I guess the best way to describe this is as a cautionary tale to all First Responders that have mobile command center trailers and vehicles. For those of you that are self-insured or use a 3rd party for insurance coverage, I would review your policy and set up a call with your carrier to ensure you both are on the same page as to what is covered. We recently had a customer that bought a new command center from us in 2024 or right at the end of 2023 and 8 days after taking delivery of the unit they were on their way back to their police station and a person ran a red light and slammed into their towing truck, dislodged the gooseneck command center style trailer from the truck, and basically totaled the truck and the trailer. Fortunately, the two officers in the truck and the driver of the car only suffered minor injuries, but their $600,000 recent investment in this truck and command center was basically in shambles. Our customer was not at fault, the blame was 100% on the other driver but they did not have the insurance to cover the damage.
I will spare you the long details, but the customer and CCS went round and round with the insurance carrier for almost a year to get this resolved. There was no question that the trailer was totaled, but the debate was around the on board electronics which were much more expensive than the trailer itself. Motorola radios, dispatch consoles, multiple Touchscreens and monitors, video cameras, work stations, pneumatic mast, satellite equipment, LTE router, etc.. Because of the force of the impact and the damage to the trailer, there was no way we could certify that all of these electronics would work or continue to work. Sometimes damage to electronics does not manifest itself right away, but after a few more weeks of bouncing around in a trailer a circuit board may come loose or short out. Also, the factory warranty on the electronics is typically no more than 12 months.
After almost 12 months of negotiating, the insurance company finally did the right thing and agreed to reimburse the customer for the full amount covering everything. The only negative was that they do not factor in inflation because the cost of goods for much of this material has gone up in cost since early 2023.
Fortunately, mobile command centers do not get wrecked very often, but over the past 18 years this is the 4th wreck that one of our customers has experienced. This was the first one that was totaled so it was a learning experience for us and our client. My advice – talk to your insurance carrier and make sure they understand everything they are covering for you.
For more information please give us a call at 972-772-2721 or email us at info@ccscontact.net.