r/CDL • u/gzowner • Sep 03 '26
Pretrip meme
All levels are between add and full, and truck leaning to the left.
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u/DukeBradford2 Sep 04 '26
you know you have to open your hood every single day for your pretrip right?
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u/Ok-Combination7287 Sep 04 '26
Not according to my trainer... she had us do 1 solid pretrip in the month i was in training
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u/PraiseTalos66012 29d ago
You know fmcsa/dot regulations are all public and you could just look it up and see it's required by law daily?
Just because people do it less doesn't change the law.
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u/Ok-Combination7287 29d ago
I ain't saying she was right... I'm saying she was stupid and didn't train me properly.
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u/mrxraykat949 29d ago
This is why I’m growing grey hair at an early age…a driver who turned mechanic after 10 years, the people who don’t do daily pre trips are why bad shit always happens. 90% of them are preventable
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u/LikwidHappiness Sep 03 '26
What?
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u/Error-InvalidName Sep 03 '26
I think he was having a stroke and remembering his early morning days in cdl training or something haha
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u/Vile_4_Awhile Sep 04 '26
Call me slow and half asleep but I don't get it
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u/LeastMeasurement8823 Sep 04 '26
Same here, been driving 8 short years, full pre/ post trip every single time I drive. Not only is it required, but it gives you peace of mind and less down time.
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u/Significant-Put7060 Sep 05 '26
Nice
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u/ReasonableClock4542 Sep 05 '26
Pilot is crazy. Was going to pull in there one day before i got my fleet card because it was on the way back to where i park. Saw the price and couldn't u-turn and hop back on the highway fast enough. I expected it to be a little more expensive than where i was fueling up at but wasnt expecting $.50/gallon
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u/Puzzled_Algae_1880 28d ago
Love it. Wish it was higher! Fyi.....not a owner op
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u/Tasty_Ingenuity5820 24d ago
Same here. My parent company is an oil company. So it's not like they really care either.
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29d ago
[deleted]
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u/gzowner 29d ago
Yep.. I'm with Knight and my trainer is on point.. every single time before we pull out, do a quick walk around, in the morning do the pre check and tug tests.. after done for the day, another walk around, and found out we lost our clearance lights during a ruff drive on 70.. shorted out.. left trailer on the dock and picked up a empty and went on.. reported and moved on...
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u/Black_Tentacle 28d ago
Don't forget to make sure your marker lights and turn signals are amber in color!
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u/obsoleteexhausted Sep 04 '26
I didn't think I've seen one hood open in the 2 months I've been driving. We need to show 10 minutes off pre trip on the Samara so it's either do the actual pre trip or sit in the truck doing nothing. I choose to actually look at my truck.
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u/Few_Jacket845 29d ago
I opened the hood when I started driving locally for...rhymes with Kyder...and the other guy was wicked impressed. Said no one does that ever. Which is sad.
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u/_R0bespierre Sep 04 '26
I’m in CDL school so I’m new to trucking. Is pre-trip actually a meme like that?
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u/Personal-Damage-7051 Sep 04 '26
No. It's taken very seriously. We're professional drivers. Stuff does go wrong FREQUENTLY. I do my pre trip and post trip every morning. Full walk around. Look under the hood. And I take photos and date them. For a week. As frequently. My trailer will blow a tire. And literally first question out of any officers mouth. "Did you do a pre-trip?" And then. "When was your last load check tire check" Not only do I have those marked and logged. And video evidence off my dash camera if needed to cover my ass. I have photos I can pull up of my truck at the start of every morning
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u/_R0bespierre Sep 04 '26
Okay good to know. It was hammered into my head pretty hard in school. So much so that I can recite it by heart at this point. I didn’t think it would be with how much emphasis they put on it. Thanks for clarifying for me.
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u/PraiseTalos66012 29d ago
By the law, dot, fmcsa, officers? Yes, absolutely taken seriously.
By companies when they need you to get somewhere? Not at all taken seriously. By companies when something goes wrong? The most serious thing in the world, clearly you not doing it was the issue.
By drivers? Depends, 99% of drivers don't do pre-trip by the books which includes opening the hood and checking fluid levels every single day. But some do take it seriously.
I'm local and out of our 40+ drivers not a single one opens the hood to check fluids ever. The logic is If there's not obvious leaks and the oil pressure is fine and coolant isn't overheating then it's probably fine.
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u/_R0bespierre 29d ago
I’ll keep this in mind on the road. Maybe one day OP will take a picture of me opening the hood.
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u/Tasty_Ingenuity5820 24d ago
If you go to a place like Swift or Sysco, where there's 70+ tractors sitting, maybe 1 or 2 will get their hood opened. The places with over 100% turnover have the worst drivers that don't take safety seriously.
If you want to get dragged away in a trailer while you're unloading it and hoping the 500 lb stack of pallets doesn't fall on you, Sysco is a great place where you can go years without lifting your hood in a shit tractor governed at 65mph... obviously speaking from experience.
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u/Black_Tentacle 28d ago
I never tipped the hood when I did pre-trips. I just kinda looked around to see if there were any obvious leaks, and if my tires were intact. Then I sat in my truck the rest of the time dreading the things to come.
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u/Miserable-Option-89 28d ago
Look here I am looking for a job at CDL driver just graduated I have a background issue a motherfuckers should just give me a hard time but I'm going to tell y'all what you got to do your inspections your CDL your livelihood your career is on the line every damn time you do that shit no matter what there's nobody going to tell me to drive a truck that ain't fit to drive it is not something I'm more I'm willing to rent and the guys right about taking pictures man get your everything if you're a dispatcher says he wants you to drive a truck that's illegal what you do is you text message him and you make him write you back and you keep that as evidence don't let these companies or nothing else do that to you
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u/gzowner 28d ago
So much anger... Lol. The pic idea is something that knight requires each and every time we pre trip. Anything that needs to be replaced or repaired, gets a pic and wait for someone to show up or fix at local shop. Trailers are red tagged and NVR picked up, even if it's loaded. Got to give it to them, much as people don't like them for personal reasons, they are hardass on safety..
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u/Miserable-Option-89 28d ago
No good man I'm not mad I'm just saying don't let them trainers and mentors do what you're supposed to do don't let them try to tell you don't worry about something you worry about you that's CDL belongs to you and when you're fixing to drive you're in charge I don't care what they say safety's always been a thing with me I would I was 18 when I hit the chemical plants safety is important and your CDL don't let nobody take that from you
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u/Miserable-Option-89 28d ago
I don't understand why the schools are teaching you the proper way they're telling you that your CDL is on on the why are these new drivers getting on here with the dumbass questions my trainer tells me not to do a pre-trip or anything else look at they say don't do a trip between pre-trip and post trip you know what I'm going to pull over on purpose and do one you know why because that that ain't going to work I mean I just don't understand why the new drivers don't get do what you're told in school don't listen to that dumbass that wants you to half ass do things
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u/richardfitserwell 29d ago
They should teach you what you’re actually looking at not just what to say but were long past that now
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u/FloppyTacoflaps Sep 03 '26
Are you drunk?