Ask A Trucker: Bad Drivers & Flat Tires

I’ve been neglecting my “Ask A Trucker” mail bag. Since it doesn’t get a ton of mail I tend not to check it as often as I should. When I finally did check it I had two new questions waiting for me. Here they are:

• #1

Q: Have you ever had a flat tire? What do you do when you get one? Do you clean your debri off the road? Are you supposed to?

A: I actually had a flat tire just last week. I was at one of our yards and I had some tires that needed replacing. I took my truck to the tire shop and they replaced eight tires that had paid their dues. After that I took a break, because I didn’t need to pick up my next load until that evening.

Later that evening when I hooked up to my load I proceeded to conduct a pre-trip inspection of my truck and trailer. One of the main parts of that inspection is checking the tires. It turns out that one of my newly replaced tires was completely flat, so I took my truck back to the tire shop.

A new shop guy was on duty and he informed me that the dayshift guy that did the original work was lazy as all hell, and that he did a piss-poor job of replacing my tires. Turns out the dayshift guy is notorious for not replacing the valve stems, which should be done when the tires are replaced. He doesn’t balance the tires either, so in a way the flat tire was a blessing in disguise for me, but a curse for the evening shop guy. I caught him at the end of his shift, and the company isn’t paying for overtime right now. He stayed after and redid all of the tires for me. I let him know how greatly I appreciated his time and effort.

This scenario probably didn’t answer the question as it was intended, so let me give a hypothetical scenario that should sum it up. Usually when you get a flat tire you are out in the middle of nowhere (right?). Were I out in the middle of nowhere and I blew I tire I would pull over to inspect the damage, and remove any debris from the road. Debris should be removed if you are aware of them, and if it can be done safely. I would then contact my employers to report the incident. They would contact a tow truck that would come and change the tire for me.

Now to break down that simplified answer, because it’s not very realistic (for me). If pre-trip inspections are being conducted before every trip, you tend to find problems before they become real problems. More likely than not your tires would go flat before they would blow, because they appeared to be in good condition at the time of inspection.

If your tire goes flat while in motion it’s not going to capture your attention the way a blowout would. If you drive long enough on a flat tire it is possible that it will tear apart, and this can happen without the driver even knowing. In this case you can’t clean up debris you didn’t know exist.

You wouldn’t even know you lost the tire until you got to your next stop. I have seen where trucks will pull in to a stop and all that’s left of a flat tire are two sidewalls clinging to the wheel. If that were the case I would still call my employer, and a tow truck would come to my rescue, unless I was already at a truck stop where repairs could be made.

I think a lot of times when a trucker lets his tires get to the point of falling apart on the road, it’s when the trucker is an owner-operator. That means it’s his/her own truck, and he/she has to pay for new tires him/herself. Just one new tire starts in the range of $500-$600. Tires tend to need replacing in groups. I just had eight tires replaced, do the math.

Inconsiderate, penny-pinching owners will drive on a tire until it falls off. That’s just a fact of the industry, but that doesn’t apply to all owner-operators. Company drivers like myself tend to worry more about safety and less about cost. The company likes it that way too.

• #2

Q: In your opinion, have you found women or men are worse offenders on the road?

A: Yes, I’ve found men and women are worse drivers. Honestly, I haven’t noticed one way or another if it’s the men or the women. It’s usually to hard to tell, because up in the truck you’re at such an angle that you can’t see said drivers, and when you do get a good view of said drivers their heads are so far up their asses that you can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman. Sorry I couldn’t have been more help here.

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