What would you do?

You can't spot a seal leak during the pre-trip if it wasn't leaking at the time.

 

Guess you never heard or remember the three inspections....

PRE-TRIP
IN-TRANSIT INSPECTION
POST-TRIP

 

Nope, never once in 17 years (sarcasm).

In transit and pre-trip inspections aren't a federal requirement. They used to be for hazmat loads, but that changed back in '03.

 

Guess you forgot what the definitions were then. Finding a fault on an "IN-TRANSIT" inspection is NOT a pre-trip. So how can you report it as a fault on your pre-trip.

So any time someone hits a piece of road debris (not saying you shouldn't avoid it first) they are to stop immediately, inspect the vehicle completely and proceed? Not a lot of two lane roads have safe pull-outs on them every mile to do this. And a state highway with no shoulder is no place to stop just because you might have hit a pop can/bottle.

The fact remains, you stated he should have found something on a pre-trip that didn't occur until he was in-service. AND you got called on it.

 

Here is a like decision of the same type of issue and the final ruling by the NSC)...Note their reason why this accident was preventable and yours is the same type. Read the entire thing and try driver to understand before replying please.


Deadheading after midnight in North Carolina along a dark, rural stretch of Interstate 95, tractor-trailer driver John Doe was listening intently to Channel 19 while fellow trucker Jimmy "Red Eye" Doohan blabbered on about how he preferred driving in the early morning hours. "You've got the road all to yourself, and ..." Doohan paused momentarily, coming back with "Good buddies, I just passed a pickup loaded down with furniture. That guy sure picked a funny time to move. Y'all be on the lookout for this idiot.He's weaving, and I could swear I saw stuff falling off his truck." Hmmm, that's downright weird, thought Doe, who was only minutes behind Doohan. Suddenly ... huh? What's that big thing on the road ahead? It was too late to brake or change lanes ... BUMP! Whew! No harm done, Doe figured, so he continued on his way until State Trooper John Lawson pulled alongside, with his interior lights on, hitting his horn and pointing urgently toward the rear of Doe's tractor ... Holy smoke! Doe's tandem was on fire! It soon was revealed that the hardto- see object he'd run over was a spring mattress, which had snagged the rear of his power unit and ignited through friction with the road. Doe pulled to the side, and he and Lawson tried their fire extinguishers, but to no avail. The tires were ablaze and the trailer was charred. A few days later, Doe received a warning letter from his safety director for a preventable accident, which Doe contested. Asked to resolve the dispute, the National Safety Council's Accident Review Committee ruled against Doe. Not to stop and check for damage after running over a large object was inexcusable, NSC said; if Doe had done so, and extracted the mattress, the costly fire would have been averted. (Copied from Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) Volume III "Preventable or Not")

 

Trying to cover your butt dogbreath and changing your position.

You claimed he should have found the oil leak which caused the fire on his pre-trip. AFTER you found out it was possibly caused by a branch that he hit during operation.

It only makes you look bad.

Hitting a mattress is something entirely different and now you are struggling to come up with justification for your position.

Personally, it's safety pukes like this that give drivers a bad feeling towards you and creates animosity between the two groups.

 

MN Driver:

http://fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.aspx?reg=392.9

§ 392.9 Inspection of cargo, cargo securement devices and systems.
b) Drivers of trucks and truck tractors. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(4) of this section, the driver of a truck or truck tractor must—
(1) Assure himself/herself that the provisions of paragraph
(a) of this section have been complied with before he/she drives that commercial motor vehicle;
(2) Inspect the cargo and the devices used to secure the cargo within the first 50 miles after beginning a trip and cause any adjustments to be made to the cargo or load securement devices as necessary, including adding more securement devices, to ensure that cargo cannot shift on or within, or fall from the commercial motor vehicle; and
(3) Reexamine the commercial motor vehicle's cargo and its load securement devices during the course of transportation and make any necessary adjustment to the cargo or load securement devices, including adding more securement devices, to ensure that cargo cannot shift on or within, or fall from, the commercial motor vehicle. Reexamination and any necessary adjustments must be made whenever—
(i) The driver makes a change of his/her duty status; or
(ii) The commercial motor vehicle has been driven for 3 hours; or
(iii) The commercial motor vehicle has been driven for 150 miles, whichever occurs first.

 

You left THIS off.

Try quoting ALL of the regulations. Not just what you feel fits your needs. It only makes you look worse than you already are. Open mouth, change feet is coming to mind now.

As well as, this paragraph is discussing LOAD SECUREMENT and has nothing to do with equipment inspection.

 

The fact here is (MNDriver)...regardless of what the driver drove over (dead deer, human being, tree branch or a mattress, it is the responsiblity of the driver to stop in a safe location within a reasonable time frame and check to ensure their vehicle is without damage or distruption. You want to cloud the situation with ideas here is pointless. Saying that a mattress and a tree limp or entirely different is true in the fact that yes they are two different objects but the fact that they both cause the same like-damage and concern that warrants an inspection immediately. If you try that arguement in a court of law...see how far it would get ya and let me know how you fared on that please.

Now I have work to do...good day driver(s).

 

Which is why you don't drive for a bottom feeder, or UPS either. Everything under the sun is automatically the drivers fault.