I am an agency driver and have been employed as a wagon and drag driver for the last 6 weeks doing 300 mile runs each night. The single leg of the draw bar of the trailer is normally supported by pins in the elevated (up) position but because over time the holes no longer aligned it was supported with a short ratchet and strap. On my last night with the company the strap failed and the loop which fastens the strap to the ratchet simply gave way. Fortunatly this happened whilst I was tightening the strap with the ratchet in the yard. If it had failed whilst under tension the leg would have dropped to the vertical position, banged against the carrigeway and would have probably broke away landing on the carrigeway. This would have resulted in the leg being an obstruction on the carrigeway to the detriment of the health and safety of highway users and the route I used was predominantly motorway. I am minded to submit a claim to my agency on the basis of unacceptable risk to causing infury or death which I would have been party to and my licence could have been at risk. I was asked by my agency if I had submitted a defect sheet to report this but I reported it by text to the manager as soon as the strap broke and I was able to source another strap from elsewhere, there was not a spare on the wagon. I was previously advised by a member of the company staff that the strap was found discarded but it did appear to be in good working order. I suspect that the strap has never been tested by the company. The company arranged straight after for the draw bars to be fixed so that the holes for the pins supporting the leg in the elevated position aligned. Would appreciate comments and views of where I have a case to make a claim. Would also act as an incentive to the company to ensure that such equipment is fit for purpose and tested.
your havin a laugh … you want to claim for damage or injury that hasn’t happened with faulty equipment you have know to take out on the road
me thinks you need to rethink what your saying or doing
Why didn’t you just defect it in the first place and refuse to take it out? Surely using a strap should have indicated to you that there was something wrong?
+1
This everything that is wrong with society !
So YOU drive a vehicle with dangerous parts in an unsafe condition.
YOU put the public at risk every time you drive it.
YOU fail to VOR the unit.
…and YOU want to claim off the company!!!
Get real, by that slanted thinking we can all claim off YOU for putting us at risk when we drive on the road after you. I would count myself lucky I hadn’t been stopped by VOSA and got a £1000 fine.
This is pure comedy gold!! Love it thanks gave me a rite good laugh. On a more serious note what exactly are you going to claim off the agency? They most certainly do not have a system in place to compensate drivers for there own incompetence. An utterly bizarre question.
GET REAL its perhaps any wonder your on Agency.
Text to the TM is insufficient,defects should be written and signed as proof of defect and to cover yourself in case of any problems later.
I think I am going to claim for trauma after reading this thread…
Here is the way it is. The driver is responsible for making every effort to ensure their vehicle is safe before going out on the road. OK very few are skilled mechanics, but something that obvious would be spotted on a walk round check. Anything you find, put on a defect sheet and date it. Many yards are often empty of other staff but report the defect to the transport office or mechanics asap. If it is something that presents a significant risk to other road users, then don’t take the truck out.
Do something negligent that causes injury to others and you can potentially find yourself in prison these days. Then you’ll be claiming for something, when trying to retrieve the soap from the shower room floor.
Without meaning to sound too harsh your thoughts of a claim may be better directed toward your school(s) and parents for failing to ensure you didn’t grow up to become an idiot.
I think I am going to claim for trauma after reading this thread…
Here is the way it is. The driver is responsible for making every effort to ensure their vehicle is safe before going out on the road. OK very few are skilled mechanics, but something that obvious would be spotted on a walk round check. Anything you find, put on a defect sheet and date it. Many yards are often empty of other staff but report the defect to the transport office or mechanics asap. If it is something that presents a significant risk to other road users, then don’t take the truck out.
Do something negligent that causes injury to others and you can potentially find yourself in prison these days. Then you’ll be claiming for something, when trying to retrieve the soap from the shower room floor.
LMAO
These threads just get better and better as the weeks go by…
This should be taken to the highest court in the land! I hope the company don’t enter a counter claim for the damage you caused to their favourite strap.
You wanna claim against the company and what leg you gonna stand on… certainly not the trailer one …
They gonna come back and say you never completed anything in the defect book… you knowingly took the trailer out with the defect so infact you have compounded the issue and put other road uses at risk for six weeks … unacceptable … where you get your class one licence from…cornflake packet or did it come free in a Kinder Suprise…
OMG …Oh hang on i get it, no I just checked my diary and it is not the 1 April
Can you please advise on what route and times you are out and about on your 300 mile run, just so I know where to avoid, hopefully you were having a laugh and not being serious.
All joking apart you said it yourself “unacceptable risk to causing injury or death.” I can not believe anyone would take a vehicle out in that condition, the possible consequences just do not bare thinking about. Thank god the issue seems to have been resolved and nobody killed or injured, seriously my friend have a major re-think on how you approach this job.
I am an agency driver and have been employed as a wagon and drag driver for the last 6 weeks doing 300 mile runs each night. The single leg of the draw bar of the trailer is normally supported by pins in the elevated (up) position but because over time the holes no longer aligned it was supported with a short ratchet and strap. On my last night with the company the strap failed and the loop which fastens the strap to the ratchet simply gave way. Fortunatly this happened whilst I was tightening the strap with the ratchet in the yard. If it had failed whilst under tension the leg would have dropped to the vertical position, banged against the carrigeway and would have probably broke away landing on the carrigeway. This would have resulted in the leg being an obstruction on the carrigeway to the detriment of the health and safety of highway users and the route I used was predominantly motorway. I am minded to submit a claim to my agency on the basis of unacceptable risk to causing infury or death which I would have been party to and my licence could have been at risk. I was asked by my agency if I had submitted a defect sheet to report this but I reported it by text to the manager as soon as the strap broke and I was able to source another strap from elsewhere, there was not a spare on the wagon. I was previously advised by a member of the company staff that the strap was found discarded but it did appear to be in good working order. I suspect that the strap has never been tested by the company. The company arranged straight after for the draw bars to be fixed so that the holes for the pins supporting the leg in the elevated position aligned. Would appreciate comments and views of where I have a case to make a claim. Would also act as an incentive to the company to ensure that such equipment is fit for purpose and tested.
