When out on the road trucking, you need to be able to start your work day on the right foot, and the best way to do that is with the pre-trip inspections of your trucking vehicles. The pre-trip inspection is crucial to having a healthy vehicle, and having a safe vehicle ensures the safety of the driver and everyone else on the road.
As a driver, laws require you to inspect your truck and trailer before your shift begins and while on the road. Ensuring that you do these inspections makes road safety the priority while on the road, but it also ensures that you find any issues with your truck as soon as they arise. Pre-trip inspections can take up a large chunk of your drive time, but as much as you want to hurry through inspections, it's important that you take your time and thoroughly look over your vehicle and trailer.
Then, no matter how diligent you think you are in your inspection, unfortunately, there will be times when you miss a few crucial details and need to stop for repairs or have an emergency road call and service.
Safety in the Cab
While trucking, the cab becomes your home and office and keeping your cab organized and mess-free from loose items or trash is actually for safety reasons. An unorganized cab makes it difficult to reach for items you may need, or if you end up in an accident, loose articles could become dangerous projectiles that could crack windshields or injure you as the driver. The biggest safety items in the cab are often the most overlooked.
Starting with the most important, seat belt safety. Seat belts save lives, and if ever in a crash, you want it to do its job properly and save yours. Checking for wear and tear, fraying, or improperly retracting seat belts should be one of the first things you do in your inspection. The other is your emergency kit. Regularly checking your emergency kit will ensure you have everything you need for the inevitable: an emergency.
Long road trucking means having emergency roadside stops, and having the tools you need ready for those instances is not only required by law but will keep you safer on the road until help can arrive. Other general wear in your cab poses different potential hazards as well. When out on the road, it's never good for your A/C to go out, especially in the summer or in southern states like Texas.
If your A/C isn't working as it should, fuel efficiency can drop, among other things. Having truck A/C repair service, whether in a central location or roadside, will keep your work conditions comfortable and productive.
Wheels and Brakes
Chock up your wheels, and time to check your tires. It seems silly to mention because it's the first thing that anyone inspects before they hit the road, but it's important to do more than glance at your wheels. We're not only looking for wear and rust on the tires, but you should also be looking for dangerous things that can be trapped or stuck between wheels, as they can become dangerous projectiles.
When inspecting your tires, check your lug nuts to prevent a wheel from dislodging while on the road. It's a crisis that can be easily preventable within your pre-trip inspection. Brakes become the one thing you and all the drivers around you depend on to work. Thorough brake checks involve many steps in and outside the cab of your vehicle. Brakes should be one of the last things that should have been addressed in your inspection.
A simple inspection can reveal potentially life-threatening issues, while a thorough inspection could show a trip-stopping emergency brake service. Suspension and steering are a part of this inspection because they help you stay in control on the road through many different driving conditions.
While out on the road, they will slowly become unreliable through continual wear and use. General maintenance is important to ensure they never go out unexpectedly, but if they do, you can find suspension and steering repair in Dallas, Fort Worth.
Visibility
While driving on the road, whether in a semi hauling a load or even with a large RV traveling across the country, maintaining visibility will keep you and others safe. Checking through all of your tools for good visibility will ensure you will only need to pull over in good conditions to fix any issues that may arise.
All your lights, including blinkers and headlights, should be in good working condition. Windshield wipers should be debris-free, and fluid levels should be topped off. Other drivers rely on these easily inspected tools; even a few missing lights or reflectors can make a vehicle less visible.
Reliable Help and Planning Ahead
Pre-trip inspections are ultimately about keeping everyone on the road safe. Although they ensure you comply with the laws, they also give you a powerful opportunity to plan for any potential issues. Using pre-trip inspections to monitor even vehicles in good working conditions is the responsible way to utilize these checklists. Suppose your vehicle is approaching an oil change, wheel alignment, or even warranty repairs.
In that case, you can budget for the maintenance and plan to stop at a reliable mechanic to make the changes. While out on the road, unfortunately, accidents and emergencies will still happen. We can do our best with inspections and maintenance, but you will eventually need to feel confident in emergency roadside assistance.
It always feels like a hassle when you are stuck roadside instead of rolling along, but feel confident in making emergency road calls in Dallas, TX. Having a company that can come out and helps you when you are stuck on the side of the road. The experience they can provide in customer service and safety will make any emergency hassle-free and get you back on the road in no time.
Even if you're traveling with your family to see the sights, if you ever find yourself stuck on the roadside, you can find motor home and RV repair in Dallas, Fort Worth. You can call them night or day for emergency services, even look to them for everyday maintenance. Downtime, while trucking or even lost vacation time, is something no one wants, but having certified technicians working on your large vehicles will mean you'll get back on the road in no time.