Question from a wannabe: Can someone be a OTR without being mechanically inclined?

We've done some minor repairs when it saved us time to do so, but everything that's ever broken on our truck the company has fixed unless we just didn't even bother to tell them.

With that said, if you're the guy calling the shop to fix a burned out headlight/taillight, you'll get a reputation over that. If you really don't know how to do something simple like that, just get another driver or mechanic to show you.

Long story short, no one expects you to be a mechanic, but anyone can replace a light or a fuse or check and add oil or windshield washer fluid.

 

I don't think you have much to worry about. In your driving school you'll learn about all the bits and pieces (not how to necessarily fix them but enough to gain some familiarity). If not being mechanically inclined bothers you, just start taking things apart and putting them back together again, doesn't have to be a car or anything big, just something to get your mind started thinking about how things work. Wow that sounds like I'm really talking down but I don't mean to.

 

I'm pretty sure no trucking company will be asking you to take the engine apart. Or, the transmission. Nor will you be asked to take a wheel off, remove the tire, put on a new tire, and put it back on the truck.
But, it isn't difficult to replace a bulb, find a blown fuse, and replace a mudflap. Just need a few hand tools, and that should keep you good enough to get to a shop for a more in-depth repair.

 

Usually if something happens to a truck or trailer, its a simple repair. I was driving along in the rain when the driver's side wiper just flopped over. Simple fix.

Had an air line on a trailer blow out of the compression fitting and the trailer airbags deflated. I started losing air pressure and so I pulled over and got underneath the trailer and found the problem. Simple fix.

I am mechanically inclined and now I am an O/O. I fix everything. Going to a shop is the last resort for me.

My question is tho...how do you people who dont know what theyre looking at do a pre trip inspection?

 

My wife, who tends to be mechanically inclined, didn't know what half the stuff we needed to check looked like. She just made the instructors show all of it to her, and if she didn't remember something, she made either them or me show it to her again.

 

Funny. I'm one of those guys that never went to trucking school, had never been in a big rig, but went to the DMV and got a CDL handbook, read up on everything and passed the written and driving tests on my first try. The first time I got underneath a truck was to change the brake pods out.

I dont know. To me, its not that hard to figure out whats wrong. If you know how an engine works, you can figure out why it isnt working. If you know how a turbo works, you can figure out why it isnt boosting. If you know how brakes work, you can figure out how to change them.

The only thing that baffles me is the electronics....the sensors and crap.

 

I am living proof that you don't have to be "mechanically inclined"! But you will learn as you go along, especially the simple stuff. I learned about turbos when I blew one... not how to fix one, but at least recognize the signs, etc. Don't let that stop you from pursuing this. Some mechanics look at you like you're stupid, but most are happy to help you understand the equipment.

 

I am in NO WAY, mechanically inclined.
I can, however, do a pre-trip inspection, quite well.
I can "look at", and identify,a problem... I just can't FIX.


Judi Kay