Brake shoes question

Rust 'jacking' the brake friction material from the metal shoe is an Out of Service violation

FCMSA "Appendix G to subchapter B of Chapter III - minimum periodic inspection standards:

"A vehicle does not pass inspection if it has one of the following defects."

1. Brake System
a. Service Brakes
(6) Brake Linings or Pads
(a) Lining of Pad is not firmly attached to the shoe.

There is no 30 day grace period regarding brake issues [never heard of one for anything not passing annual inspection] so the mechanic is wrong.

Ask the boss if he wants to ask the insurance carrier if it is OK to not fix the brakes for 30 days......

 

First what is shoe spreading?

Second I would fire that mechanic, you have to fix it or risk an OOS for the truck and driver.

 

I never heard that either, perhaps a regional description? I can't find anything on that, besides a brake spreading tool.
Now, don't be too harsh on the mechanic, the previous job they were a sandwich maker at Subway.

 

Yeah, curious what this "spreading" is.

IIRC, Technically, it's not an OOS violation if it's a tandem drive/tandem trailer, it falls above the 80% rule. Verify before blindly believing me.

If it was an OOS violation, it likely would have been placed OOS. Officer discretion of course

 

This was an in-house annual inspection where the mechanic didn't want to fix a brake issue found while performing said inspection but telling management they had a 30 day grace period to make the necessary repairs.

We all need to remember that most of today's management has little or no maintenance experience VRS days past where the company owner and many of the top managers were former drivers so they depend on the mechanic's knowledge and often end up with a mixture of truck stop law and a good dose of bull excrement from said mechanical 'experts' in their shop.

 

That's laziness on management's part. I mean we live in a world where information is at your fingertips on the phone everyone has in their hip pocket. The owner ok with that is kind of crazy.

 

I don't know the regs on this. But I agree with you. There is no way most brake issues are going to be "if you don't mind fix this in the next 30 days" kind of resolution. I suspect that treatment is for paperwork and non-critical items. It may apply to losing a license plate or registration, stuff like that.

 

So here is the real problem, the truck needs to be repaired, there is no 30-day anything, brakes are a very important part of the truck and the states and the FMCSA both take their condition seriously but more importantly, there is a 3rd party that is more important to avoid at all costs - trial lawyers.

The owner shows he doesn't give a crap, and the mechanic is an idiot and should be fired, because if that truck gets into an accident, do you honestly think that an ambulance-chasing lawyer is going to NOT go through the records and ignore ANY brake problem?

Hell no!!

They will latch on to that and use it to find the company and driver guilty in an accident lawsuit.

Just to add, when the repair is made, there is a record of it. The problem is you, as an owner, need to limit your liability, and any indication of negligence will sink any defense. What I mean is if it took 20 days to repair the brakes and the truck has been used, then it shows how neglectful the owner, driver, and mechanic are.

 

Sorry, too much reading the replies and thought it was written up by DOT. The biggest issue I see, is why didn't the mechanic just fix it right then?

For me, a customer would bring a truck in, and we would inspect, repair, then paperwork.

The only time we would check the "Needs Repair" box on paperwork, is when it was a service call and the customer wanted just an inspection.

Also, many drivers think an inspection sticker means all is good. It does not. I wouldn't doubt some companies think the same.

First thing DOT is going to look at during an inspection is what was involved in that "Needs Repair" section.