Are fender mirrors pointless?

I've never drove a truck with fender mirrors and I'm still kickin' If I can do it I'm sure you can aswell.

 

It depends on the mirrors. The last trucking company i worked for had these little 2 inch round mirrors hidden behind the bug shield on the hood of the pete. Them mirrors are completely worthless. The ones on the Volvo I currently drive are pretty helpful, after I finally got them adjusted right.

 

Of course they're important!
You turn them inwards so you can see what you look like in the driver's seat of a big truck as you're going down the road!

Who's that handsome devil driving that big rig down the highway?
That's you, big boy!

 

The only purpose they serve is to protect the Motor Carrier from liability in an accident. The company required it- it's on there- that means you're responsible for using it, keeping it adjusted properly and staying accident free.

In other words your safety guy will say "We made sure they were mounted, we told him to use them and he had an accident despite our best efforts".

Motor Carrier deflects the lawsuit and throws YOU under the train- now it's ALL YOUR FAULT.

 

As you're learning they are useful, it gives you more angles to track the trailer through a turn. If adjusted correctly it also lessens your blind area along the passenger door. Now if you wanna talk about a useless mirror, that's the one hanging above the passenger side door, even if a car is there it's such a crappy mirror you can't really tell.

 

Amen to that!!! Does help when your fueling to keep eye on nozzel..LOL

 

I like the right fender mirror. The left one is kind of useless. I've used the right one to blind back in a few instances. Don't try it unless you are a professional in an empty lot!
It gives you a good view on multiple lanes and say you are in lane 3 and someone is changing lanes from 1 to 2 sneaking beside you.

But the way the DOT looks at it, if it's there, it's suppose to work. Either fix it or take it off. I've replace them myself and just turn in the receipt for reimbursement. Get the 7" mirror over the 6" one. Much better view.

They are dummy noise makers also. That backing driver will stop when he hears glass breaking and a mirror crunching. It just might save a fender!

 

I had a Columbia day cab for a bit that the left fender mirror was stuck up pointing at me. I couldn't get it to budge downward at all. It seriously bothered me having to see myself in that thing while I was driving. Maybe it's how ugly I am, I dunno. Luckily, 90% of my driving was at night so I didn't have to see myself much.

 

Use the right fender mirror all the time changing lane.