Is your dispatcher allowed to make a driver take a trailer to the shop knowing it has a flat tire?

Well, depends on how good you are at b.s.ing the leo, but maybe. Heck likely as you don't even have the excuse of ”It just happened.”
And like @gentleroger says, convincing the same leo that just witnessed you pull out of a yard that you are going to a safe location will require very good b.s.ing skills, or very large breasts in a tight shirt.

 

I tend to go with "that customer won't allow repair trucks on their property and the shoulder of the road is dangerous". But then again I don't do stuff like that when/where I'm likely to get caught, and it's usually upper marker lights. Almost all of our trailers have auto inflation systems which will allow us to legally move to service (provided the leak isn't audible). I don't understand why anyone would buy a new trailer without auto inflation.

 

Cool!

 

I read all of these comments and honestly, I can find none that I disagree with. The first point is another reminder to NEVER use a telephone to discuss these types of situations with your company. Remind them to keep ALL directions on the Qualcomm. All messages that go through the QC are saved. More than once I have heard about safety critters confronting operations personnel about yanking these kinds of stupids after seeing them in the QC history. Next point use some common sense. It has been 11+ years since I last operated a CMV. I do know that many weigh stations have sensors that can sense heat coming from tires. A flat tire can cause that tire to trigger one of these sensors. If you have to cross through a DOT facility don't do so with a flat tire. Back before the DOT changed to the CSA system I really had no issues with operating with a flat to get to a place to get it fixed. After CSA I refused to do so. In fact, if there was anything not right that was a violation I refused to drive. My father was a trucker. I remember him telling me about a vehicle fire that happened in upstate NY on the thruway if I remember right. My father was listening to other drivers telling him he had a flat. After several miles, those conversations become hand you have a fire. Only the driver stopping and quickly dropping his tractor saved it. The load was a total loss and Daddy said the thruway was closed for almost an hour. The choice to operate with a flat is 100% on the driver! YOU will be the one talking to safety IF ANYTHING happens later to cause them to get involved and trust me, operations won't be in there with you!

 

“Oh, my PTI was fine and that JUST happened. I’m on my way to get it fixed now”

 

A dispatcher can’t MAKE you do anything!

 

No, but they can coerce a driver to do a lot.

 

Flat tire, relatively non-existent today. In my time with tube tires, flats were a daily thing. If you didn't have a flat today, tomorrow for sure. It was just part of trucking. Today, a flat tire is a dramatic issue. This can cross the line between being part of the team, or a schmoe. If loaded, I wouldn't do it, but if empty, I see no reason to help out, and get the dang tire fixed, jeez, making a big deal out of nothing.
And another thing, while dispatchers can't force you, ( aka no force dispatch), their motto is, I can't make you do this, but if you refuse, I have nothing for you. True story.

 

And if that happens to many times, it’s time to start evaluating some things. Both sides, is it the driver and is it the company.

 

Its only flat on the bottom