Hypothetical breakdown scenario

I clearly need to learn to put more details in these types of posts. I’ll paint a picture; I was getting a new truck straight out of the shop. That was my company’s words towards me (unfortunately not in writing). It was a blessing that something was still wrong with it because they checked the oil and put more in. Whenever someone tells me that it just came out of the shop, that means there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it; (why would a company say that just for it to break down almost immediately). They gave me the keys and told me to head to the next job asap. So…hypothetical, if I took their words for it, and something happened, would that be on me when I literally just had the truck handed to me?

 

A lot of new drivers would only think about shifting into neutral and moving right about 4 days after they wake up in the hospital. "It's someone else's responsibility to do everything so I don't have to think about anything but looking at Instagram."

 

Coming out of the shop is EXACTLY when something is most likely to be discovered wrong with the truck. If you have a CDL you are expected to keep the public safe by doing a pre-trip before putting a CMV on public roads. Pilots do preflight inspections & post-maintenance flight check BECAUSE there is no shoulder to park on in the sky.

CDL means you do MORE than some random car driver going for a loaf of bread

What would you say if a surgeon said I didn't wash my hands before surgery because the nurse said I looked clean and you may not survive the infection after surgery? Stop looking for excuses & protect your license. Nobody else cares more about you losing it than you should.

 

Your suppose to be traveling in the right most lane except for passing, You are also suppose to be paying attention to what your truck is doing, moving to the right is certainly safer than sitting dead in the water in the left lane.

 

Your in the seat , not mech , not company dispatch. You are . If you break down in the middle of the road , flashers triangles , and 911 to get a cop out there to warn people .( just like any other crash) . Used to be a requirement that that stuff had to be done within 15 minutes . Your job at that moment is to prevent it from getting worse .
by the way i've broken down in turn lanes , driveways and other screwed up spots so the the big thing is safety, yours and others

 

Why would you be in the middle of the highway?

WHy could you not pull over?

OK ... got it.

What is emerguency services?
a tow company or the cops?

OK did you put your triangles out?

What does a DOT mean?

Yes ...

What do you mean a new truck out of the shop?

What is?

OK good idea, should do it anyway because it is part of a pre-trip.

NO it doesn't.

AND?

It is on you, 100% it is on you, you should have learned this at CDL school, with CDL 101, the driver is the responsible party.

So what really happened?

 

Its not the shops responsibility to pre-trip the truck. If it just rolled out the shop door and one assumes its all good and pencil whips the pre-trip then that would be on them, not the shop.

Thing is the shop is only going to fix what they've been authorized to fix. They won't just start fixing issues unless its been approved.

 

You have to be a severe idiot to breakdown on a highway travel lane. But I've seen this happen and the subsequent wreck that immediately followed.

The only way you could breakdown in a travel is if there were no shoulder such as driving between Jersey barriers.

Your tractor has warning lights on the dash that will alert you if you are going to lose power.

Above is the stop engine light warning.

If this alert appears, pull over immediately. DOT regs require settting up your triangles within 10 minutes like below:


I would call your company after placing the triangles.

As long as your truck is moving, and it will be should the stop engine light alert, you have ample time to park on the shoulder or as far off the lane of travel as possible.

 

Just tell them its one of those new driverless trucks they keep talking about, and your just an innocent bystander

 

New truck, straight out of the factory, zero miles. They tell you, “Driver, this is your truck.” Are you required according to the regs to do a pre-trip before taking that thing down the road? You know the answer.

A motorist was traveling by car in Minnesota when the throttle got stuck. Motorist panicked, took an exit and struck another car at 118mph, killing the other motorist. Motorist got locked up for vehicular manslaughter. Why? It is the owner’s responsibility to read the owner’s manual, something that most car owners don’t do.
If you are a company driver, you will notice that the truck manufacturer has placed an owner’s manual in the rig. The trucking company gave you a little green and white book. Do they expect you to read it? Nope. They know that you are never going to read it. So, why are those two books in your possession?