Taking a Mid Trip inspection

It's not a great picture, but what you're looking at is a tractor mudflap bracket attached to a trailer. It sticks out about 4 inches beyond the edge of the trailer.

This was installed by a "certified mechanic ". When I brought it our mechanic he asked "what's wrong with it?". In no way do I believe having outside shops do glorified pretrips will catch things a driver won't. I do think it's an opportunity for the shop to drum up some extra business.

 

What was your response to your mechanic? And actually I've seen a lot of mudflap brackets installed like this on regular trailers

 

Last time I checked, per 49 CFR 396.11, doing a pre and post inspection are a required part of your job description, if you have a problem with not being paid for it, then take it up with your employer, or good luck finding an employer who does pay for it. Maybe @Chinatown can find you a gig that pays you extra to do something that is part of your actual job description.

I'm paid either by the hour for local work, or percentage for long haul work, pre- and post inspections are part of my job description, it's included in my pay, I've been docked pay for not doing my job and costing the company money. Trailers being moved locally, and staying locally returning to a depot or the rail, I do a cursory inspection of, and all DVIR defects are reported to the appropriate. We might pull a local trailer with a low tire, but all flats and any defects that can cause an OOS violation are repaired/replaced before they leave the ramp. Trailers/chassis going long haul, or over the mountains get a full inspection, including checking brake adjustment, including putting a gauge to each tire (I'm not even sure most OTR drivers know what a tire gauge looks like, but they are capable of using their flip flops to nudge the tire).

If a driver finds a real problem, they should be compensated for the breakdown or repair delay, so long as the real problem was not something that they caused or could have prevented.

 

You get it fixed, if the company pays you for the breakdown time, great, if not, that sucks, if you're unhappy, find a different carrier that does pay for it.

 

My response was that it makes the trailer over dimension.

And if you've seen a lot of mudflap brackets extending beyond the width of the trailer then you've seen evidence that a lot of mechanics don't know diddly about keeping a vehicle legal.

I've lost count of how many times a mechanic has told me "it's fine, run it", then changed his mind once he saw me write down his name with date and time.

It's a stupid policy, but if the company wants to waste their money, fine. Treat it like an extra stop on a load and don't complain when I miss my delivery appointment.

 

It's not ''extra'' if it's part of the job.
You seem to think it's OK to give away your time.

 

Wanna know why it doesn't make it over dimension, go look at a UPS trailer with the splash guards mounted on the outside of the trailer.

 

Does your employer compensate for doing your inspection in the form of hourly pay? Unless you're a union OTR driver, or paid hourly as normal compensation, I would guess no.

 

We have gone full circle now.
I bet it's NOT the union or hourly guys or companies that are having these maintenance problems. That's the whole point here.

 

It's not the style, it's the fact that it extends beyond the width of the trailer.

Show me a ups trailer that's more than 102 inches wide and I'll send you a two premium new York strip or ribeyes. Those little fringes may add another 1/2 inch, but they sure don't add 4 inches.