merc0447:
A wrecker jeez you no use the slow wind on the winding handle ya lazy bassas
You can lift a loaded trailer on low ratio?That i would like to see.
Sweat like a pig to raise an empty flat.
Trucks nowadays have adjustable air suspension, so there is no reason for not being able to correctly couple to a trailer other than laziness. Whenever I go under a trailer I lower the unit suspension until I get under the bed of the trailer, raise the units suspension up just so the landing legs come off the ground and then get out and check if I’m lined up with the pin (sometimes tankers can be an arse to couple to, and I don’t fancy smashing the toolbox on the back of one of my dad’s wagons). Then I go back and wait for the sound of the release handle clunking, give it a couple of tugs and then go about my ways.
The “ah, it be reet” attitude usually ends up with the trailer dropping to its knees when you turn a corner, or just sliding straigh out of the jaws.
Bking:
You can lift a loaded trailer on low ratio?That i would like to see.
Yes, and I was that man. 
muckles made a very good point about how long it takes…
In my case, I managed it in my 45min break, but I had to eat my butties on the way back.
Luckily for me, it was a night shift drop and swop job so I got away with it. 
Sounds very like operator error.
Good drills on the company for putting the unit VOR just Incase though. Not many would
On the subject of king pins , have any of you ever had to fit and remove king pin locks. We had to do it in the 70s at night at a depot near potters bar. Dirty greasy and sometimes very difficult to remove and replace.Not sure if they are still used today.
used to have to do that dropping trailers near Heathrow in the 70’s. messy job sometimes. 
The only bad habit I ever picked up with coupling up, was sometimes forgetting to jump out of the tractor before going under, to check the trailer brake was on…
More than once I’ve gone under, lifted it up with the suspension as I do, only to find I start pushing the whole thing back a foot before realising the red and blue buttons are both pushed in…
I never go under when anything or anyone is behind a trailer though, so no harm done.
Here’s one I had to lift this week ! he didn’t miss the pin but dropped it with about 27 ton of steel on soft ground.
ardennes:
On the subject of king pins , have any of you ever had to fit and remove king pin locks. We had to do it in the 70s at night at a depot near potters bar. Dirty greasy and sometimes very difficult to remove and replace.Not sure if they are still used today.
I had to do that onc night, in about 2006 - I’m sure it was some RDC in Rotheram, NYK or something. I remember it wasn’t too pleasant, but the trailer was full of flat screen televisions, so it was necessary I guess.
Welshman:
another photo
so was it dropped ok or did the tarmac give way
It isnt always the driver or unit to blame , if the rubbing plate on the trailor is warped or damaged it can cause problems. I used to pull trailors for a company and one particular trailor if you sent a unit with a York 5th wheel no prob but send a unit with a Jost 5th wheel and although giving the appearance of being coupled a good " ■■■■■■" would cause it to become uncoupled, as a result I refused to pull the trailor with any unit. This caused a great deal of aggro with the company until I proved to the MD that the trailor wasnt safe, to his credit he had a new rubbing plate fitted and the problem was solved. The reason the Jost 5th wheel had problems? a Jost has a greater surface area (is broader ) than a York and as a result the rubbing plate being warped stopped it coupling correctly.
gezt:
Welshman:
another photoso was it dropped ok or did the tarmac give way
Dropped ok but it sank on soft ground,if the driver had dropped it 18 inches forward there are concrete bases to prevent this happening!
correct procedure for coupling up should be raising the unit to the correct height reversing slowly under trailer , hearing bar clunck and lock and shunt unit twice forward , then getting your torch and doing a visual check underneath the trailer to make sure bar is completely across kingpin. I was taught all these safety measures by the best training school In the country tate & lyle silvertown before h&s was invented back in the 70s… sadly no longer around.
chicane:
If the locking bar release handle has got a bit bent then it can sound to have locked in but can ‘trip’ if you try and pull away, this is why I ALWAYS do a visual check to make sure the locking bar is right across behind the pin.
me to i always go under and check. 
dieseldave:
Bking:
You can lift a loaded trailer on low ratio?That i would like to see.Yes, and I was that man.
muckles made a very good point about how long it takes…
In my case, I managed it in my 45min break, but I had to eat my butties on the way back.
Luckily for me, it was a night shift drop and swop job so I got away with it.
what are you playing at ,it only takes ten minutes
just to raise it a few inches
then lower the suspension on the unit as low as you can
and then reverse under trailer
then press green button on trailer suspension control to level it
then just raise the legs as normal or drop trailer as normal
Welshman:
another photo
Good job the winding handle was there, might have disappeared altogether
Was a pain in ■■■■■■ when we had ratchet brakes for trailer brakes 
and wheels on the landing legs too! 
if some Richard head left it on an incline! 
how many of you drain the air tanks on trailers weekly?
If the handle is locked in, and the dog clip put on and a tug test done, then theres a fault with the mechanism, i would suspect, and beyond drivers control, so the company was right to take it off the road for an engineers report, good on that company.
NewLad:
I was in a yard today and a driver dropped a trailer after ‘coupling’ up. The leaver/bar was across and the ‘dog’ clip was in. The office said there must be a problem with the trailer/unit coupling system as the dog clip was in.
My understanding/opinion is ithe pin was riding on the plate and hadn’t properly engaged the jaws of the unit, resulting in the trailer being dropped on its knees. Is this the right opinion?A wrecker had to come and lift it up as it had ton bags of carrots on it, so no chance of a forkie lifting it
The driver was given the keys to another unit, his load was transhipped and was allowed to go on his way.
I must point out this happened in the night when no fitters were around to give an opinion.
The Pin has to go in that bihnd it locks a Bolt,big as your Underarm. Sometimes old Fifthwheel gets adjusted and if its too tight it will be broken open when cornering by the oval Kingpin turning in the Hole. That why you have to adjust by using a new Kingpin,or if a old,then the old Kingpin needs to turn easely 360 degree in the newly adjusted Fifth Wheel.
Fifth Wheel and theres Parts today that cheap that it cost the same to adjust it.