So the wreck happened on Sept. 10th. From the date of the wreck, until Dec. 7th, I was fighting with insurance on the truck and the spray rig in the back. At first they only wanted to pay me what I had paid for the truck. I paid $20,000 for the truck. A tad under. After fighting with them, they ended up paying what the listed MSRP was at the time, which was $27,000 (which included the wrap, though they tried not to pay me for it at first), but to drive off the lot, the cheapest I was finding at the time was starting at $33,000. They ended up paying out what I paid for the spray rig, not what it would cost to build a new one. My cost was around $3500 installed. A new one now installed would be around $4500. They paid out $3400 and some change. I got it about 2 weeks ago.
I’m still waiting for a refund on the warranty of the truck, which will be about $3000. I’m also being represented by an ambulance chaser, and if it goes anything like my lawsuit I had with a previous employer, then I’ll probably end up with between $10,000 and $20,000.
The people that I worked for while I was building up my business; I made $29.50 an hour, then went into a Chinese overtime after 40 plus bonuses each week. My current employer only pays me $22 an hour with overtime, but I only get about 45 hours a week. I don’t feel comfortable financing a $40k truck that paid $20k for 13 months ago, especially with my current salary. I have options, but the guy I’m working for now (the owner) and the guy that is my boss (the manager) I have worked for before in the past, about 6 years ago. The owner had told me that if I am patient, he can get me back up to 30 an hour for a lot less work. Mostly customer retention and service calls, as that is my strong point and I really like doing that. Plus, I’ll get a company truck.
I’m going to give it a year. I’m still paying the $110 a month on my business insurance. I’m still keeping the licenses valid (my current boss actually paid for the continued learning classes and paid me to sit through the class). The guy really wants to keep me. He paid me fully for the two weeks we were off for Christmas, and starting this year, I get 3 weeks off a year for vacation and 5 weeks off after 5 years.
I had the wind sucked out of my sails. I try to get the fire I had 6 months ago and it’s not the same. There was something about going out to the garage and seeing my truck with the wrap. I’m sure the fire will rage again, but for now I’m going to take it easy. I still work hard and I have a few side jobs I do for vacation money, but I’m not pushing like I was.
