Am I responsible for paying for tire replacement / repair??

mind you i though if its your truck you pay but if its a companies truck they should pay.
yes he stuffed up by not doing a pre cheack but the compaine all so stuffed up by not making sure the truck was safe to begin with

 

I don't blame you. I'm the one that picks up all the broke trailers and spends the extra time getting them fixed. Those trailers get in the lot somehow.

I was just trying to get the point across it ain't a perfect world out there. He didn't tear the tire up deliberately. Just negligence for not catching it.
It could of just happened. The company could of failed to fix it earlier.

I wouldn't of volunteered any info. Just hey, I have a flat and need to get it fixed. Company drivers don't have all the luxuries of an O/O. But one they do have is they don't pay for repairs. Even if they wreck a truck, they don't pay. Insurance does.

If a company is not happy about the tire situation, you reprimand or fire them. You don't expect an employee to pay for it.

 

You guys amaze me! A hole isn't worn in a tire in a short period of time, unless it's sliding. But this sounds more like paper-thin tire driven until it wore through, unless he ran it several days while flat. But I'd bet it probably had air in it when he started that morning.

Did he screw up not catching it flat or worn thin? Yes. But pay for it? GTHO!

i swear, some of these threads are like listening to the CB...

 

you people are all missing the point of why is boss wants him to pay for it

1. I noticed a tire that had gone flat somehow and it looked like i had driven on it for a while: hence, he ruined the tire but not paying attention



2. The tire was not starting to fall apart but there was an area in the middle of the tire that was worn thin and it had a large 1/2 inch diameter hole in it: once again, he wasn't paying attention. Let me give you an example, it's very common for tires on container chassis to show signs of being drug with the brakes locked, the hostlers love to do it. My company policy, under no circumstances, unless the load is going a max. of 2 miles from the rail yard/depot, are we to pull one that is has been skidded like this. If it blows as a result, we pay for the replacement.

3. The tire was not starting to fall apart but there was an area in the middle of the tire that was worn thin and it had a large 1/2 inch diameter hole in it: Now let's clairfy something, was this a tube type setup where the hole was preexisting? or was this tubeless and the hole was caused by the tire being slid and creating a thin spot, and road wear caused the hole to appear. Either way, it's his fault for allowing it to be driven on.

4. Usually i check tires twice a day but this morning i had skipped it because i was under great pressure to get a load delivered early: Let's modify this conversation, driver to boss:
Driver: Hello, Boss
Boss: Yeah?
D: Yeah, um, I was pulling out of the parking space this morning at the truck stop and my trailer came unhooked and dropped to the ground. It's loaded, 44K, my air and electrical lines are also torn apart.
B: You didn't do a pull test before you started out?
D: Well, um, no, I was in a hurry, I woke up at 4 am for my 5 am apt. 20 minutes away
B: Well, you'll have to call a heavy wrecker to lift it, you probably jacked the landing gear up as well so those will have to be inspected, the air and electrical lines will have to be replaced. So, now you'll be several hours late to the apt. and we'll probably have to reschedule. It would have taken you what, maybe 1 minute to hop out, check your 5th wheel and do a pull test before leaving?
D:.........................
B: We had you pre-planned to reload this afternoon as well, so that will have to be rescheduled. We'll discuss this when you get back to the yard.


5. I explained the situation to my boss and he feels i should be responsible for paying for the replacement tire because i failed to check the tires that morning: ding ding ding, we have a winner. Precisely, you failed to do your job properly, not once, but at least two times. You falied to mention how many days you've been pulling that trailer.

So, now your paying for a $400 tire. That's pretty cheap, tell you what, you could tell him no, your not paying for it and come back and tell us what happens. My bet, he fires you. Your best option, suck it up, admit you screwed up, and ask him to divide it up and take it out of 5 or 6 paychecks so you don't feel it as much.

Look, if it makes you feel any better, my check on Friday was lighter than it should have been. Why, because I screwed up and lost a signed copy of the bill of lading from the destination that the broker requires we provide to get paid for the load. As a result, my boss had to call the destination, have them fax her a copy of the bill, which she had to the scan into the computer to send along with all the signed bills and POD's (proof of delivery) for the other 3 dozen loads we delivered to that customer. She deducted $50 from my check for my screwup, was it fair, no, was it right, yeah, I screwed up, hell they could have refused to pay me for the load.

 

If that spot was on th bottom during pre-trip,how would you have known it?? some of these guys must spend a lot of time moving the truck 6 inches at a time to inspect their tires! sheesh.
I pull a dump in and out of scrap yards,quarries,and landfills[we haul waste sand and scrap]. If I had to pay for blown tires on my truck,I'd be paying the boss to work for him.

 

Yea, you screwed up by not doing the pretrip.
But your employer should foot the bill.
If he doesn't like it, he can fire you. But like others have said, unless there's GROSS negligence, a company driver doesn't pay.
Learn from this and spend the extra five minutes.

 

I was told that when you get your cdl after you finish throw that dmv manual out the window.The pretrip they want you to do is no 15 min and just for a example they tell you to hook the air lines up to the trailor before you back under it.and was told for what so i can get 5 wheel greese all over the air lines.What else does dmv teach that makes no since..

 

Your pre trip should take long enough for you to be satisfied the rig is safe to operate.
I can do an adequate pretrip in less than 10 minutes, including checking all the tires air pressure.
But that's only because I spent 30 minutes doing an adequate POST trip the night before.

 

You check all the tire air pressure? With a gauge??

 

Yes. I check all my lights, look for puddles under the truck, check my refer temp and all 18 tires with a guage.
I use a digital guage to check. It's a bit faster and easier to read in the dark. Especially with 'over 50' eyes.
I usually grab a coffee, come back to the truck and set it on the catwalk, then go around checking the tires, lights. Coffee is usually cool enough to drink.
When I pulled doubles and triples it took a bit longer...30 tires.