Noticed My Air Tank Hanging
Topic 24511 | Page 1
Bungee cords, duct tape, bailing wire, and super glue will all fix that!
Bungee cords, duct tape, bailing wire, and super glue will all fix that!
I suggested to buy some things here at the Tractor Supply store to get to a TA mean by, but they did not recommend that but also said they couldn't stop me from doing it. 
So o decided to wait here and see how it goes before deciding anything else. lucky my pre-assignment had a lot of extra time, almost 24 hours more. 
Two load straps attached up to the frame rail should get you to the shop instead of waiting. Would be my guess that the original bolts backed out of the clamp, after the nut fell off.
Well I put like 3 straps, working on the 4th to be sure. 
Doesn't look pretty,but should do the job.
Looks good. I think you're good until your next PM. ;)
The finished product.
Don't get caught. That's about as illegal as it gets and they will escort you to the nearest available parking area, shut you down and have some very expensive tickets to hand you.
Don't get caught. That's about as illegal as it gets and they will escort you to the nearest available parking area, shut you down and have some very expensive tickets to hand you.
That's an interesting thought. I definitely wouldn't want anyone to notice, but I'm not sure about how "illegal" that is or any guarantee of a ticket or fine. I don't think there's a law stating exactly how something must be attached. If she had gotten out some metal strapping and a few nuts and did it that way, would that be illegal? It might be stronger than the factory did it.
I really don't know what they would say. That's a judgment call. The best way to prevent a judgment call is to avoid anyone noticing it in the first place, right? But if the DOT did notice you may indeed be ticketed or they might let you go knowing it's secured well for now and you're on your way to getting it fixed.
It's one of the many gray areas I talk about in my book Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving which is free to read right here on the website.
For instance, every time you leave a shipper with a very heavy load there's an excellent chance you may be overweight on one of your axles, or even over gross. But how would you really know unless you drove it to the nearest CAT scale and weighed it? If you get caught on the way they could indeed ticket you, or they may decide to let you go considering the circumstances.
There are a lot of gray areas in trucking. Sometimes you have to decide if you want to take a little bit of a chance in order to keep rolling or do you want to play it completely safe? That's an individual call we all make on a regular basis.
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Metal straps, nuts and bolts would have been fine. A tow truck operator can use straps to secure things up and out of the way because the vehicle is not under its own power and being towed. Since the metal straps were broken, it's an out of service item and can not pass an inspection. A DOT officer would shut it down, the same way I couldn't pass a truck that came in for a DOT inspection with this particular setup. It's more to do with it being the air tank than say a broken exhaust clamp. That's one of those issues that has to either be fixed on site or towed in and repaired. It's not really a gray area at all and the only reason I can attest to this case in particular was a situation similar when I was still turning wrenches, a driver got towed in with a very nice DOT inspection form, citing the same thing. His situation was a bit more extensive but the hanging air tank due to broken straps was one of the items he was written up and fined for.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.New Reply:
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This topic has the following tags:
Advice For New Truck Drivers DOT Life On The Road Photos Pre-trip inspection (PTI) Truck Equipment Truck Maintenance
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After getting unloaded at this Tractor Supply store in Nixa,MO,I went back to close my trailer doors and as I was walking back up to my truck, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my air tank was hanging down.
I don't know how I really notice it, guess I'm always checking for things without even thinking about it. Noticed it looked different, and got closer to notice the straps on it broke and it's hanging entirely by the lines, etc. Already called for maintenance, said it'll be a few hours.