Pre-Trip Inspection Practice at home

Whats a pretrip?

 

I think that's when I walk into the truck stop and get coffee.

 

Visit a truck stop . Find an old guy with an old truck . Ask for hands on help

 

Other than that don’t worry on memory . Put your hand on and talk about anything that moves or can wear out or takes fluid . Belts hoses pulleys , the pittman arm, tires , brakes , drums , wheel seals , radiator , shocks . Can it break ? Can it wear out ? Pull the slack adjusters so they know that you know what they are . Inside the cab go to safety first , triangles and extinguisher. Check the extinguisher to make sure it’s full . Turn on all the lights , then bright , then signals , wipers , anything you see that you’d use every day . Don’t forget to test the fluid and defroster.

 

Alot of states have In the manual for class A. A cheat sheet.

 

I practiced pre trip walking around my own personal pickup truck. Of course it didn't t have the air bags, air brake chamber or pushrods or air compressor so you're gonna need to remember to locate and check those things. Just imagine in your head that your personal vehicle is a semi.

Start on one side and work your way around the truck, do it the same way every time. If you jump all over the place you might forget to check something.

Same with in cab inspection, sit inside your vehicle and check everything from left side to right side, the same way every time. Really pay attention how to do an air brake test, because you mess that up and you will fail

 

It's that second before you misjudge the height of the curb and.......

 

I had the same issue way back when I was in CDL school. I wound up taking pictures of the truck and trailer, then numbering the items I needed to remember on the pictures. Then I created a corresponding list for the numbers on a separate sheet of paper. I created a pamphlet from my pictures and ran a few copies off for my classmates. The school liked them so much they had them printed up and use them to this day.