Tire came off of the wheel

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by 01cblue, Feb 1, 2012.

  1. 01cblue

    01cblue Light Load Member

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    So a few weeks ago I was sitting all night in a rest area. I woke up the next morning, checked my oil, kicked all my trailer tires, looked at my super singles, and my steers. Everything looked OK, so I jumped back in, cranked it up and got ready to move out. I put it in 1st, began to ease out of the parking spot, and heard a loud pop like a balloon had burst, and saw my passenger side steer tire rolling away. I stopped the truck, reversed back into the spot (no more than 10 feet I'd say I had moved) and gathered up the wayward tire.

    Upon close inspection, the tire had a small piece of metal stuck in the tread that I had not noticed on my pretrip. I assume that the tire had lost some air pressure and it was so cold (about 19 degrees Fahrenheit) that it must have been hardened enough to slip right off the wheel. No damage to the wheel or the truck. Tire guy shows up, inspects wheel, no damage, so he puts on a new tire.

    I am now being charged by the company with a preventable accident. I am of course going to contest it... but my concern is, if I cannot convince my safety department that it was non-preventable, will it go on my DAC, and if so, how serious is it? I am confused about how much weight a minor "accident" like this will carry, i.e. when I apply for another job some time in the future. It seems like everything I've read seems to say that the company can go either way, and it can be very damaging to my reputation and hireability. Any thoughts?
     
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  3. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    Preventable accident? What part of the story are we not getting?
     
  4. Mommas_money_maker

    Mommas_money_maker Road Train Member

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    Kicking the tires IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY to check proper tire pressure. A tire air pressure gauge and you actually checking the tires is the only way. If you were rolling down the highway and picked up a piece of metal and tire blew or went down thats one thing but you are saying you just pre-tripped (which means checking tire air pressure) and it then fell off. I would say it was preventable also. If they use DAC for reporting then that will look bad to some companies that use dac also. You might get some company CSA pts but no DOT CSA safety pts (which is on your license) Hopefully you will use this as a lesson to check the air pressure for real in which issue would have been caught before you moved the truck which is the reason for doing a pre-trip
     
  5. 01cblue

    01cblue Light Load Member

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    My post was the honest truth. No damage, no injuries, I was only going about 1 mph when the sucker popped off.

    Yep. I will start using my tire guage from now on.
     
  6. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    I believe you, but how does a tire coming off the rim in a rest area and rolling safely off to the curb warrant a "preventable accident"? In other words, what was damaged? Was other property damaged? As you tell the story, an "incident" would be the worse possible thing they could hang on you, but "preventable accident"? If all this is for true then you better have a very "considerate talk" with your safety supervisor and get the record straightened out to reflect an "incident" and NOT a "preventable accident". That may (probably will) come back to haunt you in the future when appearing on a DAC report.
     
  7. Mommas_money_maker

    Mommas_money_maker Road Train Member

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    Good man! I used to do the same thing as you, just kicked the tires but you will end up with more problems if you just keep doing "the minimum" You will keep your MPG's up and less blow out's by checking air pressure. There are other benefits too. Hopefully they take it easy on you as you were being honest.:biggrin_255:
     
  8. Giggles the Original

    Giggles the Original Road Train Member

    :scratch: hmmm i agree, i dont see where they can charge you with a preventable....
     
  9. 01cblue

    01cblue Light Load Member

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    No damage to anything. Not even my wheel. Only the tire, which obviously had a piece of metal stuck in it.

    The way I was told from the safety department, when the breakdown department has to send someone out to replace a tire that has come off like mine did, they consider that since they had to spend money on the tech to replace the tire, that it is like repairing "damage."

    I don't get it either, it seems like whether the tire is still on the wheel or not, they'd have to send a tire tech out and pay him to replace a tire.
     
  10. Mommas_money_maker

    Mommas_money_maker Road Train Member

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    You are right that this seems a bit harsh especially since he was being honest about it. The problem is where he says he did a pre-trip. A pre trip says you looked at everything and say its good to go in which it wasnt. A pre trip also says you checked tire air pressure not just thumping the tires. If he would have checked the pressure he would have noticed it was low and then could have called tire guy before leaving but instead tire pops off and could have caused damage so that is a preventable accident
     
  11. sharp.dressed.man

    sharp.dressed.man Heavy Load Member

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    So in other words........you have costed us money and that's gonna cost ya.

    That's pretty bush league.
     
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