.
0400 working for agency 1st time in to a sheffield bread company!!! you know the one
office bod says single trip to co op halesowen gives me keys and paperwork can you just fill indefect sheet etc
now here i was in the pitch black as the yard doesn’t have any lights so i had a quick look around wagon just some scratches visible in dark tyres oil lights etc ok hand in sheet and away i go 
halesowen wait for 5 hours and back to sheffield
on return two people say whose done all damage (if id of done it i must of rolled thr truck there was so many)
so we look around and fuel tank is dented and rear doors have a gauge and a small gawge on o/side rear of trailer now i know i haven’t done them but without asking me they have already rung agency up to ask for damages
It just looks as though they were waiting to set me up how can i see dents gawges when it is pitch black you try it i could walk around with a magnifying glass if they wanted but the load might not make it as all there trailers have marks all over them? so my lesson is to take my magnifying glass a big torch and a full pen with me next time but then again it was a rubbish job any way so just ZB to them im only an agency driver
Been there and done it,crap ain`t it,two things you should of done,when you first stopped after it way light and no doubt saw the damage was to phone the agency(they are libel for the damage,ie they or their insurance)and tell them about the damage,more important you should of filled the defect sheet in with something like “could not see any damage due to lack of light”.You fill the rest as is ie oil lights and tyres.
froggy yes i think i know now what i should of done not turned up in first place 
but saying that before i left said place they did say to me that the fuel tank had already been reported and most of the other marks looked old except for one which i told them they had better chase shunter or previous driver for
it just get to you when they don’t know me that i have been driving for the same company for 15 years and never had an accident or scrape because i don’t do accidents as i see myself as a very good driver
Or just write “Extensive Damage Existed as of (date and time you took the keys)”
That way it’ll be one for the lawyers.
When you leave a Sainsburys depot you have to fill out a form with a diagram of the tractor and trailer and leave it with any damage marked in the gatehouse on the way out. I did this with a new trailer, marked the scrapes on the side which where very deep. The next day i was asked what stores had i delivered to the day before with the trailer, i asked why was i being asked and they said because the trailer was damaged (scraped). I explained i marked the damage on he sheet and they said they where just making sure as they looked like scribbles on the paper. Now i reckon the guy who had trailer before me was one of their own trusted drivers who had probably denied knowing anything about it and they thought they might pin it on me. He was sorry he asked me!!
mike c that is the type of sheet they had today but in the dark at 0400 when i have only just woken up you just cant see dents especially
But i suppose this is what you get as an agency driver compared with their own super drivers that don’t do any damage !!! 
or was all the damage to all the trailers done by agencies i dont think so
I thought that bakery had burnt down ,were you delivering toast 
it had burnt down but they can still use about a quarter of it
knight:
I thought that bakery had burnt down ,were you delivering toast
Very funny Knight! 
I was caught out ONCE with that trick when I got blame for a load of damage that was already there. I argued my case til I was blue in the face but it made no difference - bad rep into agency and that was the end of me.
NEVER AGAIN . Now anything more than a scratch sees me back in the office - “er 'scuse me, can someone witness this damage please before I take her out” and get their name too. Charlie Butts at Instore across the road from me is one of the worst for damage on the units and trailers. Some of the green ERFs they’ve got haven’t got front bumpers on them now. It’s getting beyond a joke in there.
Charlie Butts at Instore across the road from me is one of the worst for damage on the units and trailers. Some of the green ERFs they’ve got haven’t got front bumpers on them now. It’s getting beyond a joke in there.
NEVER.
When I worked there,everything was perfect Rob.
Like hell it was.
You can always tell if damage is new though,by the lack of paint,dirt and rust on it.Even aluminium gets a furry coating if the damage is old,so it shouldn’t be hard to tell how recent it is.
Ken.