It’s even worse when some bozo has dropped a trailer with one of the legs in a pot hole!!
Moose:
How can there be to much weight?
Too much weight can prevent the free movement of the 5th wheel and
therefore the ability of the 5th wheel to grab the pin correctly.
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Dieseldoforme:
Moose:
How can there be to much weight?Too much weight can prevent the free movement of the 5th wheel and
therefore the ability of the 5th wheel to grab the pin correctly..
you have lost me now
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in my case it was money rush …rush …rush. but nobody died nobody got sacked and at least i hold my hands up to it but what i have seen in 40 odd years is all sorts of ■■■■ so it would seem not everyone will admit to ■■■■…
This might come back and bite me on the the arse, the way I see it, dropping trailers is down to laziness, I once came close, last week in fact, I walk right past the legs 
, however I ALWAYS do one final check before getting in the cab, legs, lines & clip, all of which can be seen from the drivers door, that final check saved me, or maybe I’d have noticed whilst fannying about with the suspension, if I don’t see the unit & trailer separate then there’s usually summat amiss. I had one this week where the pin went over the top, trailer is on level but the unit has to reverse up a slope to get under so the pin is effectively a lot higher than normal (keep telling tug driver to drop em a bit lower 
), everything seemed normal apart from the clunk-click, did 3 tugs and it didn’t move but curiosity got the better of me, clip went in, bar looked okay (I didn’t check with torch), I could however see daylight down one side of 5th wheel where it should contact trailer, double checked trailer brake was on, tugged again no movement so I lowered unit suspension and she popped out with a bang 
. The lesson learnt that day: Don’t be a lazy [zb] if it looks too high, get some exercise yer fat [zb] and wind it down a bit.
I always check locking bar from underneath with a torch.
Once recently, I backed under a trailer & felt the clunk, then did 2 tugs so all must be ok. I then went underneath & the bar wasnt fully across…
so if curtainsiders are death traps, as against ropes and sheets…does that mean they wont be dropped on their knees…just cant believe some posters !!
And i too go on the side of…clip in…jaws locked…the clip will not go in if the jaws are not clamped…thats a rule of thumb i have always used…never tugged a trailer…never dropped one…but theres always someone who will challenge this.
truckyboy:
so if curtainsiders are death traps, as against ropes and sheets…does that mean they wont be dropped on their knees…just cant believe some posters !!
And i too go on the side of…clip in…jaws locked…the clip will not go in if the jaws are not clamped…thats a rule of thumb i have always used…never tugged a trailer…never dropped one…but theres always someone who will challenge this.
it maybe your rule of thumb, but it is ■■■■■■■■!
Moose:
You have lost me now
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It’s not rocket science Moose - I remove all the load weight from the 5th wheel by
adjusting the suspension on the unit.
I find my trailer and check it’s roadworthyness. I go part-way under the trailer with my
suspension lowered, I get out of the cab, (as you did when you passed your test) I raise
my suspension until the 5th wheel just kisses the underside of the trailer. I connect all
my suzies and check all the lights. I get back in the cab and I smoothly reverse back to
grab the pin. I raise the suspension to protect the legs. I do 2 or 3 tugs. I shine a torch
up the ■■■ of the 5th wheel to check that the pin is correctly captured. I continue with
my checks etc etc etc.
Yes - This is a split couple.
Yes - I am a fridge driver.
Yes - I always gross out at 42 Tonnes plus.
Yes - I lose my job if I drop a trailer.
Yes - I lose my job if I don’t show 15 minutes “Other Work” for daily checks.
Yes - I lose my job if if the ignition keys don’t follow me out of the cab.
Hope you’re not so lost now, Moose, TomTom will show you the way.
PS - A dogclip in place is no guarantee that a trailer is correctly hitched.
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■■■■ you still in playgroup…
I’ve not had much experience on artics but on my first trip after passing my test I had to go solo up to an insulation factory and pick up a trailer to take to a storage warehouse. I swear I must have spent literally 30 minutes of not more coupling.
Every time I felt satisfied and got back in the cb another thing would pop in to my head an I’d have to go check. I was a mess lol
I never ■■■■■■ up or dropped the trailer though! 
LR18-8:
I’ve not had much experience on artics but on my first trip after passing my test
I had to go solo up to an insulation factory and pick up a trailer to take to a storage
warehouse. I swear I must have spent literally 30 minutes of not more coupling.
Many professional drivers use the BLACK CALPIB method of coupling,
invented by the late Edward Stobart.
UNCOUPLE (B.L.A.C.K.)
BRAKE (Trailer brake on)
LEGS (Legs down)
AIR (Air lines & electrics disconnected)
COUPLING (release the 5th wheel coupling)
KNUMBER PLATE (He couldn’t find an n in black)
COUPLE UP (C.A.L.P.I.B.)
COUPLING (Engage 5th wheel coupling & Dogclip)
AIR (Air lines & electrics connected)
LEGS (Legs up)
PLATE (Attach number plate)
ILLUMINATIONS (Check all Lights work)
BRAKE (Disconnect Trailer Brake)
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UNCOUPLE (B.L.A.C.K.)
BRAKE (Trailer brake on)
LEGS (Legs down)
AIR (Air lines & electrics disconnected)
COUPLING (release the 5th wheel coupling)
KNUMBER PLATE (He couldn’t find an n in black)
That’s the order I do it in , didn’t know Eddie “invented it” thought I had 
When I worked for Stobarts In the early '90’s, we had to check the ‘5th wheel’ every time we stopped at a MSA just to make sure the nobody had ‘pulled the pin’…
Over a period of 6 year’s I’d had the Pin pulled 3 times while parked on MSA’s… , but I never dropped a trailer on It’s knee’s, although I had a couple of colleagues that had…
SYE-1:
Now i don’t expect to see many hands in the air but in the last month i seen this happen twice , i was at amazon when a truck pulled off the bay turned left and BANG … the trailer slides off the back of the unit and hits the floor, it had a full load on and took them ages to wind the legs down so the unit could get back under …then last week the same , the truck next to me backs on to the trailer winds the legs up ect pulls off turns right and BANG trailer hits the floor , this time it was empty so they lifted it with a fork lift then wound the legs down , so my question is have you done this …
You can see the Fault on one Blick
"The Driver didn’t wear his HiViz 