My mate rings me this afternoon to find out what I’m on tomorrow.
He then tells me that when he’s done his run he’s got to have extra training uncoupling trailers.
He then tells me that he had an incident in the yard when dropping his trailer.
Apparently his way of dropping the trailer is to pull the pin first then disconnect the suzies and finally drop the legs and apply the park brake! When I asked him why he does it this way he said he’d always done it this way and never had any problems! He says he always makes sure the park brake on the unit is on and that’s good enough. As far as I can see he’s been very lucky to have got away without a major accident
The best part is he’s done it this way for 15 years and says that he can’t see why he needs to change.
He feels that our firm are just being picky and by teaching him the correct way will lead to problems as he is used to his own routine!!
Please tell me it’s not me!!
its not you.
even though i haven’t driven an artic let alone uncouple one yet, the last thing i would do would be to pull the pin - suzies or legs first then the pin. its just common sense 
The way you do it makes more sense to me, i cant imagine me doing it any other way. I see his point, if i changed the way i did it i’d probably forget something.
Saying that, over shot the pin on monday morning when hooking up a trailer . Luckily i didnt do any damage. It was quite embarassing asking onother driver to help me get the unit out 
He does not see any reason to change ?
Tell him how about not killing someone !!!
Hes got away with it for 15 years back in the day he took his test you did not have to un-couple good job all learners do now.
If he is not prepared to be taught correctly he should be fired …
He said the unit brakes on
If he thinks he may forget he needs to refer to a pocket sized card with the routine on it.
As long as he remembers put TL brake on aswell as the unit brake and winds legs down he cant go far wrong.
its definately not just you. he’s very lucky never to drop a trailer on its knees and thats the best that could’ve happened. he’s just reversed the normal hooking up routine. but its true what he says you’ve got to stick to a routine (hopefully a safe one though)
C-Kay:
The way you do it makes more sense to me, i cant imagine me doing it any other way. I see his point, if i changed the way i did it i’d probably forget something.Saying that, over shot the pin on monday morning when hooking up a trailer
why would you need to ask another driver to help you out?
the easy way to get out of that situation is to raise the unit suspension, wind the legs further down, drop the unit suspension to the bottom and then the unit should just slip under the pin 
I had an incident a while back where I pulled the pin on the trailer before applying the parking brake and it started to roll back, luckily the only damage was to the air lines and suzies which were torn off but I shudder to think what couldve happened if there had been a car or person behind
shuttlespanker:
C-Kay:
The way you do it makes more sense to me, i cant imagine me doing it any other way. I see his point, if i changed the way i did it i’d probably forget something.Saying that, over shot the pin on monday morning when hooking up a trailer
why would you need to ask another driver to help you out?
the easy way to get out of that situation is to raise the unit suspension, wind the legs further down, drop the unit suspension to the bottom and then the unit should just slip under the pin
If he does not know the routine for un-coupling … he knows how to use air suspension…
If he followed the routine or takes the training offered we would not be having this topic .
The problem is he seems to know best … Untill he crushes someone ?
dearie,dearie me
come and sit on my LAP,PAL…Legs,Airlines,Pin…Pin,Airlines,Legs…come on it’s easy to remember.
shuttlespanker:
C-Kay:
The way you do it makes more sense to me, i cant imagine me doing it any other way. I see his point, if i changed the way i did it i’d probably forget something.Saying that, over shot the pin on monday morning when hooking up a trailer
why would you need to ask another driver to help you out?
the easy way to get out of that situation is to raise the unit suspension, wind the legs further down, drop the unit suspension to the bottom and then the unit should just slip under the pin
Because i didnt think of that
I needed him to push the front of the fifth wheel down so i could get the pin over. It was very odd. I raised the suspension to the right height, jumped in the cab, went back, and noticed i was going back too far so stopped. Once we’d got it out, the other driver did the same, and once he’s stopped raising the suspension, the suspension lowered slightly. I think that’s what got me.
It was my own fault though, i dare say others have done it as well
shuttlespanker:
why would you need to ask another driver to help you out?the easy way to get out of that situation is to raise the unit suspension, wind the legs further down, drop the unit suspension to the bottom and then the unit should just slip under the pin
Ive been lucky, every time Ive overshot the pin all Ive had to do is drop the unit suspension…
DAF95XF:
shuttlespanker:
why would you need to ask another driver to help you out?the easy way to get out of that situation is to raise the unit suspension, wind the legs further down, drop the unit suspension to the bottom and then the unit should just slip under the pin
Ive been lucky, every time Ive overshot the pin all Ive had to do is drop the unit suspension…
How many times have you done it?
DAF95XF:
shuttlespanker:
why would you need to ask another driver to help you out?the easy way to get out of that situation is to raise the unit suspension, wind the legs further down, drop the unit suspension to the bottom and then the unit should just slip under the pin
Ive been lucky, every time Ive overshot the pin all Ive had to do is drop the unit suspension…
How many times have you done it then? Just a rough answer will do if you’re not sure and correct me if I’m wrong you’re fairly new to artics I think?
Grayham:
I had an incident a while back where I pulled the pin on the trailer before applying the parking brake and it started to roll back, luckily the only damage was to the air lines and suzies which were torn off but I shudder to think what couldve happened if there had been a car or person behind
And that’s why the pin is the last thing to do when dropping a trailer, not the first. I congratulate you on your honesty, you will learn more like that.
Good god!! 
I was taught BLACKBN
Brake
Legs
Airlines
Clip
Kingpin
Brake again
Numberplate
Been nice knowing ya Bubsy!
44 Tonne Ton:
Been nice knowing ya Bubsy!
Better not push my luck
Past my class 1 last month. I dont think i’ll ever forget uncouple/couple, i done it over and over.
This is how it is on the test now…
(Unit parking brake on at all times when leaving cab)
Uncouple.
Number Plate
Trailer Brake
Legs
Suzies, Red airline FIRST
CHECK trailer brake
remove dog clip
pull pin
drive forward watching in mirrors
park unit along side trailor
Then the examiner said to me “George, i want you to couple up to a trailer that you’ve never seen before”
Perform trailer check, MOT, Tyres, brake is ON, bodywork.
Reverse unit up to trailer and stop before going under.
check allignment and height
reverse under and wait for the clunk
check u got it, 2 tugs forward
attach dog clip
connect suzies red FIRST
raise legs
trailer brake off
Number plate
check lights
rolling brake test
“right George that is the end of the test and im pleased to say you’ve passed”
Surely if you’re able to pull the pin then the trailer isn’t pulling back? Are you saying even if a fully loaded tri axle trailer is pulling back from the unit then you can still quite easily pull the handle back? Doubt it
Correct me if I’m wrong but if I’m uncoupling from a trailer that is braked and I pull the pin first, what reason does it have to roll back? On my truck if the unit brake is on and the suzis are plugged in then the trl brake is applied also. Why would it ever roll back? Unless the brakes are shot? In which case you would be able to tell from the drive you just done.
I’m not saying it’s the right way to do it, I certainly don’t pull it first, but if the trailer is in good working order and you can freely pull the lever out then how is it going to roll? If it’s going to roll then it will be very hard to pull out the lever in which case you know something isn’t quite right. How many of us have had to go put the trailer brake on then try and reverse against the trailer and flick the brake on in order to stop the pin pulling from the the unit so you can pull the lever?