Power Drag

A good journalist always has four things with him, his pencil and pad, his camera and his wits. Fortunately I had at least one of these with me this morning. Here is an RVer who was experiencing a power drag – a power cord drag, that is. He was an experienced RVer so no laughing least it happens to you. Fortunately I was able to stop him before he got out of the park but it looks like he dragged the cord quite a ways since he was almost out of the park. These power cords are pretty tough and withstand quite a bit of abuse, but you can’t drag them very far before they get mangled.

He obviously didn’t use a checklist or do a final walk-around. I used to use a checklist when I was flying aircraft in the Air Force – you can’t just pull over to the side of the road while flying – so it is important to make sure everything is in proper working order before take off. Fortunately for RVers we can pull off the road and take care of most problems without much fuss. We know we need to pull over when we see people driving by waiving frantically, flashing their lights and honking their horn at us. Hopefully this is not a normal occurrence for you. If you don’t use a checklist, at least do a walk-around before you leave. A simple walk-around includes (at minimum) looking at all the storage compartments to ensure they are secured, looking at the roof to ensure the vents are closed and the TV antenna is down, a look at the tires, a look at all the connection possibilities (water, sewer, satellite, power, phone) and finally a look around the site to make sure you didn’t leave anything behind. If this RVer (more than likely in a pull-through space since he was towing a vehicle) would have done a good walk-around he would have discovered that his electric cord was still plugged in before he climbed in the motorhome and left.

Bottom line, do a walk-around as a final precaution before climbing into the cab and starting your engine. Be safe out there! Jim