Am I wrong for being this angry?

I had a mudflap missing one time, but I called out "here mud flap, here mud flap" and whistled and it came back. But it doesn't always work out that way, sometimes a curb will steal a brand new mud flap right off of a trailer and sell it on the black market and all you can do is buy another one and see if you can get the hanger straightened out and replace it

 

Yeah. I was in the Army. Now, what does that have to do with operating unsafe equipment on the highway.
If the brakes don't function properly, you get it fixed before u proceed.

 

You're not wrong to report it to your company, that driver ought to have a come to jesus meeting asap.

Chinatown -- there's a difference between making the best of a bad situation and putting yourself & the motoring public in danger. A loaded trailer with malfunctioning brakes is not something that should be taken lightly

 

Something this driver didn't even think of.

 

One time I picked up a loaded trailer where none of the lights were working, half day later I was finally out of the shop. People like to leave problems for the next driver, if I find something wrong I get it taken care of, I have replaced lights, bulbs etc, got a landing gear crank handle fixed that broke off even after I already lowered the gear and dropped it. Some drivers are inconsiderate out there and only care about their own time.

 

I've had two trailers that the brakes worked just fine on at one stop light, and the next light I smoked the tractor brakes trying to get stopped. The cause was a air/abs valve that had malfunctioned and left me with no brakes at all on the trailers.

 

Most companies don't want drivers touching the brakes, just look at them. I bet 80% of today's drivers have never adjusted a brake. Then you have the regulation of being a qualified brake inspector either by a certificate or one year hands on experience. All the newbies aren't qualified to touch them. Adjusting your own brakes anymore is an owner operator thing.

You are not in the military anymore. You are now a civilian living by civilian rules with big ugly leo's waiting to put you OoS and take your payday.

joseph's problem sounds more like a bad valve since the air bags aren't inflating. Adjusting the brakes won't fix that valve.

Only a selfish person pawns his problems off on someone else. Some just can't grasp the concept of doing things the right way or they just don't care.
People that don't care don't need to be behind the wheel.

 

Husband picked up a loaded trailer about 3 wks ago that had bad brakes, he too was around the 81/76 area going down the mountains, he adjusted on them and it didn't help. Made it to the closest TA for repairs. It's better safe than sorry, esp with lawsuits and the chance of killing someone.

Mudflaps may or may not be torn off at shipper/receiver lots, some just dropped by a person who doesn't care. Always carry an extra with you, you can use it for a floor mat till needed. Brackets are a little harder to come by.

We have been at some of the most out of the way places that one company had found to do repairs on numerous occasions, I guess it was good though to keep the little guy fed.

 

To add to the posts in response to Chinatowns, this isn't a war zone (well not that kind at least) there's shops located all over the place. Theres a difference when your in the middle of a desert with rockets flying around and driving down the interstate. This is exactly why we get harassed by the creeper cops. They know there's drivers out here with that exact mindset.

 

Wasn't talking about driving down the highway with malfunctioning brakes. I've seen drivers refuse to leave because of some minor thing, such as it required effort to close a trailer door that was a little sprung and had obviously been that way for months and had nothing to do with safety. I'm well aware of safety; had it drilled into me enough. I'm talking about using common sense when it comes to some minor issue. I still don't get upset if another driver screws up a trailer, I just get the problem solved and move on.

Joseph asked a question about being angry; we all handle situations in our own way. My answer is , don't be angry, just deal with it, get the problem solved and move on. I've been hit in truckstops & even that doesn't upset me; I call the company and let them handle it. As long as I'm doing my job correctly, why should I get stressed.