Proper Pre-Trip For Newbies

Thanks for the guide AT, have it saved on my cell and laptop, just wish I could find a place to print it out.

Looking for a team driver? I swear if the other driver waits until after we leave a rest/truck stop before lighting up in the cab, I'm going to make him sleep in the trailer!

 

Just shout it all out, you shouldn't have a problem after awile.

 

make sure your blinker fluid is full

 

Well folks don't lot DOT know you don't do a "real" pre-trip! You might want to read the law too. Good luck.

BTW that's a great pre-trip American Trucker

 

just passed my driving test last sunday, your pre-trip was almost identical to ours. arizona has (pretty sure) 121 point insp. scored a 119

 

That was cool- thanks! For those who laugh and say, "Yeah right, all that everyday?" I say 2 things:

1) I'd rather fix stuff I catch than stuff that catches me!

2) You get to know your truck well, and a lot of this goes fast. I tend to cruise through some things on the road and catch them more thoroughly between loads. The things I don't rush are oil, tire pressure, lights, brakes, and always double check everything on the beginning of the list: right trailer, freight, bill, etc. There is nothing like hauling the wrong load to the wrong side of the country.

Ultimately you need to prove to DOT and your company you checked before you rolled.

 

Thanks for posting this, I'm going to use it as training material for new drivers. (Not that we get that many, but still)

 

You'll get to know your truck pretty well, but those company trailers that get passed around like working gals are something else entirely. Every time you hook a new one you need to be looking very carefully at it. You *will* routinely find stuff wrong with those if you're paying attention, because often other guys will look the other way or not look at all if they're more concerned about dodging shop delays and cramming as many miles as possible into their week than they are about making sure the trailer is safe and in good working order for the next person who uses it. So yeah, go through all the points carefully whenever you hook a new trailer even if it's a pain in the butt. That will save you some trouble at some point guaranteed.

 

Just check everything,like your life and others depended on it.

 

Ok here is something that bit me in the arse on a dot inspection. The light on the back of your trailer next to the rear side marker light that says abs on it should come on for 3 seconds and go out when you turn the key on, also the truck and trailer abs lights on the dash should do the same