what can a driver do if his boss says drive a truck that will not pass a dot inspection

Ok, well don't get cranky, we 're here to help. That's a different story. Common sense should dictate in a situation like that, come on.

 

spyder, I've been around the block a couple times, and I'd probably drive for a person like you. That "union mentality", "not my job" baloney, was, and still is, to me, the most irritating thing a driver could say. If someone said that to me, and I was the owner, which would never happen, I'd take a swing at them and say get out, is IS your job, doofus. The REAL sad part is, they probably can't change a wiper blade or headlight bulb.

 

That makes 2 of us......I Prefer manuals because I always liked my brakes "Touchy" -Which you Never get with Auto's.....

"Touchy" Is that Full Meaty Feeling when you apply the brakes without much pressure..Under heavy conditrions

 

Google "FMCSA dot whistleblower". Now after that, you begin telling them in great detail what is wrong with the equipment. If they ever tell you to do something illegal, you refuse and mark it down in great detail. If sanctioned by your job in any way, you sue them and you report them to FMCSA. In fact, you can make notes now and report them and they aren't allowed to fire or sanction you for making the work place safer. If they do, they better have great lawyers

 

I never had that happen.

Now to think about that... gives me chills.

Ive had a number of interesting brake system related FAILURES over the years but not cammed over.. yeesh.

 

I think I had maybe one S cam turn over, it was a pain. What happens, is with worn shoes ( and drums) the drums expand, and there's no more travel in the cam, so it goes past the "peak" of the cam, and can't return to the regular position, and the brake remains on. Usually, the brake pads are so worn anyway, the wheel may still roll, if you can "de-adjust " the brake enough, otherwise, I just pulled the clevis pin out, take the adjuster off( one circlip) and try and rotate the S cam all the way around again, if you can even do that. Can't remember now.

 

Hi Mack, I had the "luxury", if you will, of a great company in the late '70's, my 1st T/T job, his name was Paul Schmit of Schmit Trucking Brookfield, Wis. I'm sure he's gone now, still in business, but he told a green, ####y young punk (me) "you are responsible for everything from front to back ( within reason, of course) on that truck, and if you can't handle it, tell us, we'll get right to it, and you can drive the yard truck",,,(NOOOO, not the yard horse,,). He was a great guy, a mentor, of sorts, and I always kept that attitude. He knew how to run a trucking company. Drivers were king, like we were his sons, really. Things don't break like they used to on trucks, and it's entirely possible for NOTHING to go wrong for some drivers, and when it does, eventually, they're lost. Sign of the times, I guess.

 

That's true. But sometimes you wouldn't want the driver working on things.
We rent out part of our yard to three of the megas that use the space for trailer storage, repowers, and sometimes a ten hour break. Occasionally we'll pull one of their trailers for repositioning or to a repair shop but we don't do any actual hauling for them.
We don't offer any fuel and we don't do any repairs for them.
Once in awhile though one of the mega drivers will have a problem and ask our shop to take a look. I leave that up to the lead mechanic. If he has time and it won't slow down getting our trucks repaired he can try to help.
If it's burned out lights, brakes out of adjustment, or something equally simple he usually shows the driver how to fix it. He has a lot more patience than I do.
Our mechanic says that the average young driver today has absolutely no mechanical knowledge and would probably make a problem worse by trying to work on it himself. There was a driver who forgot to unhook his light cord while swapping trailers and pulled the wires out of the plug. Even with the color coded and labled plug he had no idea how to hook the wires back up. He knows now.
Another mega driver had a hole in an air line. He didn't have any air line splices and no clue how to use the one our mechanic dug out of the parts bin.
I don't think the truck drving schools are teaching the right stuff. A couple of days on mechanical issues might be a good idea.