2004 truck inspection stats

[mcsap]

I just finished our commercial vehicle DOT inspection stats for last year. About 90% of what we crawl under are garbage trucks.

Trucks inspected 167

Trucks taken off of the road due to being unsafe 104

The national average of trucks that are taken off of the road by inspectors like myself ( technically called being placed out-of-service) is 22.9%.

Our average is 61%. Thats right 6 out of every 10 trucks we inspected were taken off of the road on the spot and couldn't be moved until repaired.

The #1 reason that we took a truck off of the road ?? Clearly it was the brake system.

Although we didn't do as many non-trash trucks, the approx 19 that we did had the same percentage issue with brakes as the trash trucks.

Keep this in mind as you slow down for something and you see a big truck in the rearview mirror.

There is a public website that you can go to and using either the USDOT number ( found on the outside of ANY big truck engaged in interstate commerce) or the company name you can research the companies safety record according to the feds. This includes the big companies and the small companies. www.safersys.org Follow the link to the "company snapshot" .

[metallicat]

Those are very interesting stats, and scary as well. I drive truck right now, not 18 wheelers, but tandems, and I would be interested to see how safe our fleet is. We have to do a complete walkaround and inspection before each shift, but that doesn't mean anything if we don't take the initiative to bring the truck to the mechanics.

[chewy]

I just finished our commercial vehicle DOT inspection stats for last year. About 90% of what we crawl under are garbage trucks.

Trucks inspected 167

Trucks taken off of the road due to being unsafe 104

The national average of trucks that are taken off of the road by inspectors like myself ( technically called being placed out-of-service) is 22.9%.

Our average is 61%. Thats right 6 out of every 10 trucks we inspected were taken off of the road on the spot and couldn't be moved until repaired.

The #1 reason that we took a truck off of the road ?? Clearly it was the brake system.

Although we didn't do as many non-trash trucks, the approx 19 that we did had the same percentage issue with brakes as the trash trucks.

Keep this in mind as you slow down for something and you see a big truck in the rearview mirror.

There is a public website that you can go to and using either the USDOT number ( found on the outside of ANY big truck engaged in interstate commerce) or the company name you can research the companies safety record according to the feds. This includes the big companies and the small companies. www.safersys.org Follow the link to the "company snapshot" .

Good info. I use Safersys daily for the last year or so. It's great to verify info on the companies. We have gotten a lot of dope out of garbage haulers here in Michigan, Port Huron got like 2000lbs last year out of a hardtop garbage truck. They are great looks, especially if you crawl into them and look for the dufflebags. All or ours have large hockey bags full of hydroponic Marijuana in them, usually stuffed just inside the doors. We issue penalties on DOT's behalf for placarding and such but they won't let us take them out of service which is a shame because we get a lot of crappy trucks. Lately we have had MSP Motor carriers around a lot so we give them a lot of good citations and quite a few out of service tickets. Thanks for sharing the info.

[chewy]

Those are very interesting stats, and scary as well. I drive truck right now, not 18 wheelers, but tandems, and I would be interested to see how safe our fleet is. We have to do a complete walkaround and inspection before each shift, but that doesn't mean anything if we don't take the initiative to bring the truck to the mechanics.

You drive local? do you ever come to the U.S. with loads? If you cross the border why don't you give me your license plate number, that way I can....mmmmmm...."welcome" you to the U.S. officially. hehehehe

[mcsap]

Metal, the air brake system violation mainly involves the brakes being out of adjustment. This is not something you are requred to check during your pre-trip inspection. It takes two people to check and measure them and one of the two has to be underneath getting up close and personal with the brake chambers. Doing this under a garbage hauler ( of which they all leak and drip NASTY NASTY fluids ) is not a pleasant task but we enjoy it anyway.

After a day of inspecting trash trucks, people accuse us of having rolled in and stuffed the rotting trash inside of our coveralls. A lot of the trash we get is about a week old having come from New York City. ( Thanks a lot JoeyD6 and company !!)

The good news is the fines are HIGH.

One brake out of adjustment is a $300 fine on the company.

Two or more out of adjustment is $600 EACH. My current record is 8 of 10 brakes in violation. Ching-Ching.

We had a dump truck go down a hill last year with bad brakes and it ended up killing a mother and her 9 yr old daughter and injuring 11 others. The trial starts tomorrow 1-17-05.

[metallicat]

Never to the US Chewy, so I am safe from you for now.

mcsap, you are right. We don't do brake adjustments. We know how, but that stuff is left to the mechanics. If during the air brake tests we find something wrong, we take the truck in to get fixed.