Good Night From II

Davenport, IA. Got sent to pick up a 997 series trailer and the radar goes off, I knew something would be wrong. Sure enough, the DOT was due 4 months ago and there are several things wrong. The brake valve isn't fully actuating or releasing the brakes, the wheel seals are leaking, and it has four bad tires. I hope that's all or it's going to be a long trip to Idaho.

 

So just take whatever ramp, not even seeing a sign?
Hope for the best, I suppose.

Still, while in a scary situation I once again noticed something about how I react.
I had a little panic for a split second when I realized the situation, and then I just watched as it happened.
I slowed down as the SUV passed me and just thought... they are going to collide. As I slowed I simply watched, maybe to be ready to make a move should one of the cars head towards me.
Or both of them when they crashed.

I'll have to check the driver cam to see if I braked too hard... if it was sent.
Later today I noticed that the stuff on the passenger seat was on the floor. I guess I brought it down very quickly to do that, but I don't really remember braking that hard.
I was simply trying to stay behind the accident if I could.

That SUV driver seemed really shaken by it though.
The driver stayed at around 40 mph until the next exit, then pulled off. Perhaps to get a fresh set of underwear.
It was that close.
And I was tailing that SUV at a good distance, not willing to pass. No need to add even more stress.

 

Find a different trailer and let Swift drag that junk heap to the dump with a day cab.

My current trailer is a 54xxx, so not much better.
Actually from your description, it is better. By a little.

Both trailers should have been sold off by now. They should not be in the fleet.

 

Preloaded trailer, they already have the repairs started. Meh. I gonna listen to Rachel and play WoW for a while. =D

 

I've gotten preloaded trailers twice that weren't road worthy ... both times I refused the load and the planners were apologetic and falling all over themselves to get me another load.

 

So does it EVER come back on the driver that dropped the bad trailer in the first place?

It isn't the planners fault but the driver that had an unsafe trailer, kept it without reporting or fixing anything, then dropping it to burn the next driver.

I think that if drivers were held accountable for these things, things might change.

 

As much as I believe in holding people accountable, I'm not big on holding a Swift driver accountable for the condition of a trailer ... spotters have bad habit of abusing trailers. And Swift leases out so many trailers, who knows who had it last, especially this time of year when they start coming back.

 

If a driver knowingly drops a broken or damage trailer, then they should be held accountable for it
It doesnt take but a few minutes to do a walk around.
I was at lathrlop terminal waiting for a driver to drop a trailer. When i picked it up, trailer had a flat tire. Driver should have dropped it at tire shop to get it fixed.

 

While I would like to see something done about this.

My thought on the matter however. No one can prove when it broke. In some of the more mundane cases anyway. It's all he said she said, lights go out all the time. Air leaks can occur when you push the valves. Yeah some problems can be pinned down. But many aren't so clear, easier for the company to just fix and say #### it.

 

I was picking up a t-called trailer in Edwardsville recently. The DOT bumper was bent out so far it was dangerous.
When I brought it to the shop there was no record of the damage.
Who knows how long it was that way, because it didn't look like new damage. But no one reported it or got it fixed.
It was something that would never pass an inspection.

And why didn't the driver that t-called it simply put it in the shop to be fixed when he got there?
At the very least he should have reported it when he (or she) picked it up, then stuck it in the shop. It would have saved me several hours.