my USXpress experience

We did check in with shipper, and were told to back under the trailer as it was almost done. we never set the trailer in the dock, just backed up to it, and hooked up. Got back in the truck and waited for the paperwork... appartently the trailer was still being loaded, and that's when the inncodent happened. (excuse the spelling, it's late) anyway.... enough said I guess... everyone's going to have a different opinion on this, and that's ok, but I guess I don't appreciate my ability on how I do my job... I guess... don't judge until you've been there! thanks everyone for listening.. I was just hoping to get alittle support.

 

It's says not for parking because trls years ago did not have maxi type brakes and would leak off air and roll. also because if the fifth wheel is unlatched the tractor could roll. I always lock the trl brakes and tractor brakes while loading but not when I park

 

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We're hooking up to a trailer in a dock, that was partially loaded.. we backed under the trailer, hooked up the lines, and noticed that a chalk was semi under the rear tire, not touching the tire, so we kicked it out of the way.
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The next day, as this innodent happened at 11pm, we took the truck to the volvo dealer, and was told that this truck should never have left the terminal.. There were no parking brakes at all.. calipers, slack adjustors, springs, all had to be replaced. the truck was down for a week until all the parts could be ordered in and fixed.
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This "accident" was NO FAULT OF OURS!! My husband has a 9 year, over a million mile, accident-free record, and I have a 6 year accident free. Now because of this company, we have a negative report on our DAC.

If anyone has any suggestions to help us remove this report from our dac, please feel free to let us know. and PLEASE stay away from this company... they have no idea how to treat their drivers!
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You may be able to see where I am going with this by what I have separated out. As much as I hate US Express(they ruined my life), it pains me to say that they may be partly right, but first let me explain.

Firstly, you said you moved the chock. You never, ever do that till they are done loading/unloading, it doesn't have to be touching to do it's job.
I only assume that you aired up the trailer when you hooked up the lines, which you shouldn't have done, if you did. That made your truck's brakes even more vulnerable to the forces of the loading process.
Forklift drivers are in a hurry, they almost alway hit the trailer decks hard, it's not really that unusual is it?

RE: other posters that say you should've caught it in the pre/post trips, it could be possible that this was the first time the brakes completely failed, but it sounds like there would've been some warning signs.
Personally, If I could drive off on the parking brakes without hittin it pretty hard, I would be pestering the shop about it. I never had a mechanic complain about me wanting to "make sure".

#2: I do know that some mechanics can get a little over dramatic. Some of those parts are supposed to be changed in a brake job anyway, so the mechanics may have made it sound worse than it was.

#3: Did that constitute an "accident"? I say not. At most it was an "Incident". However, they could argue it was a preventable incident because you moved the chocks.

US Express does treat drivers like they are disposable.
As far as getting them to correct you DAC, good luck.

The accident I was in was ultimately determined in court to be no fault of mine, that it was clearly (to the court) caused by the other driver, and I still couldn't get them to change it.
US Express claimed that the State Trooper was more credible than me, therefore I, and apparently the court, was wrong and the Trooper was right.
The accident was minor enough that the other driver changed a tire and drove on. I won't bore you further with what kind of H**L they put me through.

By the time I knew what kind of damage US did to my DAC, I was short on funds and couldn't find a Lawyer with enough gusto to go after them, so act quickly.

I do hope you can get things straightened out and wish you many safe miles.

 

At us depressed you are just another number at a bottom feeder company. Funny thing is I left over almost a year and a half ago and got a letter in the mail to go back with a bonus but not too long ago they made drivers from michigan leave, team or lease option. Like i would ever go back. hahaha

 

Exactly. I'm not commenting on your situation, for I wasn't there and I'm in no position to judge anybody.
In all my years out here I have never seen a truckdriver do a pre trip with a creeper, flashlight and toolbox, which is what you would need according to some of these guys.
I understand the basics of air brakes, but couldn't tell a worn out part from a good part, with the exception of the actual linings.
I'd be willing to bet most drivers do a pre trip the same way I do.
Which is to walk around and make sure all the tires have air in them and the trailer doors are closed.
If it's dark enough I will look in my mirror and see if that top left light on the trailer is working.
If I am doing an LTL drop and hook with a trailer still at the dock, I will occasionally check the brake lights and blinkers with the reflection off the dock.
When I pull away, I will give a quick tug on the hand valve to check my king pin connection and insure I have some trailer brakes.
I may sound like a slacker, but at least I'm honest about it. And believe me there are tons of drivers that do a lot less.
But it seems you have stirred up all the experts, eager to dump on your situation.
Hope things turn out OK for yall. Good luck.

 

Hey Ricky it's mer don't have enough post to reply to your pm

 

10-4 buddy. Forgot about that. Good to see ya man.

 

Thank You Mustang... I'm glad to see there's atleast one person that is honest here about pretrips. And your right... most visually inspect, walk around the trailer and truck, maybe hit a tire with a hammer, and check gauges. In my old truck, when I did have a trl break, i would do a tug test be make sure i was hooked, without the trl break, i would check the 5th wheel, and make sure the handle was in. Like I've said, i do know how to do a pretrip.... We've started to apply for other jobs, I guess all we can do it try... and hope that there's co's out there that understand mechancial failures. But again... thanks again

 

You've been out here as long as I have and many names have been applied to different parts of a truck! And I said trolley VALVE so oops on you! And there are trolleys in Helen GA also during tourist season so go figure! Everyone knew what I wa saying. Or I surely hope so!

To MustangGt: you have 29 years experience????WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T USE A FLASHLIGHT?? Why not? I always have 2 flashlights in the truck and when PTI is needed in the dark one of them darn sure comes out! And from the sound of the PTI you do, Please stay the heck away from where my family lives! You sir sound like one of the laziest and most dangerous drivers on the road!

All that time on the road and you've never seen a driver fixing a light, wiring, wiper blade, something in the engine compartment, air line , adjusting brakes, or anything on a truck in the parking lot? You've never seen an O/O with a creeper greasing his truck in the parking lot or pulling on the drive shaft to check u joints, or seen a driver sticking tires with a tire gauge? One of the best presents my wife ever bought me was an air powered grease gun which was used every 5000 miles on my last truck! And yep there was a creeper attached to the back of the sleeper and there is even a fold up one for sale out there! If not, you pay NO ATTENTION to what goes on around you!

Anyone who does a PTI like him needs to go back to Mickey D's! A Pre trip is not that freaking hard to do and if you think all you have to do is look and kick a tire and look at the pretty lights please LEAVE TRUCKING as it's part of the job and takes no skin off your nose! I've never heard such BS in my life as that drivel! It makes you wonder why there aren't more deaths on the road due to lazy drivers! I'll probably get spanked for this and kicked off TRR for a time out but this is something that had to be said! That is an accident waiting to happen and I pray I'm not there or a part of that accident when it bites him in his arse!

Anyone else never seen a driver use a flashlight during a PTI or ever seen a driver working on his truck or have any of you seen a creeper against the sleeper?

 

Geez, lighten the hell up man. What's your problem? Talk about taking a statement out of context. I assure you I have a flashlight, along with a toolbox, crow bar, hammer, bolt cutters and duct tape. Along with spare bulbs and fuses. When I had my own trucks, I kept spare trailer air lines and a 50 foot air hose.
You may have burger flipping experience, but I assure you I don't. And I highly resent the implication that I may be responsible for death on the highway.
And yes, I have seen guys greasing a truck before, along with repairing their trucks in a parking lot but since when is that part of a typical pre trip inspection? Preventative maintainance is a different matter. The average company driver shouldn't be required to get out a creeper to do a pre trip.
And yes, I have them. I own one myself, but I leave it at home. I drive a well maintained truck that recieves excellent service on a regular basis.
I keep an eye on everything and know when something is off and always manage to catch a problem before it gets critical.
And no, I don't crawl under the truck unless I detect an air leak or see abnormal fluid leakage. I may not follow some federally prescribed ritual, but I know what the hell I'm doing.
If you think I am such a highway terrorist, I urge you to conduct an experiment. Park in a truck stop some morning when guys are getting up and rolling out.
Note the percentage of guys that roll out of bed, squirt the dirt and take off. That occurs a lot more than you may care to admit to, but it's pretty common.
So don't get all high and mighty with me about the way I do things. And you have a lot of #### nerve calling me lazy and dangerous. We don't know each other, so I will refrain from the personal insults.