When you do your daily checks you hear an air leak do
you vor it to its sorted?
The reason I ask is that I heared a air leak coming from my trailer brake unit. So I went in to the office and said I need another empty trailer. He’s an ex driver and said are the warning lights on which I replied no. I did the tests and the air gauges did not drop fast. He then said whats the problem then its only a slight air leak and you cannot get it totally air tight. By this time hes wound me up so I said the I want a trailer without a air leak as when you do your driver training you do your walk around checks listening for air leaks also in our companies PG9 book it says listen for air leaks and air leaks dont say how bad it as to be.
So he finally gives me another trailer identical to the one with the air leak and this had no air leak at all. A few days later I seen a fitter and asked him and he said its vor ignore him a slight air leak could develop causing you to loose all brakes or lock up the wheels.
Another guy in the office vor another one I found to have a air leak from the same place but this guy as soon as I defect them he scrubs it out and sends someone else out with it.
Sorry for the long story but am I right as we deliver time sensitive stuff and if hes on and I vor another he said im going to be temporally suspended to I can see the boss so I have to 100% correct so could do with it written down in black and white so if im right he will get pulled in to the office as hes scrubbing out defects that drivers are putting down. the end
by rights an air leak is reason 2 vor. but best bet is next time he says a trailer is ok then ask for confirmation in writing that trailer is safe. then your own arsenal ie covered with vosa but chances are he won’t do that.
dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/HGV%20pullout.pdf thats a vosa walk round sheet it mentions about airleaks being checked but dont say if its a whisper leak then your ok so i would say any air escaping is a defect on the brake system, if a fitter has already told you its a defect then id trust him they seem to know what their on about most of the time, sometimes the valve gets stuck just behind the trailer legs if you give it a knock with a hammer it sometimes sorts it out if not try defecting it if bloke in the office says its not a defect then get him to sign the defect book get a copy of it so youve got proof then mention you your going to pop in and see them charming blokes at the vosa test station see what they think end of the day who takes the points and the fines on your behalf just cos moneys tight everywhere is no excuss for companys lapse a bit on maintaince only you decide whether it goes on the road or not ive got a link for all the things vosa can give you as a fix penalty try and find it for you see if its on there
If you can hear an air leak why don’t you have a look where it’s leaking from and then at least you have got something proper to report instead of demanding that the piece of equipent be put out of service for something that might just require a pipe union being nipped up with a 14mm spanner or are you one of these new type of drivers who answers everything with “i’m only paid to drive”?
In the past I have turned a blind eye to some small air leaks, but that’s mainly because I had been working for firms who would tell me to either drive the vehicle or go home and don’t come back.
I’ve been working for John Lewis recently, and this morning I was given one of their old million-mile units. When I got in the air pressure was low and I heard a faint hissing sound fore of the o/s/r wheel. I was told to drive it to the other depot up the road where they’ve got a workshop and it was fixed within the hour.
Glad I had it sorted out too - an air pipe had been slowly wearing away over the years. If you touched it, it would hiss even louder. We found the source of the leak and a large area had been worn very thin with a small hole in the middle. The pipe was seriously weakened and could have let go at any time.
wire:
If you can hear an air leak why don’t you have a look where it’s leaking from and then at least you have got something proper to report instead of demanding that the piece of equipent be put out of service for something that might just require a pipe union being nipped up with a 14mm spanner or are you one of these new type of drivers who answers everything with “i’m only paid to drive”?
I’m all for repairing the truck myself, but I’d only attempt this type of job if I got the go ahead from the boss and/or a mechanic. If they’re not aware you’re repairing it yourself and something doesn’t go according to plan, you’ll be held responsible.
wire:
If you can hear an air leak why don’t you have a look where it’s leaking from and then at least you have got something proper to report instead of demanding that the piece of equipent be put out of service for something that might just require a pipe union being nipped up with a 14mm spanner or are you one of these new type of drivers who answers everything with “i’m only paid to drive”?
He did look. The “trailer brake unit”.
The last place I worked at used to palm off defective motors to unsuspecting drivers. I once took a wagon out. I’d done all the checks, & about 150 miles out it began to rain, so on went my wipers. After two minutes they stopped. Turned out the mechanism was worn & a ball joint would come apart after about two mins of use. You could push it back together but it only lasted a v short time.
I told them about on my return, to which they replied "Oh yeah. the last driver told us about that yesterday "
You have to be on your guard all the time with some TMs
wire:
If you can hear an air leak why don’t you have a look where it’s leaking from and then at least you have got something proper to report instead of demanding that the piece of equipent be put out of service for something that might just require a pipe union being nipped up with a 14mm spanner or are you one of these new type of drivers who answers everything with “i’m only paid to drive”?
Obviously he’s a driver who is concerned about the legality of the trailer
I’ve lost count of the times over the past 27 years where I heard an air leak but could’nt see where it was, probably because leaking air doesn’t leave fluid etc, of course being the smart guy with sarky answers like yours you’ll know that full well already
An Air Leak is a DEFECT !!! regardless how big or small, it’s a DEFECTIVE part of the brake system, so whether he is just paid to drive or not does NOT even come into the equation, a Driver taking a vehicle onto a public highway with a KNOWN defect is liable to manslaughter charges if someone dies because of his actions, so I would suggest “Wire” that you A) Keep your pathetic comments to yourself and B) Understand the drivers legal obligations Before before opening your mouth without engaging brain first.
It is a Fitters or other QUALLIFIED persons responsibility to carry out work on a Braking system, not a Driver who has no knowledge of it Hence the reason the “O” licence requires that vehicles are serviced every 6 weeks by a “Competent” Person or company.
And people wonder where the word Muppet comes from !!!
Simples - because it’s free and there is plenty of it about.
It’s true that you should defect a trailer with a leak, but it’s NOT a reason to refuse to drive it. So long as the pump can compress the air faster than it leaks, you have no problem. If the leak gets so bad that it is a problem, then you have gauges and an alarm inthe cab to tell you. If your seat drops then thats a final warning before the clutch loses assistance and, finally, if you are so stupid that you are still driving, your trailer brakes will lock up.
Obviously he’s a driver who is concerned about the legality of the trailer
An Air Leak is a DEFECT !!! regardless how big or small, it’s a DEFECTIVE part of the brake system, so whether he is just paid to drive or not does NOT even come into the equation, a Driver taking a vehicle onto a public highway with a KNOWN defect is liable to manslaughter charges if someone dies because of his actions, so I would suggest “Wire” that you A) Keep your pathetic comments to yourself and B) Understand the drivers legal obligations Before before opening your mouth without engaging brain first.
It is a Fitters or other QUALLIFIED persons responsibility to carry out work on a Braking system, not a Driver who has no knowledge of it Hence the reason the “O” licence requires that vehicles are serviced every 6 weeks by a “Competent” Person or company.
And people wonder where the word Muppet comes from !!! Obviously he’s a driver who is concerned about the legality of the trailer
/
Oh yes very dramatic!..When you calm down enough to get your ■■■■■■■ untangled you might notice that i simply suggested that the OP might at least take a look at where the leak is and what is matter instead of insisting that the equipment be taken out of service and demanding another trailer as the only possible answer to the problem.
At NO point did i make any kind of suggestion that the guy take the trailer out with a defect.
I didn’t even suggest that the guy do the work himself for crying out loud. You might have noticed that if you had not been quite so excited with yourself.
Do not insult me again.
My coments are not in any way pathetic and i do have a very thorough understanding of drivers responsibilies in both Europe and North America. I would be very suprised if i do not have a lot more understanding and certainly more experience than you in fact.
I have had to carry out roadside repairs on my truck and trailer in conditions that you can not even conceive of.
You sound exactly like the kind of driver that i was thinking of when i made the coment in the first place.
Well you know what i mean don’t you, Lol.
You make a simple and sensible observation and Davey Driver has to go off on one and start insulting you and then ridiculously refering to death and destruction when all along we were only talking about sticking your head under a trailer and making an effort to ascertain how bad a problem might be and wether it is an easy fix or not.
If Davey Driver considers that it is more appropriate for drivers not to go near the mechanical side of trucks and trailers fair enough and good luck to him but obviously he needs to continue his career in Britain because he would not like the idea of performing a daily pretrip inspection 3,000kms+ away from home in an extreme remote area where it is not very convenient to VOR your trailer.
convoy:
When you do your daily checks you hear an air leak do
you vor it to its sorted?
The reason I ask is that I heared a air leak coming from my trailer brake unit. So I went in to the office and said I need another empty trailer. He’s an ex driver and said are the warning lights on which I replied no. I did the tests and the air gauges did not drop fast. He then said whats the problem then its only a slight air leak and you cannot get it totally air tight. By this time hes wound me up so I said the I want a trailer without a air leak as when you do your driver training you do your walk around checks listening for air leaks also in our companies PG9 book it says listen for air leaks and air leaks dont say how bad it as to be.
So he finally gives me another trailer identical to the one with the air leak and this had no air leak at all. A few days later I seen a fitter and asked him and he said its vor ignore him a slight air leak could develop causing you to loose all brakes or lock up the wheels.
Another guy in the office vor another one I found to have a air leak from the same place but this guy as soon as I defect them he scrubs it out and sends someone else out with it.
Sorry for the long story but am I right as we deliver time sensitive stuff and if hes on and I vor another he said im going to be temporally suspended to I can see the boss so I have to 100% correct so could do with it written down in black and white so if im right he will get pulled in to the office as hes scrubbing out defects that drivers are putting down. the end
Wire, I know exactly what you mean, the first thing I used to put in my lorry, for a trip over the water, was my tool box. I’ve fitted new head gaskets on compressors, changed wheel bearings, rewired trailers & much more, all on the side of the road, I’ve repaired a broken wiper linkage on a Turbostar with superglue & a coat hanger & driven back from Alicante with no windscreen, but that was in a different time, in today’s world nobody would let you do that kind of thing, there’s a set list of procedures & you cannot, under any circumstances, think for yourself, use a bit of common sense & deviate from this list, being a lorry driver now means just that, you drive the lorry, you don’t do anything else, it’s all part of the dumbing down process, to old codgers like you & I, it’s taken a lot of the fun out of the job, but that’s the world we now live in Having said that, there have been ■■■■■■■■■ about since the invention of the wheel, I’ve seen a bloke call out DKV emergency on a weekend in France because he had no trailer lights, it turned out to be a 500 quid repair, it was a blown FUSE
I recently did a spot of deer hunting & got two of the little [zb]ers, one managed to make it under the bumper & on the way through ripped out all my airlines on the trailer brake chambers, I had all the trailer wheels lock up at 70 odd & went through some very odd angles before I got over to the shoulder, it was after midnight & I was in the middle of nowhere, so out came the tool box, I wound off the spring brakes & 20mins later I was rolling again, ok, I had no trailer brakes, but I was only going to the nearest truckstop to wait for someone to bring out new airlines in the morning, all in a day’s work for us, but a sackable offence in the UK
it was after midnight & I was in the middle of nowhere, so out came the tool box, I wound off the spring brakes & 20mins later I was rolling again, ok, I had no trailer brakes, but I was only going to the nearest truckstop to wait for someone to bring out new airlines in the morning, all in a day’s work for us, but a sackable offence in the UK
Well don’t let Davey Driver find out about that … He will have a fit.
Secretelephant:
I once took a wagon out. I’d done all the checks, & about 150 miles out it began to rain, so on went my wipers. After two minutes they stopped. Turned out the mechanism was worn & a ball joint would come apart after about two mins of use. You could push it back together but it only lasted a v short time.
Let me guess, it was a Premium, right?
Sorry, but I am with the Marks on this. It could have simply been the air suspension settling down again after coupling up that sounded like an airleak, or a valve that was allowing air to pass through the dump while the pressure was down. Knowing what you are defecting can save you a whole load of heartache in the long run. If it is a genuine airleak which is going to cause trouble then yes, it has to be fixed, but I have seen too many imaginary airleak situations to ever just say that it needs to be fixed without looking. Trailer brake unit? What, precisely, do you mean? Is it leaking on a chamber, a valve, a line■■?
newmercman:
Wire, I know exactly what you mean, the first thing I used to put in my lorry, for a trip over the water, was my tool box. I’ve fitted new head gaskets on compressors, changed wheel bearings, rewired trailers & much more, all on the side of the road, I’ve repaired a broken wiper linkage on a Turbostar with superglue & a coat hanger & driven back from Alicante with no windscreen, but that was in a different time, in today’s world nobody would let you do that kind of thing, there’s a set list of procedures & you cannot, under any circumstances, think for yourself, use a bit of common sense & deviate from this list, being a lorry driver now means just that, you drive the lorry, you don’t do anything else, it’s all part of the dumbing down process, to old codgers like you & I, it’s taken a lot of the fun out of the job, but that’s the world we now live in Having said that, there have been [zb] about since the invention of the wheel, I’ve seen a bloke call out DKV emergency on a weekend in France because he had no trailer lights, it turned out to be a 500 quid repair, it was a blown FUSE
I recently did a spot of deer hunting & got two of the little [zb]ers, one managed to make it under the bumper & on the way through ripped out all my airlines on the trailer brake chambers, I had all the trailer wheels lock up at 70 odd & went through some very odd angles before I got over to the shoulder, it was after midnight & I was in the middle of nowhere, so out came the tool box, I wound off the spring brakes & 20mins later I was rolling again, ok, I had no trailer brakes, but I was only going to the nearest truckstop to wait for someone to bring out new airlines in the morning, all in a day’s work for us, but a sackable offence in the UK
Here, have a medal :
Come on guys, while your “I stripped down and repaired a V8 engine at the side of the highway in a raging blizzard with force 9 winds, only the moonlight to see by and had grizzly bears taking chunks out of my arse” stories might impress some naive wide-eyed blonde down your local pub, they don’t really cut it on here, especially when the guy was only asking what was the correct thing to do when noticing an air leak. Give him a break eh.
Come on guys, while your “I stripped down and repaired a V8 engine at the side of the highway in a raging blizzard with force 9 winds, only the moonlight to see by and had grizzly bears taking chunks out of my arse” stories might impress some naive wide-eyed blonde down your local pub, they don’t really cut it on here, especially when the guy was only asking what was the correct thing to do when noticing an air leak. Give him a break eh.
Thanks Rob, glad you appreciate me
The point I was making is that times have changed, a lot of companies do not want drivers diagnosing problems, so if a trailer has an ‘air leak’ it’s VOR’d, it may be that a driver that is used to the ways of old would check all possibilities before reporting said defect, but the TM is likely to take no notice at all & leave it for the workshop to decide, or it maybe that the TM doesn’t give a toss & just wants the load moving no matter what, in which case he still doesn’t want a driver to diagnose the problem
Here’s a little award for you Rob, take your pick, but try to grab the right end though eh
. Everywhere just says air leaks so keep defecting
"
