What is Schedule 1 for?

by Dale on January 4, 2012

I got a ticket the other day for not producing “Schedule 1.” The officer said something about a checklist for checking out the truck. I thought that’s what the Pre trip form is for! He asked if I had been trained for pre trip at work. I said I knew all that from when I got my class 1. I had to do that on my road test. The officer asked if my company had trained me. I said I did well on my evaluation drive and the trainer said “good enough.”  The officer said “Probably not.” The company should have trained you to do the full trip inspection including a lesson on form filling and use of Schedule One. They probably should have reviewed with you how to measure pushrod travel at your brake chambers. Some companies require their drivers to use schedule one to identify and “code” the defects they report. The code comes from Schedule One (NSC 13, Part 2). When you have a light burnt out and I pull you over I expect to see a comment on the Daily Vehicle Inspection Report about the burnt out bulb, and maybe a code 18.1. If you don’t consult Schedule one when you have a problem, how do you know if you can continue with the trip? If the front right signal isn’t flashing, is it okay to proceed? Even if you do carry on with the trip, the company is required to fix it before the next inspection. Did you know that?

I asked the officer to tell me where I was supposed to find this Schedule 1. He asked me for my Vehicle Inspection Report book, and opened it up to the back cover and showed me the list of 23 items on a chart.  So I checked out the broken signal light bulb scenario and found out that if the front bulb is out that is a minor defect. But if a rear signal light is burnt out, I can’t go anywhere until its fixed.

The officer added that if that happened, and I fixed the bulb, I should note the fact that I fixed it down in the remarks section of the pre trip report, and attach the receipt. The maintenance guy would appreciate that for his records the next time the Auditor blows through his office.

That was an expensive lesson. I think the ticket cost me 260 bucks. I could have taken the whole course for $100. So I asked him if he had any other tips for my expensive lesson. He said “Sure. If a tire has less than 50% pressure you can park the truck till you get it fixed. If more than 20% of your brakes have problems you can park it. If you have no taillights, you can park it. If you have a cracked mainspring, you can park it. If you have a dripping fuel tank you can park it. If your low air warning doesn’t work, you can park it. If you have a pushrod that exceeds the travel limit, you can park it.”

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, enough already, I can’t remember all that?!’’ I said.

“That’s why you have to have Schedule One IN THE TRUCK!” Responded the officer.

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What size is your Truck?

by Dale on January 4, 2012

Ask a driver how tall his truck is. The answer it seems is “short enough to go under all the overpasses and through the tunnels.” So, “how do you know if the clearance is too low?” “The truck stops.”

The other half of this equation of weights and dimensions is that many of us truck drivers are not sure of the mass of freight we are allowed to carry down the road. Some of the reason why we may not be sure about weight, is that we need to find out some of the specifications of the truck we are driving, and then do a little math. I just want to drive, thank you!

We should all know how high, wide, and long our vehicles are so we know when we require a permit. Permits for Dimension are VERY cheap typically. Sometimes as little as $100 for the whole fleet of trucks for the year. Tickets for infractions can cost twice that for one event; plus the cost of a single trip permit.

Let’s take a stab at dimension. Height is fairly standard at 13′ 6 ‘ (4.15m) across North America. that is usually the height of a loaded van. Maximum width of a unit is also very standard across North America at 8’6″ (2.6 m). Length in Canada has three versions, Straight Truck 41 ‘ (12.5 m), truck (or tractor) and trailer is 23 m (75 1/2′) and A,B,or C trains maximum length is 25 m (82 ft)

Weight is not so simple, in Alberta, first check the capacity of your tires, then the GVWR of the vehicle and its axles. For smaller vehicles, this province may  let you register your lighter duty vehicle to the capacity of the rubber. When you go to BC and SK you will be restricted to the Manufactured Capacity (GVWR). So pay attention.

For the larger vehicles, regulation limits more or less go like this. Steer axle on a tractor just went up to 6000 kg. Steer axle on a truck 7300. Tandem axle group 17,000, Tridem on the trailer 24,000 kg if the spread is over 10 feet. Under ten feet is 21,000 kg.

Tridrive on a truck or tractor usually is allowed 23,000kg on a permit. just remember when you go offroad with the tri’s, you need a TAC permit and county permission to go full weight.

Two good ways to make sure you understand the capacity of your vehicle and what value to register:

A. visit a scale ahead of time and work it out with them to calculate Licensed Mass and Tare weight.  Phone ahead.

B. Access the Alberta gov website at http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/4777.htm

Add up your axle groups; this usually results in your licensed maximum. Unless you have short spacings between you axle group. so just call the experts and get it right before you get the overweight citation!!

Any heavier, or wider, or taller, or longer, you need a permit!!  Happy Haulin’

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Trucking by mistake

January 3, 2012

Some people make the mistake of buying a truck for commercial purposes that is so big they must perform the functions of a truck driver even if it is not their profession. Log books, pre trip inspection, cargo securement, too much weight. It doesn’t take much of a truck to qualify for this attention from [...]

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So you know Air Brakes?

January 3, 2012

So what do you remember from your air brakes class? What information stayed in your mind? Do you remember how to perform the “6 pack?” How do you perform a service leak check? How do you measure push rod travel? These performances and draining the air tanks should take place every day. the number one [...]

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Who Comes to Capilano?

November 2, 2011

Three kinds of Students at Capilano Truck Driver Training…. Basic Driver Worker Professional Driver 1. The Basic Driver The Basic driver has a class 5, and needs to upgrade his/her license to get a better job. Ask about Tractor Trailer, Class 1 Ask about Bus training, Class 2 Ask about Truck training, Class 3 Class [...]

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