Joined:
Aug 2024
Posts:
170
EE: 100% (4)
TN, USA
Posted: 1/26/2025 10:32:44 AM EDT
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My son has a small excavation company. He decided to diversify and offer up his KW tri axle dump as a subcontractor. Lots of demand for dump trucks/drivers. Do he went to school and got his CLASS A CDL manual trans. He immediately got a good subcontracting job hauling 4-5 miles from pit to the job site. 10-12 hrs a day. Easy low speed haul. Last day before holiday break and last load of the day, another truck backed into his truck smashing the hood, radiator, fan, etc requiring a tow. Pit accident. Private property. Other company admitted fault, insurance agreed to pay. Son has other jobs going on that require the dump truck. Those jobs bring in $1500-2000 per day utilizing excavator, dozer, dump truck. However without dump truck, he can’t work. Insurance company of other truck sent out an adjuster. Truck was also quoted by truck repair shop. Shop was $2k higher. Fine. Insurance sent out a check for the truck damage. Son can’t work and sent an offer to settle for lost work, truck damage, and truck rental cost till truck is fixed. Loss of use total days at the settlement offer date was 21 working days. Past that it is estimated 5 weeks to fix truck. 3 weeks to get to it, 2 weeks to repair. Dump truck rental is $3k plus insurance a week Insurance offered to reimburse for truck rental. Son is out of work and building his business. How is he supposed to pay for a rental dump truck when out of work for a whole month? When he received the truck damage check he was forced to pay bills with it as they were piling up. Might lose one of the two jobs if he doesn’t get back on it. Insurance put a forensic accountant on the case to justify his loss of use. The lady wants tax returns and expenses and gave a formula that divides the totals by 365, not actual working days. Get a lawyer? Play their game? Wtf? |
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Originally Posted By KurtVice: My son has a small excavation company. He decided to diversify and offer up his KW tri axle dump as a subcontractor. Lots of demand for dump trucks/drivers. Do he went to school and got his CLASS A CDL manual trans. He immediately got a good subcontracting job hauling 4-5 miles from pit to the job site. 10-12 hrs a day. Easy low speed haul. Last day before holiday break and last load of the day, another truck backed into his truck smashing the hood, radiator, fan, etc requiring a tow. Pit accident. Private property. Other company admitted fault, insurance agreed to pay. Son has other jobs going on that require the dump truck. Those jobs bring in $1500-2000 per day utilizing excavator, dozer, dump truck. However without dump truck, he can’t work. Insurance company of other truck sent out an adjuster. Truck was also quoted by truck repair shop. Shop was $2k higher. Fine. Insurance sent out a check for the truck damage. Son can’t work and sent an offer to settle for lost work, truck damage, and truck rental cost till truck is fixed. Loss of use total days at the settlement offer date was 21 working days. Past that it is estimated 5 weeks to fix truck. 3 weeks to get to it, 2 weeks to repair. Dump truck rental is $3k plus insurance a week Insurance offered to reimburse for truck rental. Son is out of work and building his business. How is he supposed to pay for a rental dump truck when out of work for a whole month? When he received the truck damage check he was forced to pay bills with it as they were piling up. Might lose one of the two jobs if he doesn’t get back on it. Insurance put a forensic accountant on the case to justify his loss of use. The lady wants tax returns and expenses and gave a formula that divides the totals by 365, not actual working days. Get a lawyer? Play their game? Wtf? Their pockets are deeper than yours. Thats the reality. If they are willing to give you anything for "loss work", take it. You could spend years in litigation, and lose. Are they being "fair"? No. But something is better than nothing. This is a teachable moment for him, and hopefully with a successful business like this, he will come out the other side much better prepared for future accidents. Sad fact is, as a business owner, your son needs his own policy to kick in and protect him for work loss. Thats usually an extra rider. His insurance broker can find policies (depending on the state) that can help. We've been self employed for 30 years, and its always been on our shoulders to protect us. Extra business savings, extra insurance, etc.. And depending on the cost of insurance riders, it might be time to buy another truck and have 2. |
Joined:
Aug 2024
Posts:
172
EE: 100% (4)
TN, USA
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Would you give up stuff that’s normally subpoenaed in a lawsuit? Like tax returns? Or just go ahead and sue? We are not a litigious family but losing out on $30k due to this wreck is not chicken feed. The accountant or auditor uses a formula that goes like this: Net income Plus recurring regular business expenses Divided by 365 He doesn’t want to get his insurance involved because it might increase his rate. Even though it’s a no fault claim. |
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Seems like any small business that depends on a truck needs to have a backup plan if the truck break down. The biggest local trash company in my AO is hemorrhaging customers because their truck broke down and they stopped making regular pickups. Local facebook groups are full of people complaining and talking about switching to a competitor. If they survive they will probably only retain half of their customer base. |
Joined:
Aug 2024
Posts:
174
EE: 100% (4)
TN, USA
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Originally Posted By nvcdl: Seems like any small business that depends on a truck needs to have a backup plan if the truck break down. Timing is what this was. He has one pond job requiring moving dirt and another where he is to deliver dirt on a farm clean up. Plus the regular hauling job that is just about over. Normally he clears land and farm clean ups not requiring the truck. Similar truck is $80-100k and if it just sits there doesn’t make sense to have two. He is a one man show with clients that aren’t in a big hurry normally. |