I always lower the legs to about an inch off the ground, then gently lower the rear of the unit as I pull forward, after the pin has disengaged.
However, when our resident ‘grump-shunt’ is on duty, some of our lads follow this procedure: -
Reverse trailer onto the bay, so on the ■■■■, that the loader won’t be able to get the ramp in. (This ensures grump-shunt HAS to come and move the trailer.)
Apply park brake on trailer (Grump-shunt don’t like you using the park brake, oh no!)
Raise unit suspension to the max, and lower the landing legs to the ground (You can guarantee he’ll be in such a hurry he won’t realise, and he’ll have to pull out for a second attempt.)
I would not do this, because sometimes I do the shunting, and would not want this treatment. But having seen the way grump-shunt speaks to certain people, I can understand why he gets it with both barrels!
All of our trailer’s on returning to the depot are supposed to be dropped leaving a 1-2 inch gap .
This is because once 29 odd tonne has been reloaded onto them and the neck flexes it forces the trailer legs hard to the floor and your suspension can not lift the legs high enough to clear the floor to allow you to wind them up .
Occasionly you get one that has been reloaded without the gap being left and it is a right PIA slow winding forever to get the ■■■■ legs up …A lot easier to ensure you leave the gap . obviously any heavy loaded trailers you drop the legs to the floor .
This is how I did it shunting round the yard in Canada.
Drop trailer legs to the ground, pull hoses (and in the UK apply trailer brake), back the unit up a little to take preassure off the jaws (If I didn’t reverse into the space that is), pull pin, drop air suspension, and pull away as the air drops. When dropping trailers on thick ice, I never let the air drop all the way in case the drive axles got lifted up enough to lose me the traction to get clear.
Picking up trailers from the ice was fun… as frequently the legs had frozen in place. Couple, drop air suspension, wind up the legs as much as possible, then lift the air up again. That usually got them free, even with that piece of tat freightshaker i used to shunt with.
Coffeeholic:
Drop legs all the way, pull forward a little to disengage pin, drop air on unit then pull clear.
You’d be amazed the amount of drivers who don’t.
I quite often stop at Cherwell Valley services on the M40 and there’s a firm in there every night doing a changeover,both of them just wind the legs down,pull the pin and give it some welly.
One night those air bags are going to pop!
You used to see that sort of thing quite often at Felixstowe when drivers were having loaded containers lifted off an air suspended skelly,on a couple of occasions the air bags did go pop.
After that they started fitted wire hausers between the axle and chassis.
more likely they will rip the run up ramps off on the lip of an old trailer, some trailers have 2 little gaps under the front that are just right for the run up ramps to slot into, ping go the bolts holding the ramps on and then it’s clatter clatter as they drop on the deck unless they have been welded to the chassis like some cowboys do after the first time it happens.
with air suspension my boss specs the trucks without run up ramps, there is no need for them if you have educated drivers working for you and not weekend warriors that just do the trunking for a bit of extra alongside their normal jobs.
scanny77:
with the suspension at ride height, i always drop the legs as far as they will go (including pushing the handle to the smaller cog) and pull out. there is nothing worse than trying to get under a trailer that has been dropped too low. the other day i had to force an Axor under a fully loaded trailer and i got a bump on the head for my efforts
Correction there is nothing worse than trying to pick up a loaded trailer thats had it legs wound down hard, only to find that when you come to pick it up the air has dropped out of the suspension, thus forcing the front end even higher, and tnat your unit is to low to pick it up even with your suspension fully raised. I’ve seen blokes raise the unit to drop a trailer and wind the legs down hard WHY . I leave the unit at its traveling height then drop the legs to just touch the ground, then pull away with the Coffeholic method…
our trailers are normally empty but on the odd occasions that a full one is dumped, it is always a pain in the arse to get a unit under it. when i drop a full one, i leave the units suspension at travelling height and drop the legs right down and pull out slowly. when i pick one up i drop the suspension, back slowly under, jump out to raise the suspension to touching height (5th wheel/trailer) and back under. after the pin is locked in, i raise the suspension enough to lift the legs up
incidentally, this practice has worked so far but i am still new to trailers so i am not sitting here thinking that i am right in doing it this way. all i am saying is that this works for me. i am open to correction from you guys
allikat:
This is how I did it shunting round the yard in Canada.
Drop trailer legs to the ground, pull hoses (and in the UK apply trailer brake), back the unit up a little to take preassure off the jaws (If I didn’t reverse into the space that is), pull pin, drop air suspension, and pull away as the air drops. When dropping trailers on thick ice, I never let the air drop all the way in case the drive axles got lifted up enough to lose me the traction to get clear.
Picking up trailers from the ice was fun… as frequently the legs had frozen in place. Couple, drop air suspension, wind up the legs as much as possible, then lift the air up again. That usually got them free, even with that piece of tat freightshaker i used to shunt with.
Bloody good advice that…time you got your Class One and stopped wasting the knowledge!
I’m being serious, btw, not having a dig (I appreciate this may come across that way). It’d be a crying shame to lose the value of the experience you gained in Canada/US through “rustyness”…plus the more good, competant, and above all dedicated females we can get into the industry, the quicker conditions will change to allow for the perceived “feminine delicacy”. Now you know and I know that perception of delicacy is a load of y-front contents…but all drivers will benefit from us playing along, so it’s only fair we do our unique bit in this way.
scanny77:
with the suspension at ride height, i always drop the legs as far as they will go (including pushing the handle to the smaller cog) and pull out. there is nothing worse than trying to get under a trailer that has been dropped too low. the other day i had to force an Axor under a fully loaded trailer and i got a bump on the head for my efforts
Correction there is nothing worse than trying to pick up a loaded trailer thats had it legs wound down hard, only to find that when you come to pick it up the air has dropped out of the suspension, thus forcing the front end even higher, and tnat your unit is to low to pick it up even with your suspension fully raised. I’ve seen blokes raise the unit to drop a trailer and wind the legs down hard WHY . I leave the unit at its traveling height then drop the legs to just touch the ground, then pull away with the Coffeholic method…
our trailers are normally empty but on the odd occasions that a full one is dumped, it is always a pain in the arse to get a unit under it. when i drop a full one, i leave the units suspension at travelling height and drop the legs right down and pull out slowly. when i pick one up i drop the suspension, back slowly under, jump out to raise the suspension to touching height (5th wheel/trailer) and back under. after the pin is locked in, i raise the suspension enough to lift the legs up
incidentally, this practice has worked so far but i am still new to trailers so i am not sitting here thinking that i am right in doing it this way. all i am saying is that this works for me. i am open to correction from you guys
Scanny you can save getting out of your cab when coupling, back under the trailer as you do, then raise the suspension whilst watching the front of your trailer in your mirror, you’ll see when it starts to lift and can then continue to couple up, works for me i reckon that you’ve pretty much got it licked, thats provided you think i’m one of those guys
PS if you do raise the suspension before the pin is locked as i do, just keep an eye on trailer just to make sure it dont run back if the air is drained and the parking brakes not been aplied, or when you walk round the trailer before coupling apply the parking brake
eddie snax:
PS if you do raise the suspension before the pin is locked as i do, just keep an eye on trailer just to make sure it dont run back if the air is drained and the parking brakes not been aplied, or when you walk round the trailer before coupling apply the parking brake
This might be little daft question but I have long time wondered why you have to separately apply trailers parking brake? Don’t you have “spring brakes” on any trailers axle? I mean that type of “brake clock” (sorry, direct translation from Finnish) what uses spring to apply brake when air pressure drops below 5 bar and should be automatically applied from the moment air pressure from truck ends. What I understand with parking brake is that brake shoe is pulled mechanically via some kind of wire onto surface of brake drum.
eddie snax:
PS if you do raise the suspension before the pin is locked as i do, just keep an eye on trailer just to make sure it dont run back if the air is drained and the parking brakes not been aplied, or when you walk round the trailer before coupling apply the parking brake
This might be little daft question but I have long time wondered why you have to separately apply trailers parking brake? Don’t you have “spring brakes” on any trailers axle? I mean that type of “brake clock” (sorry, direct translation from Finnish) what uses spring to apply brake when air pressure drops below 5 bar and should be automatically applied from the moment air pressure from truck ends. What I understand with parking brake is that brake shoe is pulled mechanically via some kind of wire onto surface of brake drum.
Yes Kyrbo we do use spring brakes but drivers are instructed to use parking brakes as well by over zealous H & S men
convoy:
Two driving instructors who do driving assessments
for the haulage company’s they worked for told me
when winding the legs down to leave about a 1 inch gap.
The first time I heard this I thought It don’t sound right
as the trailer would drop down and then when the
second person said it got me thinking why they do it.
I learned class 1 by lowering the legs until they touch
the ground and will carry on using this method.
Lower legs to they just touch the ground
or
Lower legs to about 1 inch of the ground
I say “Stupid”
It’s just wrong if you lift the supspension,as a Tractor which can’t lift the Supspension that high could slip under the ingpin.
I just go back,Feet down to bottom and away.
If heavy then lift i Supspension some and Feet down and away
robinhood_1984:
The reason I was told by my instructor to wind the legs down to the point where the legs are just touching the ground is so that on your re-coupling excercise, you’ll pick the trailer up slightly and if you’re not straight, when the trailer moves to one side as you go under, you won’t bend the legs and fail the test.
Just go with fifthheel under Trailer,lift Supspension and pull back til Fifthwheel closes,safe it first,Feet up and cable’s + Susy on,Reg on Trailer,safetycheck on Trailer and load,a Beer and go.
Eh,i meaned,a Coffee and go
johnny:
with air suspension my boss specs the trucks without run up ramps, there is no need for them
I always specify mine without run up ramps, as you say pointless with air suspension.
We have run ups on air suspension units only because our shunter has a low fifth wheel and leaf springs so there are occasions when the air wont drop the unit low enough to get under, also we pull tankers, shuttles and taut liners which are all different hights so i suppose it saves the mud guards just incase
i was told to leave an inch but then it drops to far what i do is lower as far as it will go then pull out slowly ( do’s that sound right sounds a touch too raucous too me ) they always seems to be a bit off slack in the legs. ( it gets worse )
johnny:
with air suspension my boss specs the trucks without run up ramps, there is no need for them
I always specify mine without run up ramps, as you say pointless with air suspension.
I’ve been using my unit for the last few months without run-ups,after they were ripped off by a casual driver .Apparently he was pulling out from under a trailer at an angle but had forgotten to wind the legs down.
The only problem I ever encountered was at Somerfields,East Kilbride.When the trailer is docked,it is on level ground but the unit is on a slight incline.Their shunters seem to drop the trailer low and I would imagine when the trailer is loaded with heavy pallets at the front,the front of the trailer will drop a little more.I went to collect the trailer one night and it was so low,even with the air dumped from the unit,could not get under the trailer.If the run-ups were fitted it wouldn’t have been a problem.
They are now re-fitted after the bosses son reversed under a low trailer and the two tails on the turntable wrecked the plate where suzie connections are mounted.
But having seen the way grump-shunt speaks to certain people, I can understand why he gets it with both barrels! 
. I leave the unit at its traveling height then drop the legs to just touch the ground, then pull away with the Coffeholic method… 
but drivers are instructed to use parking brakes as well by over zealous H & S men