There are countless things that truck drivers can do to damage their trucks – but let us break down those things into the worst things that can do potentially expensive damage to the truck.
So, buckle up and read on!
Crossing the Battery Cables
If you don’t pay attention, this is relatively easy to do – especially during the winter. Nonetheless, you will have to be very careful to hook the positive cable to the positive end and the negative to the negative.
Because if you cross those terminals, you will damage the engine. The truck engines – even of the best trucks – such as the Iveco Magirus, are specifically electronically designed to function. So, you wouldn’t want to damage the truck’s engine by crossing the wires.
If it happens, you will damage the electronic control module and some of the sensors. You get the point – you will have to be very careful while connecting and hooking up batteries. The damage is quite easy to do, and it is often extreme and quite expensive.
Abusing the Driveline
Many of you might have already seen this where truck drivers are doing speed shifting or power shifting, and the trucks have got the front wheels coming off the ground. Or, when one is spinning their wheels, but there is no spinning when the power lock is engaged – this can cause serious damage to the truck.
The drivelines of trucks are typically not designed to take a lot of abuse. Usually, the drivelines are made light so the truck can scale more product. This is also one of the primary reasons that the trucking industry is going towards automated transmissions.
The underlying reason is that the truck companies in the past have experienced so much driveline damage from the truckers that don’t shift properly.
Whatever truck you have – automatic or manual – you will want to be gentle with the driveline instead of spinning the wheels. You will want to take care of your truck as an ideal trucker should.
Mixing up the Fuel Tank with the DEF Tank
As a truck driver, you might not think that this would happen – but – it happens a lot. If you aren’t paying attention, you can put the wrong fluid into the tank. And once it is in there, it is next to impossible to get it out.
So, you will want to pay attention when you are fueling or adding DEF fluid by ensuring that you are putting it in the right tank.
Not Washing Off the Corrosive Chemicals from Underneath the Truck
During winter time, chemicals are sprayed on the highways, which is highly corrosive to the point where the Department of Transportation in different states has decided that the chemicals are exclusively damaging the concrete overpasses on the highways.
You can only imagine what the chemicals can do underneath your truck. The chemical chews up the aluminum, and it gets into the electronics.
You get the point – the chemicals are highly corrosive, which is why you will want to regularly wash your truck during winter, particularly the underneath of the truck, to get that corrosive stuff off your vehicle.