Some people are blessed with the patience gene. I am not. I am working at it. The longest minute ever invented is the minute that you spend waiting for your ELD to flip over. If you leave when your ELD strikes 30 minutes, and switch immediately to driving, you may find that you just took a 29 minute break. You get a few miles down the road and your ELD is yelling at you. Your driving time goes to 0:00. It wants you to take a 30 minute break. AAARRGGHH!

It is a mistake that you should only make once. When your ELD flips to 30, it may be 29:59. The machines round off. Thankfully, when I did it, it was on a 30 minute break and not a 2,8,10or even a 34 hour break. The hardest minute for me is from 10:00 – 10:01 on my ELD. Sitting there staring at the ELD drives me crazy. I told you that I was not blessed with the patience gene. Even my mother who thought that I was perfect, might suggest that I had a problem with patience.

It has become necessary to develop a work around. My work around the problem has become a walk around. Once around the truck usually takes about a minute. It has solved the problem for me. If I am sitting in my truck when the clock strikes 30, I get out. With the tractor brake set, I release the trailer brake. I turn the flasher on. I look at the connections to my trailer. I listen for air leaks. Check the handle on the fifth wheel. Make sure that it is locked. Are your marker lights working? How about the slider for your trailer axle? Is it locked in place? I have had this pulled on me. Make sure that it is locked in place.

Kick your tires. Hand check them. Have you picked up a bolt? Are all the lights on the back of your wagon working? Come around the right side of the trailer. Check those tires as well. Keep listening for air leaks. Are your right side turn signals working? Check you drive tires. Walk around to the front of your truck. Rub you hands over your steer tires. They are your friends. You want that friendship to last. Running your hands over them as often as possible will help detect unusual wear patterns sooner.

Check your headlights. Carefully climb back into your cab. Fasten your seat belt. By then you have wasted a minute. No, wait! You have used a minute. Take that same minute every time you get in and out of your truck. A one minute walk around your truck can save more than your 30 minute break. It can save you from a bad inspection. It can save a tire. It may even prevent an accident.

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Jeff Clark

Jeff Clark of Kewaunee, WI has been driving a truck for 24 years. He has been an owner operator for 11 years.

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