I do agree with you. Completely. I will agrue though.

Spring brakes are the safety feature that is to stop, a set of axles, of which the air system has lost air pressure. They are much improved over the old style air system, of keeping brakes applied, while no air pressure is pressent in the system.

 

If that's pointed at me. I think you'd want to retract that, due to it not being true. See my avatar, it's empty now but I've put more miles on it loaded then empty.:thumbsup:

 

No It was directed at TomB895...because drivers don't normally set the trailer breaks when getting loaded or unloaded at docks ,and it has nothing to with being lazy infact if you just pop the more effort than just setting both ,but under nomrmal circumstances there are reasons to not set both .

 

Just curious, since I don't see very many docks, with what i end up pulling. Could you just post some of the reasons not to set both. I've only pulled 2 vans (jobsite vans) so I don't know much when it comes to them. Prefer lowboys, and flatbeds.

 

Been unloaded at menards many times , one I can't remember the one town in WI , but you have to back out all the way around the building around all their junk after uloaded ...But the chaulks are more as a precaution due to their policy of unhooking while unloaded ,as well as the giving them your keys ...fact remains it takes alot to move a truck with just tractor breaks ...more than you experience at a dock getting loaded by a fork lift ...And in addition to getting loaded I've loaded my share of vans/flat beds/coil trailers to say I'm right .

 

Go to truck stop or shipper/receiver and take a count on drivers with only tractor breaks set...

 

That's fine, BJ...because I don't have to convince you, or anyone else on this board of my experience. You can think what you want. Heck, you used to think that a tractor's spring brakes acted on all three axles on a tractor...obviously never have looked at yours....so you're gonna think what you want anyway!:lol2:

So, BJ, that means you've never been to a shipper that locks out the emergency gladhand when they unload your trailer? Hrmm...I wonder why they do that....:moon:

Kind of reminds me of a certain new driver who came on here, arguing against using grease on sliding tandems on a trailer...on the basis that he claimed nobody else did...:clap:

 

[QUOTE=Orangetxguy;424560]Yes Tom...You can "pop" the brakes at 5mph to stop the truck. Your still going to cause component failure, because the "Spring Brake" is not designed to stop a moving truck. It is designed to hold in place a stopped truck.

Once you pull the buttons, you have no recourse. You don't have time to release the brakes to prevent damage. Damage to components can include damaged "S" cams, pads pulled off of rivets, blown brake chambers and even drums can be cracked, from the inertia of the moving vehicle.

Dead wrong. With at 30/30 spring brake chamber, you have about the equivelant of 30 psi of brake apply pressure with the spring brake and it takes about 30 psi of supply pressure to overcome the force of the spring to release the brakes. Its not going to hurt a damn thing. Popping the valves is about the equivelant of a stop (panic stop, in my book) with 30 psi of apply pressure.

Also, I have NEVER seen a CAT wheel loader, short of a 992 or so, that would push a 78000 pound truck around. 30 feet? I'm calling BS.

Trucks with both brake valves set being pushed far enough from a loading dock to drop the dock plate with a forklift running in and out? Maybe on ice. Otherwise, I gotta call BS on that one too.

Some of us have been out here a bit too long to buy these trucker stories.

Now, to the OP, it looks to me like the brakes probably weren't set on either tractor or trailer. That truck is a hell of a long way away from that dock. I don't see how that could have happened with any resistance at all from the truck. (i.e. at least one axle worth of brakes set)

 

+1 Bandit!

I thought spring brakes were originally developed to provide emergency braking when air pressure was lost. The first ones I saw had the chambers bolted to the frame of the truck with chains or cables going back to the slack adjusters.

That was back before jake brakes, when guys ran water on their cast iron brake drums to cool things down on long hills.

 

Well, what you just posted clearly shows that you you have never unloaded at a Menards. Given the misinformation you've been posting the past few days, I'm beginning to wonder whether you are even really a truck driver.

Not setting your trailer brakes at a dock? You're kidding, right?