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TForce | Who has the right to dead Line equipment?

Teamster251 said:
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:
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That is a good way to lose an eye......In Christmas Story it was a b.b. gun, in the world according to big T is well........
 
Say I'm clueless on your your statement about an event on your road trip Teamster 251.
Are you talking about a weapon that is attached to your person?
If so I think I get your drift.

If not than I will remain clueless.
 
Apostolic said:
Say I'm clueless on your your statement about an event on your road trip Teamster 251.
Are you talking about a weapon that is attached to your person?
If so I think I get your drift.

If not than I will remain clueless.
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Uh yeah....Close your eyes and skip the details there APO....
 
wolf said:
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:
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Well I will reply, and I think you are 100% correct. If infact the issue boils down too no equipment left, then I can agree if the problem is petty, If it is'nt, then the matter should be paid attention too.

Apo is rite about shopless terminals, but if you do have a vendor, sometimes thier hands are tied, especialloy when it was "O", They had a limit of $100.00 to follow and what may I ask can you fix on a tractor with that?

Which is the reason for our faith in DUCT TAPE AND BAILING WIRE....:biglaugh: APO if you belive what you are doing or driving is unsafe, tell your TM to go shat in his hat ,and replace the equipment with something else if the occasion presents itself.
If it boils down too an argument, then so be it....
 
Why don't they go to a lease program?

All the power units would be new and get regular service from the rental company.

We wouldn't need to have shops,or parts inventories.

Why UPS global is such a big company they could have their own rental company just for their own needs.

Then they could put all of the current mechanics at each rental service center.

Oh my I'm so cleaver sometimes I think I could be a management canidate?
 
Apostolic said:
Why don't they go to a lease program?

All the power units would be new and get regular service from the rental company.

We wouldn't need to have shops,or parts inventories.

Why UPS global is such a big company they could have their own rental company just for their own needs.

Then they could put all of the current mechanics at each rental service center.

Oh my I'm so cleaver sometimes I think I could be a management canidate?
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Do not get carried away apo, you are retireing soon.
 
YUR SO RIGHTAccelerator,once a city driver,always a city driver,
But what do you think about my equipment leasing idea.
You've got to admit that idea would solve all our service concerns.
 
hugnlug said:
Maybe UPSF should take a page out of CF's operation. Shopless terminals get the newer equipment.
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I have said this from the first few years I have worked here. I could never understand why all the big terminals with the big 24 hour maintenance shops got all the new equiptment and the small terminals with no shops got the old and tired equiptment. I just don't understand that logic. Penny wise and dollar foolish. It must cost the company megabucks to have vendors making daily trips for the same old repairs over and over again.
 
Not sure how your company handles it.........

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?
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BUt at ABF at the Atlanta terminal I am a mechanic at, the driver has the basic say so in driving a certain vehical. when our drivers return from their runs they write up any complaint they have with the truck or trailer and leave it in the truck, when the set is broken down by a yard guy the truck is then brought to the fuel lane for fueling. our shop mechanics are the ones that also fuel the trucks.

If the fuel guy finds a write up he fuels the truck and takes it straight to the deadline and takes the write up to the shop supervisor, who notes the complaint on his log and then assigns a mechanic to check out the complaint.Also our mechaics that assigned to the fuel lane also inspect every single truck that comes though the fuel lane and if they find any problem they will note it on the drivers write up and deadline the truck. We find MANY problems the last driver wasn't even aware of. for instance I was the mechanic in our fuel lane last night and out of the 56 trucks I fueled 14 went to the deadiline, and out of the 14 trucks the last driver had signed the last write up as the truck being "ok". so don't be to hard on us mechanics as most of us have your safety in mind when inspecting these trucks and trailers
 
ABFgreasemonkey said:
BUt at ABF at the Atlanta terminal I am a mechanic at, the driver has the basic say so in driving a certain vehical. when our drivers return from their runs they write up any complaint they have with the truck or trailer and leave it in the truck, when the set is broken down by a yard guy the truck is then brought to the fuel lane for fueling. our shop mechanics are the ones that also fuel the trucks.

If the fuel guy finds a write up he fuels the truck and takes it straight to the deadline and takes the write up to the shop supervisor, who notes the complaint on his log and then assigns a mechanic to check out the complaint.Also our mechaics that assigned to the fuel lane also inspect every single truck that comes though the fuel lane and if they find any problem they will note it on the drivers write up and deadline the truck. We find MANY problems the last driver wasn't even aware of. for instance I was the mechanic in our fuel lane last night and out of the 56 trucks I fueled 14 went to the deadiline, and out of the 14 trucks the last driver had signed the last write up as the truck being "ok". so don't be to hard on us mechanics as most of us have your safety in mind when inspecting these trucks and trailers
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This is refreshing to hear. We need many, many more mechanics like your self. Our problem is that we don't have a program like you have. Lets face it, us drivers are not mechanics and there will be alot of issues that we are not aware of. The only time a mechanic looks at our trucks is if the driver finds something wrong or if the truck is scheduled for service. I do believe that the mechanics do care. After all they are on the line regarding safety also when it comes to repairing equiptment. We just don't have a program that is on a regular basis to ensure the equiptment is safe and there also seems to be a huge problem stocking any parts in this company atleast in the North East. It seems that our mechanics have there hands tied. Our company needs to have a better maintenance program and also needs to stock the most common parts that the mechanics need on a day to day basis. As far as writing up a vehicle condition report, We can write up a unit every day for months on end before anyone even thinks about looking at the equiptment. We have alot of terminals that don't have shops and rely on out side vendors. Again there is no maintenance program in place for many terminals. Many of us thought that this would get better with the UPS purchase of Overnite. But still we are in the same position. Unfortunately the mechanic takes the brunt of the upset driver. But most of us understand its not the mechanic its a company problem. Its still nice to hear a mechanic (you) that cares. To bad you don't work for us. Need a job? its easy work. All thats required is that you put some grease on the 5th wheel and wait for parts to come in. Bring a newspaper. Thanks for caring though.:1036316054:
 
Apostolic said:
Why don't they go to a lease program?

All the power units would be new and get regular service from the rental company.

We wouldn't need to have shops,or parts inventories.

Why UPS global is such a big company they could have their own rental company just for their own needs.

Then they could put all of the current mechanics at each rental service center.

Oh my I'm so cleaver sometimes I think I could be a management canidate?
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UPS did have a truck lease/rental business several years ago. Don't let the hype fool you, Apo, those leasing companies may have some late model, decent looking equipment, but looks are deceiving. They're no different from everyone else about how they maintain their equipment.
It's all about money and service numbers to all fleet maint. mgr's.

There are provisions in the FMCSR that gives guidance to your rights as a driver and your say about equipment safety issues. YOU are ultimately the Captain of the ship. But remember too, the defect has to be reasonable and within the boundaries of "safe operation" of the vehicle before your argument is considered legitimate.

FMCSR part 392.7 Equipment, inspection and use:
No commercial motor vehicle shall be driven unless the driver is satisfied that the following parts and accessories are in good working order, nor shall any driver fail to use or make use of such parts and accessories when and as needed:
Service brakes, including trailer brake connections.
Parking brake.
Steering mechanism.
Lighting devices and reflectors.
Tires.
Horn.
Windshield wipers.
Rear view mirrors.
Coupling devices.

Part 392.8 covers all of your emergency equipment (fire ext., reflectors, etc.)

Part 392.66 covers carbon monoxide levels inside the cab (exhaust leaks)

The quest for "performance excellence" has blinded most of the managment types in our industry today and they've forgotten that we still have rules and regulations to abide by. It's up to us to refresh their memories as needed...
 
I'm very glad I started this thread on this topic.
I've recieved some valuable information from very informed folks in this here trucking game.
Thanks to everyone that posted to this thread.
Thanks also to HiwayHombre for the FMCSR information.
Its good that we drivers can point to something in our safety disagreements with our authority figures.

I had a headlight burn out last friday.
It was working most of day.
But one of my co-workers broght it my attention when I came off my route.
Well I wrote it up on my VCR,also the outbound dispatcher knew about it.
This morning I couldn't take that tractor because the light was still out,and my inbound dispatcher,and TM said they knew nothing about it?

I'm out of a very small terminal we have two supervisors,and the TM,and sometimes a total lack of communication between all of them.

Although in the past Overnite days,a headlight would of been overlooked,and I would of had to take that tractor.
So at least now our roving mechanic came in from Buffalo to fix our broken stuff,and he repared the light,along with the other equipment defects that was waiting for him.
 
Apostolic said:
I'm very glad I started this thread on this topic.
I've recieved some valuable information from very informed folks in this here trucking game.
Thanks to everyone that posted to this thread.
Thanks also to HiwayHombre for the FMCSR information.
Its good that we drivers can point to something in our safety disagreements with our authority figures.

I had a headlight burn out last friday.
It was working most of day.
But one of my co-workers broght it my attention when I came off my route.
Well I wrote it up on my VCR,also the outbound dispatcher knew about it.
This morning I couldn't take that tractor because the light was still out,and my inbound dispatcher,and TM said they knew nothing about it?

I'm out of a very small terminal we have two supervisors,and the TM,and sometimes a total lack of communication between all of them.

Although in the past Overnite days,a headlight would of been overlooked,and I would of had to take that tractor.
So at least now our roving mechanic came in from Buffalo to fix our broken stuff,and he repared the light,along with the other equipment defects that was waiting for him.
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Its pretty sad that a tractor has to be dead lined for a 5 minute headlight replacement. Even more sad that terminals dont have a headlight in stock. So, I suggest you fix it the "O" way.................Turn the high beams on.:biglaugh:
 
Turning the highbeams on may of worked for our old company.
But we've got DOT vans that drive around doing spot checks.

I've got a big mall I deliver to,and sometimes they are at one end of it grabbing us.

So 9 out of 10 times your quick fix may work BusterNite,but the one time the DOT is looking to make some extra cash for NY state,they don't care what trucking company the get it from.

But you are so right that was an old solution when we were Overnite.
 
Apostolic said:
Turning the highbeams on may of worked for our old company.
But we've got DOT vans that drive around doing spot checks.

I've got a big mall I deliver to,and sometimes they are at one end of it grabbing us.

So 9 out of 10 times your quick fix may work BusterNite,but the one time the DOT is looking to make some extra cash for NY state,they don't care what trucking company the get it from.

But you are so right that was an old solution when we were Overnite.
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OK, How about this..............It was working when I left the yard!:1036316054:
 
BusterNite said:
Its pretty sad that a tractor has to be dead lined for a 5 minute headlight replacement. Even more sad that terminals dont have a headlight in stock. So, I suggest you fix it the "O" way.................Turn the high beams on.:biglaugh:
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Don't forget to turn on your Swift super trucker lights.....You can never be to safe....:1036316054:
 
greezy trucker said:
Don't forget to turn on your Swift super trucker lights.....You can never be to safe....:1036316054:
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They had to pay extra for those in the ntheast , We now deadline the tractors for headcandle replacement ( YANKEE CANDLE ALL THE WAY):1036316054: :1036316054: AND THE FRONTEND SMELLS GOOD TOO...:biglaugh: HIDES THE SMELL OF EXHAUST LEAKS.....
 
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