Time Recapping?

I'm tired of hearing drivers complain and put the blame 'crappy retreads' whenever they have a blowout because they're too lazy to check their air pressure before they take off. The VAST MAJORITY of road debris is from VIRGIN tires - you'll notice about 70-90% of the have the steel belts in them. Excessive Heat and Improper Air Pressure are the two biggest enemies of tires, be it virgin or retread.

Company drivers have no skin in the game, and therefore don't take care to check air pressure or heat levels on the tires. They don't care because they aren't paying for it. They just rationalize blowouts as 'bad recaps' or 'Michelins blew out on me once, they must be terrible tires.' Proper maintainence will maximize the life of the tire.

Heat kills tires, but heat has the same negative impact on new tires that it does on retreads. Underinflated tires cause the sidewall to flex which produces excessive heat. In time this will cause tire failure. The sad part is that this is all preventable and retreads can save you a ton of $ yet people are too misinformed to understand.

Many fleets are giving up $50-100 worth of tread and casing life instead of spending 20 mintues per week checking tire pressure. Just 10% underinflation will shorten tread life by 10-15%. Even under the best conditions, a tire will lose about 2% of their inflation pressure over a month. Another important point is that underinflated tires don't make proper contact with the road, and that causes irregular tread wear - not to mention traction issues.

 

How in the hell did a question about the weekly recap lead to company drivers getting slammed as lazy??????????

Blew all your credibility right there Mr. Expert.

To the O/P;

Can a company require it? Yes.
Is it a law? No.
Can a driver do it? Depends on his math skills.
Can dispatch do it? Again depends on math skills.

 

why wouldnt you do it????
its a heck of a lot better than wondering how many hours you have left

 

here look at this, it's a basic HOS presentation. Spends a little time on the monthly summary, maybe this will help.

http://portal.sliderocket.com/ALDYM/one-to-share

 

I'm a company driver and my company recently changed its practice regarding drivers checking tire pressure. This change lends support to the *lazy driver* theory.

The company had always required drivers to check tire pressure daily. Recently they required drivers to prove they checked tire pressure one day a week. What'll you know tire failures dropped by 30% over the historic rate. Granted we are operating operating from one yard with a shop, go home at the end of the day, but the only change was rather than just knowing we should be checking tire pressure we had to actually check tire pressure and anyone not checking was listed on the bulletin board as not doing their bit. Sure, some drivers still fake their tire check, but not as many as were faking it when the TC was nothing but a theoretical requirement with no accountability.

Our company is often seen as better than average, we certainly are more selective in hiring and stricter on appearance and other markers of discipline. We all have room to improve and you have to admit if you watch drivers park (or avoid parking like a plague) there is not an excess of discipline in trucking, myself included.

One mark of professionalism is welcoming discipline and going beyond what is minimally required. I see short-cuts more than anything in trucking.