Holy Guac'an'moli! Pre-trip Inspection

Never mind...

 

We do the pre-trip and post trip everyday on company printed forms. The pre-trip is not as detailed as the post trip but we do the same. It's better for you to know what you're driving especially if someone else drove it the shift before. BTW, you can go on-line and print out a check list to help you with the inspections.

The pre-trip requirements are spelled out in FMCSR §392.7 and the post trip is in §396. You'll get use to it after you do it many times. The trick is to start correctly and do it the same way every day. There's also a few listings on this group about inspections which are good.

Sometimes you may think it's a waste of time but believe me if it's on a truck it can break. And you'll feel pretty good when you catch it before it causes any problems. You just have to get a system down and stick to it. I also recommend that you use a flashlight even if it's daytime. You might miss a crack in a shadow or a part missing. You'll want to be able to see everything. After all the first inspection is for your safety and you'll want to know everything you can. The trick is to catch parts from causing a big problem so if you run into a driver that just wants to do a walk around on a truck he or she has never seen before just shows what type of driver they are. Don't worry you'll get it.

 

www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ is all you need. But you should also study your state CMV manual because they may have added something. But once you're on the road the FMCSA are the ones to follow.

 

get in the habit of doing the pretrips,
and not like most out here whos idea of a pretrip is to check the fuel gage and go,lol

 

Interesting. Our pre trip is more involved than the post trip. I pre trip every time before I drive. We team drive so this means I may pre trip the truck at the change of driver. Does everyone do it? No. But we're suppose to.

Denise.......you can and will learn this. I did. And I can assure you there is no woman alive that knows less about mechanics than myself. For the first 10 years of my marriage I didn't even put gas in my car because I was the beloved pampered wife of a man who chose to do that stuff for me. *bats my eyelashes* He still would rather do it and we actually quarrel at times about me filling tanks on my shift and not waking him. He wants to be woken to do it and I won't because it would be a violation of his hours.

Divide the truck into sections, then subsections. It makes it a great deal easier to memorize.