Well now..... let's look at some FACTS!
The O.P. in his original post said this:
Quote:
5 min later he called my girlfriends cell phone and said
"this load cannot be late and there is no other teams in salt lake city,
your just going to have to roll the windows down and keep going, you can stop and get it fixed AFTER you deliver this load in MA."
Let's see..... that's Salt Lake City to MASSACHUSSETTS with an exhaust leak, which NONE of you can say wouldn't get WORSE!
I drive team, and I smoke so I have my windows open all the time, and "I" have smelled carbon monoxide in MY cab lately.... and I know it's getting bad when I start getting drowsy! :shock:
Now, let's see how many of you Billy Big Riggers would drive a truck with a NOTICABLE exhaust leak from
Salt Lake City to Massachusetts!
First of all, per the regs.... it is illegal for a carrier to force a driver to drive a truck that can't pass a pre-trip, or has an unsafe condition, ONE SINGLE MILE!
Second, an exhaust leak will NOT always be noticed during a pretrip unless it is visible, audible or noticable from OUTSIDE the cab during said inspection.
Also, unless the leak is in the exhaust PIPE leading to the muffler, it is highly unlikely that the wind will "blow it all away." What if it is in the manifold area, and is coming right up through the shifter pocket?
Now, I don't know if this driver did a thorough pretrip or not, or whether he communicated well with his dispatcher..... but it seems he HAD an exhaust leak, and he was told to "git er done" for about 2500 miles, with NO shutoff time, or get screwed!
The FMSCA regulations make NO distinction between the illegality of a driver exceeding his HOS and a carrier insisting that he DOES! Nor does it dinstinguish between a driver operating unsafe equipment and a carrier who insists he does!
What part of this is FUNNY to some of you? :shock:
How is driving with a killer carbon monoxide leak (even if partially diluted by fresh air) any safer than driving under the influence of only a FEW beers? Or driving a few hours over the HOS limit, who cares if you're a bit drowsy??
All I can say is I hope SOME of you are in front of this NEWBIE when he comes barrelling down the hill on your six, and has what YOU think is a "negligible" exhaust leak! :shock: :roll:
Oh, but don't worry..... he'll have his windows cracked a bit! Cuz he GOT that "good advice" right here on CAD!! :roll: