Harry Monk:
I agree with Kevmac, palm couplings are transparently mechanically inferior and I have had the same problems…when folk say “there’s nothing wrong with them providing you spit on them beforehand”, then there’s something wrong with them.
They still use them on trains and I always couple up with bare hands or a rag. I save my gloves for going inside the tank for samples, with palms, you keep your own palms clean, they don’t need dropping in diesel tanks to push them on!
I’ve been using palm couplings exclusively for the past 3yrs (nearly) never had one come off, still on my original seals and never had any leaks, a simple flick of the wrist is all you need to connect/disconnect them. When they’re connected there is no free play at all so you don’t get any wear over time like you do with C couplings.
Kevmac mentions them coming off when making turns, in the instance he mentions, that is due to the horizontal plane in which the coupling now sits, well that is obviously going to happen, they should be fitted so that the connecting faces are in the vertical plane, then they will never come off, you can’t blame the coupling for that, it’s the fault of the idiot fitting them
Ive also been using palms since I got over here, and have never had one come off or leak on me. And in our yard you really have to jack the trailer round really tight. One other advantage to them is that if you somehow manage to drop a trailer by accident, the palms will uncouple saving you from snapping your line. The Rubbers for them are available for pennies at all the truckstops here.
I suppose to bring the thread back on track, it is very sad for the remaining family, in the local paper it says that he was coupling up at 7am in Bisons yard, the unit started to move and whether he had been using palms or C type, he committed the ultimate sin and jumped off the catwalk to try to reach the drivers door and footbrake presumably, he was squished by his own unit.
For me palm couplings are preferable, or even using a wheel chock as used in Germany.
I did this once while coupling, popped the red line on, with unit handbrake off As soon as it moved I realised and grabbed the red line, this happened right under the noses of the fleet manager and the boss The fleet manager sidled over and said, “you wont do that again will you■■?”
kevmac47:
(my simple remedy as I told my son who still has to use them now and then) is to smear them with grease from the fifth wheel .The dirtier the grease the better the seal.
Thought I’d read on here somewhere that grease buggers up the seals in airline connectors?
kevmac47:
(my simple remedy as I told my son who still has to use them now and then) is to smear them with grease from the fifth wheel .The dirtier the grease the better the seal.
Thought I’d read on here somewhere that grease buggers up the seals in airline connectors?
These palm couplings are completely different from UK couplings. You couldnt really damage them by smearing them with 5th wheel grease, but I would be very careful doing this as you may get grease inside your airlines (not good).
Did this when i first started driving and the unit didn’t have a buzzer on the handbrake. Connected up and lukcily the yard light was in direct line of the catwalk, so when that dissapeared i was like… “uh?” looked down at the moving floor and wacked the read airline off faster then then you can say disestablishmentarianism Our units have always used palm couplings because we pull Italian trailers, i guess blighty needs to be different?
But condolances to the drivers family, poor chap was only out there trying to earn a living with a bad day gone tradgic
I recently sent a memo out to our drivers. It wasn’t aimed at anyone it was a general memo asking the drivers to ensure they apply the parking brake, for this very reason. The reply i got back from 1 of them was…“I’m a professional, i dont need reminding”!!
Condolances to the driver, family and all involved.
Firstly, I would like to thank everybody for their posts, it means a lot.
A funeral service will be held for Gary on Friday 22nd October at Amersham Crematorium at 4.45pm for anybody that knew him or for anybody who would like to attend.
Gary will be taken to the crem on the back of a Scania Truck which im sure he would have wanted. If any drivers would like to come down in their cabs to join the funeral prossession they are more than welcome. We will be leaving from Gary’s parents home around 4pm at 54 Fernie Fields, Booker, High Wycombe HP12 4SL.
The family and Gary’s three beloved children are trying to create the scene from convoy which we know would make him very proud.
Gary’s passion was trucks. He lived for trucks going to all the truck fests and watching any truck programs. Even his money boxes were trucks!
Please come and help us to celebrate the life of a truly fantastic father, son and brother.
Many thanks,
Mark Walters
P.S. Have been talking to several truckers who have said that drivers should always use the park brakes on their trailers to help prevent this from ever happening again and also the one in the cab!!!
I am Samantha, Gary Walters (RIP) girlfriend, I am also a LGV driver, I live in a RV so I only indulge domestically/sociably.
With the greatest respect, I’d like to say that Gary was also a professional, and he also did not like being reminded! but if I could turn back time I would give anything to be able to promt/remind/■■■■ him off and get him to put the handbrake on and stop what happened.
This I’m sure you can all appreciate is tragic, the death of anyone is, but it becomes more poignant when it involves someone who you love and cared for.
If anything can come of this catastrophe, I personally would take some comfort to prevent another HGV driver following Gary’s demise.
I echo Mark’s comment, please don’t allow Gary’s death to become immemoriable as no-body is immune to mistakes, but remembering this atrocity can save your family and friends from feeling like me now, alone and empty. Please keep passing this message on!
Thank you to everyone for reading my story. I hope to see you all at Gary’s convoy to honour his life and his love of trucking.
Sam.x
Hi Mark, like the others I’d just like to say how sorry I am to see you lose your brother when he was just earning a living. As others have said it’s happened to most of us.
firstly my condolences,i’m sorry to hear of this tragedy.
as a mechanic and recovery driver i’ve seen the results of this unfotunate mistake on a regular basis.
last week one of my customers had the same misfortune occur,the driver was not injured but 3 trucks were written off by the time the truck came to rest.it’s the 3rd time it’s happened at this operator as they hook up on a sloping yard and theres no escaping the roll away if a mistake is made.this one happened at 4am.
in a previous job i worked at a large parcel company and this problem occured at least once a week,ussually nothing happened as the person managed to miss other vehicles in the yard,or made it into the cab to pull the handbrake on.(hardly anyone pulls the red line back off).fitting the alarm that operates when the door is opened helped cut down the problem happeneing.
but surely it’s not beyond the truck manufacturers to sort his problem out with a broms type brake operating when the red line is fitted,this being reset when the driver gets back in the cab.
wrecktech100:
but surely it’s not beyond the truck manufacturers to sort his problem out with a broms type brake operating when the red line is fitted,this being reset when the driver gets back in the cab.
I agree, and I also agree with manufacturers agreeing to fit a buzzer if you open the driver’s door without having first applied the handbrake.
That alone would have saved this happening. I have made the exact same mistake myself, and it is only through the grace of God that I wasn’t crushed to death as I stood on the catwalk as I realised my truck was running away and heading for a collision.
Gary Walters did his best to stop a runaway truck, he died a hero.
The safest method of coupling up to a trailer, is to have all the trucks use the N.American system, where there is no parking brake on the trailer that you can forget to apply. There is no lever you can accidentally knock off while in your cab. Use the 2 buttons we use here on our tractor units. 1 to set the parking brake, and 1 to supply air to the trailer to release the spring brakes.
To release the brakes requires you to push both buttons in hard towards the dashboard.
My condolences to the family regarding this most tragic of events.
Well done Sam and Mark for coming on here to tell us more about yourselves and Gary.
Harry Monk has touched on a workable idea that could save many lives and costly damage.
The Volvo blocking valve is a device that applies the spring brakes when the air pressure drops, it releases them when you press the button again and sufficient pressure is available in the reservoir, named Bremse, Brems, BrØms, Brake and Frein valve. Together with an EU statutory requirement and possibly a door interlock it could save more lives than a lifebelt. Drivers may have to learn to reverse using mirrors and not hang out of the door like a monkey.
Even if this is not possible a microswitch in the drivers seat could apply the brakes when there was no weight on it, similar to an electronic forklift. (this could be embarrassing if you stand up to scratch your knackers on the motorway though)
I learned a lesson two or three years ago whilst unloading a JCB and discovered this thing would start, the hydraulics worked iirc, the flashing light and everything else worked, but it wouldn’t move until I lowered the armrest. The simple technology is already available, why do we not use it? If Gary Walters was still alive, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. edited for Sam!
It really brings it home when I read mark and SAMs posts. So sorry for your loss.
What I never understand is were told always apply the trailer brake but don’t bother in the yard as it ■■■■■■ the shunters off I’m sure in your own yard is where you’re concentrating least so it’s more important to do it right everytime.
Firstly condolences to all, a very tragic accident.
BigJon:
These palm couplings are completely different from UK couplings. You couldnt really damage them by smearing them with 5th wheel grease, but I would be very careful doing this as you may get grease inside your airlines (not good).
Yeah i’ve had the odd dealings with palm couplings, albeit very few, but isn’t the principle the same? Surely the gease would still be in contact with the seals?
Happy Keith:
Roger Breaker:
‘… grease buggers up … seals …’
It can if the combination of mineral vs. synthetic grease and natural vs. synthetic rubber is got wrong and left to do it’s dastardly worst.
Cheers Keith. Not sure that any of it sadly would’ve made a [zb]'s worth of difference in this tragic case, but just wanted to clear-up the ‘grease on rubber seals’ topic.
As soon as it moved I realised and grabbed the red line, this happened right under the noses of the fleet manager and the boss 
Our units have always used palm couplings because we pull Italian trailers, i guess blighty needs to be different? 
