jonny-chicken
Site Supporter
20
Hello All,
Looking for some opinions on a matter I am dealing with and also a warning to carriers about handling equipment damage claims.
Our trailer has a rolling tarp system on it and we usually roll it all forward and out of the way to be loaded/unloaded, but on this particular delivery the receiver wanted the kit left closed and instead wanted to unload by driving a forklift onto the trailer.
The rear door of the trailer is a roll-up made of the same tarp material as the rest of the tarp kit.
After unloading 4 of the 5 pieces without problem, the forklift driver went back into our trailer for the 5th piece and when he backed out his forklift caught the edge of the rolled-up door and he proceeded to continue driving the forklift until the rear door was in shreds.
The receivers then said it was my driver's fault and tried to kick him off the property with no documentation or acknowledgement of the damage they had caused.
Apparently, they believe that the door should have been rolled up better so the forklift driver wouldn't have hit it.
Personally, I would think if the forklift driver could see an obstruction they should have it moved, not drive through it and blame someone else. If they didn't see an obstruction, then they weren't looking where they were driving.
Our driver refused to leave without an incident report and with help from our office staff getting people at the receiver on the phone, we were able to get the incident report and the driver left.
The receiver has since ignored every attempt we have made in the past nearly 2 weeks to contact him to discuss the damage and have them pay for the repairs.
I approached the load broker that gave us the load, and their response was surprising to say the least... The load broker would also like to blame our driver for the handy work of the forklift operator at his customer.
Looking for some opinions on a matter I am dealing with and also a warning to carriers about handling equipment damage claims.
Our trailer has a rolling tarp system on it and we usually roll it all forward and out of the way to be loaded/unloaded, but on this particular delivery the receiver wanted the kit left closed and instead wanted to unload by driving a forklift onto the trailer.
The rear door of the trailer is a roll-up made of the same tarp material as the rest of the tarp kit.
After unloading 4 of the 5 pieces without problem, the forklift driver went back into our trailer for the 5th piece and when he backed out his forklift caught the edge of the rolled-up door and he proceeded to continue driving the forklift until the rear door was in shreds.
The receivers then said it was my driver's fault and tried to kick him off the property with no documentation or acknowledgement of the damage they had caused.
Apparently, they believe that the door should have been rolled up better so the forklift driver wouldn't have hit it.
Personally, I would think if the forklift driver could see an obstruction they should have it moved, not drive through it and blame someone else. If they didn't see an obstruction, then they weren't looking where they were driving.
Our driver refused to leave without an incident report and with help from our office staff getting people at the receiver on the phone, we were able to get the incident report and the driver left.
The receiver has since ignored every attempt we have made in the past nearly 2 weeks to contact him to discuss the damage and have them pay for the repairs.
I approached the load broker that gave us the load, and their response was surprising to say the least... The load broker would also like to blame our driver for the handy work of the forklift operator at his customer.