I’ve been driving class 1 regularly for about six months now and am settling into it nicely. Confident reversing and manouvering in tight areas but still careful and not complacement. I have a question though for those of you who’ve been at it while now re: coupling / uncoupling.
I still carry out the coupling / uncoupling procedure exactlty as I was taught in my training and as carried out on my test. However, it’s this bit that I notice other drivers don’t bother with (at the two places I work for most regularly)When coupling I reverse the unit in front of the trailer, get out check the height of the trailer and kingpin in relation to the 5th wheel. I then always lower the suspension on the unit, reverse under untill the fith wheel is underneath and then raise the suspension before reversing back onto the kingpin to couple up. I notice that most drivers just reverse straight on to the trailer, no checking the height, no lowering or raising the suspension. Similarly, when uncoupling, after releasing the kingpin, I pull forward a little, then lower the suspension before driving out from underneath the trailer. Again, I notice that most drivers just drive from underneath and drop the trailer without lowering the suspension.
Is this just corner cutting on their part or is it perhaps because they assume that the trailer height will always be the same and therefore lowering /raising the suspension is unnecessary. (some of the trailers are dropped front end low by the shunters so I think this is a risky approach)
What do you guys do 
Its cutting corners, do exactly what you were taught during your training!!!
The procedures used for un/coupling are there for safety reasons.
The using of the unit suspension is not a strict DSA procedure but can be used ok - this is usually a company policy procedure to prevent potential damage.
There are many stories on this site that have said what happens if a driver decides to cut corners
A thought - is saving a few seconds really worth chancing minutes or hours of repairs… or worse ■■
I do it much the same as you except I see little reason to get out to check the hight of the trailer, you will be able to tell if it looks particularly high or low before going under with the unit.
MAT:
Is this just corner cutting on their part
Yes some drivers are too lazy or too stupid to bother raising or lowering the unit suspension when coupling/uncoupling 
Look out for the marks on tarmac ec’t where trailer legs have been dragged whilst coupling and you’ll see just how many drivers don’t bother to raise the trailer legs off the ground whilst coupling
tachograph:
I do it much the same as you except I see little reason to get out to check the hight of the trailer, you will be able to tell if it looks particularly high or low before going under with the unit.
Me too.
With experience you learn to judge the height and if you are dropping the suspension, backing under then raising it there is little point getting out to check the height if the first thing you do on getting back into the cab is alter it. These things just come with experience so it makes you happier to get out and check for now then do it. With time you will also learn to tell when it has coupled correctly or when it hasn’t simply by the noise it makes as the jaws bite the pin.
Coffeeholic:
tachograph:
I do it much the same as you except I see little reason to get out to check the hight of the trailer, you will be able to tell if it looks particularly high or low before going under with the unit.
Me too.
With experience you learn to judge the height and if you are dropping the suspension, backing under then raising it there is little point getting out to check the height if the first thing you do on getting back into the cab is alter it. These things just come with experience so it makes you happier to get out and check for now then do it. With time you will also learn to tell when it has coupled correctly or when it hasn’t simply by the noise it makes as the jaws bite the pin.
Me too, you will learn that you can judge the height from the mirrors or even as you drive up to it, but sometimes it is worth checking the pin especially if your company ever use pinlocks. This was demonstrated regularly in our old yard by the shards of cast aluminium fragments scattered across the trailer park. Again Neil has said you can hear the click, but if anything annoys me, it is a driver ramming under a trailer and banging against the pin. The coupling sound should be no more than the noise a decent car door makes when closing.
Wheel Nut:
Again Neil has said you can hear the click, but if anything annoys me, it is a driver ramming under a trailer and banging against the pin. The coupling sound should be no more than the noise a decent car door makes when closing.
Again, me too. I cannot understand those who bang under at speed making as much noise as possible, it is totally unnecessary and as you say it should make no more noise than a car door closing. Any louder than that and you won’t be able to tell if it is coupled correctly by the noise.
I always get out and check, i’ve gone straight under the pin twice in the last year 
C-Kay:
I always get out and check, i’ve gone straight under the pin twice in the last year
That would not happen if you use the unit suspension to raise the trailer legs just off the ground before the final reverse to the pin.
Try this method: lower the unit suspension and reverse until the fifth wheel is just under the trailer then raise the suspension until the trailer legs just clear the ground by a couple of inches, then reverse slowly until you hear the fifth wheel mechanism click into place.
After winding the trailer legs up set the unit suspension to the normal running hight and do a final check that the unit and trailer are correctly coupled.
Use this method and you will never go under the pin again and you will never drop a trailer on the road unless there’s a faulty fifth wheel mechanism.
As Coffeeholic said if it makes you fell better to get out and check fine, but if you want to check at all it would be more productive to check after the unit is under the trailer and you’ve raised the suspension but before going to the pin.
Well that’s my opinion anyway 
Coffeeholic:
Wheel Nut:
Again Neil has said you can hear the click, but if anything annoys me, it is a driver ramming under a trailer and banging against the pin. The coupling sound should be no more than the noise a decent car door makes when closing.
Again, me too. I cannot understand those who bang under at speed making as much noise as possible, it is totally unnecessary and as you say it should make no more noise than a car door closing. Any louder than that and you won’t be able to tell if it is coupled correctly by the noise.
I couldn’t agree more, it makes me cringe when I see a driver slam the unit under the trailer at speed banging onto the pin, it’s more likely to result in damage to the trailer or unit and you won’t hear the coupling mechanism clicking into place, on top of that it just looks bad and amateurish in my opinion 
The same as when uncoupling people lowering the legs to above the ground and racing off letting the trailer legs crash to the ground, what’s that all about
I use the same technique, dropping the air and reversing under and then lifting the suspension raising the trailer, check your mirrors as you can see the trailer “rise up” and then reverse into the pin, if you’ve got well maintained kit and you are considerate, you should hear a “click” as the jaws engage rather than a “clunk” as some drivers ram it home!
Another tip, if the loaded trailer is heavy, particularly on the pin, raise the suspension, not too high though, before you uncouple as a heavy trailer will sink/droop as you pull away from it, even though you have dropped the air out of the suspension you may still “clip” your mudguards as you pull out.
And if you dropping a trailer and your unit is a three axle tractor with a lifting axle, drop the lifting axle otherwise if you lift the suspension before dropping it, you will leave the trailer very high for someone who has a two axle tractor unit, meaning that they will have to wind the legs up to lower the trailer onto the fifth wheel, otherwise they miss the pin with the obvious results! I was “lucky” I only broke side spoiler 