$1.4 million IBM server falls off forklift, finger pointing ensues

Yeah, we've seen our fair share of pricey accidents, but this one is just brimming with ridiculousness. Reportedly, a mysterious IBM server that was headed to the US Patent and Trademark Office managed to fall off of a forklift managed by federal contractor T.R. Systems. The firm claims that the mishap occurred after the forklift "hit the raised surface at the entry door of the warehouse," but rather than taking the fall for the incident, it's seeking damages in excess of $1.4 million from IBM for Big Blue's shoddy packaging. Not surprisingly, IBM has stated that it will "defend itself vigorously" in the case, but there's no word on whether the traditional shipping cartons will be replaced with armored iterations in the future.

[Jake @ Aug 29th 2007 7:56AM]

Wouldn't this be covered by your "Accidental Coverage"?

1.4 million? Man I'm curious as to what kind of setup that was.

[mewyn @ Aug 29th 2007 8:40AM]

It was likely just a decently equipped zSeries mainframe. They can easily go into the multi-millions of dollars.

[Kurian @ Aug 29th 2007 7:57AM]

First!!..
this is just bullshit. ppl sue for everything any everything in the US. try pulling that of in india.

[Kurian @ Aug 29th 2007 7:57AM]

damn..beat me to it

[CowboyGA @ Aug 29th 2007 8:45AM]

It's not worth it to sue in India. $1.4 million isn't enough to deal with the poor customer service. :)

[strider_mt2k @ Aug 29th 2007 7:57AM]

fra-gi-le

-must be Itailan!

[NHAnimator @ Aug 29th 2007 8:10AM]

Thank you. Just got my CS fix early today.

[Lucas Couvreur @ Aug 29th 2007 8:06AM]

Damn, that's gotta hurt very hard!

If they want, they can give it to me :)

[csoto @ Aug 29th 2007 2:14PM]

Didn't know Darl McBride got a new union job!

[Grizz @ Aug 29th 2007 8:12AM]

1 server = 1.4 million dollars?!? Ever hear of PowerEdge?

[Tim @ Aug 29th 2007 8:32AM]

You must not be aware that there are big and powerful servers out there - like mainframes, or the big Unix servers from IBM, Sun, or HP. All servers are NOT PCs! The big ones cost a lot, but it's generally agreed that they often cost less in the long run because they handle so much work, break so seldom, are so much easier to administer, control and maintain (just one vs. many!), and because they use so much less power than a bunch of smaller separate servers.

[Scott @ Aug 29th 2007 9:29AM]

Please don't get in the business of designing mainframes environments!

[csims42 @ Aug 29th 2007 9:31AM]

An IBM Z series server would absolutely put any thing in that range to shame. The latest Z series servers can process something like 1 billion transactions a business day (8 hours) and not even be running at peak load.

[BestSnowman @ Aug 29th 2007 8:13AM]

Sounds like an inexperienced forklift driver, a good one would have probably been able to transition to the raised floor and atleast had a good plan for securing it or making sure it wouldn't tip.

[Nick @ Aug 29th 2007 8:42AM]

yeah like using the straps that he was supposed to be using.

[Steven M. Chirieleison @ Aug 29th 2007 8:49AM]

This is hilarious. I agree completely. I worked 3 years of high school summers running a forklift at a distribution warehouse, shipping to home depot, 84 lumber, busy beaver, lowe's, etc. In my experience there I found there are two "rules" that govern forklift operation: Rule 1, never let an idiot drive the forklift. Rule 2, anything marked "special" (items such as custom slate roof tile, form fit copper corners, stylized siding/gutters, $1.4M IBM servers), never let an idiot drive the forklift.

[TriZz @ Aug 29th 2007 8:24AM]

I remember watching this happen at work. Below my office is a data center. Someone was bringing in brand new servers to the data center, and the damn rack (with all the servers in it) just fell over.

...I cried a little.

[russ @ Aug 29th 2007 8:27AM]

This case is plain. The PTO and IBM signed an agreement at the time of purchase to determine ownership (and hence, liability) at the time of shipment. If the ownership is transferred at the point of departure (from IBM), then the PTO would assume liability. Since they seemed to have subcontracted the shipping, then the PTO obviously signed an agreement moving this liability to TR Systems. Because the liability belongs to TR, it is their responsibility to ensure that the product arrives in the contract-specified condition (new), whether or not it was packed well. Of course, things would change if IBM had guaranteed extra-durable packing and delivered something else...

[Mike @ Aug 29th 2007 8:34AM]

1.4 million is pretty standard for an IBM mainframe server. Or maybe it was a pimped out p595, but those are usually under a million.

either way, you get what you pay for. these servers offer incredible scaling in a single box, so your infrastructure costs are lower than having to manage a farm of PowerEdge server. they also blow Intel/AMD servers out of the water in terms of floating point math...

you've also got to remember that for a big corporation or government agency, 1.4 million is like buying a desktop...

[domochan @ Aug 29th 2007 8:45AM]

Thats why you dont have a guy which is paid minimum wage handle your 1.4M$ server... dumbass

[Eric @ Aug 29th 2007 8:58AM]

Why is this news? This kind of thing happens all the time. I work for a large semiconductor equipment supplier and we have had our crates dropped by the freight company, the airlines, and the customer's riggers. Our systems go for $1.5M to $6M. This is why they sell something called insurance! It's a pain to deal with, but the insurance companies will figure out who was at fault. We also place a small piece of equipment in the crate that records all major shocks from the time of departing our factory in Germany until the crate is opened at the final destination. The time stamp is critical for the insurance company figuring out who did the damage.

[sohcrates @ Aug 29th 2007 9:06AM]

Haha. that warehouse is right down the street from me. I've seen these guys in action when i go running. They treat this stuff like it's unbreakable. I can tell it's worth a lot because they often have stacks and stacks of DELL and IBM labeled boxes just sitting outside.

[Jeff D @ Aug 29th 2007 9:26AM]

Suing in India is easy. You just have to pay off the right judge.

[Arnie @ Aug 29th 2007 11:50AM]

I can hardly believe that it was a total loss just by falling over.

[inuteisei @ Aug 29th 2007 11:32PM]

We move stuff like this all the time. Why wasn't the darn thing strapped down? Pallets don't just fall off forklifts (unless the driver is a real bonehead - even that takes skill). Only stuff that isn't strapped down to the pallet falls off.

[slug @ Aug 29th 2007 9:21AM]

IMB better start saving up some more pocket money to build a new one :p

[Paul Munnis @ Aug 29th 2007 9:37AM]

The equipment is worth $1.4million. Damages may not be more than $100.00 We just don't know the extent of the damage from the story. Good headline grabber though.

[HineyWipe @ Aug 29th 2007 10:07AM]

This is why you use a Rigging Company! I would not let anyone near $1.4M server that has a forklift and not fully insured nor a licensed rigger.

[docjohnboy @ Aug 29th 2007 11:04AM]

I can't believe they're trying to blame IBM's packaging for their ineptitude. If you've ever seen an IBM Mainframe packaged for shipping, you would not question that it was secure and sturdy.

[ekwmin @ Aug 29th 2007 11:48AM]

LoL, seem to me the T.R. System will do anything to lay the blame on IBM. $1.4 million is nothing if you compare how this will tarnish their name. A dumb mishaps like this will cost them big in future contracts when you're in that kind of business.

[Matt B @ Aug 29th 2007 12:04PM]

Now that, my friends, is a server crash.

[R Hamel @ Aug 29th 2007 12:17PM]

I like that they are blaming IBM. thats the funniest crap ever. Talk about idiotic.

[Brad @ Aug 29th 2007 1:08PM]

Yeah, that hurts... but I cringe a little more at these pictures:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=10299

Satellite, meet floor. Floor, satellite.

[Trent @ Aug 29th 2007 7:41PM]

You know IBM's lawyers were involved because they refused to inspect the damaged server (or in other words get roped into liability if it's unrepairable and they say it's not). This refusal is also what got someone's panties in a bunch. TR better hope they have better information than IBM on the packaging.

For those of you that didn't read the story (most of you) the pallet broke after the forklift hit the bump and wobbled. Although you have to wonder just how fast the forklift was going if it wobbled hard enough to break the pallet. TR likely has an insurance claim, and chances are that a claim of that size is going to very negatively effect their insurance rate hence they are suing trying to claim the packaging wasn't good enough to take being mishandled.

It's tough for companies to swallow that the minimum wage guy they hired to unpack the trucks using a forklift was probably a bad investment and they should have hired someone a little more skilled at ensuring packages are secure when unloading, in fact that mistake cost them 1.4million. I'm guessing that when it fell the workers cleaned it up and didn't really notice the damage (or care) until after the USPTO inspected the server and determined it was damaged.