US Xpress = Back Stabbers!!!!

You should of refused to move the truck after you found that large puddle of tranny fluid on the ground.

You should of called saftey since breakdown would not help you all you had to mention is that I do not feel safe driving this truck I do not want to put the other motoristist in danger after there was a large puddle of tranny fluid on the ground.

Why were you going 80 mph?

Fanning the breaks is a bad ideal think about it fanning the breaks reduces the air pressure in the tanks thus when there is no air the breaks will lock up and will be an even bigger problem.

I would call it a preventable accident too you should never move the truck if you think, know, feel that something is wrong with it.

The first question should of been is everyone all right. Then ask about the load.

 

What a horrible experience for you. I am happy to hear that it had a happy ending. Yes, you might have a black mark on your DAC (complete BS) but you, your wife, you puppy, and everyone else out on the road with you are ok. When it is all sad and done, that's what's important. And you even saved the load. Kudos for you, and good luck getting back into trucking.

 

see camoking

#1 In your original post you did not say that you called saftey you only said you called break down.

#2 You did not mention that you were going down a grade you only mentioned that you were going down exit 289 in Redrock Az.

#3 one of the rules now is no fanning brakes you are suppose to snub brake now even though this method may have not worked for you because you are suppose to be in proper gear for the snub braking to work. But you did not have that option due to the transmission being locked between 9th and 10th

I was not trying to attack you but when you leave out some important info we may see it differently.

I have never been to Arizona yet so I have no ideal what is all out there.

It was good that everyone came out ok and nothing tragic happened.

 

The only thing I can really see to do differently and the only
reason I am saying it is so others may learn from this.
Mechanical problems happen, don't want to get into
if it was preventable. But before you talk to a dispatcher or
safety, take a break to gather yourself. A lot of safety guys and
dispatchers have the attitude that they are important and your not.
Then after you are sure your ready to talk to them, brace yourself
for them to say the stupidest thing imaginable. Answer their questions
politely and very respectfully. Useing this method I have been able to
talk my way out of tickets and usually stay out of trouble. Today
I had some mechanical problems with my truck. My boss who owns it
really did not want to hear about it. I kept my cool and told him everything. After I left work I was seriously thinking of looking for
another job because I like to run legal. Couple hours go by and
he calls me and tells me he is going to fix it. Kind of like the old
saying, you can catch more flies with honey........

 

Yes
Wish I would have learned this when I was younger.

 

I'm still trying to figure out a few things,why did you drive that truck knowing the trans was leaking and not getting it checked right away for your families safety,then you would have had a leg to stand on,you never ever fan your brakes,you hold them on at a steady air pressure to slow the truck,then let them off to cool off again,not fan them,I use my tractor brakes once with steady pressure then let off to cool and then just the trailer brakes,then let off to cool,that way I still have brakes cool enough to slow me down,why would you be stuck between 9 and 10,when you should have been in a much lower gear than that when descending that grade,you can never be positive of your equipment,you mentioned the trans leak,never mentioned if you adjusted or checked your brakes prior to going down,never told us the grade % it was and how long,or if there was a turnoff for emergency. You are lucky to be alive and your're family even luckier,since you tried to make it after knowing there were mechanical faults before this with the trans,the fluid could have gotten all over your brakes and burnt you up before you could get out.Let that be a lesson to all,you have already lived it,others will still do no safety check or haphazard the pretrips and find themselves in the same boat.I was really glad to hear you are all well and not hurt and didn't kill a bunch of others on that mountain that day. Best of luck to you and your family,were your jake brakes working,they won't help if you don't have your brakes adjusted properly,especially the abs ones'. Sorry if you think I was hard on you,but ,I am very safety minded and want to let others know beforehand how very lucky you were,but not so full of skill.

 

I drove Auto-shift trucks at USX for 6 years and would never be in 9th or 10th gear going down a steep grade with such a heavy load and since their is a hold position which does not allow the transmission to shift. Like any other truck you should be in the proper gear for your load and the grade before going down the hill.

There have been many USX drivers who have wrecked because they did not use the hold position and manual down shift the truck before a grade on the auto-shifts and tried to downshift using only the engine break and brakes, trusting the tranny to shift for them.

One thing I told students when I trained at USX was that you can never go down a hill to slow with a heavy load, but you can go down to fast and it could cost you and others their lives. This was told to me when I first started driving and apply it to this day.

I'm glad you brought your experience to this forum since it illustrates that the driver is in charge of the truck they operate not breakdown or safety. And pretrips and being in the proper gear on grades is important.

 

If you have 80,000 lbs on a steep grade you shouldn't even be out of low range if you don't have an engine brake and if you do have an engine brake maybe first or second gear of the high range. If you can't get in a gear, stop the truck immediately, don't wait until you are running 80mph.