New O/O with some basic PM questions

Also some other words of advice, use a heavy decreased or brake clean and make sure the motor is clean after you finish with everything. Makes it so much easier to see the smallest leak of any kind.
I know it is recommended to do a oil analysis every 15-20k miles just to see how its looking. Also an awesome investment would be something along the lines of a FS2500 which is a bypass filter. Will end up saving you money in the long run by hewing able to run extended intervals on your oil especially since your running an EGR motor. More soot deposits in the oil.

 

because he is servicing the truck, legally, he has to log his time as "on-duty". That's time he could be driving.

 

I've never heard that but yes it makes sense. I wouldn't log it but yes it does make sense.

 

those service records have to be kept in your maintenance records that are open for audit.

And if they see the service completed by you, not logged in the log book, you will get nailed.

I worked with DOT last summer as a student worker and had an auditor that would take his breaks with us. He loved finding that issue in O/O books.

 

Wow that's crazy! Great thing to know though, thank you. I will always keep that in mind and remember to have something written up for somebody else doing it, that is when and if I get a rig.

 

He won't find it in my logs. I log every maintenance job I do on the truck. I even log bobtailing to a shop if I'm havingwork done. I have all my logs back for several months in a 3 ring binder, all fuel stops, mileages are dead on. They won't find anything legitimate in a log audit on me. Use drivers daily log software and log it like I do it.

 

Logging my "service" time would create one hell of a mess on any log book page. I might turn a wrench to get the oil draining on the Mack out in the driveway...then head into the garage to fiddle around with my motorcycle for a bit....then swap drain pans under the Mack.....before something on the TV will catch my attention (usually the phrase "caution is out") and I'll have to watch the replay of the wreck.....then I'll replace the drain plug and start removing filters, but when I head into the garage to get the new filters, I'll see that a tire on the pickup is low...so I'll air it up and check it for leaks.....eventually, I get back to the truck and get the new filters put on, then when I'm in the garage grabbing the grease gun I see something I don't like with the garage door....so I've got to fix that while I'm thinking about it. Then I'll get back to work on the truck, but my phone will ring and I'll spend some time talking to whoever called before they remind me about something else I should get done....so I'll have to do that before making my way back to the truck.

...in other words, it might take me all day (or more) to get the oil changed and chassis greased and any other minor things done....but I only actually worked on the truck for 30-45 minutes between every other project or distraction I have going on around here. If I logged on and off the truck every time my attention was drawn away, there would be so many lines going between #1 and #4 that I'd be written up for not having a "legible" log book....not to mention the oil & grease on my hands would make the pages even less legible. I'd spend more time updating my log book than I would actually working on the truck.

Screw that. I wrench on the truck because I enjoy it. It is a hobby of mine, and I don't get paid to do it. Sometimes, I'll even crack open an ice cold and enjoy that, too, while I wrench....especially if I get stuck on something and just want to take a step back and think about it for a bit. Wrenching on the truck isn't something that I HAVE to do...it is something that I WANT to do on my day off. In other words, I'm off duty.

 

mmmm......beeer.....

 

Let me re-phrase that. I log 2 to 3 hours on duty for servicing the truck regardless how long it takes. Doesn't matter if I get a 34 hr reset or not. I don't roll big miles on any given week and can always pick up hours as needed but normally I do get a reset.

 

You can take ALL weekend along with all the little things around the house and still put down a "reasonable" about of time for the work shown and they would be happy.

You just need to show it. You don't have to break it down.