Marked in pre trip inspection - got violation

I have never come across a light that I could not change...sure it will happen tomorrow though.

 

my experience... from the d.o.t. if light is out when it is being inspected ,YOUR in violation. even if you fix in front of d.o.t. makes no difference. weather you note or not, makes no difference. they (the d.o.t.) don't care if you care, don't care if your safety conscious. they sniff real hard for any violations & except no excuses. some ask themselves, am I a driver or mechanic? that depends on the agreement when you start work. to sit & wait for a service truck to come out & replace a light can make a driver lose money. but do you as a driver carry the tools, elec tape, fuses,e.t.c. the long list goes on about having the simplest parts & tools to repair all the little things yourself.

as a o/o I place all responsibility on myself, but for you co drivers it is a hard question. points on your c.s.a. or license or do more than you were hired for. the simple reasonable thing to do according to me by the d.o.t. would be to tell you, you need to get to the very first truck, stop & have light replaced.

 

So your saying a co driver should risk CSA points and drive to nearest truck stop or lose money? ..I will not risk driving or doing anything that'll get me points,,Oh and lose money by sitting? Nope, I will make sure I work for a company that pays breakdown pay..You wouldn't expect a co driver to drive to nearest TS with two flat tires,not gonna do it with no lights either..Get enough points and you can move to a different company is right where the slave masters want us..

 

Back in my days of running the west coast, nearly every day I would stop and check all of my lights before nightfall. I always carried bulbs, lenses, along with some tools, a roll of wire, electric tape, connections that might be used. I've climbed on top of my refer trailer many times to fix a clearance light on the top edge of the trailer. I did this for I did not want to give any trooper a reason to stop me.

To me in that day Arizonan was one of the worse states to stop you for a light out, or a mud flap just a bit to high, it seemed they looked for a reasons to stop trucks, them try and find other things that were wrong, if possible.

 

And this attitude (steering wheel holder) boys and girls is why driver pay is so low and why truck drivers are viewed with such low regard. A driver that is either too useless or too lazy to change a light bulb has no business in the drivers seat of ANY vehicle. However (to the OP) the company should have a supply of the simple stuff on the truck IE an assortment of light bulbs, a wiper blade and a set of had tools.

 

You wouln't call a doctor to fix your teeth,you wouldn't call a lawyer to put out fires,and you dont call a driver to do anything else other than drive,,,Driver pay is low because so many of you work for free,I dont and never will again..It is not lazy to not want to do other peoples jobs..

 

I wouldn't call an ambulance to take me to the hospital to have a band-aid applied to a cut on my finger, but it would appear you would as long as someone else was paying for it. It's clear what kind of "employee" you are and if it works for you and you can sleep well at night, good on you. There are companies that are OK with steering wheel holders. I would personally be embarrassed to call a service truck for anything I could easily fix on the spot. But that is just me. It's probably good that you don't try to do things that are beyond your ability.

 

I once pulled into the inspection station (asphalt lot) just east of Sparks NV. Turn signal was working in the morning when I started my day but quit working during my drive. I had a spare and changed it but the officer put me out of service. I had to sign the violation form and was able to get going. Sometimes they're just dicks to be dicks!

 

A truck driver can save much time by being able to fix something simple, instead of having to wait, sometimes even a long time for someone to get there. That's why I always carried a small tool box with me, and it saved me many hours over the years.

Plus with my small tool box I was able to help many others to get on their way instead of setting and waiting. They even thanked me and said, "Next time I leave home I will have such a tool box with me so I can help myself and others."

Some people are just pure lazy, and of course some do not know how to do anything except turn the steering wheel.