White Rose Adventures

Workman’s Comp insurer, AIG

I am an editor and have been writing over on “The People’s Journal” about the PGR, “Road Dogs on Hogs” and workman’s comp. Yesterday the site published a story from a good friend of mine, Walter Twohorses, about his dealings with Trimac‘s workman’s comp insurer, AIG. I have to say that being friends with Walter over the last two years I have seen and heard of the difficulties he has gone through in trying to get non-invasive medical treatment and other benefits due him.

In July 2007 I started training where I learned how to run the pumps, measure the oil and several other required duties. After two weeks I was turned loose with my own truck. It was a ‘96 Freightliner FLD that was originally an OTR truck and had been converted to run the oil fields. It was probably the biggest piece of crap I have ever driven and should have been “retired” a long time ago. I suspect that instead of buying new equipment, they would purchase older, worn out trucks from other branches of the Trimac company to show a profit and saved the company some money.

I drove this worn out Freightliner for a year with the air-ride seat bottoming out an average of 3 to 4 times a day. The impact to my spine took it’s toll over that amount of time.

One day I got out of the truck to hook up my hose. When I stepped down it felt like someone had stuck a very sharp knife in my back and I went down. I could not move. Other drivers at the pumping station helped me get up because I could not do it on my own. I have never experienced pain like that before and it scared the hell out of me. It was about half an hour before I could move. The other drivers helped me get back into my truck and I drove myself the 35 miles back to the yard. Good thing I know how to float the gears because I could not push in the clutch due to the pain and weakness.

Sadly this is a common problem with some trucking companies. Trucks that are deemed “safe” by DOT standards are not always in the best shape when it comes to the drivers body. Truck drivers spend hours upon hours sitting behind the wheel bouncing down the roads of this great Country. These are not always the best roads and can give a very rough ride. These roads take a toll on the trucks. the suspension gets weak and any air-ride equipment no longer works as it should. I don’t know what regulations are for running in the oil fields as Walter did, but I know that any road truck, even if it is new, is NOT set up to be running off-road. They need a much heavier suspension as well as many other beefed up parts to keep the truck from falling apart.

Whereas I have had a rather easy time in dealing with AIG, my injury was a very obvious one, Walter’s is not. The damage to his spine was incurred over the course of a year. I realize that can make a case harder to settle, but if he has the documents to prove that this damage was done while driving for Trimac, why are they not taking care of him? Is AIG to fault for this or Trimac? I know that any time I had a problem with AIG I could call my company and they would get in touch with my adjuster and get things straight. Trimac has not done this for Walter. They have left him swinging in the wind, fending for himself.

You can read Walter’s full story, “Difficulties with Trimac’s Workman’s Comp insurer, AIG” on “The People’s Journal”.