Unreal

When I worked as a company driver I never got dirty....I would get off the road safe put out my triangles and hop in the sleeper...I have never worked for a company that paid a maintenance bonus, or had a profit sharing plan for the drivers, if that made me a steering wheel holder well fine thats what I got paid for, if im wrenching on trucks what the mechanics gonna do, I believe in job security....now as an o/o its a different story cause its my money and time....

 

I like working on my truck to an extent. If i stay with my company for a year then ill get to start participating in profit sharing. Seems pretty cool.

sent from DrtyDiesel

 

Good luck with that.....by the way while you are having a jolly good time working on your truck, are you recieving an hourly wage? Do you think you will get any special prefrence because you decide to moonlight as a mechanic? If you work for a small company they probally will love and appreciate your dedication and efforts but larger companies are laughing at you while dispatch counts their bonus on your back. I was never late, rude, heavily ticketed, or accident prone, always kept my truck clean inside and out...took pride in my job....but as a company driver you get the same treatment as the always late, crass, do do bird kinda gets under your skin....I never applied to a driver/mechanic job and never would

 

Sorry but I'm not going to climb on a high horse. I do not get paid an hourly wage for working on my truck, I DON'T expect too be compensated for it.

This is my truck, the only things I do is change fuel filters, add coolant and oil when needed and do some minor maintenance such as windshield wipers, and so on.

If they asked me to change the oil or rebuild the engine then yes, id expect to be payed for it. But to fix something like a fuel filter and expect to be paid for the time it takes is just insane.

I do my job and I do it PROUDLY. I am PROUD to be a truck driver who knows how to do a few things other than hold a steering wheel.



sent from DrtyDiesel

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, and I dont mean to come off as rude but one day you will remmber my words..... It's not YOUR truck it is the truck that you are assigned to operate by the company you work for, the reason I point this out is because you never know what can happen and YOUR assigned truck can be taken away from you if for example you need a couple weeks off for (not wishing bad on you) but a family emergency.

Sir you should be proud to be a driver and take pride in what you do, we all know our industry needs good young drivers like you, but be realistic you are paid a % or cpm to DELIVER FREIGHT, there is going to come a time when you are running hard and something minor is going to come up, you need your rest and all you want to do is pull into a shop and get it taken care of so you can shower, eat, and sleep, now you have been playing BF Goodwrench for all this time and now it is EXPECTED of you. But your in a mood and just not feeling it. Set your line if its not in your job description at least ask for compensation. If not let the mechanics handle it, you wouldn't want them to deliver a load down the street when you are available now would you....One last thing to think about...say you wrench on something and something goofy happens, or you void a warranty, do you think they will take into consideration all the fuel filters and windshield wipers you changed before they fire you or charge you for thar $10,000 screw up?

Good rule of thumb............STAY IN YOUR LANE

 

I understand where your coming from. Although I really don't do anything to the truck that could cause an accident or anything of the like.

I say this is my truck because it's the truck assigned to me. I know it can be taken away at any moment, but I treat it like my own. I don't wanna be like some of the drivers out there that won't even change a light bulb. I picked up a trailer one day and the side marker light went out. Long story short, after 2 hours I had the new light in. All I got for it was a $26 reimbursement for the tools and supplies I bought and that was it. I didn't expect anything, and maintenance does expect us be able to change things like lights. It was in the job description when i applied. It says if be expected to perform minor maintenance on the truck, and fingerprint my freight once in a blue moon. I knew it going in.

Anyway, I'm happy with my choices. I try to do little things because I want to learn about these trucks as much as i can.

sent from DrtyDiesel

 

Nothin wrong with being fired up about your job Dirty. I was like that to when I was your age. I not old but I'm not 21 either and I still go the extra mile even if it's not expected. You'll learn to temper it over time though cause sometimes it will bite you in the behind.

 

I hear ya. I just have respect for the actions I've seen. The guy who started the "headlights, you need two of them" is the same stuff I've seen. The way I was raised was to do my job and go the extra mile every now and then and don't expect anything for it.

My dads 58, he's been working at a Georgia pacific for the past 32 years and regularly works 80 hour weeks. I don't know how he still does it but he does. He's a big role model for me.

I just like to be outgoing and eager to work. There have been days when it was raining and snowing and I needed to change my fuel filter. Took a bed sheet and covered my engine bay lol. Changed it and hit the road. I'm young and feel that I do have to prove myself in this industry I suppose.

sent from DrtyDiesel

 

On the other hand, any work you do on 'your' truck is your responsibility.

If you don't get that filter tight enough, or too tight, and it fails and causes a problem - you will be hung out to dry, since you are not legally authorized to perform such work.
Well, unless you hold the proper credentals - which you have not mentioned.

I like doing things on my own vehicles as well. But being a 'professional truck driver' does not make one a 'professional mechanic'.

For that reason I'll change wipers, add oil and other fluids, and suggest to on-road what I think might be the problem.
But that's it.


Recently I had an oil leak.
I was pretty sure it was just a loose oil filter.
But I was not about to simply turn it to tighten it myself. I called for a repair truck, which did exactly that.

But if it had not been a simple loose filter - like say, the seat was scored - it might have continued to leak as I drove.
If such was the case, and the engine had failed, I would have been held responsible instead of the repair people.


CYA!
And don't do anything out of 'pride' that could come back to bite you.