My Pre Tripping Method

I've driven the same truck for just under 5 years now. I know the ins and outs of it pretty well by now. And no, I don't pre/post like an LTL who's never running the same equipment from day-to-day. But, I do my checks. Lights, tires, open the hood and snoop around, listen for air leaks when she's building air. Do the occasional air test. Usually look inside the wheels for wheel seal failures after driving (a non-greasy glove does the job well). Every few days or so I check the brake stroke. I'm not to the letter of the law as they want. But, I do check brakes.

In almost five years of driving, I've had one road-side inspection and passed it without a violation. Honestly, that feels pretty good when you get that god awful yellow sticker on your windshield. You don't pass inspections by chance. Now, LTL, local, etc drivers that may not be in the same equipment every day, etc is tough. The big thing was working for a big company and constantly changing trailers and going through the battery of checking them out for tires, brakes, flaps, hoses, etc.

But, trailers are easier to check. And honestly, I very rarely do a pre/post on a trailer other than lights/tires. Once I've checked the brakes once upon pick-up, I'm only keeping that trailer a few days at most before picking up another. Should I do a brake stroke check every day? Sure, but I'm not going to lie and say I do.

But, the guys that never get out of their truck to check when they shut down, and never check in the morning are crazy. What if you have a water leak? An oil leak? A blown/missing trailer tire?

Owning your truck makes you much more aware of its upkeep than a company driver. It costs me to fix it, so I try to catch it before the price goes four-digits.

 

I do the pretrips and fuel combination too sometimes.
Most of the time I have to get up sometime during the 10 hour break to use the facilities and walk the dog because she needs to too. This is when I do my pretrips as well. Bear in mind I had done a post trip not too long before as well. Well anyway, go back to bed and get up, set the Elog to On Duty/Pretrip and then go in and get coffee, come back and walk the dog while the truck is running/warming up/building air pressure from the leak down/brake test the night before.Now I see the other drivers stirring and waking up to start their day, shaking their head at me for not opening my hood or whatever, but what they don't know is they were sleeping 2 hours before when I checked everything out. I say do what you do don't worry about it, the true proof is in the pudding when your truck performs day in and day out and not parked on the side of the highway with flashers on.

 

A tire pressure gauge is a good cheap investment. And the quick check stem caps. With those you can get the pressures in all 10 tractor tires in literally a minute without having to fuss with normal stem caps. I check mine about every week and find very little change, if any. Hell you could probably go a month and maybe be 5 lbs low at worst.

 

Lights and tires are what DOT will usually look for as an easy reason to haul you in. And dirty trucks with crap all over the dashboard.

 

Brakes out of adjustment is in the top 10 things they find wrong. Perform your air brake tests daily, sometimes sitting at a stop sign or red light, apply full pressure to the brakes, this will 'work' the auto slacks into adjustment. A good driver will basically be 'pretripping' all during the day, just don't get caught doing it by Mr. DOT when your log says Line 1 or Line 2.

 

Oh....So you're one of "those"!

This is a completely "FALSE" statement.

Seriously?

Once a week with a pressure guage is fine as long as you "thump them" with a good hammer two or three times a day the rest of the time.

Yes.....Thanks for asking.

Seriously???

Kicking tire is completely stupid, I have actually watched idots wearing flip flops waking around "kicking" tires.

You ought to be checking them every time you stop for any reason...When you do your walk around!

You do a walk around every time you stop.....Right?

This was OBVIOUSLY" a joke post.....At least I hope it was!

It is dumb....But injure your foot?

If you "guage" them once a week and then "thump" them when they're hot...(and know how to thump them and what you're listening for) You can easily tell if a tire is losing pressure.

I can hear the difference in the sound of the tire with as little as 5 PSI difference in pressure with a hammer.

Good advice for the O/P...

Yes...

They spend so much time cruising the truck stops and rest areas looking for those drivers that are foolish enough to be checking their equipment whenever they stop!

 

Absolutely. Especially as you get older. Wait 'till you break a toe or sprain your foot. You will become acutely aware of just how "sensitive" your feet can become over time.

Have to disagree with you there. Anything less than a 20 psi difference will be undectable. Most drivers won't detect any difference until the PSI has dropped to 60 or less. Experts that participate in yearly truck rodeos know this. Old timers such as yourself are set in your ways though. Best to advocate the correct way of doing things. Your 39 years of experience does not transfer to anyone else. They do not have your "feel" for the tire thumping and frankly never will.

As for your statement;

I don't buy it. But hey its your story tell it the way you like (use the force Luke!)

 

The following link will provide info about tire "myths;"

http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=69442

I found the article very interesting and hope it helps dispell some of the eroneous infromation other drivers espouse.

 

I remember them, but were kinda of blurry.