bedgar047:
Next thing we will know is…Oh BTW you have to pay for your own truck Insurance By what some off you on here are saying.
Get a life.
Think you need to read the replies PROPERLY. If you do that you wouldnt reply with complete crap.
This post is not about an accident involving a 3rd party, its about some ■■■■ who smashed the back of truck up causing £1500 worth of damge through his own negligence. It asks the question of whether the driver should be accountable for his incompetence…lots are saying No , but they are all employed, not their problem …ones saying Yes run their own.
Lets be honest, Theres more " incompetent" drivers than there are ones " who are worth their salt" and you will find the vast majority worth their “salt” are nearing retirement.
Ive met them, Ive employed them, Ive sacked them , a member of my family still has to deal with the “ever increasing what ye payin what truck ye have, im not responsible for the damage i cause eejuts who call themselves drivers” , he still sees what goes on with drivers at a certain company and how they wreck the kit they have been given.
routier:
44 Tonne Ton:
routier:
bedgar047:
That’s why every company has insurance
is Insurance free is it ? does it not go up when you have to make a claim ? do you not have to pay an excess ? yes insurance is compulsory, but Im certain every company would want to keep their premiums low and avoid needless claims.
Ever been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault but had no witnesses to prove that? It’s a legal requirement to have insurance therefore it’s part of the everyday cost of being in business and you factor that into your costs. 
am not saying its not,… if you read the post properly, I stated needless claims, you either claim against yourself ( and reap the repecussions the following year) i.e ref the guy who overshot the pin and smashed the cab on a Fridge or pay for the damage yeself. When I had trucks, and no I didnt pay the minimum wage, one driver had 3 accidents in one yr, Id had enough, the last one was when the front of the cab was taken off, he wasnt arsed, it was his fault pulling out, truck was off the road for a month, covered on the insurance for repairs as i was fully comp, bt had an excess to pay and premiums went up the following year. At the time the Insurance company wouldnt pay for a replacement truck and there wasnt enough in the job to go an hire one. He still wanted paying wages but no truck = no work = no money generated and it was all his fault.
So you tell me where the money comes from to pay him ? I suspect, judging by the responses so far would be profit… so you tell me what you think a small hauliers profit is ?
For all you ( cant be aarsseedd)employed drivers, maybe ye all wanna try life from the other side of the coin to have any appreciation, theres a distinct bias of the employed and those who run their own, Im not talkin the big fleets here,say a company who only run , say 5, do the maths , cos their aint a lot of profit, if any, in it!
If you’re not earning enough profit give it up,that’s what I did! I find I’m sleeping a lot better now… 
44 Tonne Ton:
If you’re not earning enough profit give it up,that’s what I did! I find I’m sleeping a lot better now…
gave it up yrs ago lad… like you sleepin sound at night
Some of the more extreme views on this topic are just that…extreme and don’t make a lot of sense. Accidents happen as does neglectful damage, it’s up to the gaffer to apply his judgement to each case individually as to how to resolve; he needs to weigh up whether to discipline, sack or request/demand full or partial payment for the damage from the individual - none of these actions in the right circumstances are unreasonable but common sense needs to prevail, that’s what successful management requires a lot of, in case any of you ‘hang-em-high’ posters who may employ drivers have forgotten.
The problem with ‘neglect’ damage is easy to understand in that it’s unlikely to be the subject of an insurance claim and the firm will simply ‘eat it’ themselves; this is annoying to say the least and can be expensive if repeat offenders are involved. I know of two drivers personally who were told they needed to pay for their latest bumps in order to keep their jobs as they’d had too many and their gaffers had had enough…it was then up to them if they want to stay (they did and paid and calmed their driving down a bit!).
I don’t agree that drivers should pay for damage to the company truck any more than say £100 or so…any more than that then the firm need to handle it - drivers don’t get paid enough to foot big repair bills; this is an aspect of employing drivers that gaffers need to account for in their financial planning, a simple but painful idea I know.
I still think that if a driver damages a vehicle, providing its not his fault, then he should have some kind of repercussion. Why should an employer keep having to pay for the faults of idiots who have no regard for the vehicle/property he is in control of.
I work for solstor, and if you can see the damage thats been done to the vehicles and trailers that are less than 2 years old is a disgrace.
One driver was recently dismissed because he forgot to put the handbrake on coupled up to an empty trailer, airlines/doors/etc then pushed the trailer brake off, and the whole lot ran away…smashing into another vehicle…this was in an RDC so they were not pleased, and have since banned anyone from dropping a trailer…so that means we all have to suffer because we had a spare trailer there that speeded up the operation times, especially on a friday…he was a nice guy and a good driver and a lapse of concentration lost him his job and reputation when he applies for another one.