Breaker One-Nine:
Does nobody except me raise the unit suspension a few inches prior to winding down the legs? Then drop all the air out of the unit after winding down the landing gear? It ensures good clearance and saves the mudguard tops from being covered in grease and being scraped. Depends on the trailers but some of them really sag at the front when loaded.
No, but i leave the legs 1 - 2" short of the ground. Old habit from the days of steel suspension i guess. It made sure the next guy got a clear lift as he backed under & so didn’t have to struggle to wind up the legs with weight on them.
The only time I’ve dropped one on its knees was after becoming distracted (my excuse anyway )
I’d parked up, got out of the cab, took the suzies off and had gone to wind the legs down, I noticed then that the hire trailer had the winding handle on the other side. It was at this point that a mate wandered over to talk, after a minute or two of slagging anyone and everyone off we continued talking as we walked around the back, removed the number plate and yes, you’ve guessed it, pulled the pin and drove out.
Cue big bang and me shooting forward like like a politician with an expense form!
Moral of story: don’t change your routine and don’t become distracted.
Does nobody except me raise the unit suspension a few inches prior to winding down the legs? Then drop all the air out of the unit after winding down the landing gear? It ensures good clearance and saves the mudguard tops from being covered in grease and being scraped. Depends on the trailers but some of them really sag at the front when loaded.
Does nobody except me raise the unit suspension a few inches prior to winding down the legs? Then drop all the air out of the unit after winding down the landing gear? It ensures good clearance and saves the mudguard tops from being covered in grease and being scraped. Depends on the trailers but some of them really sag at the front when loaded.
Yes, I do, every time. Totally agree.
SmartMart wrote
The (successful) way I teach:-
UNCOUPLING
Before uncoupling check that the ground is firm and level enough to support both the landing legs.
Apply the parking brake on the trailer.
Lower landing legs and secure handle.
Remove and stow air lines and electric lines.
Remove safety chain.
Pull king pin release lever.
‘B L A C K’ Brake — Legs — Air lines — Clip - Kingpin
Draw unit forwards clear of trailer (watching trailer in mirrors).
Park the unit alongside the trailer about a doors width away, switch off engine and leave cab.
Check that the landing legs are not sinking into the ground.
Check trailer park brake.
Remove number plate.
RE-COUPLING
Reverse the unit up to the trailer stopping about 1 metre short of the trailer, using the mirrors to line up.
Check the trailer parking brake is on and MOT is current, check the trailer over, in particular that lights are fitted and not broken, tyres are legal (1mm tread), wheel nuts secure (walk round checks).
Check the height of the king pin is the same as the fifth wheel.
The unit should be reversed slowly under the trailer, with the ‘kingpin’ lined up to the locking mechanism (watching trailer in mirrors). Listen to hear the fifth wheel lock onto the ‘kingpin’.
Do a ‘tug test’. Try to drive forward slowly in a low gear to check that the fifth wheel is engaged (do this twice).
Make sure that the parking brake of the unit is applied.
Switch off engine, switch on sidelights and hazard warning lights and leave the cab.
Inspect the locking mechanism to make sure it is secure.
Fit safety clip (dog clip).
Connect all brake hoses (twisting collars so that the pin doesn’t stay lined up) and the electrical supply to the trailer (susie’s). Check that they are secure.
Wind up the landing legs on the trailer and secure the handle.
Release the trailer handbrake
Fit the number plate and check that the lights work.
Ask examiner to check brake lights for you.
Drive forward a few metres and check the brakes are working.
It’s all good…for a learner with an empty trailer, as per method I also learnt. However, an improvement in the real world post-test is to use the air suspension (if fitted) and drop the suspension when decoupling, allowing the landing legs to touch the ground and the fifth wheel to seperate from the pin as you pull out and the opposite when backing under to couple up and lift the trailer up as you go under, preventing any damage to the legs and also helping facilitate split-coupling if running a close-coupled trailer such as a fridge, for example. Also it saves the previously-mentioned fifth wheel grease sh%t from going all over the trailer lip. Looks miles more professional also to any agffer or customer watching.
It’s all good…for a learner with an empty trailer, as per method I also learnt. However, an improvement in the real world post-test is to use the air suspension (if fitted) and drop the suspension when decoupling, allowing the landing legs to touch the ground and the fifth wheel to seperate from the pin as you pull out and the opposite when backing under to couple up and lift the trailer up as you go under, preventing any damage to the legs and also helping facilitate split-coupling if running a close-coupled trailer such as a fridge, for example. Also it saves the previously-mentioned fifth wheel grease sh%t from going all over the trailer lip. Looks miles more professional also to any agffer or customer watching.
Can’t argue with that Scanny - it’s what I do in the real world, and mention is made to my trainees about using the air suspension, particularly raising it a bit when re-coupling, so as to avoid leg damage when doing the tug test.
Split coupling is something we only touch upon when training, but is invaluable, particularly as you point out on reefers, where there is no room for the average trucker.This is my explanation of split coupling:-
SPLIT COUPLING
Reverse the unit up to the trailer stopping about 1 metre short of it, using the mirrors to line up.
Check the trailer parking brake is on and MOT is current, check the trailer over, in particular that lights are fitted and not broken, tyres are legal (1mm tread), wheel nuts secure (walk round checks).
Check the height of the king pin is roughly the same as the fifth wheel.
Reverse slowly under the trailer leaving enough room between the unit and trailer to access the catwalk but not locked into the 5th wheel (about a metre gap).
Make sure that the parking brake of the unit is applied.
Connect all brake hoses (twisting collars so that the pins don’t stay lined up) and the electrical supply to the trailer (susie’s). Check that they are secure.
Reverse further under the trailer listening to hear the fifth wheel lock into the ‘kingpin’.
Raise the rear suspension of the unit enough to lift the trailer legs slightly off the ground.
Do a ‘tug test’. Try to drive forward slowly in a low gear to check that the fifth wheel is engaged (do this twice).
Make sure that the parking brake of the unit is applied switch on sidelights and hazard warning lights and leave the cab.
Inspect the locking mechanism to make sure it is secure.
Fit safety clip (dog clip).
Wind up the landing legs on the trailer and secure the handle.
Release the trailer parkbrake
Fit the number plate and check that the lights work.
Check brake lights.
Drive forward a few metres and check the brakes are working.
SPLIT UNCOUPLING
Before uncoupling check that the ground is firm and level enough to support both the landing legs.
Apply the trailer parkbrake.
Lower landing legs and secure handle.
Remove safety chain.
Pull king pin release lever.
Lower the air suspension on the unit enough to transfer the weight of the trailer onto its legs.
Draw unit forwards enough to allow access to the catwalk, but not so far as to stretch the susies (about a metre gap) .
Make sure that the parking brake of the unit is applied.
Remove and stow air lines and electric lines (susies).
Draw unit forwards clear of trailer.
Check that the landing legs are not sinking into the ground.
what the hell is going on this thread, are we all some sort of robot jobsworths with major common deficiencies?
when dropping a loaded trailer i do the following, with the engine running…and no shunt buttons on our trailers
apply the truck parking brake
pull off the suzies
pull the pin
wind the legs down
jump back in the truck, pull out a bit so that the fifth wheel is still under the trailer
drop the airbags
if the trailer doesnt drop, then im gone for the next trailer straight away, if it does drop then i lift the bags again and wind the legs further
my reasing for pulling the pin before the legs is that when you wind the legs down fully, especially with a loaded trailer, youre going to put pressure on the jaws sometimes making the pin hard to pull.
davidj247:
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!!
It absolutely is NOT YOU!!! It seems to me that your mate has had an exceedingly charmed 15 years or so
beattun:
what the hell is going on this thread, are we all some sort of robot jobsworths with major common deficiencies?
when dropping a loaded trailer i do the following, with the engine running…and no shunt buttons on our trailers
apply the truck parking brake
pull off the suzies
pull the pin
wind the legs down
jump back in the truck, pull out a bit so that the fifth wheel is still under the trailer
drop the airbags
if the trailer doesnt drop, then im gone for the next trailer straight away, if it does drop then i lift the bags again and wind the legs further
my reasing for pulling the pin before the legs is that when you wind the legs down fully, especially with a loaded trailer, youre going to put pressure on the jaws sometimes making the pin hard to pull.
Well if that works for you, and you are slim enough to get between the trailer and unit to remove the susies then you don’t need to split uncouple and your method is basically the same as mine for ‘normal’ uncoupling apart from when you wind the legs down. I’m sorry but I don’t get the reason for leaving them till later - never had the sort of problem you describe due to the legs being wound down, but as long as you never forget and use the same routine, thats what it’s all about.
beattun:
apply the truck parking brake
pull off the suzies
pull the pin
wind the legs down
jump back in the truck, pull out a bit so that the fifth wheel is still under the trailer
drop the airbags
if the trailer doesnt drop, then im gone for the next trailer straight away, if it does drop then i lift the bags again and wind the legs further
beattun:
apply the truck parking brake
pull off the suzies
pull the pin
wind the legs down
jump back in the truck, pull out a bit so that the fifth wheel is still under the trailer
drop the airbags
if the trailer doesnt drop, then im gone for the next trailer straight away, if it does drop then i lift the bags again and wind the legs further
You missed the applying the trailer brake
I think when he said apply the truck parking brake - he meant the trailer brake, Rog - well I hope so anyway!
beattun:
apply the truck parking brake
pull off the suzies
pull the pin
wind the legs down
jump back in the truck, pull out a bit so that the fifth wheel is still under the trailer
drop the airbags
if the trailer doesnt drop, then im gone for the next trailer straight away, if it does drop then i lift the bags again and wind the legs further
You missed the applying the trailer brake
I think when he said apply the truck parking brake - he meant the trailer brake, Rog - well I hope so anyway!
No, i think he meant what he said.
Beattun you are leaving yourself open to 2 problems:
Being banned from many companies yards for failing to apply the trailer brake at any time. Yes, “some” shunters WILL report this.
One day being on a slight slope and coming accross a trailer who’s spring brakes don’t work. They’re definately out there.
sorry i did mention that we dont have shunt buttons on our trailers, nor do we have manual brake buttons or anything like that on the trailers, the trucks i drive are usually kenworths and freightliners, i automatically pull the red (trailer air supply) brake on with the yellow (truck parking brake) at the same time, so yeah the trailers air is evacuated before i do anything.
44 Tonne Ton:
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?
3/4 times but I havent done it recently
In my defence, before doing my trunk run I never hardly had to couple to a trailer and took me 10/15 minutes to do it, but now it takes 10/15 seconds
The problem was I dropped the units air suspension to go under a trailer and the pin went straight over, now I dont bother dropping the suspension…
Breaker One-Nine:
Does nobody except me raise the unit suspension a few inches prior to winding down the legs? Then drop all the air out of the unit after winding down the landing gear? It ensures good clearance and saves the mudguard tops from being covered in grease and being scraped. Depends on the trailers but some of them really sag at the front when loaded.
Some firms prefer you to stop the legs a couple of inches from the ground then drop the trailer. It can help them when loading cages. As for lifting the suspension I have gone under trailers that were almost too high in the air (one unit might lift higher than another,likewise trailers) and it meant winding the legs up on a loaded trailer, not hard but not needed either plus it increases the chances of DAF95 jumping the pin…
Trailers left high at the front are a blooming nuisance. More often than not if you manage to get hold of it, you finish up having to put the legs in low gear to wind them up until the weight transfers to the unit.
If the trailer loses its suspension air it finishes up looking like a begging dog & unless you either blow the trailer air up first or lower the legs you’ve every chance of missing the pin.
Driveroneuk:
Trailers left high at the front are a blooming nuisance. More often than not if you manage to get hold of it, you finish up having to put the legs in low gear to wind them up until the weight transfers to the unit.
If the trailer loses its suspension air it finishes up looking like a begging dog & unless you either blow the air up first or lower the legs you’ve every chance of missing the pin.
Please don’t leave them high.
This can happen if there is an air leak on the trailer. The suspension goes down (over a weekend maybe) and the front goes up.
FarnboroughBoy11:
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”
Failed in my book… Always red off first and on last. The reason is that when the red line is off the trailer brakes are on (they are spring loaded and need air pressure to release them). If you put the red line on first the service brake isn’t connected so the trailer can run away.
Just a typo mate but its silly mistakes like that, that could do me Im sure that i will be more switched on when doing it for real rather than sitting behind a computer screen typing it out.
How come none of the various trainers who have posted methods on this thread don’t mention checking the indicators when coupling? They all mention switching the hazards on but all that does is tell you if the bulbs are good or not. It is quite possible to have the hazards working but an indicator on one side not, usually different fuses for the hazard circuit and each side of the indicators. Over the years I’ve had a few occasions where there was a fault with an indicator but the hazards worked fine, most recently a couple of months ago.
)
Im sure that i will be more switched on when doing it for real rather than sitting behind a computer screen typing it out.