Pre-Trip Inspection
Pre-Trip Inspection: A 5-Minute Walk-Around
A pre-trip inspection is the cheapest insurance in towing. Five minutes in the parking lot beats two hours on the shoulder of I-35 with a blown tire and a load to babysit. Do this before you leave our yard, and do it again at every stop — fuel up, lunch break, before you hit the highway home.
Start at the hitch, work backward
We teach a clockwise walk-around so nothing gets skipped. Start at the coupler and circle the trailer.
Hitch and coupling
Confirm the coupler is fully seated and the latch is pinned. Tug on the safety chains — they should be crossed, secured, and have a little slack but not drag the ground. Verify the breakaway cable is connected to the hitch receiver. Plug check: 7-pin firmly in and routed clear of moving parts.
Tires
Check pressure on all four trailer tires plus your spare (every trailer in our fleet carries one). The correct PSI is printed on the sidewall — not on your truck’s door jamb. Underinflated trailer tires are the #1 cause of blowouts. Look for cracking, dry rot, bulges, or anything embedded in the tread. Pull the cap on each valve stem; loose caps let water in.
Wheels and lug nuts
Walk around and visually confirm each lug nut is in place. If you can see threads, the nut backed off — call us. Tap each tire with your foot or a tire thumper. A noticeably softer tire isn’t a guess; it’s a warning.
Lights — all of them
With your truck’s running lights on, walk around the trailer:
Two red taillights on
Brake lights on both sides (have a helper or use your phone propped on the bumper)
Left turn signal, right turn signal
Marker lights (clearance lights) on top corners for any trailer 80″ wide or more
License plate light
Texas requires all of this — see Texas Transportation Code §547.322 for taillamps and the broader lighting rules in Chapter 547. Driving a trailer with a dead light is a citable offense and a real safety problem at night.
Brakes (electric)
If your rental has electric brakes (our 14′ dump, 20′ car hauler, 24′ tilt, and 30′ deckover do), confirm your brake controller is plugged in, powered on, and showing a connection to the trailer. Manually slide or press the brake controller in your truck cab — you should feel the trailer brakes engage. No engagement = no brakes. Don’t leave.
Cargo and tie-downs
Walk around and tug every strap. Ratchet straps loosen during the first few miles of every trip — this is normal and why we check again at the first stop. Confirm nothing is hanging over the sides, the rear door is latched (enclosed cargo), the tailgate is up and pinned (dump, utility), and ramps are secured (deckover, car hauler).
Underneath and inside
A quick look under the trailer: no leaking fluids, no dragging straps, jack fully up. For the dump trailer, the gate latches should be pinned. For the tilt and the deckover, the lock pins should be engaged.