Juddian:
Timely reminder for drivers to carry out simple lubing jobs for themselves.Yes i know there’s a high number of ''aint my jobbers
‘’ out there, but a few minutes a week spent going round with some grease, spray grease and/or the oil can lubing things like hinges locks (even dog clips) and cables that open grills will make your life a hell of a lot easier, don’t forget the humble fifth wheel itself, depending on what type of trailers you tow these can run out of grease between inspections.
Never ceases to amaze me watching Scania drivers in particular having to force the driver’s door open because the hinges have never seen a drop of lube since the vehicle was built.
It all goes to making your job easier and safer.
If I had my own unit to drive I definitely would do this, bits of preventative maintenance go a long way I think.
On nights I get what I’m given so it’d be a pointless exercise, on days they’re mostly allocated to a driver. The state of a few of them is embarrassing. I’d say that’s down to 50% driver abuse and 50% poor maintenance as in only essential maintenance is done. They’re all legal just some not ideal lol.
For example the unit I used last night. Top up oil message when I got in so topped it up few litres to the minimum, relying on the dash display though. Picked up a loaded trailer from Liverpool and it blue smoked its ■■■■ off up and down the m62 ha. Was never going to sprint up Windy hill but it’s obvious when something is amiss, anything other than flat and forget it.
I’ve left a defect but I doubt the day driver will have had a word about it. If I owned it I’d just spend half hour pulling the turbo pipe off and check, could be few things but basic first port of call maintenance. If it goes till Christmas without being recovered I’ll be surprised, then twice the bill… wtf!
Edit. Cemex always kicked off when a new 5th wheel was needed. The drivers were too lazy to drop the trailer between weekly inspections to check and chuck some grease on. Which was recommended on the nature of work they do.