Local when you say damaged brakes, What was wrong with the brakes and was the auto shop aware of the problem?Anyone hear anything about the feeder driver who was fired because he refused to take a trailer that had damaged brakes? Farmingdale bldg?
DOT clearly states that a driver will not be disciplined for refusing to drive unsafe equipment.
BUT, the catch is...was it really unsafe or perceived (by him) to be unsafe? To me, ANYTHING wrong with the brakes is unsafe. Did he go to the shop and have it dianosed? Did the shop refuse to fix it? That still does not mean the driver has to take this equip.
There is a DOT 800 number I have to report management forcing or disciplining drivers for unsafe equipment. Will dig it up if some on here want it.
Local when you say damaged brakes, What was wrong with the brakes and was the auto shop aware of the problem?
Good for him! He was only protecting himself & the public from a possible disaster. I always used the trump card about what if it was the Sup's family or a bus load of school kids that got run over by me being forced to take unsafe equipment. Suddenly the laod of packages wasn't that important!I am hearing bits and pieces of this story and still have not found out what driver it was. I hear there were 2 major cracks in the pads and the shop cleared the trailer safe for the road. He didnt feel safe still, refused to take it, then was fired. He called the union on the spot and was told to have another mechanic in the shop look at it. The second mechanic said the trailer was unsafe for the road and proceeded to fix the pads.
I really do not get management...what are they trying to prove?
If he'd have taken that unsafe trailer out on the road and had an accident mngmnt woulda fired him for an avoidable accident..guarantee itI am hearing bits and pieces of this story and still have not found out what driver it was. I hear there were 2 major cracks in the pads and the shop cleared the trailer safe for the road. He didnt feel safe still, refused to take it, then was fired. He called the union on the spot and was told to have another mechanic in the shop look at it. The second mechanic said the trailer was unsafe for the road and proceeded to fix the pads. If anyone knows what driver this was, please pm me.
management was caught over this past weekend (Mother's Day)..delivering on both Saturday and Sunday..
I am hearing bits and pieces of this story and still have not found out what driver it was. I hear there were 2 major cracks in the pads and the shop cleared the trailer safe for the road. He didnt feel safe still, refused to take it, then was fired. He called the union on the spot and was told to have another mechanic in the shop look at it. The second mechanic said the trailer was unsafe for the road and proceeded to fix the pads. If anyone knows what driver this was, please pm me.
I got thinking about some of the fiasco's I have witnessed with trailers over the years. Most of the time automotive management wants to put a band aid on the problem instead of fixing it right. The last incident happened in Jersey in below zero weather when the brakes caught on fire because of frozen air lines. The driver got the Meadowlands shop to fix??, unthaw the air lines. He lost over an hour on the BOP. The brakes started smoking again by the time he reached Parsipanny, into the shop again for another hour or so. he departed for meet point in Pennsylvania. Brakes started heating up again at the Delaware Water Gap Bridge. He went to a truckstop and called in. The UPS mechanic from the local center was dispatched to the truckstop to help assess the problem. Air lines froze up again. The truckstop shop said repairs couldn't be started for over 2 hours till other work in their shop was completed. The mechanic went back to the package center, got an empty trailer and some help. The trailer with the bad brakes was off loaded in 45 minutes in a parking lot. Why wasn't this done at either of the 2 Hubs were more resources were available? The driver lost over 3 hours, shop time was over 2 hours & the problem never was fixed. Like Pogo in the comic strip was fond of saying" We've met the enemy and it's us!" Almost every issue could be fixed with common sense.
I am hearing bits and pieces of this story and still have not found out what driver it was. I hear there were 2 major cracks in the pads and the shop cleared the trailer safe for the road. He didnt feel safe still, refused to take it, then was fired. He called the union on the spot and was told to have another mechanic in the shop look at it. The second mechanic said the trailer was unsafe for the road and proceeded to fix the pads. If anyone knows what driver this was, please pm me.
How on earth would the driver know there were cracks in the break pads? Wouldn't you have to take the tire off to be able to see that? Just seems kinda odd to me.
While working as a shifter, there were a couple feeder drivers who were notorious for finding things wrong with their trailer at the last possible second (causing a yard delay AKA more OT). They would get there at start time, do their pre-trip, go socialize, then wait until pull-time to casually find a mechanic to fix that broken marker light and leave 30 minutes late.
Not saying that's what happened with this guy, but it's within the realm of possibility.