In a land (not so far away). The couplings between truck and semi trailer were easy and stress free. All you had to do was put (in those days) the red curly pipe, the blue curly pipe and the yellow curly pipe, the elecric curly wire onto the trailer you were collecting. Once you’d done that, you’d turn the taps on and hey presto, the trailer was already to rumble off up the deserted M1. All this changed I’m assuming when Brussels or some other ■■■■■■■ organistion insisted on push fit connections. This was the response to drivers connecting but (for what ever reason) forgetting to turn on all the taps and rumbling off with an un-braked trailer. A fine idea to stop a dangerous practice and it’s served us well over the years.
But, after decades of pushing these ■■■■ things on, my elbow and shoulder are starting to show signs of RSI or what ever else is happening. My GP has said that the constant pressure required to push the ■■■■■■■ things on is grinding my joints and straining my ligaments.
So, can the manufacturers/legislators please go back to the origional system. Technology with microswitches can compensate for any taps not turned by failing to allow the unit handbrake to come off.
While we’re at it, can truck and trailer manufacturers please have a meeting (I’ll supply the doughnuts) and agree an order. The current yellow curly pipe going under red curly pipe getting wrapped up in the ABS lead is frankly, a pain in the arse. It wouldn’t take much to have all the couplings actually opposite each other making the usual greaseball of tangled suzies a thing of the past.
The latest twist on making the job even harder is the couplings that point downwards by 45 degrees. What the ■■■■ is the point of that?! If anything, point them upwards at 45 degrees.
Tooz:
Press the brake pedal a few times to lower the air pressure and the suzies go on a lot easier ( especially if you are not allowed to split couple !! )
Yep…
I agree that works but, I’m an old ■■■■ and I like to keep my AC nice and cool when I’m coupling up. That means leaving the engine running.
It would just be easier all round if the ■■■■ things didn’t need to be shoved on with such force. It’s the year 2017, there has to be an easier method.
Lots of our lorries had palms too, where i first worked it was palms red and yellow and push fitting only on the blue line, when we used another companies trailers the length and variety of adaptors we ran was getting ridiculous, you’d never have fitted them in at all with the modern deep pin set ups.
I’m more annoyed at the blue line vanishing TBH, reassuring having that full secondary system there if a pipe burst.
I don’t mind the suzies criss crossing, i do mind the half wits who leave them like a spiders web all covered in grease for the next bod to sort out, no pride
God. How long have you lot been drivers? Don’t you know that if you put the trailer brake on then hook up but leave the hand brake off, your air lines literally just slide on. Just remember to put the hand brake back on before releasing the trailer brake.
lizard:
God. How long have you lot been drivers? Don’t you know that if you put the trailer brake on then hook up but leave the hand brake off, your air lines literally just slide on. Just remember to put the hand brake back on before releasing the trailer brake.
Sent from Platform 9 3/4
Split coupling…
So that’s not gonna work.
Secondly, if H&S get wind of us deliberately leaving handbrakes off, there will be drivers looking for jobs.
i don’t make the rules but i know what a pious little ■■■■■■■ our h&s man is
lizard:
God. How long have you lot been drivers? Don’t you know that if you put the trailer brake on then hook up but leave the hand brake off, your air lines literally just slide on. Just remember to put the hand brake back on before releasing the trailer brake.
Sent from Platform 9 3/4
How long?, long enough to have regularly backed up to an unknown trailer and blown some air into it via the red line before even attempting to slide under it, ratchet parking brakes only worked for the MOT and a month after if you were lucky.
Me and a colleague had to take a wrecker down to the East End many years ago, one of our more challenged oppos had gone to back under a fully loaded tilt parked facing uphill on a camber in a side street near Stratford without checking either the parking brake or for air to lock the brakes, remember this is days before spring brakes, course the air had run out and the trailer slide sideways jamming the king pin just behind the n/s drive axle tyres on a Volvo 88, and wrecking the landing legs on the hefty kerb to the left, well done mate. have a cigar.
Bloody hours we were there, had to put empty oil drums and dunnage under the trailer and then mackle the unit out, then reverse the wrecker up to the trailer, put a chain round the king pin and lift it high enough with the old style wrecker so we could put more dunnage/sleepers on the drums to get the height about right, being under that trailer sorting this lark out was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, had that chain or the king pin snapped we’d have been flattened.
So, 2 blokes and an entire shift each and a big favour owed to the bosses mate who lent us the wrecker, all that because some twerp couldn’t be arsed to check the trailer before hitching.
The push on fittings have always been a British thing, most other countries use palm couplings which is why when collecting a ‘Tilt’ from docks etc you needed to carry push on to palm coupling converters. The system of push on fittings used to have taps to release the air as mentioned. I always thought how stupid it was to take away the taps as if you had an air leak or break in the air lines the loss of air causes the brakes to come on automatically on the tractor unit and could leave you stranded in the travel lane of any road, with the taps you could turn the air off and drain the tanks on the trailer in order to move it to safety.
