at the start of your shift you re doing your walk around and when inspecting the 5th wheel there is no dog clip on it…it has a spring loaded safety thingy where the clip goes in,there is no dog clip on it though,what would you do?
some r like that they have a bit of metel that drops down and you have to pull the wire so it lifts the metel so you can pull the pin if it dont drop down then the pin aint in.
carry on as normal 
it is either the dog clip or the spring loaded clip that comes down when the handle is in place, both are perfectly legal
clarkyboy:
at the start of your shift you re doing your walk around and when inspecting the 5th wheel there is no dog clip on it…it has a spring loaded safety thingy where the clip goes in,there is no dog clip on it though,what would you do?
If you’re referring to the type where you pull the wire to lift the clip a dog clip can be used but is not compulsory as far as I know, so I’d get on with the job 
Buy your own and keep it with you in your “truckers” kit, they cost less than £1 at most leading hardware retailers
perfectly legal to carry on mine has a sticker on 5th wheel saying if fitted dog clip may be used not must be used
on the type with a spring loaded thingy dog clips are not required but if a clip is fitted it must be used
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A lot of companies fit the dog clip to these partly as belt and braces, and partly to make sure that the driver actually has to get in there and make sure that the sprung lever has engaged and the fifth wheel is properly locked.
The fifth wheel on my tractor has a wire that moves a plate aside to enable the pin to be “pulled”.I have connected a dog clip and chain to the mechanism as a “belt and braces”. If the dog clip is on I know it’s secure.Many years ago a night trunk man I worked with always used a nut and bolt to secure his pin as he had been the victim previously of the “phantom pin puller.” This is still a handy standby to carry with you as without a doubt the pin is secure.
kevmac47:
The fifth wheel on my tractor has a wire that moves a plate aside to enable the pin to be “pulled”.I have connected a dog clip and chain to the mechanism as a “belt and braces”. If the dog clip is on I know it’s secure.Many years ago a night trunk man I worked with always used a nut and bolt to secure his pin as he had been the victim previously of the “phantom pin puller.” This is still a handy standby to carry with you as without a doubt the pin is secure.
You may as well put a padlock through the hole, then phantoms and pillocks who take the key home will cause you further problems
No doubt one day a VOSA person will see an empty hole and decree that it should be filled. I always stick the dog clip in because some of our units do not have the wire job.
waddy640:
No doubt one day a VOSA person will see an empty hole and decree that it should be filled. I always stick the dog clip in because some of our units do not have the wire job.
I noticed that the “angus burger scabia” didn’t have a dog clip, just a drop down lever, so it must be legal. but what if it wasn’t… 
truckerjon:
waddy640:
No doubt one day a VOSA person will see an empty hole and decree that it should be filled. I always stick the dog clip in because some of our units do not have the wire job.I noticed that the “angus burger scabia” didn’t have a dog clip, just a drop down lever, so it must be legal. but what if it wasn’t…
The problem is that things like this end up as " how the individual interpets the law" and the odds are there will always be differences of opinion.
clarkyboy:
‘…at the start of your shift … there is no dog clip … what would you do…?’
As others indicate, it seemingly depends on what the driver’s technical ‘support’, working/operating conditions are and what one’s perception of the law is.
I’d politely bleat at the DC VMU guys who’d probably require a defect ‘ticket’ raising whilst they put their coffee down, fit a replacement safety clip before waving me off to do my bit as a driver.
As an agency bod, my pay was dropped last year - a ‘real-world’ reminder that it isn’t my job to: Buy/carry spare kit; Interpret the law; Get all greasy or do the O’ licence holder’s job by maintaining the fleet.
But, who’ll suggest that my circumstances are what has irretrievably spoiled the industry since a real driver should be able to do a full engine defect diagnosis & strip, etc at the very least?
now ive had some opinions on the matter i will tell you what actually happend at the start of my shift
arrives into work and the wagon was just coming into the yard,i get my notes and walk round to where the agency driver was parking up,had a chat about his day and when he pulled his card and done a printout i asked him to put mine in.wecarry on chatting and i just happen to look at the 5th wheel and notice there was no dog clip fitteed to one of spring loaded safety thingies where the dog clip would go into…me being new to artics (driving 4 weeks) was told always there has to a dog clip fitted.
i pointed out the fact that there was no dog clip fitted and he said
“oh i didnt know mate it was already hooked up this morning”
and then had a look and said
“oh its one of them safety ones anyway”
now i didnt know that a dog clip didnt have to be connected to one of these so after he had gone i just wlaked round to workshop and asked them for a dog clip as the vehicle i was just first parading hasnt got 1,they gave me a dog clip,i put it on and left the yard happy with the condition of the vehicle.to me it just didnt seem right not to have 1 on and ifelt more comfortable knowing one was on.
do you think i done the right thing■■?
clarkyboy:
now ive had some opinions on the matter i will tell you what actually happend at the start of my shift
arrives into work and the wagon was just coming into the yard,i get my notes and walk round to where the agency driver was parking up,had a chat about his day and when he pulled his card and done a printout i asked him to put mine in.wecarry on chatting and i just happen to look at the 5th wheel and notice there was no dog clip fitteed to one of spring loaded safety thingies where the dog clip would go into…me being new to artics (driving 4 weeks) was told always there has to a dog clip fitted.
i pointed out the fact that there was no dog clip fitted and he said
“oh i didnt know mate it was already hooked up this morning”
and then had a look and said
“oh its one of them safety ones anyway”
now i didnt know that a dog clip didnt have to be connected to one of these so after he had gone i just wlaked round to workshop and asked them for a dog clip as the vehicle i was just first parading hasnt got 1,they gave me a dog clip,i put it on and left the yard happy with the condition of the vehicle.to me it just didnt seem right not to have 1 on and ifelt more comfortable knowing one was on.
do you think i done the right thing■■?
Thats the bit that worries me more! Do you trust another driver to have done everything correctly? I never do, i always check that all is safe even if the truck and trailer never get separated except for service.
i couldnt believe he didnt know there wasnt one on there aswell…if he knew there wasnt one its different but what if it wasnt a spring loaded safety one■■? with me being new to the game and this guy seemed to be a bit of an old hand i didnt raise the matter.but i always have done andd always will carry on to chech the coupling at the start of shift
We normally hook up our trailer each morning so I know it is all done properly. In the rare event that it is already done then I go over it all myself as I would normally. The consequences of dropping a trailer on the road are just too horrendous to contemplate.
Sometimes I even stop and recheck it.
I’ve never seen the point in them anyway apart making it slightly harder to pulled without the drivers knowledge. It does nothing to actually hold the trailer on.
Santa:
A lot of companies fit the dog clip to these partly as belt and braces, and partly to make sure that the driver actually has to get in there and make sure that the sprung lever has engaged and the fifth wheel is properly locked.
I was going to say the same thing, belt and braces, the dog clip or even the release handle doesn’t hold the trailer on. The locking bar and lock jaw gripping the pin does that and on a properly coupled and maintained fifth wheel should never release a trailer unintentionally.
Even the MOT doesn’t check if the fifth wheel is in good condition, that should be a serious part of the test, much more important than headlamp aim and whether there is a Tunnel Du Frejus sun-strip in the window.
I mentioned once before about the APK in Holland, they make you split the combination and measure the kingpin with a vernier gauge.
