Training Time
Topic 13198 | Page 1
Get out and start your pre trip before you start your clock, that way if you find a major problem that requires repairs, you wont burn up your clock for the day waiting on repairs. Plus you wont be rushing through to get rolling.
Hi James. I to am out with my trainer. Just finished week 1. My trainer is the same on the pre trip. 15 minutes is what he wants me logging. I can do a pretty thorough pre trip in that time. I think it is pretty standard. Good luck to you
James, 15 minutes is what the D.O.T. officer is looking for. I've never heard of a person having to show the officer their pre-trip inspection. Don't worry about it for now. When you are in your own truck you can do it however you like, but always log at least 15 minutes for that part of your day.
Pre-trip Inspection:
A pre-trip inspection is a thorough inspection of the truck completed before driving for the first time each day.
Federal and state laws require that drivers inspect their vehicles. Federal and state inspectors also may inspect your vehicles. If they judge a vehicle to be unsafe, they will put it “out of service” until it is repaired.
Get out and start your pre trip before you start your clock, that way if you find a major problem that requires repairs, you wont burn up your clock for the day waiting on repairs. Plus you wont be rushing through to get rolling.
That right there is a very good tip. This is always the way I do it. I learned this as a rookie one day when I put my clock on duty and then started my pre-trip only to discover that I had a nail in a steer tire and it had leaked down about half way through the night as I slept. I wasn't about to drive on the highway with that thing in there and when I called break down it turned out that I was in an area where there just wasn't hardly anybody nearby with a service truck to come out and take care of my tire issue. I ended up waiting almost three hours before they showed up, and I had burned up that time on my clock when I was doing nothing but resting and waiting on a service truck. Technically if that would have happened while I was on the road and I had to wait for repairs I should be on duty, but since I was just starting my day I could have left myself off duty util they got me fixed up and ready to go, and then I could have completed my pre-trip and gotten going without burning up a good portion of my fourteen hour clock.
Get out and start your pre trip before you start your clock, that way if you find a major problem that requires repairs, you wont burn up your clock for the day waiting on repairs. Plus you wont be rushing through to get rolling.
That right there is a very good tip. This is always the way I do it. I learned this as a rookie one day when I put my clock on duty and then started my pre-trip only to discover that I had a nail in a steer tire and it had leaked down about half way through the night as I slept. I wasn't about to drive on the highway with that thing in there and when I called break down it turned out that I was in an area where there just wasn't hardly anybody nearby with a service truck to come out and take care of my tire issue. I ended up waiting almost three hours before they showed up, and I had burned up that time on my clock when I was doing nothing but resting and waiting on a service truck. Technically if that would have happened while I was on the road and I had to wait for repairs I should be on duty, but since I was just starting my day I could have left myself off duty util they got me fixed up and ready to go, and then I could have completed my pre-trip and gotten going without burning up a good portion of my fourteen hour clock.
Thanks y'all. I was basically concerned because in orientation we were asked how long a proper pre-trip took, and the instructor had made mention that if 15 min was all we logged, and we happened to get pulled into a coop for inspection, that it would really suck if the DOT officer wanted to see that 15 min inspection.
I was logging 15 min the first two times I was driving, but after finding this site and y'all, and being motivated to drive again, I wanted to makes sure I do things right this time and try not to get too lazy again.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
What are the dot regulation on post trip times ? I normally log 7 to 10 min
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
What are the dot regulation on post trip times ? I normally log 7 to 10 min
Make sure the QC sides so least 15. The safety guy at my home terminal insists on 30. But he expects you to air-guage all 18 tires. Daily.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Time required for pre and post trip inspections is based on your company, it's not referenced in the fmcsr book. What is to be inspected is, so it should be a reasonable amount of time.
Post trip driver vehicle inspection reports are in the fmcsr, but it's worded such that it only requires reporting of defects that were discovered. So during the pretrip inspection or operation of the vehicle sounds like they would cover that...
Prime's policy is to log 15 min for EITHER a pre or post trip inspection, but not both. I log pretrip and don't log post trips. I do a quick walk around of the truck/trailer post trip.
I've never heard of one of our drivers getting busted for this.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Time required for pre and post trip inspections is based on your company, it's not referenced in the fmcsr book. What is to be inspected is, so it should be a reasonable amount of time.
Post trip driver vehicle inspection reports are in the fmcsr, but it's worded such that it only requires reporting of defects that were discovered. So during the pretrip inspection or operation of the vehicle sounds like they would cover that...
Prime's policy is to log 15 min for EITHER a pre or post trip inspection, but not both. I log pretrip and don't log post trips. I do a quick walk around of the truck/trailer post trip.
I've never heard of one of our drivers getting busted for this.
I have never logged pretrip time. I wasn't even trained to log it nor was it ever mentioned in class.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.New Reply:
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I'm at the end of my 2nd week with my trainer. I only have one week left then I get my own truck. I'm rather pleased so far. My trainer has been in the game for 26 years, is pretty laid back, and is always happy to help and answer questions. I'm also not quite as rusty as I thought I'd be.
Things are coming back, but being with a trainer usually makes things seem easy. The fun starts when you're in your own truck.
There is one thing I'd like y'alls opinion on. He's pretty adament that I only log 15 min for pre-trip and then get rolling because if I log 30 to 45 min, which is about as long as it takes me to pre-trip, I'll run out my hours too fast and won't be able to run as hard and make as much money. He also says that 15 min is legal and I wouldn't get dinged for it if I get DOT inspected.
I know that you have to show at least 15 min for pre-trip, but I'm also concerned that should I at some point get a DOT inspection, and the officer sees that I only log 15 min that he/she will want to see my 15 min pre-trip. What say y'all? Log 15, 30 to 45, or mix it up (15 min some days, 30 to 45 on others)?
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.