Tanker driver killed by loose tandems

One of my closest friend that I ever had was a top notch mechanic. He could rebuild anything and I mean anything. The years I owned my own truck, I drove him crazy and finally one day, he said, "get yourself a set of ear muffins, where you can't hear anything and get a can of spray black paint, painted all your gauges where you can't read them and when the truck quits running, we will know what the problem is". When we buried him, we buried a big bunch of knowledge and skills.

 

It’s a shame to have seen, heard, and experienced the incompetence in many mechanics over the years. Like drivers they seem to be getting worse every year. Fortunately I am mechanically inclined and actually do pre trips and overlook any work that’s been done.

 

And, if you don't have a sight glass, pull the center plug and curl the first joint of your pinky into the hole. If you don't touch oil, you don't have enough.

 

Easier said than done with our newer trailers

 

Those you have to keep an eye on inner wheel seal and inside of inboard rim. As someone else stated... if the grease isn't leaking, it's still in there

 

Had this one happen to me last week about 120mi from home. Truck in front of me blew a tire and shrapnel knocked the sight glass out.

 

We have older models that have the TIS as well. These are more common

The only issues we have with those is that someone tries to scavenge the system for parts (especially if we send the trailer to Mexico). Usually they’ll try to take the air hoses but in doing so they sometimes break the stem and/or the hub and the end result is that it sends a low tire pressure alert(white indicator light at the head of the trailer).
The Laredo terminal is kept VERY BUSY getting the trailers back into DOT compliance sometimes.
#thievesshouldbehanged
#scavengingmotherf******

 

That's the hub oil. I didn't see this until I got home and I was pressure washing the garage apron. It's good that it was 'only' 120mi, because I would never have thought of tire shrapnel taking out a hub seal.