Two Break Downs In As Many Days

Much to my wife's chagrin in saying this, I had my cherry popped.

My first breakdown was more of a technical issue. I pull doubles and my dolly actually had a certain valve opened underneath the unit. It wasn't the pet kok valve (purposefully spelled it that way because the software will think I'm swearing). Our trailers have a system where air will be automatically streamed to the trailer tires if they fall under a certain psi. This system is connected to the dolly. The valve that connects this system was left wide open. Apparently, the driver before me didn't notice his air gauges constantly dwindling in the tractor, and then didn't hear the air compressor constantly kicking in and the governor cutting out every 30 seconds. My only thought is that somehow this valve came open after he dropped his set. Kind of hard to believe though since the valve is like a butter fly valve that twists open or shut. I was doing a meet and turn, and even though I pre-tripped the set I was picking up, I couldn't notice the issue until I was actually down the road. My company's road side assistance is excellent and I had techs sent out within an hour. They smiled and showed me what the issue was. Now I know for the future.

Breakdown number two happened the very next day. Same deal, same place. Doing a meet and turn with another driver. When I pre tripped my set I was taking back to my terminal , I noticed a hissing noise after walking around on the passenger side of the rig. Not again! This time, it was an air leak in my one trailer tire. Thankfully, the rig was parked so that the gash in the tire - about the width of a pinky finger nail - was right on top where I could see it. I called road side assistance, tire fixed in twenty minutes. That small leak might not have been noticed if the tire was positioned where the gash was on the bottom of the tire touching the road. I could've had a blow out on the road.

As far as break downs go, I had it easy. It was stressful though because both times I only had 30 minutes to spare and get back to my home terminal before I ran out of time. I'm not posting this to gripe or complain - far from it! The moral of the story? Do a thorough pre-trip, every time! And sometimes, things just happen beyond your control or your ability to do a successful pre-trip. The unexpected is the only thing to be expected in trucking.

Holy cow 6 those response times from Roadside are freakin incredible!!!

Woody

Well, both breakdowns were off a major interstate (I-70) and near major cities (Wheeling and Pittsburgh). The first response took 40 some minutes. The next day, with the tire, took an hour and half. But still, yes, they were on top of it and took care of me.

Yeah that was some pretty incredible turn around time! Sorry for your troubles but, hey, you really handled it well. :-)

I stopped the other day to get coffee and walked around the truck before taking off. One of the rear inside trailer tires had thrown a recap, but I hadn't noticed anything while driving in the rain down one of those little two lane highways. There was exposed cord. Fixed at the next truck stop, but cost us a potential early delivery and an extra load for the week. Still, better than having a blowout while loaded.

Moral of the story (for me, anyway)? Check the truck every time you stop. It isn't a car. You might not notice something that happened 60 feet behind you while you were driving.

Check the truck every time you stop

Absolutely!!!! Every single time.

You really should do a quick pre-trip inspection every time you stop. And I would always do a pull test every time I stopped to make sure the 5th wheel was locked properly. It only takes a clown a few seconds to pull your 5th wheel pin when you're not looking. So before you start rolling do a pull test to make sure it's locked.

One of the rear inside trailer tires had thrown a recap, but I hadn't noticed anything while driving in the rain down one of those little two lane highways. There was exposed cord.

I had that happen one time and I was about an hour from my delivery with little time to spare. The entire cap had come off and there were nothing but steel cords showing but the tire still had air. I didn't want to be late for that appointment because it was a Friday afternoon and the place was gonna close. So I ran with it. Worked out fine. The tire held its air. The best part was that the cords were shiny as chrome from scraping on the asphalt! It almost looked like I had a chrome tire! So for fun I told the dock workers I was testing a new experimental "extra light aluminum tire" that was made of aluminum but could flex like rubber because of the woven cord pattern. They couldn't believe it! I told em we'd all be running metal tires someday soon!