PRE TRIP

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EX-PAT BRITISH TRUCKERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

This company i work for i have found out that they set up a trailer to fail a pre trip, they deflate tire’s un plug light’s etc.
They make the reefer fail the pre trip by un plugging some wire’s in the reefer cabinet.

I have been told that this is done when they suspect that a driver is not doing the proper pre trip before leaving the yard,then they come down the road chasing the truck saying how did your pre trip go.

Well if they employ driver’s that work like this that’s something the company need’s to address,I am not too sure that setting BOOBY TRAP’S after the horse has past the gate is good practice.

What is if anybody on this forum has view’s on this■■?

2

vastly exp:
This company i work for i have found out that they set up a trailer to fail a pre trip, they deflate tire’s un plug light’s etc.
They make the reefer fail the pre trip by un plugging some wire’s in the reefer cabinet.

I have been told that this is done when they suspect that a driver is not doing the proper pre trip before leaving the yard,then they come down the road chasing the truck saying how did your pre trip go.

Well if they employ driver’s that work like this that’s something the company need’s to address,I am not too sure that setting BOOBY TRAP’S after the horse has past the gate is good practice.

What is if anybody on this forum has view’s on this■■?

I would ay that if they have purposely allowed you to leave the yard knowing that the vehicle has been doctored.

That would amount to tampering with a vehicle with the sole purpose of allowing the driver knowingly or even un knowingly to venture on to the highway which would be an offence in it’s self,
in my view yes the driver may be at fault but the company could be jeopardising themselves by openly doing this practise … what if by stopping the driver to confront him another vehicle collides and causes injury or damage who’s gonna take the can.

3

We have tags that can be put on the dipstick for example which say “please return to supervisor”
If found, it’s returned and said driver is doing their checks. If not found, the company know, but nothing to do with the truck is jeopardised.

4

there was a guy over here took delivery of 10 new tippers,the bum lickers that were allocated them were told specifically to dip the oil before they took them out on their 1st day… most of them came back in saying that they had done so,and at that point he pointed across the office to the 10 dipsticks lying against the wall as he had removed them all the night before… :wink:

5

How long does it take to pre trip a reefer ? Move along chaps , nothing to see here :unamused:

6

We don’t need a ‘Trailer Trap’ some of our drivers just pull in, whip the Digi Card out & scoot off home, leaving any damage/defects for the next driver the next day. IMO these are the ‘Steering wheel Attendants’ they they should be getting rid of !

The same drivers (oops sorry-Steering Wheel Attendants) just jump in the wagon in the morning & literally drive out of the yard.

It’s so funny when they come ‘Limping’ back to the yard with a mudguard scraping on the wheel or a super single ‘Flapping’ around the rim.

7

I say it’s necessary, I reckon 99% of drivers don’t do a proper pre trip.

If you read my column in December’s Truck News you’ll read my views on the subject as I’ve just written 1000 words on that very subject!

8

flat to the mat:
How long does it take to pre trip a reefer ? Move along chaps , nothing to see here :unamused:

Ya dont know much about reefer’s then eh.It take’s about 20 minute’s to do!!!.

9

20mins? To check fluid levels, temp settings, fuel level, lights, tyres, brakes, air leaks, lights and the seal?

Only if you’re paid by the hour :laughing:

10

vastly exp:

flat to the mat:
How long does it take to pre trip a reefer ? Move along chaps , nothing to see here :unamused:

Ya dont know much about reefer’s then eh.It take’s about 20 minute’s to do!!!.

Fortunately not , bloody noisy things . I do know that our company expects thorough trip inspections and as such pay us $50 a day to complete them properly , no matter how long they take :smiley:

11

newmercman:
20mins? To check fluid levels, temp settings, fuel level, lights, tyres, brakes, air leaks, lights and the seal?

Only if you’re paid by the hour :laughing:

Pre trip on a Reefer.(thermo king)
Select the menu,scroll through till you come to the pre trip hit select button and it pre trip’s it’s self automatic,this take’s about 20 min’s,it’s not checking temp’s and oil etc.
I normally have this part of the reefer program running whilst doing the regular vehicle pre trip.

The carrier reefer is slightl’y different as it will shut down to check out it’s electric’s in the cabinet,this is not good if the weather is cold and the oil is sludge and the battery is struggling.

12

What does it matter ? Just do your pre trip inspection and do it properly.

13

I pulled reefers for 5yrs over here, about the same back home, never seen a pre trip function on any Thermo King or Carrier I’ve used and I always scrolled through the menu on any new trailer to see what it can do. The digital displays are fairly recent inventions, the first Thermo Kings to use them were the slim line SMX and for Carrier it was the Thunderbird, before that it was a dial to set temp and a simple on/off switch.

14

I’ll back up What Vast says, Thermoking’s have had Pre-trips on them for about 5 yrs, whether they are an option or not I don’t know.
When I shunted in Cargill a Thermoking fitter showed us (shunters how to do it).
AFAIK, all H&R trailers have it on their reefers.

15

It must be an option then, just before I left PBT they got 20 new trailers with TK units on them, no pre trip function on them.

There’s a ton of options to be had, data logging and all that, they can even communicate with the office sending temps and set points etc.

I suppose the bigger companies with their share of Muppet drivers need all that added security to cover their arse, it may also be a requirement from some customers. I know from when I was pulling fridges in the early 90s that some customers wanted a print out to prove the load had been at the correct temperature, over here they quite often just stuck a recorder on one of the back pallets and downloaded the info from it before signing the BOL.

16

newmercman:
I pulled reefers for 5yrs over here, about the same back home, never seen a pre trip function on any Thermo King or Carrier I’ve used and I always scrolled through the menu on any new trailer to see what it can do. The digital displays are fairly recent inventions, the first Thermo Kings to use them were the slim line SMX and for Carrier it was the Thunderbird, before that it was a dial to set temp and a simple on/off switch.

Huh,Look’s like your doing a back step here,I would have tought that all PBT driver’s were fully trained to pull reefer’s ,I have spoken to a few of them in Carberry,As i stated doing a REEFER pre trip it was a suprise to me that there are tyre’s and brake’s etc in the reefer cabinet,There is not a reefer on the road that a REEFER pre trip cannot be done manually,If you have never seen a pre trip function,My god!!!.I thought you knew everything by the replie’s you posted on here along with Mr clever clog’s FTTM.Back in the 70/80’s when i pulled fridge’s all over europe using a DIAL temp setting there was no pre tip the or a chute,Thing’s have change’d since then.

17

I know the H&R ones are singing and dancing and they can read all the data about it back in Lethbridge in real time. As for making a truck to fail a pre trip and letting you driver pull out of the yard sounds a bit reckless to me.

18

taffytrucker:
I know the H&R ones are singing and dancing and they can read all the data about it back in Lethbridge in real time. As for making a truck to fail a pre trip and letting you driver pull out of the yard sounds a bit reckless to me.

Agree.

19

vastly exp:

newmercman:
I pulled reefers for 5yrs over here, about the same back home, never seen a pre trip function on any Thermo King or Carrier I’ve used and I always scrolled through the menu on any new trailer to see what it can do. The digital displays are fairly recent inventions, the first Thermo Kings to use them were the slim line SMX and for Carrier it was the Thunderbird, before that it was a dial to set temp and a simple on/off switch.

Huh,Look’s like your doing a back step here,I would have tought that all PBT driver’s were fully trained to pull reefer’s ,I have spoken to a few of them in Carberry,As i stated doing a REEFER pre trip it was a suprise to me that there are tyre’s and brake’s etc in the reefer cabinet,There is not a reefer on the road that a REEFER pre trip cannot be done manually,If you have never seen a pre trip function,My god!!!.I thought you knew everything by the replie’s you posted on here along with Mr clever clog’s FTTM.Back in the 70/80’s when i pulled fridge’s all over europe using a DIAL temp setting there was no pre tip the or a chute,Thing’s have change’d since then.

Huh not a back step at all, it isn’t in any doubt that I have experience of pulling reefers, both here and all over Europe.

During that time I never came across a reefer with a pretrip function, I’ve just put that in black and white, so all doubt has been removed there too.

I know how to check oil and coolant, I know how to check belts for wear/cuts/tightness, I know how to look at a fuel gauge and work out how much fuel is in it too.

Other than that there’s not much else that a driver can check, which is why any problems that may arise out on the road have always been dealt with by the dealers.

You’re trying to make it sound as if it’s rocket science and it isn’t. Pulling a reefer is a piece of ■■■■, it’s no different to pulling a box van, except it’s noisy and you have to keep an eye on temperatures and the fuel level.

Certain products may require a little extra thought, produce direct from the field needs bringing down to temperature slowly so as not to freeze the top layers, some soft fruits need to be covered so they don’t get freezer burn, fresh fish and open packs/hanging meat need special care to avoid the same, blah blah blah.

But it’s all easy to pick up, it must be because any idiot that can put up with the noise can be a reefer driver.

20

dieseldog999:
there was a guy over here took delivery of 10 new tippers,the bum lickers that were allocated them were told specifically to dip the oil before they took them out on their 1st day… most of them came back in saying that they had done so,and at that point he pointed across the office to the 10 dipsticks lying against the wall as he had removed them all the night before… :wink:

Thats a good one,hope he sent them home, :smiley: