Message from the Claims Desk 8.15.17

stewartms • August 15, 2017
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Good Morning Stewart Family,

We are on the eve of a truly historic event. Next Monday, August 21st 2017, the United States will experience a total solar eclipse. This is the first total solar eclipse in the US since February 26th, 1979! Even more rare is that this eclipse can only been seen exclusively in the United States, and that hasn’t occurred since June 8th, 1918! On 9:04am next Monday the moon’s shadow will cover Lincoln City, OR and travel east at a rate of 2237mph ending approximately 4:10pm in Charleston, SC. So as you are admiring this astrological wonder, keep in mind of how you inspect our customer’s items.

This week I would like to talk about properly inspecting items for transit. I have had a few claims come across my desk where a refrigerator/freezer was shipped with water inside and at the time of delivery it turned into an expensive mold claim. Also there are the claims where the shelf wasn’t removed from an item and it either broke entirely or damaged the item.

Emptying and drying out a fridge to make it suitable for transit is the customer’s responsibility, however inspecting the item and ensuring that it was done properly is ours. We are responsible for everything we put on our trucks; therefore it is our job to ensure that each item is suitable for transit regardless of whose responsibility it is to make it that way.

This does not just apply to refrigerators/freezers, it applies to everything! Smart movers check each item before wrapping it for loose shelves or articles that could potentially damage the item. It doesn’t matter if it was professionally packed, still check for those microwave plates, glass shelves, or any other portion of an item that could become loose.

So inspect those items, ensure nothing is loose, and make sure all those refrigerators are deiced and dry.

Cheers

Robert Wright

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