Shorts & Sandals

A couple of days ago (Feb 4th), I was shoveling snow & ice in Chicago to unstick my truck --- the wheels were spinning, but it wasn't going anywhere. Then I got to run for hours thru fog.

Then Wednesday night (Feb 6) I was sitting in Jacksonville, FL ... wearing t-shirt, shorts, and sandals ... sleeping on top of the blankets ... with the truck windows open. What a difference!

Yesterday (Feb 7th), after unloading, while heading back to the office in Grand Ridge, FL ... before heading home ... just 3 miles before the Grand Ridge exit ... they pulled me into the truck weigh station and sent me to the D.O.T. inspection building (D.O.T = Department Of Transportation). As I approached the building, there was a group of 10 guys in black uniforms waving me forward ... One fellow in a black jumpsuit informed me that they were conducting a truck inspection training class. There were at least 3 groups of 10 ... and each person in the groups would have the opportunity during the day of taking the lead on inspecting a truck (a good 30 trucks in all). And they had the joy of starting with mine.

At this point, you hand over your CDL driver license, your medical certificate, the truck and trailer registration paperwork, insurance forms, IFTA (fuel tax paperwork), bills of lading, and logbook. That stuff all disappeared inside the building where another group would go over them in great detail ...

Meanwhile, the first group was doing a detailed walk-around inspection. Half an hour's worth. Then they had me roll into the building over the inspection pit ... at which point, the driver ... code named "Bubba" by the inspectors (i.e. me) was asked to get down out of the tractor and open the engine hood. Then Bubba was to get back into the truck. They marked the brake positions ... had Bubba turn the steering wheel vigorously back and forth ... while they inspected various parts ... looked at leaks, belts, and fluid levels ... test the city horn (didn't work) ... test the air horn (worked) ... then the leader asked, "Does that mean the truck is out-of-service?" No. Okay ... now they go underneath ... a number of them are in the tunnel while others walk along both sides of the truck & trailer ... bent over and looking ... drive-wheel and trailer brakes are marked ... finally they do the hold-down-the-brake-pedal test while they look to see how much movement there has been by the slack adjusters and brake cylinders. Next test is for Bubba to pump the brake pedal ... then have Bubba get out of the truck and disconnect the air hoses to the trailer .... being cautious of the pressure in the emergency (red) line ... what is the air gauge now reading? ... Bubba back in the tractor with inspector standing on the step to look at the dial and observe the dashlights as the ignition key is turned on ... check of the truck ABS system ... and warning indicators for the air system .... I knew the warning buzzer wouldn't sound because some previous driver had jerked it out of the dash and put it in the desk drawer in the back (that buzzer can become a bit irritating at times ... I jerked one out of a previous truck because as long as the truck was on it buzzed ... all day, every day). However, the red warning light was on ... only one of the two indicators is mandatory.

The trailer is down for the count ... one tire has insufficient tread, brake light needed changing, brakes need adjusting, and the brake air cables show signs of chafing. This will have to be fixed before picking up the next load ... or traveling long distance. The tractor was declared to be fine ... although no "atta-boy" sticker because there were signs of chafing on the air lines that connect to the trailer. No comment about the electrical pigtail to the trailer being secured in place with safety wire (because it kept pulling out in cold country).

Several times the indoor group sent a messenger to ask about parts of my paperwork and logs.

Finally they gave me back my paperwork and logs (no violations on that) ... a sheet showing the trailer violations ... and sent me on my way. The TA Truckstop repair-shop was being overloaded by all the work that was having to be done before trucks could go onward. Sometimes they got calls from the weigh station by truckers who were so "out-of-service" that they couldn't move until something was repaired (that happened to me once in California). The repair shop manager said, "It would have been nice if D.O.T. had informed me they were going to conduct this little exercise ... just so I could have scheduled enough people to handle all the repairs." TA had the closest repair shop ... only 13 miles away. They did a service on the tractor ... and gave me a coupon to go eat a free buffet or steak meal in the restaurant while I waited. I went for the buffet!

It was 5 p.m. when I was finally headed to the house. I still need to adjust the brakes on the tractor (even though they were still within legal limits) ... but that means crawling underneath with a 11 mm wrench ... tightening the slack adjuster bolt all the way down ... then backing it off a 1/4 turn ... times 4 ... plus the steers.

- Freth :0)