Receiver Damages Trailer Roof

LrgCar

LrgCar

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2020
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Abbotsford BC
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Bit of a crappy situation here, but long story short the driver was delivering a load and once the trailer was unloaded he noticed some damage and approached the forklift driver about it, forklift driver admitted that the mast of the forklift has indeed damaged the trailer however once our driver put it on the bills that receiver caused damage, the supervisor refused to acknowledge that their forklift driver caused the damage and threw it back on us that the roof of the trailer was previously damaged.


How do we proceed with this? file a claim with our insurance? or do we have to take them to small claims?
 
Did you try going over the supervisors head? Perhaps the broker you got the load from could provide you with a name or two of someone higher up the chain. If all else fails, contact your insurance broker and run the scenario past them for their advice.
 
Damn eh :(
Without a doubt the broker is not going to help you, so that leaves you with proving that the receiver did the damage.
I suspect your driver's report was "The Guy" on the forklift said he did it, and likely never got a name, or employee number, or even a picture. You can try sending them a bill for it, and even threaten to take them to court, but at the end of the day you're likely to be stuck with your own repairs.
Still, a piss off to be sure.
 
Michael Ludwig said:
I suspect your driver's report was "The Guy" on the forklift said he did it, and likely never got a name, or employee number, or even a picture.
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Exactly, the forklift guy wouldn't give his name and was nowhere to be seen as soon as the supervisor around came around. This was late in the day so as loaders said, I will contact the company in the morning and see who is above the supervisor and have a chat with them.
 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Why not bark up a few trees and see what falls out?
 
LrgCar said:
Exactly, the forklift guy wouldn't give his name and was nowhere to be seen as soon as the supervisor around came around. This was late in the day so as loaders said, I will contact the company in the morning and see who is above the supervisor and have a chat with them.
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That's the one thing about drivers that completely unwinds me ... "The Guy" said <something important> ... That's all the information you get and they expect you to perform miracles with that most miniscule tidbit of useless information.
I usually end up with multiple bruises on my forehead from said discussions ... LOL
 
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Michael Ludwig said:
That's the one thing about drivers that completely unwinds me ... "The Guy" said <something important> ... That's all the information you get and they expect you to perform miracles with that most miniscule tidbit of useless information.
I usually end up with multiple bruises on my forehead from said discussions ... LOL
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That is a difficult situation - do you have pictures? That would prove damage...and if the trailer is new - you can argue that it could not have been damaged prior to this load
 
You have the ability to claim it under your policy (auto insurance), give the insurer the explanation of what had occurred and request that they “subrogate” against the responsible party.

hopefully you’re with an insurer who wants to fight for YOU and your hard earned premiums.
 
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TRKINSURE said:
You have the ability to claim it under your policy (auto insurance), give the insurer the explanation of what had occurred and request that they “subrogate” against the responsible party.

hopefully you’re with an insurer who wants to fight for YOU and your hard earned premiums.
Click to expand...

Will it affect our premiums if we lose the claim?
 
LrgCar said:
Will it affect our premiums if we lose the claim?
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it could... the commmercial insurance worlds operates on dollars in vs. dollars out (amongst other things).

It would be rated as a "comprehensive loss" rather than collision so the drivers record won't be affected. But have a look at your drivers accident report and use your gut to see if you think you have enough information on the incident. And if you don't, that should be a discussion for your next drivers meeting. If you feel you do, call your broker first to explain the situation and request when they submit the claim to try everything in their power to subrogate the loss.
 
LrgCar said:
Will it affect our premiums if we lose the claim?
Click to expand...

Probably.
It almost sounds like you're going to have to eat this one unless the damage is extensive ... then it may be worth an insurance claim. Chalk it up to experience and incorporate this type of situation into your driver's policies & procedures manual. It also doesn't hurt to get your people to take a quick picture (with a time and date stamp) of the back of the trailer when they get loaded. That way they get the condition of the back of the load and the trailer before they leave. An easy CYA process for both you and your driver.
It's an accident and should be treated as such. Get names. Take pictures. Call management immediately.
Still sucks though ... new trailer and all.

Further to @TRKINSURE 's post ... from what you have posted here, you don't have enough evidence to force the receiver to pay.
No witnesses. No names. No confession(s). No pictures. No video. Can't prove it didn't happen during loading. Can't prove it did happen during unloading. Can't prove it didn't happen somewhere else.
 
Thank you everyone for all the help, to be honest looks like we will have to eat this one up. Definitely a lesson learned to have drivers take pictures of equipment before and after loading to avoid these sorts of situations. This has happened before however, this is the first time we've had someone blatantly deny that the damage occurred.
 
I had a very similar situation just last month and the cost of the repair was $872.95 including tax from Utility. you don't want to report it to insurance it just an extra hassle for nothing. I got lucky my receiver is willing to pay everything, still waiting for the cheque though.................. Don't get the patchwork done it will look ugly and the trailer will lose value.
 

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Michael Ludwig said:
Damn eh :(
Without a doubt the broker is not going to help you, so that leaves you with proving that the receiver did the damage.
I suspect your driver's report was "The Guy" on the forklift said he did it, and likely never got a name, or employee number, or even a picture. You can try sending them a bill for it, and even threaten to take them to court, but at the end of the day you're likely to be stuck with your own repairs.
Still, a piss off to be sure.
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What could the broker do?
 
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I'm not commenting after this post, but what could the broker do? Just Sayin if the shoe was on the other foot and the same trailer back in and damage there dock, you would also throw your hands up and walk away.
 
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Not throw up my hands and walk away, but certainly accept that there has been an accident between two parties that I have placed together in a transaction and do whatever I could to facilitate a satisfactory resolution between them. Other than that, what else could the broker possibly do? Drive the forklift?...guide the driver back into the dock?...personally supervise the loading procedure? Oh I know....get out his cheque book and start writing cheques for each and every inconvenience that either the carrier or the shipper experiences while completing the load. That has to be it.
 
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Unbeliveable said:
I'm not commenting after this post, but what could the broker do? Just Sayin if the shoe was on the other foot and the same trailer back in and damage there dock, you would also throw your hands up and walk away.
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loading docks are meant to take damage from trailers backing into them- this is so that the structure of the building doesn't take the brunt of the force
 
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