What if you break down or get sick?

[jasonsprouse]

I suppose I have a different answer since I am an owner / operator that deals directly with the customer.

In this case I own a towing company (Used to work in expedite, and it has some parallels to my current business which is why I frequent this board).

If my truck breaks down with a "load" (vehicle) on it I will make sure the load gets delivered either by another truck or by towing my truck to the delivery.

If something happens to me I will call a trusted competitor to either swap the load, or drive my truck to the delivery.

In no case will I maintain posession of SOMEONE ELSE'S property and fail to meet my contractual obligations simply because of my problem.

 

[Broompilot]

Stuff happens or is z happens.

We want to delvier goods on time, but things happen. Illness, weather, accidents there is NO GUARANTEE it will get there on time or requested until you acutally pull into the dock. (I saw a truck breakdown in the dock and I could not get into to it to get the freight off.)

NO LOAD IS WORTH YOUR HEALTH, LIFE, or your Truck unless the dollar amount your gona make is worth more than your truck, than the first TWO items are still more important.

 

[Suds43]

That actual thing happened to me once. Parked the truck on an entrance ramp, ambulance took me and my wife to the hospital. After I was stabilized, company sent another husband/wife team to drive my truck (with owners permission) back to the shipper to unload. They then brought the truck back to the hospital, locked in up and brought the keys in........No problems!!!!!
What happened to the load??? Never heard/don't care........I imagine another truck was put on the load picking up at the original shipper.

 

[nightcreacher]

had situations twice,once when i drove a company truck in the 70's,appendecitis,was in hospital 2 weeks,company came got truck from truck stop,i got ride home with my brother
had bad bad case of flu,just couple years ago,co-driver delivered load,and took us home.

 

[Streakn1]

Lets inter another element to my "hypothetical" scenario:

Your truck or trailer has been taken on to the delivery by a driver the carrier chose, not a trusted friend or associate. This was done even though you were not in agreement with this arrangement. Then it is returned to you damaged on the exterior or inside the cab/sleeper. Its obvious this occurred while in the care of the other driver. What if you are a non-smoker and your truck has never been smoked in only to have it returned full of ashes and smoke?

Your insurance pays for the repairs less the deductable. You have lost revenue also due to the down time while the truck is in the shop.
Would you eat the out of pocket cost and lost potentual revenue, or would you go after the driver(s) for compensation even if it meant having to sue them in court?

 

[nightcreacher]

My friend,you have to much time on your hand,but I suspect if this person took your truck for delivery,a pre trip would have been done,so if there were any damadge,you could prove who did it,then you coud at least get the deductable from them.

 

[jasonsprouse]

There is another element. That freight that you have is being expedited for a reason. Most likely it is going to go to an auto plant that will lose 10's of thousands of dollars an hour for every hour it is shut down without that freight.

Yes it is your truck. But it is not your freight.

 

[Moot]

Hypothetical scenario #241:

You are a solo O/O headed to Sudbury, ON. with a load of Canadian Swine Flu vaccine. This particular form of Canadian Swine Flu thrives in the acidic atmosphere surrounding Sudbury. This flu is taking its toll on the elderly, infants and llamas.

En route you stop at Buffet World for a light snack. About 1 hour from the border you succumb to severe abdominal cramping and must be taken to a hospital via ambulance. Your carrier sends a rescue driver to complete the delivery. You are not informed of this and nobody is aware that Francine your pet Guinea pig is living under your bed.

The rescue driver the carrier sent happens to be a walking pharmacy. At the border his spastic left foot slips off the clutch pedal, the truck lurches forward hitting and injuring a Canadian Customs agent that was passing in front of the truck.

The driver is arrested. The truck is searched. Drugs are found but not Francine. Canadian officials impound the truck and its life saving cargo. It is a cold night in Canada. People are dying in Sudbury, more so than usual. Despite her fur coat, Francine dies. You are in a U.S. hospital receiving medical treatment for which you are unable to pay since Hilliary has yet to become president.

Should you have continued on, crossed the border and sought free medical help in Canada?

Who is responsible for sending Francines's remains to her home country of Guinea?

Don't laugh. This really happened. I was talking to a guy on the c.b. who's buddy's brother-in-law's cousin was the Canadian Customs Agent that was run over by the truck.

 

[are12]

<<Don't laugh. This really happened. I was talking to a guy on the c.b. who's buddy's brother-in-law's cousin was the Canadian Customs Agent that was run over by the truck.>>

Sorry Moot, but by the time I got to the end of the scenario, I have to admit I was practically rolling on the floor! This is too funny to be true!!

Didn't anyone tell you, "don't believe everything you hear on the CB.";-) ;-)

 

[Streakn1]

There have been some great replies to this thread. Based on what I've read thus far, it sounds like no matter how the owner of the truck feels about a stranger driving their truck if a freight transfer can't be arranged, the carrier is going to see to it that the customer is served! Like it or not

 

[Doggie Daddy]

>There have been some great replies to this thread. Based on
>what I've read thus far, it sounds like no matter how the
>owner of the truck feels about a stranger driving their
>truck if a freight transfer can't be arranged, the carrier
>is going to see to it that the customer is served! Like it
>or not

Not in MY truck.DD.

 

[cheri1122]

Lessons learned from this heartrending tale:
1 Don't eat at Buffet World. Especially if you haven't got time for the pain.
2 If you have a spastic foot, don't drive a vehicle with a clutch. Especially if it's full of illegal pharmaceuticals.
3 Put the 'country of origin' on your Guinea pig's collar, in case of unattended death, because none of them are from Guinea, actually.
4 Don't read anything posted by Moot until you've swallowed whatever you're drinking!

 

[ATeam]

>There have been some great replies to this thread. Based on
>what I've read thus far, it sounds like no matter how the
>owner of the truck feels about a stranger driving their
>truck if a freight transfer can't be arranged, the carrier
>is going to see to it that the customer is served! Like it
>or not

I disagree. As Cheri so clearly put it, "...no carrier has the authority to put another driver in a truck they don't own."

If an owner-operator relinquishes control of his or her truck to another driver or to the carrier, he or she deserves everything bad that may come out of it. The risk of doing so is not worth taking. There is virtually no upside beyond serving the customer. There is a ton of down side.

I'll go the extra mile for a customer and have done so many times. I will not go the extra truck.

If that means getting charged with a service failure, they can charge me with two. If it means losing my contract with my carrier, it will take me a week, two at the most, to get their letters off my truck and the new carrier's on.

 

[fastrod]

>I disagree. As Cheri so clearly put it, "...no carrier has
>the authority to put another driver in a truck they don't
>own."

But I will bet that the carrier has the authority to pass along the bill they get from there customer for a line being down. Since you are a independent contractor you are responsible for the on time delivery of the freight.

 

[nightcreacher]

And if you haven't swollowed,it might just come back thru your nose.I'm still laughing.Why did they not find the pig,could have been a snake,they wouuldnt have found it.

 

[Moot]

The carrier isn't financially responsible for any expenses that a customer may incur due to a line being down. The only financial obligation the carrier has to the customer is for damage to the freight. Or if the carrier offers a discount for late freight. Which could then be passed on to the contractor.

 

[greg334]

Force majeure or a greater force beyond your control is in every carrier contract or if it isn't then you should not be running with them.

In some cases, sickness can be considered act of God - 30 people getting food poisoning from the T/A buffet is a good example - it affects a lot of people at the same time and by the same cuase. A good lawyer can protect you if you use the Force majeure clause in the contract for a number f different reasons. I know that in some cases things out of my hands, Kidney stones for example, can fall under this and I had could of had a choice of using it.

The following is not legal advice but what I know.

The Carrier's and the shipper's rights are actually limited in what they can do with your property regardless if you are loaded or not. Starting with the contract, you are an independent contractor and not subject to their control while in transit with a load - outside of Hazmat and special cases where regulations and routing take priority. They really can't tow the truck if they want to without your permission, unless there is a real and true abandonment of the load but there has to be solid proof that you refused to deliver it or just gave up - being in the hospital is not abandonment.

But because they, the carrier, has to follow a law called the Uniform Commercial Code which states under §2-615, "failure to deliver goods sold may be excused by an "act of God" if the absence of such act was a basic assumption of the contract, but has made the delivery commercially impracticable" there is more to them calling you up and telling you that they will 'seize' your truck to deliver the load.

In addition, if they demand that you give up control of your property to deliver and actually try to put another driver in your truck to deliver the load, they just committed breech of contract and also made you an employee. By forcing this on you and they have taken control of the situation by removing you from your property (tools of the trade) thus eliminating the contractor status in the agreement between you and the company. As much as this may be disputed with the 'experts' here, when you have specific rules outside the contract that govern the relationship and they are broken, there is no gray areas left for the company (carrier) to hide in - congrats you are now a legal employee and will get back wages and benefits. Just remember FedEx has and is fighting some very similar issues and lost - if they can lose, so can rinikydink carrier with 150 contractors (one comes to mind right now that plays games like this and thinks they can do anything).