In my experience, most damage to vehicles results not so much from driver error, but from directions that are inadequate or non-existent.
A few years ago, I was driving through Bedford approaching a roundabout with two other exits. I had been there ‘once’ before and knew that one of the exits led to a low bridge, but I couldn’t remember which one. The destination sign on the approach had, in the days prior, been flattened by an errant motorist and couldn’t be read as one passed.
I had to make a decision, and made the wrong one, by which time it was too late. Fortunately, there was a wide business access where I could ‘screw turn’.
BUT, if I had caught some street furniture, then under this proposal, I would have been expected to pay, even though the actual ‘fault’ lay with the motorist who flattened the sign, and the Council for not replacing it.
Speaking to someone years ago, in the Nursery business. Whilst they ran a vehicle of their own, in the Spring when it got busy delivering to Garden Centres, they ‘hired in’ a couple of vehicles, and always requested the oldest vehicles (within reason) simply due to the fact that a large number of G.C.'s are down narrow lanes, with new growth from bordering trees, and that additional scrapes and scratches were inevitable.
Another story I heard was of a ‘bulker’ delivering animal feed to a farm down a long track. He got in there without any problem and tipped accordingly. On the way out, and here I’m making two assumptions. 1. The vehicle was ‘on steel’. 2. Being of the public road, the driver had yet to fit his seat belt. A bough that had not presented a problem in the way in, was struck and brought the vehicle to an immediate halt. So much so that the driver suffered a fractured vertebrae in his spine. Is that the fault of the driver? Or had the employer been negligent in assessing H&S in relation to that delivery?
While I don’t agree with any driver being asked to pay towards the excess of any insurance policy.
How about taking a different tack. If your boss expects his drivers to contribute towards the excess in the case of an act of negligence. What about if you complete a month accident free, then he gives each driver the same amount as the excess…
We all know what he will say, but tell him it’s a 2 way street, because if he intends to penalise the driver for something that genuinely may not be his fault, then he’s entitled to reward him for something that will be…
dennisw1:
If it’s an insurance claim then it’ll be the insurers who decide who’s negligent.
that’s even more worrying, have you seen Paul’s thread about insurance companies caving in to scams?
No way, if you’re that bad a driver you lose your job. If you did get the sack would you say to the boss ‘if I give you £250, can I have my job back?’
I don’t think so.
Although i think i am correct in saying that any employer can stipulate what he wants from a driver …i am pretty sure that any driver in his right mind…would never pay an employer to drive his truck…so tell them to ■■■■ off…tell them its a stipulation that drivers expect to be paid…and not to pay them…if certain drivers are causing the company to pay excess on their insurance policy…then sack the drivers concerned… end of problem…
it’s only those ‘certain drivers’ that are going to pay.
As i said i wouldnt be worried as i dont smash vehicles up. You’d only have to pay anything (250 would be the ‘max’) if you smashed something. So if you’re worried about paying you must be someone who’s always smashing stuff!
i have been with Exel since april and refreshed my class 1 skills in that time but i havent had as much as a scratch. i still wouldnt sign that though. it leaves you open to all kinds of stitch ups and i like to know my arse is covered
dennisw1:
it’s only those ‘certain drivers’ that are going to pay.
As i said i wouldnt be worried as i dont smash vehicles up.
That’s the way I was looking at it, however I also agree with the people that say an incentive should be offered in return.
the company I work for pays drivers who haven’t had an accident a bonus of £250 a year. For your first accident you lose £125, if you have a second then you lose the rest
Years ago I worked for Wimpeys driving one of 80 six and eight wheeled tippers building the M1 in Notts. I worked regular night shifts shifting muck from the cuttings (between Js 25 & 26) to the valleys (where it crosses the Trent) and when the accident average got up to about 20 per night the company said that in future all involved would be sacked on the spot - regardless of blame.
The next night while waiting to tip, the bloke in front kept getting bogged and couldn’t make his turn, lost his temper and shoved it full speed in reverse . Crash! The front of my wagon was demolished leaving me to limp back to the yard with all the lights flashing like Blackpool (he’d squashed the the fuse box), to park up and await my fate. Fortunately they had the eye-witness account of the banksman and so made an exception to the rule and gave me another motor . The other bloke was on an early finish though , but he didn’t have to pay anything .
truckyboy:
Although i think i am correct in saying that any employer can stipulate what he wants from a driver …
Only if you allow them to. If one company starts this how long will it be before they all start it and it becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Its on issues like this where you need to stick together as drivers and all refuse to sign anything. If you dont sign what are they going to do, sack all the drivers, I doubt it very much, and if they tried you just let it be known to all what they have done. They would soon start to struggle to find replacements.
. The other bloke was on an early finish though 
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