How can I stop our trailers from getting scratched, dinged, etc.

That's a hell of a post. I like to see that...if youre an A Game driver, make em pay you.

When I'm in a motel, i find myself watching BAR RESCUE. Especially when Big John bring9 his experts in to show them how its done.

I would love to see a FLEET RESCUE. Only in the trucki g industry do people believe that Grade D talent can take them to the superbowl. Talent costs money. And they could bring in an A Gamer to show all the drivers who thought they could drive, how to run a truck. And either the drivers would step up their game, or empty out their trucks.

 

Most quality owner operators truly care about the trailer they pull as do I .
When I leased to my company which is very small I got the nastiest looking trailer in the fleet and tho it was good mechanicaly it was black from lack of of being washed ( 48 ft Benson spread axle )
9 mos later and lots of acid it looks respectable now and I keep it that way .
Unfortunately some people have no pride .

 

Truth be told I'm a horrible employee.

A productive horrible employee xD

I make sure I take care of me first.

Why I'm retired. Lol.

I'm sure I'll poke my head out for ups again this holiday.
They are hiring 2500 ppl this week around here.

 

I haven't met a customer yet that truly values space needed for maneuvering trailers. Even the ones that start out with plenty of space eventually fill alot of that space with junk, portable warehouse trailers, parking, etc. My customer built a brand new building with state of the art warehouse and tons of space away from their property line. They however have exactly the length of a tractor + trailer + 2 lane road in front of their dock doors. If EVERYTHING goes right and you have experienced driver backing in, customer curb and lawn near the curb won't be destroyed by a truck tire and the trailer will be at least 3/8 of an inch from every other trailer already in a door. In 2 years they have also filled up an oversized warehouse with material in every forklift lane so that it's like a scene from Mission Impossible watching forklifts load trucks.

 

Crap happens man. Overhead cost of doing business. Stop trying to bean count your driver's to death. Lord knows this industry has WAY to much of that

Just go to a truckstop and look at some of the trailers. Apart from o/o reefer guys that get a wash out and polish the chrome after every load to the coast, most have scratches and a scrapes galore. Holes, welds, patches, you name it.

For the love of God don't make your poor drivers do inspection reports on the trailer. No one will do them then when something shows up it will get blamed on the last guy that didn't do one.

Seriously diamond jim, just fix the ###### trailers

 

There are experts, and studies, Trip6, that say you should spend the majority of your draft time in the 3rd, 4th, 5th rounds. They attest you get more bang for the buck - grade talent at low cost.

The real problem is you never know. Tom Brady - 6th round. Ryan Leif - 1st round; #1 overall.... Who's won Superbowls and who played 25 games then was later arrested for burglary to support his meth habit?... multiple times.

I'll say nothing of 'Johnny Football'... yet.

 

It's not a perfect world, drivers ain't perfect either. The good drivers have regular full time jobs, it's the underemployed that jumps on temp to hire work assignments. Every Christmas in Miami, The Contractor for USPS brings on 30 temp drivers and they are paid 24 dollars per hour. There is no negotiation. The equipment is leased from Ryder. Any damage is pro rated at the end of lease.

There are a half dozen solutions, but it's up to the contactor to find the best that accommodates his needs. I am sure the OP needs the best drivers, that's a given. Background checks and proper road test with backing is key to rating these applicants.

Trailer damage can be avoid by simple measures....a good policy that rewards good behavior. Perhaps a bonus for being safe on the road. Any accidents and the bonus goes bye bye.

Each Driver is by law required to do DVIR pretrip and post trip. This is reality, not a game. But some guys fudge it.

A Daily trailer inspection on the yard by a staff member may need to be implemented to note damaged equipment with photos. Also, why blame the owner for something his temp employee does and refuses to report ?

Owner ops is a good idea, but it sounds like power only, so again there needs to be a trailer exchange sheet. The Port of Miami does it with thousands of containers and contract 1099 owner ops daily. Damage to port equipment is charged back to the company and the company deals with the drivers. Bad tires are #1 ON THE LIST.

Safety first!

 

Grade D talent is never mentioned on any draft.

 

Red Green would duct tape old tires all around the trailer
Remember, we're all in this together.

 

Tom Brady = grade D talent? Now that is funny. Funny how work ethic, dedication and preparation = "talent".