Legal Purposes For Doing Both A Pre-trip And Post-trip

G-Town's link was an interesting read, but confused me more on why both are required.

I agree. No offense meant to G-Town, but that was like every other government publication, impossible to decipher. At one point it referred to another chapter which seemed to say it wasn't required. It is as if they are paid by the word and reference

Id bet the reason its legally required is because if it wasnt many more drivers wouldnt do it. The amount of damage these vehicles can cause is insane. I already see it quite a bit at the yard we park our trucks at with drivers neglecting to do pre or post trip. Ill admit i dont do the most thorough pretrip because im typically in a truck the shuttle driver just was in (im usually pulling into lot at the same time he is). However i always make sure i check lights, tires and listen for air leaks at a bare minimum. When i return i always do a very thorough post trip. The advantage of doing both pre trip and post trip is you can do at least one in the daylight when you can see better. Atleast with it being required we can be held legally responsible if our carelessness or laziness of doing a thorough inspection results in injury. Laws are meant to protect the general public and unfortunately when we mess up, we as drivers arent the only ones who suffer consequences. If i neglect ensuring my lug nuts are properly tightened and my wheel comes off the result is going to be very bad if an unsuspecting motorist happens to be in the path. Regardless if it was law or not id like to think as professionals we would all inspect our vehicle but having seen people log their pre/post trip and never leave the vehicle proves that although its law many drivers still refuse to do it. Regarding the vehicle not moving we also have 2 trucks that sit overnight with nobody using them until we come in the following morning. Ya never know if there may be a disgruntled ex employee, or someone looking to have "fun" that results in damage that isnt initially seen without inspecting your vehicle.

I do a comprehensive pretrip checking everything, and a walk around post trip looking at tires, leaks, anything hanging down. The comment tabs on my QC have both pre and post.

As far as I know you must show on duty time for both. Don if you have a safety director or fleet manager. I suggest doing both, the post doesn’t take more than 5-10 minutes. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

A guy with my company picked up a trailer from a customer that had been sitting there for a month or so I believe, he hit the highway and the trailer tires on the driver side came off. Luckily they didn't hit anything else, but it ripped the auto inflator out which dropped dropped the suspension since it wouldn't hold air.

The tow truck found all the lugs loose on the driver side as well. They think someone tried to steal the rims and stopped for what ever reason.

That's a scary thought, G-Town! I know what Don is saying, he just did it 10 hours ago. But after you do so many of them, it becomes like using your turn indicators. Or it did for me when I drove before. It doesn't take that long, and you'll feel better for it, that you did it.

That's a scary thought, G-Town! I know what Don is saying, he just did it 10 hours ago. But after you do so many of them, it becomes like using your turn indicators. Or it did for me when I drove before. It doesn't take that long, and you'll feel better for it, that you did it.

I’ll reiterate. Full pretrip when you begin your shift, quick post trip before 20 hr break; for tire check, leaks like a blown seal etc. Not sure why this is cause for such pushback.

That's a scary thought, G-Town! I know what Don is saying, he just did it 10 hours ago. But after you do so many of them, it becomes like using your turn indicators. Or it did for me when I drove before. It doesn't take that long, and you'll feel better for it, that you did it.

I’ll reiterate. Full pretrip when you begin your shift, quick post trip before 20 hr break; for tire check, leaks like a blown seal etc. Not sure why this is cause for such pushback.

One good reason, other than the law, is if you find something, you can start the process of getting it fixed before you need to drive again.

I understand what you're saying Don as in my case as well I'm in a day cab that I'm not slip seating, and am not hooked up to a trailer when I start my shift. A couple months back, done for the day did post trip everything looks okay. The next morning I take a quick glance under the hood like I always do and notice what ended up being anti freeze was leaking. It was a very slow leak so it wasn't immediately noticeable when I was done for the day before. So it's stuff like that really. Never hurts to do a quick visual inspection. The day before you have a long 12 14 hour day. Now your checking when your better rested and not worried about rushing home.

This is going to sound like a pat answer, and maybe overly insensitive, but (with a nod to G-Town) if the statute says do it, why not just go ahead and do it? If you've never had an equipment failure pop up overnight while you're out of your tractor, consider yourself lucky. If you've never had squirrels or mice chew on your wiring in their nice warm comfy protected from the elements bed while you've been sleeping in your own bed, consider yourself lucky. I've had both. Pretrip even though no one drives your unit. Post-trip because it's respectful to the next person running the equipment.

And... because the regs say to... :)

I agree totally with Mr. Curmudgeon. Post-trip typically takes no more than 10 minutes.

Keep something in mind, we are dealing with extremes of weight, force, material differences and temperatures. Therefore things that are not (for instance) leaking when the truck is shutdown hot, can quite possibly be leaking the next morning once all the parts of the truck are cool, or in winter very cold.

Any opportunity to prevent an issue or reduce downtime as a result, is time well spent. That is not immediately obvious to a new driver. Use it wisely.