The importance of the tug test!
#11
04-10-2009, 02:33 AM
I wish the guy that dropped his gravel trailer today on US74 in Wilmington,NC had done a tug test, cost me to sit in a traffic jam for an hour. Also the DOT was doing a complete inspection right there were he came to a rest in the middle of the road, if you have ever seen the rock haulers in NC you probably know that more than likely didn't turn out well for him.
#12
04-10-2009, 12:18 PM
I wish the guy that dropped his gravel trailer today on US74 in Wilmington,NC had done a tug test, cost me to sit in a traffic jam for an hour. Also the DOT was doing a complete inspection right there were he came to a rest in the middle of the road, if you have ever seen the rock haulers in NC you probably know that more than likely didn't turn out well for him.
And you are most definately correct about how the DOT probably went. I was driving for a VA company (for a very short time) and if you told dispatch the truck and or trailer was unsafe and you wouldn't drive it until fixed he would say to go home for the day, they didn't have any work for you.
#13
04-11-2009, 07:49 AM
i raise the landing gear before commencing with the tugging as i abhor screwed up landing gear and im not dropping the thing. any abnormalities with the fifth wheel or hooking process generate phone and radio calls from this rookie. getting dirty under there is great compared to a manslaughter beef and i have heard of drivers held personnaly liable and incarcerated for neglecting their duties or falling asleep
#14
04-11-2009, 11:03 AM
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Pulling a Tanker for Superior Carriers!!
Posts: 3,000
I've seen where guys have failed to check their kingpin jaws before leaving a truckstop, and well...their day started out really bad... One guy spotted his trailer slipping off...so he jammed on his brakes....well, the kingpin skipped over the fifth wheel and the trailer rearranged the sleeper slightly....he must have had fun "explaining" that to his company...
I've always made it a point to not only do a tug test...but also to physically get under the trailer and look at the jaws to make sure everything is secure. Doesn't take more than 10 seconds or so.... Seems be a very low cost compared to what might follow if one fails to properly do a PTI or enroute check of their equipment. It'd be a real bummer to drop a trailer on someone and then have the DOT examine the fifth wheel and certify it as ok....  ops: But the real bummer would be the charges or civil litigation for damages.....
__________________
Forrest Gump was right....and some people literally strive to prove it.....everyday. Strive not to be one of "them".... And "lemmings" are a dime a dozen! Remember: The "truth WILL set you free"! If it doesn't "set you free"....."it will trap you in the cesspool of your own design". They lost my original "avatar"....oh well.  
#15
04-11-2009, 11:54 AM
I heard on the CB sitting in Memphis terminal last night, the reason Swifties have had to watch a 'safety video' on coupling and uncoupling. Because Swift had 3 droppped trailers in a one week period. Two of which happened at a Georgia Pacific or somewhere in Virginia, those drivers were based out of Richmond. And one of the dropped trailers went down an embankment, took out a power pole, and shut the factory down for 2 days. at a cost of over a million dollars to Swift to pay for lost production and to get them back up and running. (i hear whoever this was, is a big contract, and they would forgo Swift paying for the repairs, if they got a break on the cost to ship freight).
There really is no reason to drop a trailer, UNLESS the 5th wheel malfunctions itself. but even if it DOES, the company you work for will just blame the driver anyway.
#16
04-11-2009, 11:58 AM
I heard on the CB sitting in Memphis terminal last night, the reason Swifties have had to watch a 'safety video' on coupling and uncoupling. Because Swift had 3 droppped trailers in a one week period. Two of which happened at a Georgia Pacific or somewhere in Virginia, those drivers were based out of Richmond. And one of the dropped trailers went down an embankment, took out a power pole, and shut the factory down for 2 days. at a cost of over a million dollars to Swift to pay for lost production and to get them back up and running. (i hear whoever this was, is a big contract, and they would forgo Swift paying for the repairs, if they got a break on the cost to ship freight).
There really is no reason to drop a trailer, UNLESS the 5th wheel malfunctions itself. but even if it DOES, the company you work for will just blame the driver anyway.
__________________
My Trucking Blog: http://matcattruckin.blogspot.com/ Website I am making for drivers: http://www.4thedriver.com As I sit looking all around, Confusion and uncertainty is all I found. The answers are there, But I do not know where. Optimistic and hopeful dreams, Are all I have so it seems. The future I do not know, So all I can do is take it slow. But I do know it will work out, So I wait and watch without a doubt.
#17
04-12-2009, 09:35 AM
i tug on it as often as possible. :banana1:
__________________
"lady's and gentlemen, they call me freebird, that's right the legiondary freebird, and i'm back in town"
#18
04-12-2009, 11:17 AM
thanks for the laugh, :rofl: a green thingy in return
__________________
if you throw a cat out of a car window, does it turn into kitty litter?
#19
04-13-2009, 11:33 AM
Tug test??? Check! Get out and look (with flashlight!!!) Check! Drove away and STILL dropped my empty tail pup after driving a few miles. No traffic, early in the morning, nobody driving around me. Managed to get everything fixed within 20 minutes.No damage. Got the set hooked again. TRIPLE checked EVERYTHING!!! Left and dropped tail trailer AGAIN. Then I was too afraid to go anywhere, hooked the set again and called repair shop out. They checked everything and found nothing wrong and told me to go. I will NEVER forget that day and it thought me tug test AND eye check MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH. Since then I check my mirrors every time I touch the brake and count my trailers.
__________________
Live free like an American, drive a German car and eat like the French! OR DO YOU WANT to live like a German, drive a French car and eat like an American? Quote from Tonn Ostergard(CEO CRETE Carrier in a Pilot mag. interview): I HOPE for an economic downturn...that FORCES people out of their jobs and into TRUCKING!
#20
04-13-2009, 01:59 PM
Tug test??? Check! Get out and look (with flashlight!!!) Check! Drove away and STILL dropped my empty tail pup after driving a few miles. No traffic, early in the morning, nobody driving around me. Managed to get everything fixed within 20 minutes.No damage. Got the set hooked again. TRIPLE checked EVERYTHING!!! Left and dropped tail trailer AGAIN. Then I was too afraid to go anywhere, hooked the set again and called repair shop out. They checked everything and found nothing wrong and told me to go. I will NEVER forget that day and it thought me tug test AND eye check MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH. Since then I check my mirrors every time I touch the brake and count my trailers.
I know it isn't funny, but at the same time it is  Today I had a hell of a time! I tried and tried for 30 minutes to hook to my trailer to no avail! After mucking with my 5th wheel and getting greese on me head to toe, I finally realized one of the jaws inverted a complete 180! Took some time wrestling it back in place.
__________________
My Trucking Blog: http://matcattruckin.blogspot.com/ Website I am making for drivers: http://www.4thedriver.com As I sit looking all around, Confusion and uncertainty is all I found. The answers are there, But I do not know where. Optimistic and hopeful dreams, Are all I have so it seems. The future I do not know, So all I can do is take it slow. But I do know it will work out, So I wait and watch without a doubt. |
