do they ever check the overall length of unit and trailer, our new units are so close coupled last week brian ripped the spotlight of the back of his cab and today when i got back all the bracket holding my spotlight was twisted and spotlight broke, i assume as brians when ive turned tightish to get out of yard front of trailers hit spotlight and brackets, brian whos drove for years said hes never seen anything that tightly coupled and said it was a accident waiting to happen
there fixed fifth wheels not sliders but there are holes i assume to move fifth wheel back but im told its not that simple as that as it would affect the overall length., but ive never seen vosa with a tape measure checking the overall length or do they 
why also do some of our older trailers sit farther back , i assume the pin must be set farther back
Having been in a check recently I can assure you that they do check vehicles overall length and other dimensions. They usually seem to go for bull nose Volvos and Scanias, but the one I saw was a 95XF with the trailer set so far back you could have got a garden shed between it and the cab. Perhaps then it would have been a Super Super Space Cab 
If your trailers are catching stuff on the back of the cab then something is wrong. Whilst catching the light is bad enough, imagine what would happen if you caught the air or electrical couplings.
yes. vosa do measure the overall length of a unit+trailer combination. but only when its so obvious e;g when like you said the trailer sitting on the end of the unit. lazy drivers who cant be bothered to slide the fifth wheel. on a fixed fifth wheel the dealer who sold the truck did not ask weather it would be pulling “deep” pin trailers so the fifth wheel could be fixed in that position. depending what the truck is plated for weight wise would determin how many bolts and what type of bolts are fitted. this is a easy job. so really no excuse for it.
how much distance between the unit and trailer should ther be , thing is i would not know . I coupled to a tnt hire trailer and it looked a bit close barely enough room to squeeze in and connect up. Ive never been taught this or would know how to move the fifth wheel. Would or should have i moved the fifth wheel, im more used to being able to stand and move behind the unit with ease on the company trailers. It worrys me to think as previous post says ripping off the leads
goofball:
how much distance between the unit and trailer should ther be
Enough to enable you to safely connect your suzies when you’ve coupled up.
I would suggest that if it is so close that it is damaging your unit, then its too close 
Not being funny there honest! I take it your running 3X3 unit and trailer, does it have a fridge on the front of the trailer as this will not help matters either!
A vosa officer will check the length of your vehicle ONLY if he has reason to believe it may be over. I cant see pushing your 5th wheel back one or two positions will make enough difference to cause you any legal problems unless there is some thing your not telling us about the trailer or unit.This will of course give you a little extra room to couple up safely. Out of interest are you able to coule up normally or are you having to close couple? The reason I ask is alot of companies seem to frown upon the idea of close coupling, although I see no problem with it so long as the trailer brake is the first thing on and the last thing off!! As mentioned, there are an increasing number of Bull Nose Scania and Volvos around which are prone to length problems.
Flash:
I would suggest that if it is so close that it is damaging your unit, then its too closeA vosa officer will check the length of your vehicle ONLY if he has reason to believe it may be over. I cant see pushing your 5th wheel back one or two positions will make enough difference to cause you any legal problems unless there is some thing your not telling us about the trailer or unit.This will of course give you a little extra room to couple up safely. Out of interest are you able to coule up normally or are you having to close couple? The reason I ask is alot of companies seem to frown upon the idea of close coupling, although I see no problem with it so long as the trailer brake is the first thing on and the last thing off!! As mentioned, there are an increasing number of Bull Nose Scania and Volvos around which are prone to length problems.
normal box trailers, have to split couple as cant get in to do it normally, ripped the spotlight off, and twisted the bracket for the dummy fittings on the 3rd new unit today, im not sure if they said moving 5th wheel back 2 or 3 holes would make us 2 inches over length,
boss had a real go at fleet engineer as hes not happy about us split coupling and was told by the fleet engineer to put the fat zb on a slim fast diet to solve the problem 
of split coupling
until we rip the suzies off and block some road i dont think anything will happen
Goofball, when you couple up to a new trailer which is very close to the back of your cab you need to check the clearance.
Get someone to help, another driver is best. Pull straight forward until you’ve got some room. Then slowly jack-knife it around, to make sure nothing is likely to be damaged, carefully watched by the other driver. Rear light clusters, suzies and spotlights are favourites. Don’t forget to take into account the possibility that a short steep ramp could make everything behind the cab to close up and cause damage that way.
A sliding 5th wheel is usualy fairly easy to understand how to move it. Before hitching up to a trailer, have a good look. It will more than likely be bone dry insteady of greasy, in which case it’s a 2 driver job again.
Most of them have an extra handle, just in front of the king pin release handle.
- Make sure there is no pressure on the 5th wheel.
- Make sure the trailer brake is on.
- Remove the dog clip.
- Pull the handle out and lock it in that position.
- Drive the unit forward an inch or two.
- Release the handle so that spring pressure can drop the locking pins into the slots.
- Drive forward very carefully again, until the locking pins catch.
Gently make the unit rock back and forth, to ensure the locking handle is fully home. Your mate may need to help with this, pushing the handle in. - Refit the dog clip.
- Release your trailer brake.
The locking mechanism is usualy extremely simple.
Along the fixed part of a slider, there are slots on the inner side, matching slots on each side. In the bottom of the sliding part there are two flat metal bars which slide outwards to lock into those slots. These are attatched to a pivot in the middle, so is the handle. Pulling the handle turns the pivot, which pulls both the bars out of the slots together. A spring pulls on the pivot to push the bars back into the slots. There are two cut-outs in the side of the handle, the same as in a 5th wheel handle, which locks the handle either in, or out against that spring pressure. There are no fancy mechanisms to go wrong. Simply a method to push or pull those two pieces of flat bar in or out of the slots.
I regularly break my work light when screw turning, but the company only see MPG they dont seem to think about repairs to lights and other bits at the back of the cab.
Apparently the closer the trailer is to the cab the less drag = more MPG.
now been told the lights have broke as weve run over pin 
, we pointed out if that was the case why was the side air deflectors not damaged the reply was there still thinking about that one but have no reply as yet .weve now got to take unit 200 mile round trip to prove what happens even though weve sent pictures of it jack knifed and hitting lights.
If its a slider, move the fifth wheel back a bit.
Simon:
If its a slider, move the fifth wheel back a bit.
ady1:
there fixed fifth wheels not sliders
Just dont screw a trailer round in tight circles and save your employer a bit more in tyre wear, then he might appreciate you and buy you a sliding fifth wheel