Shop Spare

[thelus]

here is one for the books we just got brand new 5 cubes that are gas and on a workhorse chassis. well about 5 stops from ending my day i turned the key in the ignition of the thing and all the exterior lights go out(headlights,markers. and dash lighting). i had to beat the sun going down to get back to the building. the damn thing only had 10,000 miles on it

 

[JustTired]

Here's a good one! I was running a route in another town years ago. The normal 800 was red tagged for bad brakes. They gave me another 800 that ran a city route and had probably never gone over 40 mph in years. Running down the highway at about 55-60, the thing suddenly starts bogging down as if I had turned the key off. I start to hear this hissing noise and I looked down to the shifter (where the noise seemed to come from) just in time to see smoke and a wad of grease shoot up to the ceiling of the cab. I was able to roll into a lot that was fortunately right ahead of me.

I called in and the mechanic said he had nothing to bring out to me. I told him that this one wasn't going anywhere. He covered the phone and I could still hear him yelling in the background. He then gets back on the phone and says he will be there as soon as he can. When he showed up, he was driving the car original to the area. We switched the load (always a whole lotta fun) and his last words to me were......"Be careful......this one doesn't have any brakes..."

He was right........you had to pump them every time you wanted to stop. Obviously, I lived through it but my nerves were pretty much shot by the end of that day.

Just one of many times I've dealt with broken equipment over the course of my delivery years. Some worse than others and this one ranked right up there.

 

[trplnkl]

Here's a good one! I was running a route in another town years ago. The normal 800 was red tagged for bad brakes. They gave me another 800 that ran a city route and had probably never gone over 40 mph in years. Running down the highway at about 55-60, the thing suddenly starts bogging down as if I had turned the key off. I start to hear this hissing noise and I looked down to the shifter (where the noise seemed to come from) just in time to see smoke and a wad of grease shoot up to the ceiling of the cab. I was able to roll into a lot that was fortunately right ahead of me.

I called in and the mechanic said he had nothing to bring out to me. I told him that this one wasn't going anywhere. He covered the phone and I could still hear him yelling in the background. He then gets back on the phone and says he will be there as soon as he can. When he showed up, he was driving the car original to the area. We switched the load (always a whole lotta fun) and his last words to me were......"Be careful......this one doesn't have any brakes..."

He was right........you had to pump them every time you wanted to stop. Obviously, I lived through it but my nerves were pretty much shot by the end of that day.

Just one of many times I've dealt with broken equipment over the course of my delivery years. Some worse than others and this one ranked right up there.

That's when I would have called the center manager and told him to come get me for I refuse to drive a truck with bad brakes.

 

[mattwtrs]

The wonderful equipment we got to drive! I had 4 breakdowns in one day with 3 different cars and 2 of the cars were brought out to me by a wrecker. Back then you would rarely catch a supervisor or manager bring you a replacement in a timely fashion, no air committs.

The day my first P400 was held out of the lineup I was running a spare that had too many problems to list. Finally at 11:00am the engine quit so another car was towed out to me and I didn't recognize the tow truck driver or the car number. The car was a loaner from another center and it wouldn't start. There was no battery in it! The battery was swapped out of my first car and I was on my way. Just after 13:00 when I was getting ready to stop for lunch I noticed the electrical system was not charging. I called in and another car was sent out just as I was finished with lunch.

I got the 30 packages or so switched out & went on my way. On my way back to the building this car just quit running on the interstate. A feeder driver stopped and checked on me. He told the package people about me and a wrecker was sent out.

Of course the automotive boss was waiting for me when I got back in. He tried to tell me I was abusing the equipment. I laughed and told him I wanted a meeting in the morning with his boss and the union. He wasn't smiling. I knew our BA was coming for another problem that morning so all the big guns would be there.

The meeting the next morning was real quick cause all the cars that broke down were spares and the mechanics had red tagged them but someone had removed the red tags without repairs being made.

 

[over9five]

That's when I would have called the center manager and told him to come get me for I refuse to drive a truck with bad brakes.

Me too. How anyone could take a chance with other peoples lives is beyond me. What if you had hit a child crossing the road?

 

[stevetheupsguy]

That's when I would have called the center manager and told him to come get me for I refuse to drive a truck with bad brakes.

Me too. How anyone could take a chance with other peoples lives is beyond me. What if you had hit a child crossing the road?

Double Ditto on that, guys!

 

[City Driver]

we have a yard jockey truck here that has no back door (which i think is against osha regulations not sure), the whole thing shakes so much its impossible to use the mirrors.....i mean shakes 10x worse then most jockey trucks

its crazy...it loses air pressure so fast if you are going 20 and you come to a complete stop the spring brakes come on your pressure goes so low

 

[MechanicForBrown]

we have a yard jockey truck here that has no back door (which i think is against osha regulations not sure), the whole thing shakes so much its impossible to use the mirrors.....i mean shakes 10x worse then most jockey trucks

its crazy...it loses air pressure so fast if you are going 20 and you come to a complete stop the spring brakes come on your pressure goes so low

Sounds like your center needs an experienced mechanic! LOL

 

[JustTired]

Me too. How anyone could take a chance with other peoples lives is beyond me. What if you had hit a child crossing the road?

This was in my younger days. I'll admit that it was a dumb thing to do. Later on in my career I would have (and did) refused to get behind the wheel.

The whole "red tag" system seems to be open to interpretation when the lack of roadworthy vehicles becomes a problem. When the mechanic was yelling while we were on the phone, he was telling (yelling) at the center manager that he was not going to take the no-brake vehicle out to me. When he showed up with it, I assume that his job might have been threatened. I seem to remember that he retired not too long after that. Coincidence?......maybe......maybe not!

 

[chev]

You should try and get your tractor in to have the head gasket replaced. 3 times I have tried, and 3 times, nothing for me to drive. Just add water and keep going...... I hope it blows up in the middle of god forsaken Ga, so I can get a decent night's sleep.....

lmao. Got the ole "ok to run" did ya?
I love when they do that. It's a "breakdown on road" waiting to happen, as well as a free break and OT. I say,"OK. See ya out on the highway".