‘Never touch the pin until everything else was done’
Very wise words. (and common sense)
1 Like
Yep BLACK
Brake
Legs
Airline
clip
King pin
Which is perfect if one has access to the airlines, when still coupled up.
If it is so close coupled that one cannot get in there, and cannot get to the lines from the ground,(Mavis rail etc) then a split couple is needed.
That is the best and safest method, agreed, but is not always possible.
Yep I understand with split , but these were standard curtain siders and a container Skeli
1 Like
I avoided split coupling like the plague: ie I never did it. Mercifully I am blessed with a compact and bijou anatomy, so I could scramble into the gap when doing close-coupled fridges and mess with the suzies. When Mavis rails came in I used them.
What I can’t understand is why, when Mavis rails were adopted, wasn’t split-coupling outlawed by the H&S and their trainers!
not every company has mavis rails on their refrigorated trailers. plus if your a short arse like me and its one of the mavis rails that doesnt drop down in a 90degree arc your still trying to do them at some contorted angle above your head.
there is nothing wrong with split coupling if it is done properly.
put trailer brake on, lower suspension on the unit so the 5th wheel doesnt touch the rub plate on the trailer. back under so the 5th wheel is still in front of the pin but you can easily reach to do the airlines airlines on as normal with perfect ease back in the cab and raise the suspension untill legs are just off the ground pick up the pin then back out the cab for the dog clip and legs etc.
that way the only time the trailer could move you are in the cab out the way if it slips off backwards soon as the legs hit the deck it will stop. if it tries to roll forward you dont get crushed and it can only go as far as the pin
no need for it to be banned. the only places that ban it are rush rush rush merchants and employ morons. To be fair if i go for an assessment somewhere that uses fridges i always ask if i can split couple before i go to pick the trailer up. If i get told no i ask to be shown how to use a mavis rail
1 Like
7 hrs watching drivers drop trailers , I’d of been in the bunk & long gone , Christ this job has gone to pot
1 Like
Don’t your trailer brakes come on with the parking brake? Can’t you apply the trailer brakes, independently, from the cab?
Yes, the trailer brakes come on with the parking brake.
No, you cannot apply the trailer brakes from the cab. This was outlawed some years ago (I still missed it for years afterward). That system was abused by drivers using other people’s trailers to save their unit brakes 
!
We have had several changes to the air brake systems over the years. Some of the current issues arise with drivers assuming they have a (newer) current trailer when they may have an older one.
I’ll try to write up an abbreviated explanation in a minute. It will still be over 100words though.
We did have a 3 line system with palm couplings. Then when I started in ‘76 it was 3 lines with “C-type” couplings. It was (pretty much) impossible to connect the wrong lines.
However it was possible to fail to open the taps, so taps were banned at the same time as a 2 line system came in.
The current system is two lines: Red suzie on unit with a C-type female coupling. Yellow suzie with male coupling. Both are self sealing, no taps allowed.
The red line carries full line pressure at all times. It fuillls air tanks on the trailer for air suspension and for braking uses….more in a bit.
The yellow is the command or service line. It carries instructions from the foot valve (brake pedal) to the trailer.
Trailers all now have mechanical springs in the brake chambers. If the trailer has no air, or as soon as the red line is disconnected, they put the brakes full on. Locked.
On current trailers when the red line is dropped a button also comes out on the trailer showing the brakes are on. It is mounted o the trailer chassis or head board. When the trailer is re-connected (picked up) the red button needs to be manually pushed in to release the brakes.
There is also a “shunt button” on the trailer. This can be used once or twice, if there is enough air in the trailer tanks, to release the automatic trailer brakes to enable shunting in a yard without connecting all the lines up.
Because the lines carry full air pressure, (no taps) they take a fair bit of force to connect them. That is especially awkward with close coupled trailers. and fridges in particular. You can’t get behind the lines with arms locked, and use your body weight.
Split coupling involves connecting the suzies, air and electrics before the pin is coupled.
It is best if the pin is fully locked before connecting lines but this is not always possible. We now have a MAVIS system so suzies are connected with the pin fully locked and the driver on the ground. Not everywhere yet, and not a requirement I think? Nexus Sliding Couplings - Nexus Vehicle Systems
However when coupling some things can go wrong. They shouldn’t….but, famous last words etc. And if split coupling then maybe there are more things to make errors with.
Good summary there, Franglais.
And Cooper makes the valid point that short-arses (I’m one) struggle with reaching into the Mavis rail to get enough purchase to push the connectors against the air pressure.
It used to be (mis)called the dead man’s handle if I remember correctly, but it was nothing of the sort, it merely operated the trailer brakes, A real/correct dead man was in trains I think where the driver had to have pressure on it to keep the brakes open, if he passed out the thing stopped all by itself. Didn’t stop us calling the trailer brake a ‘dead man’ though.
1 Like
I had never heard the term ‘till on here a few days ago, much less used one, but I would also have a problem bearing in mind what has been said. But the first time in my long career that I pulled a fridge was when I came here to work in ’99, and I managed to squeeze myself in enough to do the job right.
Strangely enough, as I was visiting my late wife at the cemetary this morning and, as I pass each person there that I knew I give a short greeting, one of those was Didier, the first bloke I spoke to at Gauthier’s and the one who nearly had my trailer (full of apples for Sainsbury’s) on it’s nose many years ago. I saw the trailer start to move backwards as he pulled the pin and made a dash for the ratchet to stop it just in time.
That practice was not the reason he is in the cemetary though, the fags took care of that 4 years ago. 
1 Like
I could only DREAM of being on a bay that long usually. 45 minutes to an 1 hr half max AND if it was more than that the office often wanted you to drop and swap with the gazillion tanks they have at the busy sites like that.
That was before I was put on a bay , I was waiting for seal to be cut and goods in to start work , Thus meaning having to stay awake
Joys of containers
I did omit some things earlier, to be clearer (I hope, and not muddying things) trailers have no handbrakes as such. They have systems that operate automatically when the red line is dropped.
Years ago we had cable and ratchet type brakes attached to the chassis, that had to be manually put on and knocked off from the ground, but I have not used them for decades.
Nore has a certain members licence
no idea what they were like back then but as much as i joke i am no 3 tonne tess. at one of the rdc’s i worked at every trailer bar one was so close coupled with the fridge on the headboard several people damaged the aerofoils on the sides of the cab. one trailer though (an urban) had enough space to have a barn dance on the catwalk so i guess even now there are difference of some description