Unsafe Acts Told To Do

[mittam]

Has anyone encountered managers instructing you to work in a known safety hazard? Yesterday in bad rain storm my wipers went out, completely off. Oh brand new 140000 series. I stopped pulled fuse the heater was same fuse so I swithched them, heater still worked but not the wipers. I knew from that fuse was ok. So I called center and first reply from them was, "both of them"? Well yes duh. So my instructions were to drive real slow and keep going until a mechanic could get to me. What are some of everyone elses stories?

 

[Box_Junkie]

When I first started driving I signed up for seasonal vac. coverage during the summer. I was on a route that delivered alot of bulk including the local mall, walmart, lowes, etc... and about 70 pickups as well. It was a 100+ degree day and I drank atleast a gallon or two of water. It didn't matter the heat was getting to me. I had about 25 resi deliverys left and about 4 PU's. I sat in the gas station (A/C) and called the center and told them that somebody needed to come get my air I was nausious and dizzy and couldn't drive safely. I said that I was going to sit there until I felt ok. The center manager actually started yelling saying "thats no excuse drink more fluids!" I assured him that I had been all day, its just too hot. He just said "get it done." So I sat there anyways for another 25 minutes until I felt like I wasn't going to pass out while driving. Needless I ran my air in then went back out delivering till damn near 9PM.
Its just insane, the lack of compassion these people have. They think were machines. Sometimes its just too damn hot!!

 

[Channahon]

With any breakdown, you should wait for the mechanic to ensure your safety and the general public.

 

[over9five]

Mittam, I hope you didn't drive like that. Of course you know you have the right to refuse to operate unsafe equipment.

If you were to have had an accident, the decision to drive was yours.

 

[Raw]

"To anger a conservative, lie to him.
To anger a liberal, tell him the truth."

Very true, Over9five!

 

[scratch]

Back about 1985, I got my first brand new Package Car, a GMC P1000. Today these are those wornout high step, manual steering junkers. These were bad about having a bad Exhaust Manifold leak, meaning I would breath exhaust all day while on my warehouse route. I wrote it up several times, the Shop always replied that it was "serviceable". One day the State DOT was doing truck inspections on one of my streets, so I pulled right up. It was red-tagged on the spot, and towed back to the Hub behind a wrecker. This happened about 2:30, about the time I started doing Pick-ups. Long Day, my center manager had to bring me a different car.

 

[mittam]

Mittam, I hope you didn't drive like that. Of course you know you have the right to refuse to operate unsafe equipment.

If you were to have had an accident, the decision to drive was yours.

nope I got to a long country lane backed in and sat 1 hour 35 mins

 

[DS]

In my early days my accelerator cable broke,I was still trying to make seniority and when I called the center manager told me to take off the engine cover, put my foot on the little knob to the carburator....and use my left foot to change gears and brake.It was late november and friggin cold.
I did what I was told.

 

[rod]

I had a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere. Of course no one was at out center(in those days we had one center manager for two centers) and being that he lived in the town where the other center was we only saw him maybe twice a week at the most. I called the Minneapolis building and got transfered at least 6 times before some clown actually would make a decision as to what I should do. You guessed it, I finnished my route on a flat tire and by the time I got back to the building I was running on 3 tires and a rim. The mechanic could only laugh.

 

[raceanoncr]

In my early days my accelerator cable broke,I was still trying to make seniority and when I called the center manager told me to take off the engine cover, put my foot on the little knob to the carburator....and use my left foot to change gears and brake.It was late november and friggin cold.
I did what I was told.

Ok, trying to make seniority is one thing. I think we've all broke the rules just trying to reach the unrealistic goals that are set when you are still so unfamiliar with this. BUT...

to do that AFTER we make seniority is a mistake! What if you would have had a crash. Never mind your own safety here, which should be your foremost concern, how would you explain to the officer what happened? "Well, my mgr told me to take the cover off...ect". His answer? "Put your hands behind your back". Well, maybe not that serious but think about it! And your support team back at the center? We call that "Selective Memory". "I don't remember telling you to put your foot on the carb".

As Chan said, don't do anything that is unsafe or against motor vehicle regs.

 

[rushfan]

If your battery dies, remove the ignition key from the key chain, and keep the engine running. So if someone rips off the package car, who gets fired? I was told to do so.