A question for you new drivers.

I went to truck driving school in South Florida. Brakes freezing never came up for some reason. Overheating, yes, but what to do when they froze....no.

My company has a strict policy against drivers doing anything to their trucks or trailers beyond changing out a lightbulb, and on some of our trucks with HID headlights we are forbidden to even change those out.

Now what they do provide us with is 24hr breakdown service that we are told to use if we have mechanical issues. Maybe offer that service and you won't get drivers calling you?. Just a thought,

 

a driver should know care of his tool, if that driver does not understand the basic care of unit being used is a untrained driver where a simple problem will become big quick. Learning all that is required now with these new trucks where you hook a laptop up and read codes is how it is done now, olden days we drove by the seat of our pants, got so used to the vibes when something went amiss you could feel it, but of course now we have those air ride seats with power steering so it is all smooth. Just getting a driver to realize his one brake is frozen before he gets to far is the main worry,, 1/2 mile from truckstop with blown tires not any fun.

 

I've been driving trucks for 20 years and have run my own business for almost 10.
I carry propain. Fire starter logs and tools. Yesterday I had frozen batterys. It happens out here that things freeze.
I can fix just about anything my self.

 

but sometimes we sure can break something really good.cold even the most ridicules things break when you touch them.

 

Cant expect people to know every little thing when they start out driving these things. We had a trailer wheel freeze up one time. Had to borrow a hammer to smack it free. Two Southern boys dint know jack aboot frozen brakes lol

 

Um, I will take “Tap the Breakdown App” for $500, Alex.

 

I've been driving since 1997 and I don't know what you would tap on to get the brakes to release.

 

I pulled a trailer with a low tire into our tire shop before leaving on my last trip, and as the tire guy was fixing it, I noticed two identical Michelins with huge flat spots slid down WAY into and past the belt line.
I asked him WTH happened to those and he shook his head and said..
"one of those super truckers they hire here now hooked up and dragged that trailer 10 miles up the road with the drums locked down on that side before he stopped".

It has not snowed or iced in that area in 3 weeks... just very cold and wet.

There's no way he couldn't have felt that resistance.
There's NO EXCUSE for not looking back in your mirrors to see that your wheels are turning.

I had a driver pull by me in a bobtail in the lot dragging a locked up set... I blew the horn and yelled on the cb... he looked at me like I was stupid and kept on dragging it.
Dual black marks skipping across the lot for 500yds.

How do you not notice this?

I feel it immediately.

You back up on it and it usually frees it.

It's getting pitiful.

 

Lord have mercy... I hope you're joking.

 

my company forbids us from touching things as well. we are paid to drive, deliver, pick up, not fix things.

one call does it all for us.

but there are those. like o/o's for only one example, that cannot sit and wait for road service.

it is "to be assumed" that ALL drivers do everything, and that just isn't so.

some think that if we do not make repairs, we know nothing, far from the truth. we know to do as our company's direct us to.