Lucy:
Personally, I duck under the trailer with a torch and check the jaws are fully shut. Takes two seconds and it’s foolproof.
Me too!
Adam_Mc:
True…but all trucks have either a **dog clip or that spring loaded catch thing…**but you’ve still got to make sure its in place. I still think the main problems is drivers becoming lazy and trying to do things in a hurry.
Even that spring loaded catch thing has a dog clip on it.
When I was at Blakes of Alcester (now ES) there was a shunter there with years of experience on the road and in the yard.
They had a trailer loaded with about 30 tonnes of cheese (just for storage) on a bay and asked him to move it out of the way. He backed under and heard the lock ‘clang’ shut; gave it a good tug to make sure, connected the red line, wound the legs up (a bit) and pulled the trailer forward across the yard. He backed it into a space but needed to make a shunt to straighten it.
“BANG”
As he pulled forward for the second time the trailer stayed where it was and dropped on its knees - bending the legs and puncturing the fridge diesel tank in the process.
What had happened was that the air had gone from the trailer suspension which raised the front. When he backed underneath, the pin had ended up sitting on top of the locking mechanism (which ‘clanged’ shut) and that was enough to hold it untill the secong time he pulled forward, when it just slipped off.
It is possible that if he had put the dog clip on he might have noticed the gap between the trailer plate and the 5th wheel.
Coffeeholic:
If it has a dog clip, not all do.
Beat me to it, Norbert Dentressangle’s Renault Premiums dont have a dog clip fitted…
bestbooties:
Adam_Mc:
True…but all trucks have either a **dog clip or that spring loaded catch thing…**but you’ve still got to make sure its in place. I still think the main problems is drivers becoming lazy and trying to do things in a hurry.Even that spring loaded catch thing has a dog clip on it.
Not always.
ive always raised the suspension when im backing under a trailer, then do 2 tugs, basically i try to drag the trailer with the parking brake on and if it dont move well it aint going nowhere.
and touch wood it wont either
gogzy:
ive always raised the suspension when im backing under a trailer, then do 2 tugs, basically i try to drag the trailer with the parking brake on and if it dont move well it aint going nowhere.and touch wood it wont either
Why bother with the parking brake either?..do what shunters do and just pull it a few metres with the brakes on so you ■■■■ the tyres…much quicker 
Adam_Mc:
gogzy:
ive always raised the suspension when im backing under a trailer, then do 2 tugs, basically i try to drag the trailer with the parking brake on and if it dont move well it aint going nowhere.and touch wood it wont either
Why bother with the parking brake either?..do what shunters do and just pull it a few metres with the brakes on so you [zb] the tyres…much quicker
feels sorry for whoever pays for Gogzy’s rapidly diminishing drive tyres…
DAF95XF:
Coffeeholic:
If it has a dog clip, not all do.Beat me to it, Norbert Dentressangle’s Renault Premiums dont have a dog clip fitted…
But you can always buy one from a hardware store for less than a £1 and keep it in your lucky bag with the bulldog clip for the rear no plate!
Agree with Lucy always check the “bar” is across and always re check the coupling when I’ve left the truck unattended, can’t trust anybody nowadays 
Lucy:
Adam_Mc:
gogzy:
ive always raised the suspension when im backing under a trailer, then do 2 tugs, basically i try to drag the trailer with the parking brake on and if it dont move well it aint going nowhere.and touch wood it wont either
Why bother with the parking brake either?..do what shunters do and just pull it a few metres with the brakes on so you [zb] the tyres…much quicker
feels sorry for whoever pays for Gogzy’s rapidly diminishing drive tyres…
well considering my truck couldnt pull a wet paper towel out of a toilet i wouldnt worry about drive tyres tbh.
Lucy:
Personally, I duck under the trailer with a torch and check the jaws are fully shut. Takes two seconds and it’s foolproof.
I also do this 
I recently passed class 1 in a wagon n drag so when I started driving artics one of the drivers spent some time showing me how he couples up, including the all important torch check ( he stressed this a lot ) and I do it every time, but I am amazed when picking a trailer up from the yard at the amount of drivers that just back up and dont do the basic of checks, ( a few seconds is nothing to what it could cost )
on another note, how many set the trailer hight in the cab ■■ I believe I’m the only one from our yard 
Although the dog clip is fitted, it only locks the release handle, it has absolutely nothing to do with the jaws locking around the kingpin.
Worn Jaws can cause trailers to become detached.
These are the bits that wear out! A broken or worn spring is enough to release a trailer.
Another important part of modern fifth wheels is a polymer wearing ring that fits into the cast bed. To replace them is simple, 3 set screws and remove the white horseshoe, clean it up and fit a new one. There were several failures on the MAN units that Transalliance ran, and it became second nature to check & change them on routine service. A five minute task.
Darb:
Lucy:
Personally, I duck under the trailer with a torch and check the jaws are fully shut. Takes two seconds and it’s foolproof.I also do this
I recently passed class 1 in a wagon n drag so when I started driving artics one of the drivers spent some time showing me how he couples up, including the all important torch check ( he stressed this a lot ) and I do it every time, but I am amazed when picking a trailer up from the yard at the amount of drivers that just back up and dont do the basic of checks, ( a few seconds is nothing to what it could cost )
on another note, how many set the trailer hight in the cab ■■ I believe I’m the only one from our yard
I don’t bother setting the height…I know the tallest trailers Sainsbury’s use is just under 13’ 10"…so I just go by that rule. I would work it out, but since I don’t know the ride height of the 5th wheel and I can’t find it out I just don’t bother.
howatsi:
DAF95XF:
Coffeeholic:
If it has a dog clip, not all do.Beat me to it, Norbert Dentressangle’s Renault Premiums dont have a dog clip fitted…
But you can always buy one from a hardware store for less than a £1 and keep it in your lucky bag with the bulldog clip for the rear no plate!
They don’t have one because they don’t need one, not because it’s missing.
Adam_Mc:
I don’t bother setting the height…I know the tallest trailers Sainsbury’s use is just under 13’ 10"…so I just go by that rule.
FPN if you get stopped in a control and the height indicator is set to the wrong height.
Adam_Mc:
I would work it out, but since I don’t know the ride height of the 5th wheel and I can’t find it out…
I use my tape measure and check the 5th wheel height, up to yet every one has been 1.25m, it only takes a minute to work out and change it in the cab, and I dont know if its true but MMTM that if you get pulled and it isnt set correctly then its a fine
I passed a trailer ( from a wagon n drag ) in lane1 on the M1 just after jct 30 a few nights ago, there was no sign of the wagon, there was just a car on the hard shoulder with its hazard lights on just a few yards before you got to it.
I couldnt understand where the wagon was 
if had dropped of wouldnt it have pulled out the suzies stopping the unit ■■
Coffeeholic:
Adam_Mc:
I don’t bother setting the height…I know the tallest trailers Sainsbury’s use is just under 13’ 10"…so I just go by that rule.FPN if you get stopped in a control and the height indicator is set to the wrong height.
Adam_Mc:
I would work it out, but since I don’t know the ride height of the 5th wheel and I can’t find it out…
Wish our driver who got pulled thursday in one of ours pulling a 14ft 3in tautliner with the height indicator still set at 13’ 10" as our fridges are knew that…the man from VOSA spotted it quickly enough 
gogzy:
Lucy:
Adam_Mc:
gogzy:
ive always raised the suspension when im backing under a trailer, then do 2 tugs, basically i try to drag the trailer with the parking brake on and if it dont move well it aint going nowhere.and touch wood it wont either
Why bother with the parking brake either?..do what shunters do and just pull it a few metres with the brakes on so you [zb] the tyres…much quicker
feels sorry for whoever pays for Gogzy’s rapidly diminishing drive tyres…
well considering my truck couldnt pull a wet paper towel out of a toilet i wouldnt worry about drive tyres tbh.
If you’re trying to drag a trailer across the yard with the brake on, it WILL increase wear on your drive tyres, regardless of the power from the unit. Either that or your “test” is negated.
TBH, the tug test isn’t enough anyway, Gogz. If the jaws have shut around the rim at the base of the pin rather than the pin itself, you can tug forwards all day long and it won’t move, but the second you try and turn of drive over a bump it’ll bounce out. Bang, trailer dropped. That’s the other advantage of a torch test, you can see that the correct bit of the pin is locked in as well as whether the jaws are shut and the 5th wheel is flush with the underside of the trailer.
I’m not having a go, Gogz, just trying to help by teaching you stuff I got taught early on. Genuinely.
I know Lucy but I don’t even move an inch plus the trailer is like half a foot off the ground before the pin is in so all the weight is on the 5th wheel before I even get to the pin.
If I’m not happy it’s in properly I do check the jaws but rarely have to as I’m happy it’s under most of the time. When I say dragging I just try to move it,
If I move away then it’s not in, if the front of the truck tries to wheelie I’m happy,
I know its a crude way but it works for me and Nobodys ever complained bout how I do it, plus driving an auto it won’t go anywhere even with the break off
tad:
Spotted this incident yesterday Fri 18 March. The driver is on the phone and the hoodie was I think a witness.
couldn’t of happened to a nicer company feel sorry for the driver he was possibly badgered and harrassed every five minutes i have had many a run in with them working there and on agency to the point if they ring more than twice the phone goes on silent
and several times they have tryed chasing people to get on the road
i refuse to be rushed and always duck under to have a shufty