What's new

TForce | Who has the right to dead Line equipment?

Apostolic

Apostolic

TB Legend
Credits
0
I always thought it was a drivers judgement call if something was safe to drive or not.
We are now being told the drivers will be taken under advisement if they feel something isn't road worthy.
But its up to a mechanic to say if its safe enough,or not,if not then the shop heads will put it out of service,make the repares,than sign off the dead line order.

My concern is that the mechanics don't have to drive our equipment for a living?

Why would it be up to them to over ride the word of a driver that says its not safe?

My TM says the only way a mechanics word can come into question is when more than one driver refuses to take the equipment in question,than the TM can take it to the advisement of an executive board highier up in the company.

Well I'm still woundering why people that don't drive have any rights in saying something is safe,or not?

This world of trucking we work in can be a might strange at times?
 
Apostolic said:
I always thought it was a drivers judgement call if something was safe to drive or not.
We are now being told the drivers will be taken under advisement if they feel something isn't road worthy.
But its up to a mechanic to say if its safe enough,or not,if not then the shop heads will put it out of service,make the repares,than sign off the dead line order.

My concern is that the mechanics don't have to drive our equipment for a living?

Why would it be up to them to over ride the word of a driver that says its not safe?

My TM says the only way a mechanics word can come into question is when more than one driver refuses to take the equipment in question,than the TM can take it to the advisement of an executive board highier up in the company.

Well I'm still woundering why people that don't drive have any rights in saying something is safe,or not?

This world of trucking we work in can be a might strange at times?
Click to expand...

In the past, Drivers have been allowed to dead line equiptment. But the way its really supposed to work is, The driver takes the problem to the mechanic and then its the mechanics call to dead line the equiptment. Only a certified mechanic is supposed to dead line equiptment. Also only a certified mechanic is allowed to take a dead line tag off of a unit. But, it is still the drivers call to not drive an unsafe unit.:smilie_132:
 
Apo, I don't know about the part where you said that (the only way a mechanics word can come into question is when more than one driver refuses to take the equiptment in question) If it is clearly unsafe, Broken spring, leaking wheel seal, No brakes, Broken seat, Broken saddle tank strap, Ect, Ect, You do NOT drive this unit no matter what the mechanic says, period!
 
Well the reason I started this thread was to get opinions,and facts of what happens in the rest of our UPS Freight system.
We just had this very point happen.
One driver felt one of our tractors was unsafe because of a steering issue.
He told our TM it should be taken out of service.
My TM checked with our UPS Freight shop,and they said its road worthy,and should be left in service.
Another driver didn't want to take it,but was told to go,becaues the shop said it was ok to drive.
He took it,and was very upset,and when he was out with it he complained of the issue of it being unsafe.
So my TM took it out of service,and had to take another route to over ride our shop,in being justified in dead lining it.

I find this very odd,that if we drivers that drive this stuff can't be trusted to say if something is,good,or not to use.

But people in our company that don't make their living with CDL's can say that it stays in service,or not?
 
Yes sir, take your tractor to shop. see how far you get when tires are so bad and you ask for them to be change and the shop says its ok to run, the you call breakdown after you blow that tire along with your brake chambers and back lights, then they ask you why didnt you take it to the shop before you left the yard and you tell them you did but the shop didnt want to fix it. no matter what, you fuss,grip, b___ to the shop it still comes back on the drivers, "WHY DIDNT U" so the old saying is true Your are D--- if you do and D---- if you dont
 
Make sure you write up anything, everyday. When I write up something that absolutely has to be fixed I also make a photo copy of that write up. We are at least 41/2 hours from the nearest shop and our company mechanics are good to work with. If we dont feel like it is something we can run over to them they will arrange to have it looked at by a local vendor. But like I said,,,,,,write it up, keep copies,,,, get signatures. Always, CYA. If you have a problem later and they want to know why we took a tractor that we knew was going to break down and cost them alot of money in tow trucks, service calls, ect,,, you then have what you need to say "hey, not my fault".
 
Thanks for the tip galaxy99dx.
making copies on the office copier is a very good idea.

Our terminal is shopless.
We have a mechanic come from the Buffalo terminal once a week to fix all of our equipment,including fork lifts.

Sometimes I feel sorry for this guy.
We have sub zero temps,and he is laying under a unit doing repares when I return to our terminal from doing my route.

But thats the system,one mechanic,once a week.
When something needs to be put out of service.
The driver writes up a VCR,and tells dispatch,and my TM,than my TM calls the shop with the defect,and the shop says its good or bad,leave it in service,or dead line it.

I think this is an old Overnite practise,thats way behind the times.

We drivers are at the mercy of people that don't make their living driving,but they can determine whats safe to operate or not.

GO FIGURE??????
 
To hell with the TM.
To hell with the mechanics.
YOU!!!! are the one that will be on the road with the vehicle. If something is wrong or unsafe, then it is no longer a vehicle, but now a weapon. It might not discharge on your trip, but it could. Ultimately, YOU have to decide if it's worth putting your life on the line because someone else said it's ok. That's the whole idea behind pretrip inspections. If you found nothing wrong on the pretrip, then by all means hit the road. If something happens on the road, pull over and wait. Let the company worry about the expenses. At least you get to drive another day. It's all about safety and getting home to your family after the trip is done.
 
Animo916.
You have a very valid point.
All of us drivers have had this very same topic of interest brought up in our daily morning safety talks with our TM.
Bottom line,right,or wrong we are the ones who will suffer for taking a piece of equipment out of our yard knowing it should of been dead lined for a defect.

Now the other bottom line on this topic,is the old Overnite flawed system,of I'm the boss,and the shop says its good to go,so go!

This brings into play,a write up,for disobeying a UPS Freight authority figure.

Talk about being between a rock,and a hard place?

Which brings me back to my point.
That safety dessions are being made by those in our company that don't need a CDL to earn their paycheck.
And we drivers are being forced into a very dangerous place,of wanting to use our judgement as professionals,and insubordination to the authority we have over us.

All the posted opinons are all well and good on this topic,looking in from the sidelines.

But who can we turn to in this company that may be able to change this old system?

UPS global says safety first.
We all know Overnite has always said be safe,but use it anyway because we have nothing else for you to drive.
 
Apostolic said:
This brings into play,a write up,for disobeying a UPS Freight authority figure.

Talk about being between a rock,and a hard place?
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the TM or the mechanics?
A write up for driving an unsafe vehicle would not hold up in any court of law.

Which brings me back to my point.
That safety dessions are being made by those in our company that don't need a CDL to earn their paycheck.
And we drivers are being forced into a very dangerous place,of wanting to use our judgement as professionals,and insubordination to the authority we have over us.
Click to expand...

You just have to turn the tables on them. There are 2 choices here. You can either tell them what the problem is and then say, " if this was wrong with your car, would you take a chance or would you have your mechanic come and take the car to his shop". The second choice is slowly leave the yard and a mile down the road tell them you have a breakdown...the truck isn't safe. This way you covered your butt by following their instructions to take the truck and also protecting yourself by no longer driving an unsafe truck.
But who can we turn to in this company that may be able to change this old system
Click to expand...

If you can't turn to anyone in your company there is always the DOT or OSHA. A call to either will definitly get some attention once it hits your company.
 
We all are turning in VCR's for anything we drive,as per DOT regulations.
If theres anything thats not ok,we inform our dispatcher.
And he in turn puts the company copy of the VCR aside then informs our TM.

We also bring it to our TM's attention when we see him.
If its something that will place the power unit,or trailer out of service.
He contacts the shop in Buffalo.
The head mechanic gives him the ok to have a local repare vendor do the repare,or if the units aren't needed right away,then it will wait for our roving repare technician from the Buffalo shop,that comes here once a week.

Now heres the bad part,if the unit,or units in question are needed,the Buffalo shop has to make the dession to have the locals do the repares,or to say it can be used,in our system,and will be repared later when his rep.,shows up.

I don't fault my TM in this,because he has to follow company policy.

If it was totally up to him,he'd have the locals fix it right away,or he would allow it to be put out of service by the driver that wrote it up.
And then rent a replacement.

I blame the old Overnite system of cheaping everything out,and looking the other way when our equipment is needed.

The call is up to the Buffalo head mechanic who I'm sure is also following oreders from whoever he has to report too.

It seems to me like a no win deal if we need equipment,that is questionable to operate.
 
I love this. It is your sole responsibilty to make sure that piece of equipment is safe to operate and does not pose a threat to you or the public. Bottom line, if it's unsafe, you do not take it. They only see numbers. It's like play russian roulet, just a matter of time before something happens. Then look who is going to take the fall? Wonder if any of them ever saw the look of someone who has just lost someone they love in a truck caused accident? A now childless mother, a retired couple on the way back from a vacation who has lost there spouse, a wife who's husbands truck couldn't stop and went off the road? I don't care what anyone thinks or says, it's not going to bring back any of these people. Use your God given brains and nads and tell these idiots where they can stick it!!
 
Animo916 said:
To hell with the TM.
To hell with the mechanics.
YOU!!!! are the one that will be on the road with the vehicle. If something is wrong or unsafe, then it is no longer a vehicle, but now a weapon. It might not discharge on your trip, but it could. Ultimately, YOU have to decide if it's worth putting your life on the line because someone else said it's ok. That's the whole idea behind pretrip inspections. If you found nothing wrong on the pretrip, then by all means hit the road. If something happens on the road, pull over and wait. Let the company worry about the expenses. At least you get to drive another day. It's all about safety and getting home to your family after the trip is done.
Click to expand...

I do not know how many times my TM told me he is the one and only who can put equipment out of service, once I put it out of service I will not get back in it until the problem is fixed, Animo does have a very valid point, tell your TM to drive it and see how far you get!!!!
 
hugnlug said:
I love this. It is your sole responsibilty to make sure that piece of equipment is safe to operate and does not pose a threat to you or the public. Bottom line, if it's unsafe, you do not take it. They only see numbers. It's like play russian roulet, just a matter of time before something happens. Then look who is going to take the fall? Wonder if any of them ever saw the look of someone who has just lost someone they love in a truck caused accident? A now childless mother, a retired couple on the way back from a vacation who has lost there spouse, a wife who's husbands truck couldn't stop and went off the road? I don't care what anyone thinks or says, it's not going to bring back any of these people. Use your God given brains and nads and tell these idiots where they can stick it!!
Click to expand...


I am one who has no belief, in some of the mechanics we have, not too say all are bad of coarse, but I have heard alot of crap explanations as to why things are the way they are.

Most of thier actions are based on lazyness sometimes.....
 
So am I reading the fact that my terminal is the only terminal thats following this service process?

I know if your terminal has their own shop on their property they are a lot better off,and this sistuation is a foreign topic.

But for all of the shopless terminals this is a matter of coming down to a standoff with authority chain of command.

We say in our judgement something is not safe to go,than we have to put up with the process.

Once again our TM has to check with our outsourse UPS Freight shop,than it may wind up being a conflict between disobeying the authority that we have because of the opinon of the shop we have to deal with.

As our terminals in house safety trainer I try very hard to do my part to come to the add of any of my co-workers saying something is safe or not.
Just this last week I got into a heated discussion with my TM.
This time he called the shop,and said as much as he didn't like renting he was going to do it this time.
It was coming down to a revolt on all our drivers over two units not being safe.

My TM had to put his neck on the line this time bucking the process,for the good of all the drivers peace of mind.

But this old system should be changed so it won't come to this everytime a driver feels a unit is not safe.
That should be the end of it till the needed repares are made.

Not this long drawn out process with authority figures that don't earn their living with a CDL.
 
Animo916 said:
To hell with the TM.
To hell with the mechanics.
YOU!!!! are the one that will be on the road with the vehicle. If something is wrong or unsafe, then it is no longer a vehicle, but now a weapon. It might not discharge on your trip, but it could. Ultimately, YOU have to decide if it's worth putting your life on the line because someone else said it's ok. That's the whole idea behind pretrip inspections. If you found nothing wrong on the pretrip, then by all means hit the road. If something happens on the road, pull over and wait. Let the company worry about the expenses. At least you get to drive another day. It's all about safety and getting home to your family after the trip is done.
Click to expand...

Oh I hate it when my weapon discharges in the middle of my trip,
I usally have a change of clothes with me, it's the stopping and changing in the pickle parks that really make me nervous:moon2:
 
Well, From what I've been hearing is the pension is the main hold out on the contract.
UPS wants to control it and the teamsters want control of it in their funds.

If that is true then they won't get my vote I want my almost 25 years either paid to me or frozen. I'll start from scratch with the union.

What do some of you ex-overniters and MC with a lot of years feel about the teamsters getting control of our pension. I don't like it.

I say we start from scratch with the union. Leave our pension we earned alone.
Truckingboards.com
 
Apo an opinion from a different angle. I'm a heavy truck mechanic that decided it was easier to drive. Most drivers think they know more about trucks that I do. I've seen guys call petty things unsafe and in reality it should not have been shut down. Now, the DOT says its the driver that makes the call and they even go say far as to say you just have to have a "reasonable fear that something may break" not a mechanics license. I have refused to drive a truck after the mechanic just crawled out from under it but I have to admit my situation is a little different than most drivers. If I were still a mechanic I would have hated me:biglaugh:
 
galaxy99dx said:
Make sure you write up anything, everyday. When I write up something that absolutely has to be fixed I also make a photo copy of that write up. We are at least 41/2 hours from the nearest shop and our company mechanics are good to work with. If we dont feel like it is something we can run over to them they will arrange to have it looked at by a local vendor. But like I said,,,,,,write it up, keep copies,,,, get signatures. Always, CYA. If you have a problem later and they want to know why we took a tractor that we knew was going to break down and cost them alot of money in tow trucks, service calls, ect,,, you then have what you need to say "hey, not my fault".
Click to expand...

10 10 that is the only way to do it....There is way to much room to get hosed if you don't....Because we are the ones on the bottom of the turd pile....And you know what rolls down hill........
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top