Are Authorities Held Responsible If Improper Maintenance Of Roadside Greenery Contributes To An Accident?

Your company insurance agents will deal with the issues you bring up. The legal folks will get all the relevant facts and discuss a settlement. If they do not agree then it will go to court and a judge and/or jury will decide what is reasonable.

I guess I'm more confused why you would take that route to save a few bucks in tolls, especially when you say your experienced and these conditions are not unusual.

The toll amounts to likely more than $200 (I-76 north of Pittsburg, I-90 through OH/IN). At nighttime going US-30 takes only an hour more than driving on the Interstate. Saving $200-250 in toll for a day, doing that few times a week amounts to several thousands of dollars a month I save for the company.

Construction made me go off the State route. I did not take I-70 via WV since it was a heavy load and tested the northern Pittsburgh route that night. I am not saying I am not to be blamed for the accident, I am asking who controls if the bills issued by the township are justifiable.

I am addressing possible 'overcharging' issue. Owner-operators and trucking companies complain about the high insurance cost. The Insurance company may cover this accident, but having a township like this one inflating the bills goes back to the truckers through high insurance monthly payments. Not everything is covered by the insurance. Hitting a 2 ft high / 25 ft long stone wall obscured by tall grass at moderate speed could now make the small trucking company I work for go bankrupt. What's next, a trucker hits a road sign in some shady township and the township asks for $100 million in damages?!

I thought maybe some representative of a truckers organization visits the forum to advise me what a trucker/small trucking company can do to investigate the bills. I am looking to help out the company by gathering information. The company does not have a legal team, I am sure the owner is in contact with the insurance company as this can bring the company down financially.

Truck, as the driver, this matter is out of your hands and has been since the accident. Why are you obsessed about it? There is nothing you can do to influence what happens moving forward. Just relax and let the professionals deal with it. I’m sure they know how to contact you if they need your help.

Sounds to me like you are “the company”… or either a close friend of or relative to the owner (s). Otherwise it’s really none of your business what happens next, you do not have a dog in the fight. Too bad you weren’t so concerned about “the company” before you drove in heavy fog and hit the wall…

I think we’ve exhausted our ability and inclination to help you. Your propensity to focus entirely on “the company”, and not your future employment, is rather odd and a bit “off”.

Good luck.

Your company insurance agents will deal with the issues you bring up. The legal folks will get all the relevant facts and discuss a settlement. If they do not agree then it will go to court and a judge and/or jury will decide what is reasonable.

I guess I'm more confused why you would take that route to save a few bucks in tolls, especially when you say your experienced and these conditions are not unusual.

The toll amounts to likely more than $200 (I-76 north of Pittsburg, I-90 through OH/IN). At nighttime going US-30 takes only an hour more than driving on the Interstate. Saving $200-250 in toll for a day, doing that few times a week amounts to several thousands of dollars a month I save for the company.

Construction made me go off the State route. I did not take I-70 via WV since it was a heavy load and tested the northern Pittsburgh route that night. I am not saying I am not to be blamed for the accident, I am asking who controls if the bills issued by the township are justifiable.

I am addressing possible 'overcharging' issue. Owner-operators and trucking companies complain about the high insurance cost. The Insurance company may cover this accident, but having a township like this one inflating the bills goes back to the truckers through high insurance monthly payments. Not everything is covered by the insurance. Hitting a 2 ft high / 25 ft long stone wall obscured by tall grass at moderate speed could now make the small trucking company I work for go bankrupt. What's next, a trucker hits a road sign in some shady township and the township asks for $100 million in damages?!

I thought maybe some representative of a truckers organization visits the forum to advise me what a trucker/small trucking company can do to investigate the bills. I am looking to help out the company by gathering information. The company does not have a legal team, I am sure the owner is in contact with the insurance company as this can bring the company down financially.

You don't seriously consider possibly destroying a bridge and a sign to be the same do you? The insurance company will handle everything from getting it inspected to ensuring they're not being overcharged. This is what your employer pays insurance to handle. If the owner doesn't have enough coverage to handle the expenses that's on him. He was willing to gamble with lower coverages for a cheaper premium. It's part of doing business. I'd feel bad if my employer went bankrupt due to my actions. I wouldn't waste time trying to fix their problem though. We're not lawyers and do not have all the evidence/claim info in front of us.

I think you're grasping for straws because there's more to the story than you're letting on. We're still waiting for the location this occured. If you can't figure out uploading screenshots just share the town and highway it occured.

Well sir I am an owner operator and I go to PA regularly. I much prefer to pay the tolls up there and save time and minimize risk, especially when the weather can be bad. I carry great insurance just in case. Yes both cost me a good amount over the course of a year but it is cheaper than just 1 major claim.

Another point is accessorial charges such as tolls are factored into the rate or charged back to the customer. No need for the company to short change this area.

I am with Turtle on this. The wall was hidden by trees and grass. Why were you driving on grass.

Repeatedly he says there was low visibility and fog... But insists there was no weight limit sign. My guess is there was no sign because he wasn't supposed to be there. Some places only put truck signs where trucks are permitted. Why put a weight limit sign on a non truck route? He repeats US 30 and I90.... Known truck routes but decided to take another route. Do we know this unknown route is a truck route. The bridge described doesn't sound it This reminds me of the woman in IN who totaled the historical bridge and claimed it wasn't her fault cause she didn't know how much a ton was.

In that event....The weight of the truck did damage to the bridge. The bridge needs to be replaced. A truck drive into the Atlantic City NJ boardwalk a few years ago, causing millions in damage. Whether or not there was prior structural damage didn't matter. The weight caused more damage. It is kinda like saying "your fender was already dinged so when I hit it, it wasn't a big deal and not my fault."

Insurance companies have legal teams. However, it is for this exact reason why I would never ever want my own fleet. It only takes one driver with one accident. And even if you fire that driver. That is on your CSA as a company for years and affecting your insurance. I know a guy who lost 9 trucks because of one accident like this.

Your company insurance agents will deal with the issues you bring up. The legal folks will get all the relevant facts and discuss a settlement. If they do not agree then it will go to court and a judge and/or jury will decide what is reasonable.

I guess I'm more confused why you would take that route to save a few bucks in tolls, especially when you say your experienced and these conditions are not unusual.

The toll amounts to likely more than $200 (I-76 north of Pittsburg, I-90 through OH/IN). At nighttime going US-30 takes only an hour more than driving on the Interstate. Saving $200-250 in toll for a day, doing that few times a week amounts to several thousands of dollars a month I save for the company.

Construction made me go off the State route. I did not take I-70 via WV since it was a heavy load and tested the northern Pittsburgh route that night. I am not saying I am not to be blamed for the accident, I am asking who controls if the bills issued by the township are justifiable.

I am addressing possible 'overcharging' issue. Owner-operators and trucking companies complain about the high insurance cost. The Insurance company may cover this accident, but having a township like this one inflating the bills goes back to the truckers through high insurance monthly payments. Not everything is covered by the insurance. Hitting a 2 ft high / 25 ft long stone wall obscured by tall grass at moderate speed could now make the small trucking company I work for go bankrupt. What's next, a trucker hits a road sign in some shady township and the township asks for $100 million in damages?!

I thought maybe some representative of a truckers organization visits the forum to advise me what a trucker/small trucking company can do to investigate the bills. I am looking to help out the company by gathering information. The company does not have a legal team, I am sure the owner is in contact with the insurance company as this can bring the company down financially.

You don't have to take US-30 to avoid tolls. I make my living running Ohio to New Jersey regularly. I-80 gets you through the entirety of PA without paying a toll. The Ohio Turnpike toll is nowhere near $200 to run the length of the state. Not all of I-80/90 through Ohio is toll, anyway. I often run I-80/90 after running north from Oberlin, Ohio. That run to get me to I-80 in PA costs less than $50. In my assessment, you are overthinking saving money on tolls and cost your company much more money in dealing with the issue that you created. If you are not familiar enough with roads to safely route yourself around tolls, use a truck GPS that has an option to avoid tolls. I use TruckerPath as a tool and it even shows me the toll cost for a given trip.

I meant $200 in total toll (I-76 PA, I-90 OH/IN), I apologize for not specifying. I was driving from Maryland, I do use I-80 going NorthEast.

Moderator said "I think we’ve exhausted our ability and inclination to help you. Your propensity to focus entirely on “the company”, and not your future employment, is rather odd and a bit “off”." I'll add just this more, "the company" is owned by a good friend of mine, it's easiest to walk away.

Thank you all for responses.

Truck D wrote:

Moderator said "I think we’ve exhausted our ability and inclination to help you. Your propensity to focus entirely on “the company”, and not your future employment, is rather odd and a bit “off”." I'll add just this more, "the company" is owned by a good friend of mine, it's easiest to walk away.

Thank you all for responses.

Yes I did write that. I also wrote this (below), prefacing the above paragraph:

Sounds to me like you are “the company”… or either a close friend of or relative to the owner (s). Otherwise it’s really none of your business what happens next, you do not have a dog in the fight. Too bad you weren’t so concerned about “the company” before you drove in heavy fog and hit the wall…

Sir, this is your responsibility, do your part and learn from the mistake. Since you are unlikely a stakeholder in your friend’s company, let the insurance companies work it out.

Stay out of it…focus on driving the truck safely and efficiently. Every time you take a load, make them a profit. Thats the best and only way for you to help your friend.

Truck D wrote:

Moderator said "I think we’ve exhausted our ability and inclination to help you. Your propensity to focus entirely on “the company”, and not your future employment, is rather odd and a bit “off”." I'll add just this more, "the company" is owned by a good friend of mine, it's easiest to walk away.

Thank you all for responses.

Yes I did write that. I also wrote this (below), prefacing the above paragraph:

Sounds to me like you are “the company”… or either a close friend of or relative to the owner (s). Otherwise it’s really none of your business what happens next, you do not have a dog in the fight. Too bad you weren’t so concerned about “the company” before you drove in heavy fog and hit the wall…

Sir, this is your responsibility, do your part and learn from the mistake. Since you are unlikely a stakeholder in your friend’s company, let the insurance companies work it out.

Stay out of it…focus on driving the truck safely and efficiently. Every time you take a load, make them a profit. Thats the best and only way for you to help your friend.

We all have a role, right? Dispatchers don't drive the trucks. Drivers don't dispatch the trucks. Load planners don't do either. Payroll does none of those. It works best when everyone understands their individual roles and performs them well.