Have you ever reported any one to the Dot?

[kshansen]

And you know as well as I do Ken, that's total and utter BS. It's put out simply to keep the company PC in our current litigous world. But when push comes to shove every company is looking for the lowest production cost/ton or whatever unit they use to measure their production. Everything else is secondary to that, and any company executive who says otherwise is lying through his teeth ..... IMHO.

Well where I worked it was felt that the metric they used to determine "productivity" was tons per man/hour. That was the only explanation anyone could come up with to explain why so many times an outside contractor would be hired at an hourly rate several times that our people would be getting even at 1 1/2 OT rate to do a job that our people had done several times in the past. If our people did a job hours worked would show on a spread sheet. If contractor did a job no hours would show just total cost of repair.

One glaring example is a bearing replacement on a screen. Brought in the outside contractor to do the job while our people were on layoff. They did the job with more people than we would have but we had to supply the crane and operator anyhow. Bosses bragged about how fast the work was done. Then when the first samples were taken and mill man had to use a piece of welding rod to open drain hole he was told that's just normal break in on a new spherical roller bearing! Contractor was called out a few times due to oil leaking. Each time it would be leaking just as bad the next day or bolts would be coming loose. Finally our people talked the boss into letting us work on it. Disassembled and cleaned everything spotless, scrape off gobs of silicone and old gasket that was under the silicone. Reassembled with new seals and gasket. Samples after that came back good and last I heard not a sign of a leak or loose bolt. Did anyone from upper management come out and say "Great Work Boys!"? Guess you all know the answer to that!

 

[norite]

CEO's and top executives do not get pay raises, stock bonuses and other perks because they just kept the company doing the same old thing. They need to change how the business is run and show how they reduced cost or increased production and profits. Sometimes they distort the facts to make themselves look good. Case in point was the CEO at Nortel, one of Canada's most successful corporations. After declaring huge profit and sales increases he collected his huge salary and bonuses, shortly after that the company was bankrupt and out of business.

 

[kshansen]

CEO's and top executives do not get pay raises, stock bonuses and other perks because they just kept the company doing the same old thing. They need to change how the business is run and show how they reduced cost or increased production and profits. Sometimes they distort the facts to make themselves look good. Case in point was the CEO at Nortel, one of Canada's most successful corporations. After declaring huge profit and sales increases he collected his huge salary and bonuses, shortly after that the company was bankrupt and out of business.

Would be nice to think this would teach someone why this is a bad way to run a business. The problem is the people that could change the system are the ones who are profiting from the scheme.

 

[td25c]

Fair point and I do see where you are coming from. If I could offer a couple of examples that I know of personally, I realise that laws and attitudes vary between our two countries.
The first example relates to how a business, part of a national chain in fact, specialising in light vehicle suspensions would handle a similar situation. Their policy is that if a vehicle is found with a serious suspension/brake flaw, that vehicle does not leave until the fault is rectified as they feel that their duty of care would be unfulfilled and they would potentially be open to litigation if an accident were to result. If you push the issue or decide not to rectify the fault, the vehicle will be delivered to your home or another address on a tilt tray truck and your invoice will have written a clear description of the issues and an instruction that the vehicle is unroadworthy and not to be driven etc. The customer must sign this invoice to acknowledge the statement prior to the vehicle being unloaded. What the customer does from that point is their call.

The days of turning a blind eye, not that I am accusing you of that, have well and truly gone.

Yeah Karl , It ends up similar the way I handle an inspection only I don't go to the extreme of impounding the customers truck .

Customer drops truck off for inspection . I list repairs on the bill ticket the truck needs before it will pass the inspection .

If he wants to leave the truck at the shop until I have time to do the repairs that's fine .

If he wants to use the truck until I have time to do the repairs that's fine as well . He's a big boy and has been given an invoice with needed repairs listed on it before it can pass the inspection .

He might even take the truck back home and do the repairs himself , that's cool as well . When he brings it back to my shop and all checks out I would then pass it . Pretty simple .

My job is to make the repairs or see that they are done so the truck can pass the inspection . What the driver/owner decides to do with the truck is his affair . Not mine .

 

[petek]

Ask your self this Question? If this guy kills someone else with the issues. How are you going to feel, knowing you may have been able to stop it? Also one more question? Is your mother? Daughter? Wife? Son? Or dad on the road with this guy?
I know for sure of people that called TDOT on people. And got there junk off the road and fixed. But one truck a few people had seen how bad the truck was. But did not call, it was one of there family members that paid the price. Now they blame there self's for it.
Sad.

 

[td25c]

Yeah petek , Not my place to try to force anyone's hand on something like that . I generally just give my opinion & advice and let it go at that .

Oh yeah , About my Wife , Parents & kids .............. The best thing you can do is train them in defensive driving techniques . That's allot more practical than calling the cops every time you see something . For the most part the Police show up after it has all went down anyway . They can't be everywhere all at the same time .

Keep safe following distance .

If some Massey Ferguson is riding your rear bumper simply pull over at the next wide spot in the road and let them around . Although don't be surprised if you see them wrapped around a tree in the upcoming curve .

Use a blocker car when moving over size equipment to keep idiots from hurting themselves .

I could go on and on ..............

 

[Old Doug]

I have saw this guy 2 or 3 times this month he was not driveing the truck. Every time i look at him i cant help but think you got some one killed and others hurt because you were a idiot now you have a good chance of history repeating its self. I have also learned that he did drive for a liveing.

 

[petek]

I went and looked at a nice 379 Peterbilt today. Guy told me it was road ready. Pass front spring cracked and ready to drop the front end. Every brake shoe on the tractor is down to rivits. One back drum has a section busted out of it. He may be brothers to the one your talking about.
I would not have driven it home if he told me I could have just it, drive it home the way it is. But his dumb driver has put 3600 miles on it this week.:beatsme
Unreal what people try to run on the roads these days.

 

[td25c]

I got to ask petek .......... What did you do next ? Call the Police after the truck did not check out . Or just simply walk away from it.

Ask yourself the question mate ?????:beatsme;

 

[petek]

I got to ask petek .......... What did you do next ? Call the Police after the truck did not check out . Or just simply walk away from it.

Ask yourself the question mate ?????:beatsme;

His truck is going to get inspected Monday. Will I feel bad for this? No his driver even told me He did not like to drive this truck in the shape it was in.
I got caught up in a deal like this back in the 1980's. Company told me the truck was good to go. I told them it had issues with the steering. Pulled into the Knoxville Tn scales and walked it. They asked what I needed? Being I did not get pull around by them. Told them I need you to inspect the truck. All 5 of the guys looked at me like I'm crazy. Told them the front end was not right and the company would not find or fix it.
3 minutes into the inspection, guy told me Thanks for doing this. Truck should not be on the road as the ball joints were bad. I told him I know it but the company told me they would make it 50,000 more miles easy. 8 hours later the truck was fixed and I went on to NY. Would most drivers do this? No but I was not going to take a chance on killing anyone like that.
So yes I did ask myself that ?
Pete

 

[old-iron-habit]

About 8 years ago or so in WI a concrete truck jumped into gear while washing out and took off. It ran over one of our cement finishers killing him before hitting a building. Brakes on the truck were not working properly and it was found later that there was numerous driver reports written up about it and it had been redflagged by the mechanic, but was pressed into service by someone unknown to me because they were busy. OSHA brought in a crane and set the truck on a flatbed to haul off for examination. It is still in the courts and there still is a widow and 2 kids that are without a father. This was a conscience decision by some one to send a truck out that was bad enough to be red flagged.
Of course this is totally different than a truck that fails inspection. When the inspection lists the corrective items needed it is the truck owners responsibility to insure its fixed before use, not the DOT certified mechanic.

 

[IronworkerFXR]

its the few bad ones that give ALL of us a bad rap, and extra high insurance , fact is WE are held to a higher standard than a 4 wheeler , wheres my insurance discount , don't' drink, don't smoke " funny stuff" and and medically vetted every two years ,, Wheres my discount ??????? ......... think about it ...........

 

[Delmer]

His truck is going to get inspected Monday. Will I feel bad for this? No his driver even told me He did not like to drive this truck in the shape it was in.
I got caught up in a deal like this back in the 1980's. Company told me the truck was good to go. I told them it had issues with the steering. Pulled into the Knoxville Tn scales and walked it. They asked what I needed? Being I did not get pull around by them. Told them I need you to inspect the truck. All 5 of the guys looked at me like I'm crazy. Told them the front end was not right and the company would not find or fix it.
3 minutes into the inspection, guy told me Thanks for doing this. Truck should not be on the road as the ball joints were bad. I told him I know it but the company told me they would make it 50,000 more miles easy. 8 hours later the truck was fixed and I went on to NY. Would most drivers do this? No but I was not going to take a chance on killing anyone like that.
So yes I did ask myself that ?
Pete

Thank you.

 

[petek]

its the few bad ones that give ALL of us a bad rap, and extra high insurance , fact is WE are held to a higher standard than a 4 wheeler , wheres my insurance discount , don't' drink, don't smoke " funny stuff" and and medically vetted every two years ,, Wheres my discount ??????? ......... think about it ...........

I agree everyone screams about how bad truck drivers are. But let them run 3500 miles per week and see how good there record is after a week!!!
If it was not for 4wheelers causing 99% of the big truck wrecks. Just think how clean truck records would be? Had one last night almost run me off the road. Picked my truck up from the shop, they had finished up the head gasket on the cummins. Coming home guy was texting and I had moved to the shoulder and was on the brakes. He still almost got me, guess I should have nailed him and let the fool buy me a new truck. But paper work, and does not matter if its fault or not. These days its on your record..

 

[Mike Van]

Many drivers from Ct and nearby will remember Avon Mt. from 2005 http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2013/06/11/news/doc51b1e592adff8218884921.txt an unsafe truck, 4 died, 30 injured. I'd hate to have that on my conscience if I knew a truck was unsafe & didn't report it to DMV or whoever.

 

[RonG]

One of my employers had to load his trucks back many years ago and of course I was the loader operator.His drivers were just scared to death of him showing up at the pit and I might be loading another truck instead of one of his.I guess he wanted them to jump in line ahead of anyone else to be next to get loaded.Ron G

 

[kshansen]

One of my employers had to load his trucks back many years ago and of course I was the loader operator.His drivers were just scared to death of him showing up at the pit and I might be loading another truck instead of one of his.I guess he wanted them to jump in line ahead of anyone else to be next to get loaded.Ron G

Sounds like where I worked. If our company's paving branch was doing work in the area served by our black-top plant the local small contractors would be told they could not buy black-top those days as they did not want company trucks to have to wait to get loaded.

 

[Tones]

Years ago I worked with a bloke who complained to the boss about the worn out brakes on the truck and trailer unit he was driving. One hellva argument ensued and the parting words from the driver were " I only hope it's your wife and kids in the car in front when I need to stop". That truck went straight unto the workshop and required new drums and shoes all round. Maybe if more drivers were as ballsie as that bloke there wouldn't be as many defetive trucks on the roads.

 

[RonG]

About 8 years ago or so in WI a concrete truck jumped into gear while washing out and took off. It ran over one of our cement finishers killing him before hitting a building. Brakes on the truck were not working properly and it was found later that there was numerous driver reports written up about it and it had been redflagged by the mechanic, but was pressed into service by someone unknown to me because they were busy. OSHA brought in a crane and set the truck on a flatbed to haul off for examination. It is still in the courts and there still is a widow and 2 kids that are without a father. This was a conscience decision by some one to send a truck out that was bad enough to be red flagged.
Of course this is totally different than a truck that fails inspection. When the inspection lists the corrective items needed it is the truck owners responsibility to insure its fixed before use, not the DOT certified mechanic.

This jogged my memory a bit and I now recall the same thing happened in the company I worked for or at least very similar.We were a redimix provider and we decided to enter the construction end of the game to have more control over the distribution of our product.Now that I think back on it it was one of our form trucks that got away somehow and it was not our employee that caused it to run wild but the end result was one of our crewleaders got killed as a result and as usual,one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet.RIP Ivan Martin.Ron G

 

[global2957]

glass house DOT picks on truckers for no windshield washer fluid maybe they should do there job where it counts