customer running over equipment

[jasonp]

One of my customers was in a hurry leaving but i was at her house before she got home, She pulled up beyond my truck and trailer. Well when she left she looked back i guess but she drives one of those yukons that sit up high and could not see the trailer. Ther funny thing is she did not stop and say nothing about it. It bent up the fender well alittle bit nothing major, I didnt get a look at her yukon though. I think im going to start parking on the road from now on. Jus wondering if any of you guys everhad something like this happen to u.

[MIDSOUTH]

my helper parked the turf tiger in the driveway of a yard we were doing and the stupid lady backed out from under the carport and backed into it-didn't even scratch it-but it knocked a hole in the bumper of the new licoln she was in.the bad thing she never apologized,she just said-i never look when i back up-don't park there anymore.i just wonder how many little kids she has buried behind her house she has done backed over-this is a very busy neighborhood with kids and she doesn't even look before she backs up.some people are so careless.

[BUSHMASTER]

last time i checked hit and run was a serious crime ...and i bet if it was turned around you would have paid for it i think i would a least say some thing and show her what she did to her truck for proof.

[landscaper3]

I would note too her what she did! If the tables where turned and you hit her Yukon what would she do? I would let her know ASAP.

[stick9]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I agree with the others. You should IMMEDIATELY let her know about the damage she caused to your truck/trailer. Maybe she didn't know she hit something and later saw some damage to her Yukon and was completly baffled. This may help to open her closed eyes. I mean, the ludicrousy of her NOT seeing your trailer. Man. Sounds like she may be a danger on the road as well. Is she elderly or just blind?


stICK-nine

[stslawncare]

i agree with the others on letting her know if u havent already. also how about cones? im sure putting cones out would also help insurance factor??

[MOW ED]

Its inexcuseable that she did not even stop and talk to you. I personally have never had this happen but I think you should have said something to her. I know its not always possible but I try and stay on the road and avoid backing into customers driveways. I am not sure of the laws but technically you are on private property. She has to be liable somehow but I think you would be protected more (legally) if you were parked on a public road. Good Luck.

[Richard Martin]

I had a customer back over a JD 14PZ push mower one time. She paid for the repairs to it and it left a nasty little crinkle in front of her rear tire. Now she backs into her driveway so she can see where she's going when she leaves.

[FIREMAN]

PERHAPS ITS POSSIBLE THAT SHE DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE THE IMPACT. A YUKON IS A FAIRLY BIG VEHICLE AND IF SHE ONLY HIT THE SHEETMETAL FENDER OF YOUR TRAILER THE FORCE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN NOTICEABLE. ANYWAY DWF IS DANGEROUS FOR EVERYONE.(DRIVING WHILE FEMALE)LOL...JUST KIDDING LADIES.:)

[Eric ELM]

When I use a piece of equipment, I use it until I'm done with it and then it goes back on the trailer. I also park on the street, not in their driveway except for one. It is on a narrow main road and the customer just put in a new concrete drive way with a place for me to park my stuff.

[Charles]

Thats what I do Eric. I immediatly put equipment not in use back in the van. I don't lay anything in the driveway or anywhere else. What if company comes and runs the stuff over?. Or you can drive off and leave it. Anything can happen and you have to think ahead and really just be alert and thinking at all times lol. I park in the street most all the time. So I won't be in the way of the homeowner. I put up traffic cones.

[TGCummings]

I need to get some traffic cones myself...

At any rate, this happened to me in July. An elderly customer of mine and I were standing in the road across the street from his place as he admired my trailer & brand new Exmark. We talked about 5 minutes then he proceeded to get into his car, in his driveway, and back right into my beautiful new trailer. The impact knocked the trailer gate (which was in the down position) off it's connections but did no damage beyond that.

His pristine luxury sedan, however, took a nasty gash in the rear, right fender wall.

No apologies, just a weak & wimpy "I didn't see it there...".

::sigh::

-TGC

[Runner]

It is our standard policy to park in the road, except for one residence on a busy 4 lane and has a wide driveway. Generally, it may not be the SAFEST practice, but we are careful, we park ACROSS the street from our job (making sure we are not right across from the driveway if possible). The reason we do this is so we don't blow any grass on the truck at any time, and the curbline is freed up to work on.

[stick9]

What's wrong with getting a little bit of grass on the truck? It's a work truck, right? We, also, park across the street from the job (when allowed) .. makes for a much better day!

STICk9

[lawrence stone]

Runner wrote:

>Generally, it may not be the SAFEST practice, but we are careful, we park ACROSS the street from our job

Good idea when in low traffic surbuban areas.

In new sub divisions where there are no cars on the street I try to get the bottom of the ramp right on the property line of your account and the home to the left of the account.

And Stone's Golden Sprayer Award this week goes to Runner for the best practical tip of the week.

Congrats runner.

[jasonp]

I have thought about getting some cones.

[Runner]

Cones are really a must have. I use three, but usually when in non busy subdivisions, I don't stagger them out. I just grab the stack (ride at the very back left hand side of the trailer) and set it out about 6 ft. back from outside of trailer gate.

[Edited by Runner on 10-16-2000 at 03:54 AM]

[landscaper3]

Hey runner good reply, We use cones when we park on road ways it is a law up here too do that we have 1-28" cone and 2 smaller ones we put behind trailer. I learned my lesson years ago about parking in driveways!

[yardsmith]

hey midsouth-
A good cure for that lady would be some jackrocks, or roofing nails in the driveway. When her or hubby has to continually pay to have things fixed for being an idiiot, maybe she'll wake up.
Jack rocks are nails bent at a 90* angle, then 2 are welded together. Looks like the "jacks" kids play with by bouncing the ball & scooping up the jacks bfore the ball hits the ground. The local union strikers are fond of these come picket time. :)
*******This would be a good time to put that old dying weedeater or blower that doesn't work or even an old push mower in the drive so she can run it over & you can get a new one :)

[The Lawn Genie]

I hate to change the subject, but recently while I was cutting a yard, the Mail Lady ran up on the ramp of my trailer while trying to put mail in my customers box. She didn't damage the trailer or her car. Her excuse was "I didn't realize my car was that long." I think FIREMAN hit the nail right on the head when he said that the problem was that it was a female driver! LOL

[Greenkeepers]

Hey all-

Runner: Kudos on Stoney's Golden Sprayer award. Are you going to Disney World?

Not to keep harping her but I would mention it to her ASAP. Because you know darn well if you hit her Yukon she would be out there yelling and sending an auto body quote.

We always park on the street and at the end of the property line so we don't have to worry about our homeowners or someone not paying attention.

Cones are also a must on the trailer. They help too when your trying to get someones attention on the ZTR. Plus anytime you want to break into a Garth Brooks hit everyone can hear, Who needs Karoake :)

Mike
Greenkeepers

[Lawn Cruiser]

I have never had this happen to me. I always put things back on my trailer when I am done with the equipment and I also park in frint of the house never in the driveway. Had an employee run over a trimmer once and bend the shaft while I was grabbing something off the trailer once.

[thelawnguy]

As my momma taught me as a wee chap, I always put my toys away when Im done with them.

As for cones, I carry 10 shortys on the trailer fender, slipped over a piece of pipe fastened there for that purpose. Every stop, one goes at the front left of the truck, one at the left rear of the trailer gate (marks the corners for the no-mind drivers) if Im on a busy road Ill lay out additional ones but usually just two of them 150 ft back one two feet from the curb and the other a foot out further than that one. Started doing that when I noticed a mail carrier narrowly miss driving on my trailer one day. Also sometimes put one directly behind trailer 6 feet back, this is so nobody parks behind me and I cant get my machine on the trailer (happened before, and someone was in front of me but thats a different story).

[jasonp]

This ladys driveway is long and narrow with
that monkey grass on the sides so no where to pull
off to the sides. If you park at the road someone could stop by your truck and steal whatever when you was in the back yard and you would never know it. But I guess thats a
chance you have to take. I always load something on the trailer when I get through using it. Im going to look for me some cones to.

[Mark_Christopher]

Lock everything up.... At least i do... I have 1 Astron weed trimmer, 2 Echo Pb400E's, Honda commercial mower (rotor and front throw) and edger... Everything is locked up when i service a house. When it is time to use the equipment i have to use i just unlock my master lock and lock the rest back up.... I dont use chains... too heavy, and get way too hot when it's in the 90's during the summer. ive found a better alternative. i dont know if you have HOME DEPOT in the east, but any large commercial hardware store should carrry them. They're made by KRYPTONITE, they're 1/2" cable coated with a thick plactic.. they work very nice.. they come in 5 feet, 8 feet, 10, 15, and 30 feet sections... very flexable and lightweight and very inexpensive for what you figure one stolen piece of equipment costs. That way when me and my employee are in a backyard I dont have to worry about my equpitment being stolen. I also bolted down a O ring to the back of my truck to lock down my hedge trimmers, chain-saw, and tool boxes. Havent had any problems.

As far as the cone idea, i like that one.. i may go buy a couple..... Do any of you know where i can get one of those signs that say "CAUTION, MEN WORKING AHEAD"?? Know of any websites that strickly deal with that stuff so maybe i can get a good deal? Thanks

Mark

[jasonp]

Mark I do lock everything up but at the hardware store thry also sale bolt cutter around here more commonly called lock cutters. But i guess thats a chance u have to take and let the insurance worry about stolen equiment,I just wonder what the turn around time on the insurance company would be to cut the check.I to would be interested in websites that sale safety equp. such as cones and signs.

[The Lawn Genie]

Mark,

I use a Kryptonite lock to lock my Toro 21" to the trailer.

A while back, I lost the key to the lock... and needed to get the mower off the trailer right away. I pulled out the bolt cutters thinking it would be an easy task, to cut the lock off. I was very pleased with how hard the lock was to cut.

The only way I was able to cut it was to put the cutter directly in the groove of the lock... cutting the thicker part of the lock was impossible.

Kryptonite doesn't make it impossible for a criminal to steal equipment, but they sure make it harder.

[TJLC]

I havn't had any equipment run over, but I did have a little old lady back into my trailer. She just put it in drive and took off. It's a common thing here in FL.

[thfireman]

I was parked on the street at a job when the homeowner next to my job property pulled out of her driveway right in front of a garbage truck and got slammed. She was not hurt but tried to tell the officer that it was my fault because she could not see past my truck. The officer brought it to her attention that my truck was on her right and the garbage truck hit her in the drivers door. Then she interupted him while he was in mid sentence to make a cell phone call to her husband to come home and explain to the officer that she had the right of way because she lives in the neigborhood and I dont! Needless to say the officer was not impressed with her and I was not charged. I now get a smart a** comment everytime she sees me there. I just smile and take out my phone and turn away while she is talking to me!!

Roger's Lawn Care

[AL Inc]

I've had several rakes and brooms run over by clients, I don't have any idea how they didn't see them. I think the worst was when a clients neighbor backed out of their driveway and completely destroyed a Lawn-Boy. Fortunately it was an old machine that was given to me by an elderly client. I guess my men learned to put things away after that...On the other end of the spectrum, once while we were doing a clean-up, I walked up to the client's door to ask them to move the BMW and brand new Dodge Durango so we wouldn't sandblast them. My client came out with the keys and just as I turned to get back to work, I see the Little Wonder rolling down the driveway. Well, you guessed it, one of the men turned away for a second and the thing took off, right into the back of the Durango. There was nothing we could do. I apologized up and down that I would pay for it, etc. Fortunately, she was really nice about it, and she is still a client! I try to keep stuff like that to a minimum:blush: Mike

[GLS]

Do any of you know where i can get one of those signs that say "CAUTION, MEN WORKING AHEAD"?? Know of any websites that strickly deal with that stuff so maybe i can get a good deal?
Nothern Tool & Equipment (http://www.northerntool.com) sells safety cones and signs. In the catalog i'm looking at the "men working" sign costs $115 +shipping. A 28" cone is $11 (or $22 w/ reflective tape).

Of course you could just go out and steal one of these from a construction zone, but I wouldn't recommend that :D .

[Grass_Slayer]

i have one of those orange barrels of a construction site.
it was in one of my commercial props. and i just threw it on the trailer. somebody else stole it and threw it in the very back of the yard

my dad borrowed the trailer to go get a load of kindling for a bbq pit and he hit somebody's mailbox and put a nice big hole in my fender!!

[65hoss]

I remember when this thread was started. Long time ago.

One thing about it, nobody can say you were not using the search feature. Its actually good to see someone using it.

[GarPA]

LOWES sells decent sized cones for $6...didn't measue them..but they're adequate

[mdb landscaping]

i try and park across the street from the account as well. most of my accounts are in low traffic areas. everytime i get out, i put three cones out. one by the trucks front fender, and two behind the trailer. once im done with my toys, they go back into the trailer where they belong.

[kerr lawn]

i need to start using my cones, safety reasons.
i have these 2 customers on opposite sides of the street small neighborhood the houses are so close together that my truck + trailer barely fits from one side of the neighbors driveway to my customers. So this neighbor comes out yelling at me, saying why can't you park right in front of the customers house. I can't because the other neighbors seem to always want to leave when we show up (it worked like clock work everytime) so with the trailer gate we blocked the driveway.
the customers across the street parks a car on street, so no room there.
i can't understand why ppl can't understand for 40 min on friday or sat that they meant have to use a little more caution to back out of their driveway.
these houses aren't even that nice or in a nice neighborhood.
safe area, just somewhere where i wouldn't live.
peace
bryan

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

I never had any equiptment get ran over. But I did have my truck door just about riped off in front of my house. I was parked on the right side of the road and a guy hit my drivers door mirror with his left mirror. It pulled back the outter shell of the door. The good thing is that he knocked at my door and told me he hit it. Because he let me know he hit it (which most people won't) I got 10 different estimates. He went for the middle range estimate and paid it cash.:D
Travis

[ohiolawnguy]

for those people interested in signs, cones or other safety type items emedco sells virtually everything you could think of.

emedco.com (http://www.emedco.com)

or call 1-800-442-3633
fax: 1-800-344-2578

[GroundKprs]

Don't really care if some idiot runs into them. Parking across the street from a property means you are a target for idiot drivers crossing the street to your property. Ever since the time I was mowing along a curb, and some fool decided it would be funny to tear by me driving right in the gutter, I make it a practice to park in front of the property immediately before my property, or at the beginning of my property as the traffic flows. This way the fools are forced out from the curb. And if they're not paying attention, their insurance co can pay for my truck and trailer, instead of my funeral.

And if I can't lock something up, I must not want to keep it very bad in today's world.

[outrunjason]

When I first started I had an idc weedeater run over by a customer. We were working in the back and the weedeater was laying in the driveway. This customer was already in her car in the garage and just openend the garage and backed up. Since it was a weedeater she never saw it and ran right over it. I was mad, but it was my fault for putting it there.

It had a leak in the gas tank anyway.

Jason

[jasonp]

this was a long time ago, since then i did get some cones and I always park at the road and never in the drive unless loading clippings or trimmings. Hope this never happens again.