I haul fuel, home daily, and I do a thorough 25 minute pre and post trip every shift. I don't give a fuck if it's raining, snowing, hot as hell, it just doesn't matter. I sit on a bomb for 10 to 12 hours a day, I don't fuck around with risking a safety problem or even taking a chance on a breakdown that leaves me on the sidd of the road where I've got to worry about every dumbass on the road potentially rear ending my tanker full of fuel because their stupid ass wants to send a text.
Fortunately, the company I haul for doesn't ask questions. If I feel the need to replace my trailer tires at 5/32, then I do it - they don't ask questions, It's my responsibility and I make enough money for them to not ask. I check everything, and I've NEVER been stranded on the side of a road because I fix shit before it becomes a problem. Turbo boots, air line components and fittings, lights, etc - I carry all that along with my tools so if I have to make a quick fix, I can.
These dumbasses driving around with headlights out, flats that you can clearly hear thumping, audible air leaks you can hear when you walk past their rigs - that's lazy bullshit and I wish those ignorant twats would fall through their own assholes and break their damn necks - they make us professionals look bad.
I’m willing to bet you read the company handbook, cdl manual, and every other book related to trucking, and memorized them front to back, and can quote regulations to people.
You would win that bet. I, aside from taking serious the knowledge base that's required to safely do my job, I have a voracious appetite for knowledge and consume books (audio and printed) at the clip of 5 to 10 a week, usually three to four simultaneously. I have consumed every course and lecture in the 'Great Courses of the World' catalog most more than once.
But Ialso know the flash point of diesel, gasoline and ethanol; keep watch for sources of static (like liquid flowing through pkastic hoses); know exactly the role that fluid dynamics in the tanker is going to exert based upon the specific geometry and speed of the tractor; and can recite section and subsection numbers verbatim to DOT officers during an inspection which is aided by an eidetic memory.
Knowledge is the only thing in the world that one ever truly owns.
Weird, im a local, take my rig home every night. It may just be a habit from school but ill do a PT every morning kind of as a wake up routine. I do maintenance on the weekend so not like ill do anything if I notice something wrong. It just helps me keep track of my trucks condition since I paid 6 figures out of pocket for it and I try to have some semblance of pride in my vehicles.
I had a slow day awhile back and I tried to stretch it out and drag my feet for some OT, no success. On my last delivery I blew a coolant line, I’m thinking siiiiick, I’ll be able to hang out here for a few hours and get my OT. Call dispatch, they said they will get someone over there. NOT 5 MINUTES later, dude shows up and gets me back on the road. Messed up my whole OT plan lol.
Brother, you ain't lying. Today I saw one of my trailers tires was damaged enough when I was OTR, I would've had it changed ASAP.
But now that I'm local, if it blows, it blows 🤣
I skipped post and pre trips a lot otr; it was good when I parked it, it's probably gonna be good today. But doing local, I check everything everytime. Ain't no way I'm gonna trust that one of my co-workers didn't leave me with some f'ed equipment.
Just me or would you not do pre-trips every day if you’re home daily? Especially if you swap trucks everyday? OTR unless you drop trailers everyday, you kinda know your truck down to a T.
Local ya. No one pre trips and has lots of issues.
Hell my pete was out for a whole week last week, tbh I kinda hate sitting around doing nothing though lol, hourly or not
I drove for 9 years before quitting as OTR and the only pre trip I ever did was kick my tires once every week or 2. Truck and trailer never had any issues lol God was definitely watching over my lazy ass
I always do a pre and post. Most of the guys on my yard don’t. I’ve found some wild shit. Broken suspension shackles, blown airbags, cracked liftgate supports, the list goes on.
Our mechanics can tell a write up tag by my handwriting now lmao. I asked and they don’t seem to mind because it’s usually saving them a headache down the road.
I caught a turbo in the very early stages of letting go as soon as I heard a truck pull in the yard. Driver was oblivious to it. Boss man was very happy I helped him avoid a massive uh oh.
I don't understand other local guys not giving a damn. Better to have that shit fixed at night than breaking down on the side of the road.
I work dedicated out of a drywall factory. I check every company trailer in the lot each day. If I got a bad trailer or would cost my half my days pay since I would miss one of my 2 loads for the day. Pretrips and trailer inspections save my income by about 20% each week. We'll worth the time.
I had manager one time who would take all the dipsticks.When you got ready to leave he would hand it back to you with a write for not doing a pretrip 😝
I'm local, I do a walk around every day. Steer tire pressure checked every other day. Drives psi checked maybe 3 times a month🤣. Hood gets opened when fueling.
Pre trip? What’s that? Kick the tires, light the fires, and put the hammer down! /s
In all reality, I do a quick walk around on my truck every morning to check the lights and see if they added anything extra to my load from the previous day,
LOLOLOL ain't that the truth.
I haul propane so I have to be through. But some of the box trucks and dump trucks I've seen around are downright scary looking.
I deliver shingles. After nine months of working a conveyor truck they finally had an opening for a semi with a Moffet and I jumped on that shit. I take better care of the truck than myself simply because if I'm not on the semi I'm back pitching bundles. No thanks.
I do have my NCCO for the crane trucks now but those guys hardly ever call out. I do run the crane sometimes. That's not bad.
I worked for abc for 6 months ( first cdl job) and then shingles ain’t no joke. Duration and Owen would piss me off. I finally got to drive the semi and I was happy about no more back pain. I quit because management took me off semi and give it to someone else
I'd quit for that too. I don't mind it on occasion but I'm not going back to doing that daily. OC isn't too bad but freaking Landmark and Malarkey??? Fuuuccckkkkk youuuuu I'm not doing that shit. Not without my Moffet at least.
Negative. I’m local I pre trip every time I hook to a trailer, which can be multiple times a day. I write up the defects and take them to the shop when necessary. If someone drops a trailer that has problems without writing it up we find out who it was and they get chewed out. The OTR guys who deliver at our terminal on the other hand, have the most busted equipment imaginable, I don’t understand how they don’t get put out of service.
Trailers. Lights, tires, mud flaps, connections, air. I pre and post everything i touch. I yank 4-8 trailers a night between centers, most of wich has a shop. If somethings fucked, I put it out of service and alert dispatch. It's too simple NOT TO DO. The rest is out of my control.
Truck is slip seat. We're each assigned to the truck for a year, we bid every year. Monday gets the works, the rest of the week air, lights, tires, visuals. After a month or 2, you get a a feel for the truck. You know if it burns, leaks, what's having issues.
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