You have all the make it easy tools. Your probably like me started off with a rock and a stick and worked your way to some stuff that you needed when you started out.
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Packed Bearings
- Thread starter DMiller
- Start date
Truck Shop
Senior Member
No, I took the time to get the right tools. I don't like taking chances and never wanted to
roll the dice on a wheel failure that could cause a accident or worse. Just not willing to try
that.
Depends who does the pre-trip, in many cases here companies have mechanics doing them and signing off. In that case if something is wrong unless the driver would be able to tell from driving it, it's the mechanic who is at fault. Also could be a million things going wrong that isn't caught in a pre-trip I can't speak for what is required there but until a few years ago the pre-trip here was very minor. Also not going to catch everything. I had a cotter pin come off a s-cam on my trailer on first trip out of the shop, the only reason I caught it was threw a hole in the deck while tying down equipment, had I missed it could have easily written off the entire unit and been very ugly, when the shop got the call about it they tried to brush it off like it wasn't their fault and no big deal. Ironically, the most throughout pre-trips I do now are after having something worked on because too many times something is messed up. I will bet anything that in a regular pre-trip most if not all drivers would not catch something so small, nor is it something that is specifically listed to check. Other factor is you could have brakes working just fine in regular service, but do a emergency stop loaded and they could fail.
Truck Shop
Senior Member
Lets see--you have a whole in your deck-that is defective equipment by US and state Dot guidelines.
The driver is responsible for his vehicle inspection report not the mechanic, the mechanic signs off on
repaired violations and FHWA annual inspections. The mechanic is not driving the vehicle and is not
responsible for logs or daily vehicle inspections, if driver finds a issue it is to be written out and passed
on to shop for repairs and noted on company service work order. OTR drivers do not pull into a shop
for daily vehicle inspections several states away. No mechanic should be doing daily inspections.
Brakes just don't fail in a emergency situation, But drivers make poor decisions that lead up to a braking
issue or lack of maintenance to the brake system either or.
If you need to find a better shop if everyone else's work is messed up.
The driver is responsible for his vehicle inspection report not the mechanic, the mechanic signs off on
repaired violations and FHWA annual inspections. The mechanic is not driving the vehicle and is not
responsible for logs or daily vehicle inspections, if driver finds a issue it is to be written out and passed
on to shop for repairs and noted on company service work order. OTR drivers do not pull into a shop
for daily vehicle inspections several states away. No mechanic should be doing daily inspections.
Brakes just don't fail in a emergency situation, But drivers make poor decisions that lead up to a braking
issue or lack of maintenance to the brake system either or.
If you need to find a better shop if everyone else's work is messed up.
kshansen
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2012
- Messages
- 11,164
- Location
- Central New York, USA
- Occupation
- Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
There would have to be a major problem with brakes if one panic stop because a kid runs out in the road after his baseball caused a failure.
Now a if driver who does not know how to drive on hilly roads burns up the brakes trying to hold back a 80,000 pound rig that is not what I would call an emergency situation! And how can one blame the mechanic for the failure in that case?
Truck Shop
Senior Member
The issue of brake fade has been brought up by every manufacture of air disc brakes. Their big selling
point is the disc wont fade like drum brakes. Bull! But aside from that my question to them is---
Why is a driver experiencing brake fade to begin with? Obviously they don't know how to drive.
point is the disc wont fade like drum brakes. Bull! But aside from that my question to them is---
Why is a driver experiencing brake fade to begin with? Obviously they don't know how to drive.
Shimmy1
Senior Member
That's why I use Stemco seals.
If the Driver cant do his own pretrip he shouldnt be driving. The mechanic needs to go over the truck and or trailer every time its in the shop but if some does the pretrip for the driver and he gets 20 miles from the shop he notices something maybe wrong he will think the mechanic said it was ok i dont need to take time to stop and check it out.
Maybe I should have said "a spot where there is no decking". There is no requirement to have a completely decked trailer, you can have it open between frame rails if you choose. The trailer was perfectly legal decking wise. You are assuming all trucks are OTR, many leave and return to the exact same yard every single day. I know of one large construction company here, drivers do not touch ANYTHING. Every night there is mechanics who do the pre-trips and check the trucks and sign off on them. The drivers are not allowed to open the hood, let alone touch anything. They do it because they had to many issues with drivers putting wrong fluids in, not checking stuff, etc. While you may not agree with their approach, it is perfectly legal, and actually much smarter and more cost-effective. They pay a few mechanics to pre-trip 30-40 trucks a night, instead of paying a bunch of steering wheel holders to screw them up and not check over anything anyway.
I wasn't referring to brake fade, I was referring to failure from a issue that would not be evident on a pre-trip and would likely only appear on a heavy brake application. I think you are over estimating the requirements of a pre-trip, maybe it's different there but it's very minor here and if you only follow the guidelines you could easily miss a ton of things.
While I agree with you if every company treated it like that they would never find drivers. Unless it is something glaringly obvious a lot of drivers wouldn't have any idea if someone is wrong or if it's fine anyway.
Truck Shop
Senior Member
First-your in canada I really don't care about there regulations even though I trucked all through BC and
carried canadian authority. Any trailer any truck with a full deck covering that has holes in deck down
here is in violation. Second-you just said above that you recheck everything you have a shop repair because
they mess it up. Then you say mechanics should do pre-trips because the drivers will miss something.
The rules are the same for OTR as local there is no difference. A CDL is a CDL.
When It comes to brakes-you obviously don't understand much how air systems work. Brakes fail because
of neglect or improper use. If the brakes lost air in the case of the Colorado incident the maxi cans would
have locked the brakes up providing the shoes, drums and s-cams were properly maintained. If those were
not maintained then it falls to driver and or owner.
Have you ever been audited by DOT? When they come in after several red flags/violations and or a wreck
that involves injuries or fatalities it isn't good. They will want to see every work order and files from any
piece of equipment from owner. DOT will turn a business upside down looking through all paperwork.
They love to go after farmers and construction businesses because they know they are trying to fly
under the wire.
A friend of mine is a Washington State DOT officer-he spends 70% of his time chasing down local trucks,
construction trucks and farm trucks because he knows there are tons of violations to be had.
Tickets are written to the driver not the mechanic or owner.
carried canadian authority. Any trailer any truck with a full deck covering that has holes in deck down
here is in violation. Second-you just said above that you recheck everything you have a shop repair because
they mess it up. Then you say mechanics should do pre-trips because the drivers will miss something.
The rules are the same for OTR as local there is no difference. A CDL is a CDL.
When It comes to brakes-you obviously don't understand much how air systems work. Brakes fail because
of neglect or improper use. If the brakes lost air in the case of the Colorado incident the maxi cans would
have locked the brakes up providing the shoes, drums and s-cams were properly maintained. If those were
not maintained then it falls to driver and or owner.
Have you ever been audited by DOT? When they come in after several red flags/violations and or a wreck
that involves injuries or fatalities it isn't good. They will want to see every work order and files from any
piece of equipment from owner. DOT will turn a business upside down looking through all paperwork.
They love to go after farmers and construction businesses because they know they are trying to fly
under the wire.
A friend of mine is a Washington State DOT officer-he spends 70% of his time chasing down local trucks,
construction trucks and farm trucks because he knows there are tons of violations to be had.
Tickets are written to the driver not the mechanic or owner.
Last edited:
Shimmy1
Senior Member
Hell of a friend, lol.
Truck Shop
Senior Member
If I wasn't in compliance he would write me a ticket also. He's by the book.
old-iron-habit
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2012
- Messages
- 4,233
- Location
- Moose Lake, MN
- Occupation
- Retired Cons't. Supt./Hospitals
I see the judge just today reduced the sentence to 10 years.
Seems like a fair sentence to me. He really screwed up and needs to learn from it, but not bad enough to spend rest of his life in jail.
The main deal is did anyone else learn anything?