Crash Landing

Keep your training out front

Tyler, assistant manager for a tire sales and repair company in Redmond, Oregon, told session eight of the Leadership Development Lab:

“It was an unusually cloudy day in central Oregon. Shane, a regular customer pulled his big rig in to our shop. Everyone in our branch knew we were scheduled to put tires on the front of this important customer’s semi. My new guy, Dallas, grabbed a jack and started to get the truck up in the air. Dallas hadn’t done much semi-truck work. I was glad he had the drive and initiative to get the job started. Working together it didn’t take us long to pull the wheels off. As I was changing both steering tires I heard a startling crash. I looked back at where the noise came from and the front end of Vince’s semi was laying on the ground.

“So, I immediately got the front axle off the ground to make sure nothing had happened to the undercarriage. Then I grabbed Dallas and instead of freaking out I asked, ‘What happened?’ He told me he didn’t know he had to make sure the lock valve was on and needed to be tight. I showed him that all hydraulic jacks have a pressure valve and how to be sure it is locked off after jacking up the rig. It was pretty obvious that if we had destroyed the trucks steering linkage or we hurt someone we would all be in big trouble. He agreed to double check the jack lock in the future and we finished the rig in plenty of time to be ready for Shane when he came in to pick it up.

NOTE: This is a big issue since, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) data, the process of jacking, lifting, and supporting tractors and trailers has resulted in more fatal accidents than any other aspect of truck tire and wheel service.

“The lesson I learned from this experience is to be sure my training is ahead of the tasks my crew attempts to perform. In addition to the hard cost and wasted time that results from failed performance there is the hidden costs of the feeling of failure that can lead to a decrease in motivation and a lack of initiative.

“The action I call you to take is to keep your training process ahead of the job tasks your crew may take on. Be absolutely certain they know the safe and sound ways to do all the tasks their job may call for today.

“The benefit you will gain is a high performance, confident, safe team who beat all your best past performance records.”