Tips, Tricks and/or Advice on the Pre-Trip

Write a script. Repeatedly perform the pre-trip while reading the script aloud until you don't need the script. Then repeatedly perform the pre-trip while another student ensures you follow the script.

 

I still remember memorizing "No missing nuts or bolts, rivets or pins, no welds or cracks, no oil leaks . . ." and repeating it a LOT!

 

We have to do an inspection of aircraft every time we fly. We are trained to do everything the exact same way. We start at the front and work around the pilots side first. Same in a truck.

What Blair says is correct. Start out by telling the examiner you are going to check every item for missing nuts or bolts, rivets or pins, no welds or cracks, no oil leaks, and no signs of any damage, all fluids at the correct levels and all air pressures correct and not leaking, no missing caps.

At this point mention what the correct air pressure for you tires should be. Now put on your gloves. Approach the truck and give an overall impression of the vehicle making note of no leaks and no signs of damage. Then open the hood and state, I am going to check these places. Point and say here, here, here, here, here, etc. Do that 128 times or how many items that are in your state.

Now in real life, learn what the hell you are looking at. If you are looking at the brakes you need a flashlight. Do you have a flashlight? My school taught me to say I was inspecting the brakes but I never saw the brakes until I got a flashlight and looked.

Learning a speech will help you pass a test. Learning what each part on the truck does could save your life.

 

Haha ya. What a useless exercise that proved to be. Pretrips are nothing like we had to do for the test.

 

the ABC for tires, no abrasions, bruises or cuts...

Yep used a script that started in the same place everytime, and recorded myself reading the script, stuck it in my shirt pocket, and went to the truck and practiced, listening to the script as I went around the truck, then repeat without the recorder playing, until I got stuck... also had another student checking off that I hit every point.

 

the test consisted of a small section of the pre trip, not the whole thing.. I had to do from the drivers side front bumper to the landing gear on the drivers side of the trailer. The tester changes it up.