Out of currosity when do you write up ure daily defects?
At the start of the shift or at the end ,
Now i always do a pre shift inspection , lights,5th wheel,curtains,load etc
but when do you write these up as it stands i do it at the end of the shift and get it signed off if there is a defect,
I note it on my check sheet and the managers will do a defect slip if its to be rectified straight away, unless it is something stupid like a blown bulb which I can change myself. I’d say taking a vehicle out with a known defect would be slightly dodgy but I’m assuming you would only be running with a minor defect.
At the end. And I only do very basic checks on a morning as well. But then I live in my motor all week, so can and do monitor it continually. No need to waste 10 minutes in the dark at 5am, when not a lot will have changed since the previous night. A five minute glance at the main stuff does for me, then I keep an eye on the rest as and when - eg. check tyre treads when fuelling etc.
I’m in the same vehicle every day and nobody else drives it so I too tend to have an ongoing inspection system. I’ve got plenty of POA time each day to have a good check around the vehicle, clean off mirrors etc, oil and water etc. I always check the lights, wheelnuts, mudguards and load security etc in the morning though. If I do have a significant defect, I sign it in a little carbon-papered book and give one copy to the boss in the morning before I depart, only to cover my rear though as I know that nothing will be done for a month until the lease company decides to pull their finger out. I had no hazard lights for the first few weeks I was driving for the firm, eventually went out and spent a whole £12 on a new switch. Useless sods!
Lucy:
‘…I only do very basic checks on a morning…’
Don’t underestimate your perception to pick up defects very quickly & also subconciously. They may take only moments but are priceless when found in the yard rather than on the hard-shoulder.
"POWER, Admin, Go ": Petrol (fuel!); Oil, Water (coolant); Electrics, Rubber; Admin for unit/trailer licensing stuff & running documentation for the day & ‘Go’ as your initial functional check when you first roll. The first of those can also be cross-checked on the computer …but shouldn’t substitute for a 360 degree walk-round too.
(From a bloke tempted yesterday to ‘carry’ a brake snag out of the yard - but now convinced that the fifteen minutes (of eventual overtime) doing a unit change & running through that (little) lot was worth swapping for potentially spending umpteen hours being stuck in a slushy lay-by/Hell-hole).
The pdf document via the link at the bottom of this post is very informative on different issues, our defect reporting is as they recommend, pre-driving, in other words start of the shift
:"You might also want to consider asking
drivers, when they carry out their pre-driving
checks, to complete and sign a written report,
or make out a nil report as appropriate.16
15 You can find more information on forward planning systems in A Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness. You can order copies of the guide by visiting
transportoffice.gov.uk"
manowar:
‘…I had no hazard lights for the first few weeks I was driving for the firm, eventually went out and spent a whole £12 on a new switch. Useless sods…’
Sorry, mate, but that’s a ‘no-go’ for me: There’s no way I’m risking a rear ender, reversing over a baby-buggy - or worse for a tardy company maintenance policy!
Who on Earth thanked you?
manowar:
I’m in the same vehicle every day and nobody else drives it so I too tend to have an ongoing inspection system. I’ve got plenty of POA time each day to have a good check around the vehicle, clean off mirrors etc, oil and water etc. I always check the lights, wheelnuts, mudguards and load security etc in the morning though. If I do have a significant defect, I sign it in a little carbon-papered book and give one copy to the boss in the morning before I depart, only to cover my rear though as I know that nothing will be done for a month until the lease company decides to pull their finger out. I had no hazard lights for the first few weeks I was driving for the firm, eventually went out and spent a whole £12 on a new switch. Useless sods!
if your on POA and doing your checks your working and therefor other work
Happy Keith:
"POWER,… Petrol (fuel!); Oil, Water (coolant); Electrics, Rubber;
We use that on the advanced driving as well 
Include washer bottle in WATER and wipers in RUBBER
Hi there, daily defects checking should be done before you set out in your vehicle, otherwise you could be driving with lights out etc, also as to the people who have said that nothing much has changed between parking up and setting out you are wrong!Recently we had a driver set off down the road in the morning with a flat tyre, the tyre came off as it was a twin and driver didnt notice it hit a car, luckily nobody was hurt, but if he had done proper checks it wouldnt have happened, it happened at the first sharp turn! so guys take 5 mins and take a checkm as they say be carefull out there, nobody out there wants a fatality on there consuncus
ROG:
‘…Include washer bottle in WATER and wipers in RUBBER…’
Exactly …and anti-spray mats in rubber too - been known to become removed when ‘pinched’ on a bay banana during reversing & is an un-roadworthy defect, of course.
well with being back on the tippers i do checks on a morning and a night with the hammer but if i’m long distance on agency i spend about 30 mins checking unit and trailer. Bit excessive but i don’t know which numpty hammered it before me.
richmond:
Hi there, daily defects checking should be done before you set out in your vehicle, otherwise you could be driving with lights out etc, also as to the people who have said that nothing much has changed between parking up and setting out you are wrong!Recently we had a driver set off down the road in the morning with a flat tyre, the tyre came off as it was a twin and driver didnt notice it hit a car, luckily nobody was hurt, but if he had done proper checks it wouldnt have happened, it happened at the first sharp turn! so guys take 5 mins and take a checkm as they say be carefull out there, nobody out there wants a fatality on there consuncus
I think what Lucy, and a few others mean, and this has been done a load of times, is that the early morning walkround checking lights an tryes is done, but the more thorough checks, water, window washer water, oil, wheel nuts, brake temps, springs/airbags etc. Are done through the day, in daylight, and hopefully somewhere dry and warm, rather than poking around in the dark at 5am.
Fallmonk:
Out of currosity when do you write up ure daily defects?
At the start of the shift or at the end ,
Now i always do a pre shift inspection , lights,5th wheel,curtains,load etcbut when do you write these up as it stands i do it at the end of the shift and get it signed off if there is a defect,
All vehicles I am allocated; I have a ‘Vehicle Check Report’ that I need to remember to fill in. I do all the checks. Although I do already have a nick name at work. Mr Defect. But I tend to report things like heaters not working 
Then again, in the last week I’ve taken to wearing thermals to work
Don’t get many with stuff like faulty tyres or missing bodywork. Majority is old bodywork damage and the like. Occasionally I’ll have like what I had yesterday where the brakes were unduly sharp and abrupt…
Ahh well. Swings and, er, well, yes. Indeed.
renaultman:
‘…rather than poking around in the dark at 5am…’
I slightly resent paying for torch batteries (from the declining hourly rate/wage) to check-out their wagons in order to satisfy my legal responsibility.
Do they have a moral obligation to reimburse - and is it an example of how much more we give than receive these days …or should I grow-up?
I’m with Lucy on this one. I’m in the same vehicle all the time and do tramping myself. I keep and eye on the condition of the vehicle all the time. Especially when tipping and I’m out shifting curtains and side posts about. Keep an eye on the lights and tyres and other stuff.
I do check the oil and water before I turn the key every morning tho. When I get up for a ■■■■ in the morning I usually just walk cast my eye over the tyres and make sure the doors and curtains are secure, you never know who was poking about in your trailer in the night.
One other thing I always check - The pin! This happened one morning to a lad in a place where I used to work. The company made their own drivers redundant and brought in TNT logistics to do the driving. This caused a lot of resentment in the place and one morning one of the drivers got into his lorry which he loaded and parked himself the night before. He set off on his merry way but only got about fifteen yards before the trailer dropped off the fifth wheel ripping suzies and everything to bits. Trailer was a complete mess and most of the load was wrecked. Cost was thousands in damages.
My Dad told me this used to happen in the docks back in the seventies during stikes as well.
Happy Keith:
renaultman:
‘…rather than poking around in the dark at 5am…’I slightly resent paying for torch batteries (from the declining hourly rate/wage) to check-out their wagons in order to satisfy my legal responsibility.
Do they have a moral obligation to reimburse - and is it an example of how much more we give than receive these days …or should I grow-up?
yes i think you should.
its a safety item that i guess 90% or more drivers carrty with them. its not as if you replace them every day is it!
our daily sheets have a check list on them,cant gtee allocated unit everyday,so check everything,otherwise next driver complains of faults/damage and its down to the previous driver 
I have one of those head torch thingies… great job. Bought and paid for myself. As is the bag of rock salt on the passenger floor. As is the shovel, as is everything else in the lorry.
Just because my boss won’t buy it for me does not mean I won’t have it. Especailly if I really need it or it makes my life a little easier.
It’s like the Army. My girlfriend’s brother is in Afghanistan. The kit that was given to him was absloutley useless. He had to go and buy everything that he was gonna need as the Army gear was old, worn or just plain crap. Nobody was going to re-imburse him for it. Paid for it out of his own pocket.
I think everyones missing a very important point here. If you are stopped and found to have a fault, or stopped because you have a fault the only concrete proof you will have that you carried out any checks will be two things…
[1] Ten or fifteen minutes on your chart at the start of your duty showing other work.
[2] a signed check sheet or defect report to confirm ‘no defects’
Without these you are going to be hard pushed to prove you have checked anything.