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Why does it seem like no one Pretrips?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by CrappieJunkie, Jul 5, 2014.

Page 1 of 10
  1. Jul 5, 2014 #1
    CrappieJunkie

    CrappieJunkie Wishin' I was fishin'

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    In a van down by the River.
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    I know I'm still a rookie. Been hauling about 9 months now, but why does it seem like no one pretrips at all? I sat at a Flying J in Ohio this morning watching one of God's most wonderful creations, the sun rise and I watched about 30 trucks leave and not one did a pretrip. Why? What am I missing?
     
    CrappieJunkie, Jul 5, 2014
    CrappieJunkie, Jul 5, 2014
    #1
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  3. Jul 5, 2014 #2
    Puppage

    Puppage Road Train Member

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    Aug 2, 2012
    Connecticut
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    Maybe you were in the land of Super Truckers? :)
     
    Puppage, Jul 5, 2014
    Puppage, Jul 5, 2014
    #2
    crappiejunkie and blairandgretchen Thank this.
  4. Jul 5, 2014 #3
    kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Jan 13, 2013
    SW Arkansas
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    These are the same guys you'll see on the side of the road wondering if that tire was already flat when they did't even walk around and bump the tires. I know what your talking about though. I watched a trainer/trainee combo walk up to the truck without even looking at it, get in and drive away. I thought they were going to the shop as the trailer had a blown tire and the mudflap was hanging off, but no. They hit the road. No CB on either as several guys tried to tell em. I do a good pre trip and a walk around whenever I get back to the truck after stopping. Would rather find out something is wrong when I'm already off the road and parked.
     
    kemosabi49, Jul 5, 2014
    kemosabi49, Jul 5, 2014
    #3
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  5. Jul 5, 2014 #4
    MOBee

    MOBee Road Train Member

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    I have no idea! One of the most frustrating things as a safety officer was it was very clear who did their pre-trips and who did not by what would be found when pulled in at the scales. Even worse was when a prospective new hire would start with the road trip and attempt to not do a pre-trip. When I would stop them and tell them that they had to do a pre-trip and they had to tell me what they were looking at, they could not do it. (We only hired drivers with two or more years of experience, so that told me that they had not done a pre-trip since taking their CDL test for the state!) A lot of time on the road, your life is in your hands, why would you not do a pre-trip or a post trip EVERY DAY? Yes the mechanics catch a lot of things, but they only saw the truck every 20K miles, while the drivers drove it every day. The driver would know if something was wrong well before the mechanic would especially if he/she was doing a pre-trip. Okay, mini rant off, please continue.
     
    MOBee, Jul 5, 2014
    MOBee, Jul 5, 2014
    #4
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  7. Jul 5, 2014 #5
    CrappieJunkie

    CrappieJunkie Wishin' I was fishin'

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    In a van down by the River.
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    Being on road 9 months. I'm still figuring things out. I'm not a mechanic and im sure I may miss something from time to time, but I check tires, lights, belts, hoses, steering linkage, drive train, break test, registration on every trailer I grab among other things. If nothing else gets you moving a bit. Climb in and out and walking is some exercise. I pretrip and postrip every day. Rain snow wind dark or bobtail I don't care. I do it. I wrote my truck up for 15 things this past weekend. Some major, some minor, few DOT violations that I found and one mechanics found. They were annoyed they had to fix so much but impressed I found all those things too for only driving 9 months. Don't know what they expected though there is 591k miles on the truck.
     
    CrappieJunkie, Jul 5, 2014
    CrappieJunkie, Jul 5, 2014
    #5
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  8. Jul 5, 2014 #6
    RogerThat72

    RogerThat72 Road Train Member

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    What's a pre trip?
     
    RogerThat72, Jul 5, 2014
    RogerThat72, Jul 5, 2014
    #6
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  9. Jul 5, 2014 #7
    Ebola Guy

    Ebola Guy Heavy Load Member

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    Manitowoc, WI
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    It's apparent that none of those 30 or so drivers are here on TTF, since everyone here does a pretrip. Why, some even get out their creepers and perform a Level 1 inspection every day.
     
    Ebola Guy, Jul 5, 2014
    Ebola Guy, Jul 5, 2014
    #7
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  10. Jul 5, 2014 #8
    gpsman

    gpsman Road Train Member

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    I think the evidence suggests the vast majority of drivers have no idea they're operating a piece of "heavy equipment" and tend to think of a truck as no different than a big car with extra wheels.
     
    gpsman, Jul 5, 2014
    gpsman, Jul 5, 2014
    #8
  11. Jul 5, 2014 #9
    bubbavirus

    bubbavirus Medium Load Member

    348
    59
    Oct 6, 2006
    directly over the center of the Earth.
    0
    Sooner or later you'll get "Zonar 2010",

    it has 'buttons' one is glued inside the engine hood, (so you at least have to open it),

    I was 'wrote up last week for doing a "2:40 minute post trip", or was it 1:40,

    who cares I can retire now,

    they know it too....
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2014
    bubbavirus, Jul 5, 2014
    bubbavirus, Jul 5, 2014
    #9
    blairandgretchen Thanks this.
  12. Jul 5, 2014 #10
    Raiderfanatic

    Raiderfanatic Heavy Load Member

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    Jul 18, 2010
    Hutchinson, KS
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    Is this the same truck you drive everyday, for the past nine months?
     
    Raiderfanatic, Jul 5, 2014
    Raiderfanatic, Jul 5, 2014
    #10
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