Pre-trip Fail= Fired
Topic 32770 | Page 2
This is all very interesting and informative. I’ve never pulled a tanker and likely never will. But pre-trip inspections apply to everyone and this thread is very helpful.
I arrived at National Beef in Liberal, KS, last night with an empty trailer. They inspect the trailer right at the gate for defects. I had previously noted on my macro about minor damage to the vinyl covering and insulation of one of the trailer doors. But the gate would not let me in with any exposed insulation. Fortunately, I carry a number of different tapes with me. Standard duct tape, really good duct tape like Gorilla tape, window flashing tape and the good silver HVAC tape. This time the HVAC tape did the trick and the gate let me in. I’m really amazed how often I need to use various kinds of tape as a driver. It’s good to carry a variety with you on the road. I don’t know if that small area of exposed insulation would have been flagged at a level 3 DOT inspection, but I now realize that I should have taped it up as soon as I saw it and then reported it to the shop for a permanent repair.
Pre-trip Inspection:
A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.
Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.
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.
an air valve on top of the trailer was missing its handle, making it difficult to tell if it was open or closed; it was open
The Chicago valve?
No Chief, not the Chicago fitting; the lever that opens & closes the air valve. When the lever is perpendicular to the valve, the valve is closed. When it's parallel to the valve, the valve is open (except on an intermodal trailer, where the configuration is opposite). The Chicago fitting was probably on, but if the air valve is in the "open" position, product is still going to find its way out around the Chicago fitting.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
The Chicago valve?
No Chief, not the Chicago fitting; the lever that opens & closes the air valve. When the lever is perpendicular to the valve, the valve is closed. When it's parallel to the valve, the valve is open (except on an intermodal trailer, where the configuration is opposite). The Chicago fitting was probably on, but if the air valve is in the "open" position, product is still going to find its way out around the Chicago fitting.
Why is it called a "Chicago fitting"?
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
The company that makes them are called Chicago valves and controls. So it’s literally a Chicago valve you could say.
The Chicago valve?
No Chief, not the Chicago fitting; the lever that opens & closes the air valve. When the lever is perpendicular to the valve, the valve is closed. When it's parallel to the valve, the valve is open (except on an intermodal trailer, where the configuration is opposite). The Chicago fitting was probably on, but if the air valve is in the "open" position, product is still going to find its way out around the Chicago fitting.
Why is it called a "Chicago fitting"?
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Speaking of pre-trip inspections. I’m sitting here at Pilot , out of service for the time being. This morning I decided to watch what was going on. I’ve seen 38 trucks leave the parking lot. I have not seen one driver pop the hood to do a pre-trip. I observed two drivers do a walk around, but nobody was t******* tires. One guy took a leak at the back of his trailer.
I think real pre-trip inspections are rare.
Pre-trip Inspection:
A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.
Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.
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Tankers can be a big big nightmare on an inspection, but don’t have to be.
The dog ears on the dome lid all have to be tight. It is a technical violation for each loose one. Washout caps same thing, have to be tight. All openings have to be capped. Different trailers have different amounts of openings. If you have a tanker with vapor recovery you have even more openings.
All those caps and ears are on the driver to ensure they are secure. They fall under unsecure equipment on the inspection form and if memory severs me correctly each one is 1 csa point.
Every tanker driver is taught this procedure and knows to check everything, however I have seen plenty that shortcut it and they are flirting with disaster. The more dangerous the product the bigger the disaster.
I used to carry black zip ties with me and they went on every cap after I used a spanner wrench on the washout caps. Dog ears got tapped with a rubber mallet. Caps with ears got a zip tie if it didn’t have a seal. These things have to be tight before hitting the road empty or loaded.
There were drivers that were known to pull trailers out of a certain tank wash without securing the trailer. Ga DOT setup several times outside the wash and stopped every trailer coming out. Many many drivers got caught and written up. Of course they complained they were being picked on, instead of accepting responsibility for their shortcomings.
Do your job correctly each and every time and you won’t have an issue. Take shortcuts and your rolling the dice.
CSA:
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle
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.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.