hesterr6868
Junior Member
Pennsylvania - 
On Monday August 4th, a Major Carriers Truck used my small Ice Cream stand as a Turn Around for his 53' Trailer and Sleeper Cab. As he rounded the narrow access at the back of the building he struck and was stopped by a Steel Pole we installed to prevent damage to the building for just this type of incident. Instead of getting out of the truck to check what was stopping the vehicle the driver rocked the truck back and forth tearing out the pole and damaging the back corner of the building. Only when his Rear Air Lines were sheared by the pole and a warning light came on in the cab did he shut down the truck and get out investigating. (Cutting the air lines locks the trailers wheels and is a fail safe.) He was unable to continue at this point and had to stop. His extreme negligence and disreguard for my employees and customers safety caused the damage to the building. Witnesses under roof at the time said he was stopped prior to any damage and only through his repeated efforts to free the vehicle from the pole did he cause the extended damage.
The damage to the building is somewhat substantial. One Half of the roof shingles are shifted at the bottom along with Soffit and Fascia Damage up the one peak and down the entire side. The rear siding is damaged along with the one gutter and downspout being destroyed. The trucking company is offering to repair the structural damage and replace ½ of the shingles and parts of the Soffit and Fascia. This will significantly alter the appearance of my business and may not be inclusive to the total damage. I have submitted 2 quotes to them to replace all the shingles, all the soffit and Fascia, and both the front and back matching siding. Of course they do not want to hear about the appearance of my building and continue to make the same offer.
Based on the Drivers Direct Decision and Negligent actions for not investigating the reason for the stoppage and causing the extensive damage am I being treated fairly in wanting my entire building to look the same? The difference in offer and bid is about $9.5K.
If all else fails, do punitive damages apply based on the negligence of the driver? Can I go after both the driver personally and the Trucking Company if we can't come to some reasonable middle ground? Any help on this issue is greatly appreciated.
On Monday August 4th, a Major Carriers Truck used my small Ice Cream stand as a Turn Around for his 53' Trailer and Sleeper Cab. As he rounded the narrow access at the back of the building he struck and was stopped by a Steel Pole we installed to prevent damage to the building for just this type of incident. Instead of getting out of the truck to check what was stopping the vehicle the driver rocked the truck back and forth tearing out the pole and damaging the back corner of the building. Only when his Rear Air Lines were sheared by the pole and a warning light came on in the cab did he shut down the truck and get out investigating. (Cutting the air lines locks the trailers wheels and is a fail safe.) He was unable to continue at this point and had to stop. His extreme negligence and disreguard for my employees and customers safety caused the damage to the building. Witnesses under roof at the time said he was stopped prior to any damage and only through his repeated efforts to free the vehicle from the pole did he cause the extended damage.
The damage to the building is somewhat substantial. One Half of the roof shingles are shifted at the bottom along with Soffit and Fascia Damage up the one peak and down the entire side. The rear siding is damaged along with the one gutter and downspout being destroyed. The trucking company is offering to repair the structural damage and replace ½ of the shingles and parts of the Soffit and Fascia. This will significantly alter the appearance of my business and may not be inclusive to the total damage. I have submitted 2 quotes to them to replace all the shingles, all the soffit and Fascia, and both the front and back matching siding. Of course they do not want to hear about the appearance of my building and continue to make the same offer.
Based on the Drivers Direct Decision and Negligent actions for not investigating the reason for the stoppage and causing the extensive damage am I being treated fairly in wanting my entire building to look the same? The difference in offer and bid is about $9.5K.
If all else fails, do punitive damages apply based on the negligence of the driver? Can I go after both the driver personally and the Trucking Company if we can't come to some reasonable middle ground? Any help on this issue is greatly appreciated.