As cliché as it sounds, it was a morning just like any other morning…or so I thought! It was basically one of those mornings when too many things were going right, so something was bound to go wrong. Being that California is notorious for having the BEST highways in the nation (queue the sarcasm), it was only fitting that a tire-eating pothole in the middle of the second lane would turn a perfect day semi-sour. Sometimes as a driver, it is our duty to get to a safe place for repair by using a little ingenuity, as well as some unconventional methods. A truck sitting on the side of a major freeway may be more dangerous at times, especially during Los Angeles morning rush hour, than the initial breakdown that got it there in the first place. When presented with the “stay or go” options, sometimes we have to safely “Jimmy Rig” our truck or trailer to get to a safe place, or even to a decent shop for proper repair!
So there I was, just a couple miles from delivery, when another truck driver decided to use the safety cushion in front of my truck as his space to get away from the traffic merging onto the freeway from the onramp on the right. With his bumper now having reduced my safe following distance to less than the length of a passenger car, I proceeded to back off the throttle in an attempt to give a safe cushion once again. During the attempt however, I was not able to see a tire-swallowing pothole in time to do anything about it and caught it down the entire left tread pattern of my truck and trailer. It was then that I heard the “THUD” that changed my morning from sunshine to storm clouds. I began to plan my move over to the shoulder to inspect what had made such a loud noise and noticed that I was without trailer brakes, so I slowed to a safe stop on the shoulder using truck brakes alone.
Upon first inspection of the damage, I could hear a hissing coming from the tandems of my trailer and saw the air tank on my trailer hanging down from one side. Upon closer inspection, not only was my left tank bracket broken from the shock of the pothole, but on its way to hanging down, had sheared off the brass fitting connecting one of the supply lines to the primary tank from hitting the frame rail. At first glance, I thought I was in serious trouble, but then my “MacGyver “ instincts kicked in.
As I searched through my resources, I was able to salvage the air manifold that sheared off and put it back together with a spare pressure fitting that I kept a few of in my tool box. As for the broken air tank-mounting bracket, nothing that a high strength bungee and a couple of lengths of cargo securement webbing couldn’t fix! With my quick temporary fix, I was back on my way to the receiver with complete braking capability, not to mention not having missed a beat on still right on-time!
After delivery, I was able to find a certified welder who had a shop nearby and took it to him for a permanent solution, in the form of welding the initial crack and reinforcing it with a brace plate.
Sometimes the opportunity presents itself to get the gears in our heads turning. As an independent owner-operator, the thought of calling a tow truck is not one I like to envision unless it is an absolute last resort. Typically, if I can move my truck to a location to either be more safe sitting while I wait for road service, or even if I can limp myself to a shop safely to get the repair done and save a road service fee, I will by all means do so when it is safe. This is not a way that I recommend running for any
prolonged length of time down the highway, but sometimes we have to do what we have to do to get the repair done right and still deliver the goods safely. As much as I would like to say I followed in MacGyver’s footsteps, I actually didn’t use any chewing gum, duct tape, or even a paper clip in this latest adventure. I would love to hear more in the comments section below about some of the other Team Run Smart member’s ingenious temporary fixes as well, so please be sure to share any of your “Jimmy Rig” fixes and earn your Run Smart Rewards “miles” for doing so!