Moral/legal obligations

[Farmwithjunk]

Last December I sold a 2-bottom plow to a guy in Pennsylvania. I thought he'd forgot about it. FINALLY, we made arraingments for it to be picked up. The buyer hired a hauler to deliver it to him.

Well, the driver was supposed to contact me by phone 5 days ago. No call. So I get his number and call him. "I'll be there tuesday @ 3PM". Good enough!

Tuesday, 1500hrs, and no trucker. 3 hours later I call him (again). He was 375 miles away with 3 stops to make before he got to me. EXTREMELY bad estimate on arrival time I'd say. I'm getting suspicious already.

So we work out a time for him to pick up the plow on the NEXT day. (wed) He's supposed to meet me @ 3PM again. I'm at work before then. My wife calls @ 0600. "He's in the driveway and has an attitude". Seems he wants to load NOW. He wants keys to the shop and use of my tractor.

Ain't happenin'!

I get home at 1/4 till 3. He's a raving ranting loony. His truck looks like it fell off a cliff. ('05 Dodge 2500 diesel) Trailer looks like the truck landed on it when it fell off that cliff. Fenders flapping, sloppy looking welds all over it where it had been broken and patched, wood deck missing boards. He already had several pieces loaded. (ZTR mower, rear blade, 2-row planter, wheel weights, ect) They wer haphazzardly tied on with chains that were broken and "repaired" with cheap bolts and #9 wire. Some stuff wasn't even chained.

I set the plow on his trailer and ended my dealings with him. He chained it down and hit the road for eastern Pennsylvania.

I've been worried about what could happen. This guy is out on the interstates, halfway secured load on a junk trailer, and I helped load him. I don't feel any legal responsibility, but DO feel some sense of moral obligation to not facilitate someone elses negligence. End buyer of the plow is calling me when it arrives. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm safe to a fault NORMALLY. I don't feel so "safe" this morning.

Thoughts?

 

[jsborn]

You can't fix stupid

But you know the Lord looks after some people we have his type all over south Ga. bailing wire and chewing gum at 90 miles an hour down the 2 lane hwy.

 

[Tollster]

Sad to hear as am an avid motorcyclist, but in this day and age I see my share of idiots on the road. The end responsibilty falls on him, should he hurt, of kill someone it will only be the beginning of his woes and he'll more than likely smarten up very fast.
There was guy recently in the pittsburgh area that fail to attach his trailer properly, it came un hitched and killed a man and his 2 sons driving in the oppisite direction. The courts had little pity on his stupidity and lack of proper observations he should have performed prior to hitting the road.

 

[HappyCPE]

It's great that you care - so few folks do anymore - but consider this:
- you didn't hire him
- you can't teach him
- you aren't able to stop him
I know the type of person you met and it would be more effective to bang your head against the wall than for you to try to get him to function in a safe, organized and polite manner.
Maybe that truck DID roll off a cliff. Obviously it didn't smarten him up.

 

[NewToy]

Last December I sold a 2-bottom plow to a guy in Pennsylvania. I thought he'd forgot about it. FINALLY, we made arraingments for it to be picked up. The buyer hired a hauler to deliver it to him.

Well, the driver was supposed to contact me by phone 5 days ago. No call. So I get his number and call him. "I'll be there tuesday @ 3PM". Good enough!

Tuesday, 1500hrs, and no trucker. 3 hours later I call him (again). He was 375 miles away with 3 stops to make before he got to me. EXTREMELY bad estimate on arrival time I'd say. I'm getting suspicious already.

So we work out a time for him to pick up the plow on the NEXT day. (wed) He's supposed to meet me @ 3PM again. I'm at work before then. My wife calls @ 0600. "He's in the driveway and has an attitude". Seems he wants to load NOW. He wants keys to the shop and use of my tractor.

Ain't happenin'!

I get home at 1/4 till 3. He's a raving ranting loony. His truck looks like it fell off a cliff. ('05 Dodge 2500 diesel) Trailer looks like the truck landed on it when it fell off that cliff. Fenders flapping, sloppy looking welds all over it where it had been broken and patched, wood deck missing boards. He already had several pieces loaded. (ZTR mower, rear blade, 2-row planter, wheel weights, ect) They wer haphazzardly tied on with chains that were broken and "repaired" with cheap bolts and #9 wire. Some stuff wasn't even chained.

I set the plow on his trailer and ended my dealings with him. He chained it down and hit the road for eastern Pennsylvania.

I've been worried about what could happen. This guy is out on the interstates, halfway secured load on a junk trailer, and I helped load him. I don't feel any legal responsibility, but DO feel some sense of moral obligation to not facilitate someone elses negligence. End buyer of the plow is calling me when it arrives. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm safe to a fault NORMALLY. I don't feel so "safe" this morning.

Thoughts?

You were much more understanding than I would have been under the same circumstances. I'm not going to be too accomodating to someone who is on a rant on MY property due to his own ineptitude.
Hopefully he delivered his load without incident. The fellow sounds like a menace to himself and others.

John

 

[riptides]

You feel bad enough about it? Call the highway patrol or state police on him.

Otherwise, why bother.

-Mike Z.

 

[Soundguy]

As the driver of that truck it was "HIS" responsibility to make sure the load was secured correctly and was safe to haul... .. that's how i feel anyway... Not sure that would hold up in court.. but I figure since you are still here sending email.. nothing bad has happened yet.

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

As the driver of that truck it was "HIS" responsibility to make sure the load was secured correctly and was safe to haul... .. that's how i feel anyway... Not sure that would hold up in court.. but I figure since you are still here sending email.. nothing bad has happened yet.

Soundguy

Well, so far, it's held up in the court of public opinion. No one has took a cheap shot at me yet. I was actually expecting that.

Legally, I might be liable, maybe not. In todays world, who knows.

Morally/ethically, I'm a little skeptical as to how I'd feel if something was to go wrong. I'd hate to call the Commercial Vehicle Enforcment Officers on this guy, but I sure did take exception to his "tactics". He obviously wasn't legal as a commercial hauler. He hauls for hire. That definately makes him commercial. More than his legality regarding paperwork and insurance, I was shocked at his total disregard for SAFTEY laws, and saftey in general.

And being quite rude to my wife sure didn't help his image with me. (He's lucky she let him drive off with all his "parts" after that. :O)

 

[n8wrl]

I wonder if it's worth warning the guy in PA about the quality of his 'hauler'. It's a little late now for him to make a change, but if anything arrives damaged, or if he ever needs this kind of service again, might be nice to know.

 

[jbrumberg]

I am afraid to sell and/or buy anything used. It appears that in the USA we now live in a litiganous world . Frivolous legal suits bring huge jury awards. Everyone wants to get their retirement nest egg through "legal steal" instead of real work. Once the lawyers get involved in a situation involving personal injury and/or worse it is like sharks in a feeding frenzy and everyone in the "event chain" becomes at risk of being negligent (i.e. "responsible"). It is a sad statement of where we are at as a society. Jay