lady pulled out in front of my wrecking my work truck!

[afronumeric]

I am driving down the street @ 35mph (off the job) and this lady at the stop sign pulls out and I t boned her mini van with my work truck. I was wondering what one is to do in this situation... my lawn truck is sitting in front of the house waiting for an adjuster to come out and check damages, its pretty bad. I think they might total it. it is a 1997 silverado c1500 5.7. 140k miles on it. since then, I am not able to work and I am facing loosing customers. I have a rental chevy pickup as of today, but I refuse to load my equipment into it. because my 97 pickup has a bed cover on it protecting my equipment. this is such an inconvienance, I loved my truck and I know I could of put over 200k on it, interior was well kept and the dark green paint was perfect for the business. I am so bummed out and hope this inconvenience doesnt happen to any of you guys. do I have to sue the lady?

[Hedgemaster]

Lawn care business tips

This is exactly why I was talking about picking up a small trailer I could pull with my wife's car in another thread. If my truck is out of commission, I'm screwed. Best of luck to you in getting up and running again. Hopefully the insurance people will determine it was HER fault and you will be compensated.

[Sprinkler Buddy]

I don't understand, your gonna risk loosing your yards because you don't want to put a few scratches on your equipment? Are you kidding me? Or are you just looking for a reason to get out of the lawn business?

Sorry about your truck but you stand to loose much more than that, unless cutting grass was just a hobby for you.

[Tom53]

I agree, buying a trailer to use in an emergency would be a wise idea.

Your insurance company should go after her for starters but >

You can and probably should sue her,,,,BUT depending on where you are at, and the case load already in the court system, it could be months or even years before your case would go to trial. And even if you won, the court case, you dont automatically get "the money"....you may have to chase her for months or years after that to collect.

Dont mean to scare you but just pointing out the worst case scenarios so you know what you might be in for.

This is a nasty situation to be in, but it should give everyone here something to think about. First we should ALL review our insurance policies to make sure we have the coverage we need in a case like this. Second, even with the right insurance, it would never be as good as having an emergency plan in place to back up your current equipment, such as a trailer, or truck that you can get your hands on quick at least temporarily until you can get your regular equipment back in the game. Kind of like planning what you would do if one or more of your mowers, trimmers, or other equipment took a dump on you...nice to have back ups.

[Steve]

I am very sorry about that. It's a good thing you weren't hurt.

Is there anything you can do now to get that rental truck able to haul your equipment?

Who knows when you are going to get any money from this and any lawsuits could take years.

I would try and minimize and damage to your business immediately and do my best to not lose a single customer.

Keep us posted on this. Do you have any pictures of the truck you could show us?

[Johnny_boy02]

Is your equipment insured? If not it should be.

It sucks about your truck, but I am not very sympathetic to your reasoning.

I would put my equipment in a horse and buggy to get to work if I had to.

[afronumeric]

thanks for your guys input so far, I appreciate it greatly.

my equipment does not have insurance. LOL @ wanting to get out of the business. If I did, I would not be here on this forum!

we all have our own style for landscaping and it does vary greatly depending on what part of the US we are from. I am in Southern California and I rent a room and do not have a garage or a place to store my equipment. A trailer is a very good idea and I might look into one of those. but previously, leave all my equipment in my truck over night as I have a locking bed cover. Would you leave all your precious machines and tools exposed in the rental truck of your bed every night? and to also add, the rental is a 4 door truck with a short bed,blah!

I will get some pictures soon

[afronumeric]

at the scene of the accident. adjuster came just a few moments ago and said it would probably be a total loss. the thing is. I dont think I will be able to find a truck that was in this good of condition as what the insurance money will give me. I kept the truck real clean , inside and out. the truck was company color and the bed cover perfectly suited my needs. and if I downsize to a smaller truck size I will spend more! a 1997 tundra runs 6k , my truck is worth 4-4.5k

[bruces]

not sure how it works where your from,but the insurance companies here will tell you how much they will give you for it ,and its usually not enough to replace your vehicle with something comparable .Anyways,do a search yourself for a truck in the same condition,mileage etc, and when the insurance calls with an offer and its not even close to what it costs to replace your truck,tell them that you have looked and the only comparable truck is $$$....... .I have used this technique many many times [mainly for friends who had their cars hit ],and have always got what we asked for in the end ,it might work for you .If you have done any recent work on your truck ,tell the insurance that as well,it will also help you get a better offer .

[bruces]

another thing to concider,try keeping your truck ,or at least getting your box cover off of it ,then buy the same model truck and transfer everything over to your new ride ,or just price out a front clip for your truck and replace it [thats all that looks damaged in the pics ] assuming the frame isnt bent .