Transcription of interview:
Erica Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Welcome to VSP News: Uptime Update. I am your host Erica Schueller, Editor-in-Chief of Fleet Maintenance magazine, covering all maintenance, all vehicle classes, all management, all the time.
I recently completed a 10-week professional truck driving training program through Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC). While attending this program, I learned how to drive a heavy duty commercial vehicle, earning my Class A commercial driver’s license.
In addition to learning how to drive a tractor-trailer, a key area we learned in class was how to conduct a thorough pre-trip inspection on a commercial vehicle. As students, we were required to complete a pre-trip inspection every single day before getting behind the wheel, to understand the process.
I caught up with my instructor, Jeffrey Kiel, one of several professional truck driving instructors at Waukesha County Technical College. He discussed the importance of proper pre-trip inspections, and why it’s critical for drivers to establish and adhere to this process.
Jeffrey Kiel, WCTC: It’s incredibly important that drivers adhere to a thorough pre-trip process for two reasons:
- It’s mandated by the federal government.
- We want to make sure our trucks are being driven on the road are as safe as they possibly can be.
Drivers are our first line of defense in making sure that the smaller issues in a truck don’t become larger issue. If we can catch those issues at the beginning of the day, we can ensure that our driving throughout that day will not become a major issue, and possibly cause an accident.
Families are being driven on these roads, next to these big vehicles – possibly up to 80,000 pounds sometimes. If we can ensure those vehicles are safe as they’re driving down the road every day, we can ensure that our families make it home safely every day.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Conducting pre-trip inspections helps drivers catch issues before they become significant problems.
Kiel offers some suggestions on what fleets can do to ensure pre-trip inspections are completed by drivers.
Kiel, WCTC: A lot of times you’ll find that the more the company believes it’s important, the more that driver will feel it’s important.
A driver has to feel like they’re part of the process. There are two key things you can do to satisfy that:
- The driver needs to be paid to complete that pre-trip. It’s extremely important the driver doesn’t feel they’re losing money when they do a pre-trip inspection.
- The driver has to feel that what they’re doing with that pre-trip is a part of the overall goal of not just the industry, but that company itself.
The buy-in of the company has to be number-one. The respect to the driver creates that buy-in for the driver.
That, along with the company creating a step-by-step standardized inspection sheet or a priority checklist to use at the beginning of every day, will keep that driver on task.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Technical training programs, like the WCTC truck driving program, can set drivers up for success when it comes to the operation of commercial motor vehicles – especially when it comes to understanding how to conduct pre-trip inspections.
Kiel shares more information about what we can expect in the future when it comes to driver training.
Kiel, WCTC: NAPFTDS is a member organization set up to help schools’ network to provide the best, most cost-effective training possible.
With the new commercial vehicle truck driving standards being implemented in February 2020, NAPFTDS is already on the right track to bring all those member schools in line with those standards well before that deadline.
When we reach that deadline, you’ll find a much more standardized process of putting commercial drivers on the road. What you’ll find is the drivers that are now on the road will be better trained, safer, and now we can put more confidence in these vehicles that are hauling our freight across the country.
Schueller, Fleet Maintenance: Want more information on the pre-trip inspection process? Check out the blog post from my In the Driver’s Seat series, which discusses the areas of the vehicle we covered during each pre-trip inspection in detail, by visiting the link below.
That’s it for this week’s episode! Thank you for tuning in to VSP News Uptime Update. I’m your host, Erica Schueller.
Until our next broadcast, keep up with this, and other industry topics, by visiting us online at VehicleServicePros.com.
Find more information on the pre-trip inspection process.
