do I really have to check the oil all the time or can I just read the oil gauge?

Well ......
Yes you need to check the oil at least once in awhile .
All the gauge on the dash is for is to tell you the oil pressure .

The pressure will not tell you how much oil you have until it is to late in most cases.

 

Before each cold start....(pretrip) and each time you fuel would be nice....your trucks engine will thank-you.......

 

Not really.. we had a driver who knocked the oil pan plug out and the engine shut down... he simply kept restarting and running the truck till he got to the truck stop............ 41 times according to the mechanics (yeah the computer stores that stuff). Driver ran the engine for a long time several times with NO oil pressure... so our company got to buy an engine... and of course the driver was SHOCKED that he was terminated..

 

I agree,just get that load delivered.I'll worry about oil some other day.Maybe while on hometime.

 

You get to know your truck. Mine does not use oil. How do I know that? Because I check the oil levels everyday. I want to know when something has changed as soon as it has changed. I check the air pressure in the tires. All fluids. All brake lines. Do I do a complete pre trip. No. I do more then that. I want to know if my trailer is swept out. I want to know if my brakes are going to work. I want to see the wear on the tires so I can plan on when to replace them or to see if the wear is even. I want to know that my air conditioning will be working this summer.

Driving a truck is not a game of SURPRISE.

 

I always check the oil every couple trips and especially the hoses it lines to make sure no leaks. Like the other day my coolant was not low but it didn't look normal. I figured it was because I'm done south and it's getting hot. Well when I did my pre trip today I found the leak because there was a good amount of fresh fluid leaking down off the line to the frame to the leaf springs. I always add oil to when I feel it's low and if it's not full then it's low in my eyes. Now I'm at the shop for a bad light that I think the harness or wires are shot some where and added the coolant line leak on this list as well. Do your pre trip ##### Happens!!

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Maybe I'm missing something, but to me, it seems like the OP simply doesn't understand the function of the oil pressure gauge, and seems to think it's like the fuel gauge, where it shows a fluid level. I'm not necessarily getting that they're looking for an excuse to not do a pre-trip.
Then again, I could be wrong here.

 

but he saved the boss a tow bill
some people are just ungrateful

 

There's a burger place in Co. Springs called Crave (and they have two or three other locations, as well), and they have this burger called the 'Cubano'... burger patty, bacon, an open-faced sausage, a veal cutlet on top of all of that... it's vulgar and beautiful at the same time.