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Forklift damage. Who pays?

Twmaster

Twmaster

Expert Expediter
I took a skid to Richmond, VA today. The forklift operator was very rough in getting the skid out of my truck and for lack of a better word 'rammed' my bumper hard at least three times before he got the darn skid off me. Any how I looked and didn't see any damage other than a scuff on the paint. Okfine. Off I go. First bump in the road I hit I hear an awful clatter. So I pull over and look. Don't see anything. Step on the bumper and find the forklift had busted the weld underneath on the right side of the truck.

Argh!

Now I've already left the drop and to be honest it will be very easy to fix as in drill two holes and install bolts instead of the crappy weld that was there.

Now all this leads me to a good question. If a forklift operator boogers your truck up who is responsible to make it right?

--
Mike N

Faster than a speeding poulet.
 
terryandrene

terryandrene

Veteran Expediter
Safety & Compliance
US Coast Guard
Our carrier would say that it's a problem the O/O would have to resolve with the damaging party. My guess is you're out of luck since you left the location.
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I agree with Terry. Most companies will respond the same. You are really out of luck if you leave the location.
Davekc
 
Twmaster

Twmaster

Expert Expediter
Oh yea I know I would have little recourse if I tried to go back. That was not exactly my question. My question really was what if a forklift boogered your truck. And lets say you called them on it right there. Ignore the episode of what happed to me today. So I guess the short of it is as Terry said. Between the truck owner and the owner of the forklift. I was also wondering if there were some silly clauses in any of the places you drop at where they claim no responsibility for forklift damage.

Fortunately the damage really was minimal. I'll get the big drill out tomorrow and punch two nice holes for a pair of 1/2" bolts and put the thing back the right way as the weld really was poorly done. Heck, I'll even do the other end of the bumper while I'm at it.

As always, thanks for the replies.

--
Mike N

Faster than a speeding poulet.
 
R

RichM

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Twice I have had fork lift damage done to the rear header of my truck.One instance the operator was half drunk and slammed into it 3 times.The other time was unloading at Ft Benning a inexperienced young soldier took the freight off and for some strange reason raised the freight up and went forward. In both cases I reported it to my carrier,did not leave until I had the damage inspected by a supervisor/Staff Sgt and the shipper paid.Cameras were very useful.
 
S

spitfire

Expert Expediter
twmaster: also make sure you something in writing from the shipper or the consignee which ever it may be. Had a fork lift damage our roof. Did not get anything in writing from the shipper, got nowhere.(sorry nothing in our files can't help you) Had it happen again.(not same shipper) This time did not leave dock until I had something in writing. Was able to get repairs and down time cover thru their ins. company.
 
Twmaster

Twmaster

Expert Expediter
Spitfire, RichM. Good advice. Thanks. Methinks I'll keep one of those disposable cameras in the glove box.

--
Mike N

Faster than a speeding poulet.
 
F

FlameMerc

Expert Expediter
I take it that you have a Cargo Van. Correct me if I'm wrong. When I had my cargo van It was Brand New, and I went to my first load pickup. Well they had me park half way up a ramp, and needless to say here come the forktruck with the load. She used my bumper for a stop BAM. and put two nice dents in my Brand New Bumper. I didn't say anything because I was a newbie, and thought that this is the norm. What I did do was went to a truck supply and bought a large dock bumper for a big truck, and cut in two. I bolted it right where the dents were and I never had another instance of forktruck banging my truck. Drive Safely.........Butch :) :) :)
 
T

Toes

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Chysler paid for my damage

Unit damaged by the automatic "truck lock" at dock. It was the kind that raise up from a track and block the tires. Caught my air-tank.
Took pictures with my disposable camera. Made dock forman look it over, and document damage. Site mananger can to look also. They took their own pictures. I called my carrier. Called everybody but the police. Documented everything, down to what time people arrived.

Chysler paid the damage, $2700.00 but it took me a while to collect. But they did pay. And they paid for the load I missed that morning because of the damage. You mess with my truck, and I get very very nasty, very quick.

Fork lift drivers are not allowed in my truck. Most of them know what they are doing. But it only takes one bad driver to screw up a box. I carry a pallet jack and know how to use it.

Toes
 
C

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
I carry a digital camera

Digitals are coming down in price . You don't have to pay for film to be developed and spend time waiting for it . You can also review the pic after taking it to be sure you include what you need .
 
L

larrybadger

Expert Expediter
RE: I carry a digital camera

>Digitals are coming down in price . You don't have to pay
>for film to be developed and spend time waiting for it . You
>can also review the pic after taking it to be sure you
>include what you need .

Rick,
A word of caution, digital images *may* not be acceptable as proof of damage in a court of law. There is a possibility of 'enhancing' digital images to make it appear damage is worse than what actually occured. I believe in a few instances, the digital image was considered 'not legal proof' or something to that nature. Things may have changed recently, I am not sure. It may be worth your while to take a disposable with you and document the damage with both technologies, digital and traditional film.

Larry Badger
 
C

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
RE: I carry a digital camera

How can they be sure a regular photo has not been scanned and enhanced then printed out ?
 
L

larrybadger

Expert Expediter
RE: I carry a digital camera

>How can they be sure a regular photo has not been scanned
>and enhanced then printed out ?

All I know *for sure* is that my sister-in-law is a portrait photographer who takes photographs of injured people for attorneys. They (the attorneys) stipulate that she MUST use at least a 2-1/4 inch minimum negative sized, silver-based camera, regular focal length lens, and they also get the negatives. Suffice to say they have very stringent requirements. It may be in the courtroom, if the opposing party's attorney questions the validity of the image, negatives can be produced to prove positive that NO image enhancement has been done. The attorneys she deals with require this, even though she also has an 8 megapixel Canon digital camera at her disposal. It may be in the incidents which we are talking about here do not require such proof positive as negatives of the actual image. My intention with the message I posted was to merely point out a possible drawback to using a digital camera for the purpose of documenting damage. And that I have done.

Larry Badger
 
J

jasonsprouse

Expert Expediter
I used to run expedited in a brand new F-350 pickup with a nice chrome bumper. What I did was get a piece of heavy angle iron, and weld it to 2" square tubing to go into the trailer receiver. I set it up so that it was about 1-1/2" past the bumper, so that the forklift would "hit" my angle bumper rather than my chrome bumper.

The worse guys were the UAW "hilo" drivers that figured they could get the forks in further if they rammed the forklift into the truck. I had one girl complain to the supervisor that she couldn't get to the front pallet becasue "that extra bumper is in the way".

What amazed me was this plant (a Ford plant) didn't have a pallet grabber in their receiving department.
 
highway star

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I carry a 30ft tow strap. It's enough to go around the skid and still have enough to hang out the back and hook to the forklift. The big 3 forklift types can be very hard on equipment.
 
Twmaster

Twmaster

Expert Expediter
I also now carry a strap. Great for tugging out skids. There is a thread elsewhere on here about pallet grabbers. I'm just too lazy to go hunt the thread down right now. ;)

--
Mike N

Faster than a speeding poulet.
 
C

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
I needed my cameras

I was at a fuel stop in Upper Sandusky , OH January 7 . After fueling I went inside to grab a bite to eat . As I came out I saw a C.R. England truck pulling forward away from my truck . I knew another truck had been in that space only a few minutes earlier . I checked my truck and saw the right front fender had been hit . The England driver had parked in another space on the lot , obviously hoping I would come out and leave without noticing the damage . I told the driver he had damaged my truck and he denied it and refused to give me any information . When the police officer arrived he called for assistance and took several photos with a digital camera and a tape measure . The England trailer had fresh paint flakes on the rear bumper and measurements were consistent with the damage on my truck . The police report said when confronted with the evidence the England driver said he was unsure he caused the damage . Another driver also gave me info as a witness . When I called England's claims department on Monday they told me their driver said he was accused of an incident and if I didn't have a witness they wouldn't pay . When I picked up the police report they listed England's insurance carrier as unknown . I thought trucks were required to carry proof of insurance . There are lessons to be learned from this . ALWAYS do a walk-around of your truck before starting out again , even if you've only been parked a few minutes . Be sure to get at least one witness if possible and offer yourself as a witness if you observe an incident . Carrying a tape measure as well as a camera helps a lot and be sure to have a bright flashlight to inspect damage at night . Luckily no lights or other parts involving safety were damaged and my truck can be operated until actual repairs can be made .
 
B

Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
RE: I carry a digital camera

Correct on the digital photos are not admissable in a court but a photo with the camera and the picture stored in the camera are admissable to show no altering was done. On a minor incident like this a judge is not going to dissallow the photo if it is a fataility then the two above will need to be entered as evidence. So do not ever delete any photos from your digitial camera that are to be used in a court case. It might also be adviseable to take a photo of the days news paper to prove the date on your very next picture.
 
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