It's getting really old finding a trailer that isn't road worthy. Crap tires, lights out or missing. Got the only available trailer at a receiver today.........missing a mud flap! Thanks you lazy son of a female dog for either missing that or not giving a crap and passing it on to me! My mentor got a trailer the other day that the rim was so bent there was no safe way to pull it down the road. I had a trailer a couple of months ago that had 4 bald tires and one that was just the sidewalls clinging to the rim! What happens to these lazyazz attempt at a truck driver bums? Nothing!! Luckily a 30 year veteran lady trucker volunteered to follow me to the Petro and run interference just in case a cop was to happen along. I sent a message to break down that I would not pull this trailer to get it repaired. The jackazz at breakdown told me "Swift will not pay $400 for a mudflap/ road call." NO! OK for me to pull it down the road and risk getting an OOS, fine and bad marks on my record. FIND THE LAST PERSON WHO PULLED THE TRAILER!! TAKE THE MONEY OUT OF THEIR CHECK!!! AND GIVE THEM SOME TIME OFF FOR BEING A LAZY DON'T GIVE A CRAP BUM! WHEN WILL SWIFT REALIZE THE DOWN TIME, LATE FREIGHT COSTS MORE THAN FINDING THE LAZY BUMS AND PUNISHING THEM? LAZY JERKS CAN SURE MESS UP A GOOD DAY!!
While you are right about the lazy drivers that don't take the time to get minor trailer repairs before they drop the trailer. Did you make it to the T/S and get the mud flap? I really can't tell from your post. In any case...part of the "spare/emergency equipment you should have gotten from the shop BEFORE you set out on your journey includes two mud flaps....these fit rather nicely under the mattress on your bunk. And Swift (used to) supplies them to the company drivers at no cost. There is no way of knowing with just a mud flap missing, whether the last Swift driver with that trailer incurred the loss of the mud flap, or some yard jockey at the customer tore it off backing against the arresting curb...it happens all the time. In any case, now you have been advised about carrying extra mud flaps....and don't forget to have a couple wrenches and maybe a pair of pliers...it is actually a simple fix!
I can completely understand the frustration. I can't count the number of trailers I have had to clean trash out of and that haven't been swept in gawd-only-knows how long. I take a broom to them and spend two minutes on each of the front corners pulling muck, filth and wood debris out. And just the other day, I picked a trailer up that had inoperative service brakes. Now, I know most of the company trucks don't have a trolley brake valve, but can't you tell by how the braking is delayed and heavy on the tractor that the brakes aren't working on the trailer? I had to spend five hours in the shop until they found an air line that had been crimped for a very long time on the underside of the trailer close to the front. Wasted an entire day worth of running to get a DOT OOS violation fixed because the putz who had the trailer before me just couldn't be bothered. By the look of that line, it was several putzes. I hate to admit this, but this laziness is a company culture problem. I rarely had a problem with Prime trailers being dirty and never picked up an OOS Prime trailer. Yet, I find it here too frequently. Perhaps Swift should come up with a policy similar to Prime: drop it clean and in working order or pay a fine. Seems most Swifties don't listen up until it hits their own pocketbooks.
At xxxx I talked with Saftey and made a suggestion. It was adopted. If a trailer is dropped you must send in a macro (Dropped Trailer Inspection) If the next driver finds the trailer to have been deficiant when dropped. Your fined $75 the first time Increasing $25 each event. The driver that has to repair trailer is paid the $75 for thier time any remaining goes towards a saftey bonus for all drivers with 100% compliability to (Not dropping bad trailers w/o informing road service needs repair.
I feel your pain. I picked up an MT from Lancaster before X-mas and swept 2 WalMart bags worth of crap out of it. The trailer I have now was T-called in Memphis when I got it, therefore sealed. I had a Live Unload in Kansas City and kept the trailer. When I swept it out there were 4 different seals and a crap load of garbage from dirt to pieces of pallets in it. No telling how long it has been since it was swept out last. When I was with my mentor, I was sweeping out my trailer after a Live Unload and another Swift driver walked all the way across the parking lot in sub-zero weather to thank me for sweeping out a trailer. I was amazed that it was such an apparent rarity that he made that much effort to thank me for it. I am starting to see why now. The way I see it, I wouldn't want to pick up a trailer in that condition so why leave it for someone else. So many people with a case of the F@ckits!!! Must be going around!!!
Look at all the Middle TN guys here! I am in Dickson. Otherhalf I do have the tools. I haven't been to a terminal in a long time. I like it that way! I have seen drivers carrying extra mud flaps inside their spare tires. I fixed one flap that was torn and falling off. It was hard to do as most use "star" fittings. I didn't have any star fittings at the time. WD40 and vise grips held the bolt heads and a box wrench did the nut. BTW you need metrics for the Volvos! Fines would be fine!
I would love to see something done about this. My operation is simple to have trailer repairs done. We pull out of one warehouse and return it to the same warehouse. There is a mechanic on site who will either repair any problems, or send the trailer out to be repaired, just as long as you write it up in the repair book. ' Yet, nine out of ten trailers I pull have some sort of issue as I hook up to them. Usually something simple like a light, but I have found some pretty serious stuff as well. I will accept the fact that on rare occasions a light will go out while the trailer is parked or that something may happen to cause whatever problem there is while the trailer is in the yard, but that stuff is really the exception and not the rule. If something is wrong when I hook to it, 99% of the time it was wrong when it was dropped. Now I have to make the decision as to what to do about it. I can either run 1,000 miles with whatever the problem is, or I can sit hours and wait for someone to fix it, which makes me late and costs me miles (possibly pushing my time back to where I miss an entire run down the road). There is no good option to deal with it.
That's a problem at all companies. So many drivers take every shortcut possible in lieu of miles. They could care less about their fellow drivers. With CSA2010, these yahoo drivers will have their day when they get caught before they drop the trailer. I've complained time and time again and nobody cares. They can easily check who pulled the trailer last and reprimand them some how. If the driver says he picked it up that way, tough, you should of put it on your inspection report and fixed it. Dispatchers don't want the extra workload. Hence their attitude is just as bad. They won't get in trouble, so why care? It's even worse at Hirschbach since they moved and closed terminals. Four months ago they put it off on drivers to get the trailers PMed at Speedco's on their own time. Now you see a bunch of expired inspections and an increase in needed repairs. I usually find the nearest TA or Petro. I'll call ahead and get on the waiting list and it saves a little time. When the CSA2010 smoke clears, the good drivers will come out on top.
I hooked to a trailer in Albany GA that the brakes leaked bad! I sent a message to break down. I bet it is still sitting there 8 months later at the receiver. I sent a message 2 other times one was a flat on a trailer in Chester PA 2 weeks ago. And another was a preloaded trailer in Lexington TN. Their response was they would notify the driver and have him get the light fixed. The corner of the trailer was smashed! Sometimes I wonder why I actually give a ****.
AHHHH! another method for the company to steel the working drivers pay check! (WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT?) I could understand a write up on the driver, but deducting money from his pay for the companys bank acount SUCKS!