Who Pays The Ticket?

Inspect twice a day? Really? Where do you get this?

The pre-trip consists of reading the DVIR from the previous day, and verifying that it is correct. The post-trip is (as per FMCSA) the complete inspection...including brake adjustment! the company you drive for may require something more...but by rule, it is as I said.

NO I AM NOT POSTING THE LINK....better things to do!

 

Yuuuuuuuuuuup

 

WELL SAID! Concise and to the point!

 

I didn't see the sign yesterday, I just read the press release. I never weigh over 33,000 anyway.
I remember first time I came up that way they had lot's of signs and they was flashing and all couldn't help but notice them.

 

Yep. My safety manager will tell ya the same thing. We are only required to do a full inspection and enter it into our DVIR book at the end of the day. Pre trip is just a review and a check of tires and lights.

 

The daily inspection form states nothing about brake adjustment, just service and parking brakes.
A 1/4 inch adjustment can be the difference between a write up and a good inpsection.
I'd be willing to bet all you that post how they check their brake adjustment everyday really don't.
It's not practial even from a ray lahood standpoint, you may check if they seem to be working ok and if they look ok.
But getting under unit daily and checking adjustment?? I'd beleive in santa clause first.
Can I come and watch how you measure the brake adjustments and do all the other checks of your inspection daily in the 15 minutes most claim it takes to do them?
I'd pay to see that done in 15 minutes. Most here post it takes 15 minutes for a daily inspection? C an't be both ways.

 

On the brake adjusting topic, in Canada we have what's called a "S" endorsement on our class1 (CDL). The "s" endorsement shows that the license holder has successfully demonstrated (passed a test) that they know how to measure and adjust the brake stroke travel of a manual slack adjuster. In my province ( Manitoba) , you are not permitted to operate a vehicle with air brakes equipped with manual slack adjusters if you do not have a "S" endorsement. When a driver takes their CDL in Canada they also take a separate air brake test. You need the air brake endorsement to driver tractor trailer but you dont need a CDL to take the air brake endorsement, lots of 3 axle trucks with air brakes that only require a class 3 license. When I took the air brake endorsement course( its a 2 day course IIRC) we were taught how to mark and measure brake stroke using the "applied stroke method" ie someone sits in the cab with there foot on the brake and someone else measures the brake stroke travel. This is teaching method used because its the easiest way to show 10 people at a time how to do it. We were also taught the " pry" method, this is the way you do it on your own. You mark the pushrods at the point it enters the brake chamber then pry the adjuster in the direction it travels during a brake application and measure that distance. Depending on the type of chamber( 20 or 30) you then determined if it was in adjustment or not depending on the amount of travel. Now all of this applies to auto slacks as well all though with auto slacks the adjusting nut has a different type of wrench required . We were told that if an auto slack is out of adjustment then it's faulty and should be replaced. That's the official line but we were still shown how to adjust them as well. Unless a driver has been taught this stuff it's hard to expect them to know how to do it as part of a pre trip, if you guys in the USA aren't taught this then how's the driver to know how to check it? If he doesn't have the knowledge to check them properly and it's not taught then how is he responsible for them being out of adjustment? Like was said earlier he can visually check the components for structrual integrity and security( ie they are there and won't fall off LOL) but without the knowledge how is he going to check brake stroke travel? In my view if you're not required to know or not taught as part of your on the job training then he is not responsible if the adjustment is out. He is howevere responsible for the visually checking of the components for daily operation. Sorry for the long post but just my thoughts on the topic.

 

I don't check my brakes every day. I do it at home on the weekends.

 

Every time you leave the yard with a piece of equipment that you know is faulty, it is YOUR ticket! You and only you have the responsibility to turn the key and drive. If the company "forces" you to operate faulty equipment, you need to find someplace else to work.

 

Very good post and this is the point I was trying to make. I used the pry method when I was working on trucks daily.
I was trying point out to the posters that were stating it's the drivers fault and it's not, unless the adjustments were really out.
After all the years working on trucks I found that a normal 10psi drop indicated good brakes on application as a rule.
and the 1 1/2 turn on manuals generally was good. The point here is we need to stick together as drivers instead of pointing like girls.
These comapnies, shippers and dot folks are all in our pockets. A company fine of 400.00 for a brake adjustemnt is ridiculous I'm on the original posters side on this one.