Pulled away from Dock
 

Watched a Driver hook up and pull a Trailer away from a Dock under a Red Light, what happens to him now?

Trailer was empty and no one hurt.

If there was a DOT bumper lock on his bumper then he likely bent the bumper and could have damaged the lock. In that case, he will probably have either an incident or preventable accident on his record. If no damage was done, then I doubt that anything will be done. If the shipper files a complaint to his company, he might have to talk with someone in safety or his DM might talk with him. Other than that, I doubt that anything will be done. He just needs to pay attention.

The light was red.. Was it locked also?

Good thing noone was in the trailer. I saw a guy get carried around a yard in the back of a trailer cause noone looked to see if anyone was in there. Kinda funny, we all laughed but also knew it was dangerous.

That was when I was at Sysco.

As far as trouble for that guy. Who knows. Its probably up to the people who were working the dock to report him, even if they saw him.

Well "that guy" should pay more attention. Not sure what reprocussions "he" will face, but at my last company, someone did just that. There was a forklift in the trailer, the guy was on his way out, forklift hit the ground and the guy lost his hand at the wrist.

It is also possible the driver who pulled away under a red dock light did nothing wrong too. The light may have been malfunctioning, and he may have been given verbal clearance.

If the driver did pull away before clearance was granted many things could happen from nothing at all to:

Driver being reprimanded by his company
The warehouse refusing to allow him back on the property
The driver losing his job
The trucking company losing a customer.
Any and/or all the above.

I've been in that situation several times. Usually because the dock workers are too lazy to pull the dock plates off the trailer so they tell you to go ahead and pull out.

One time I was at a really screwed up dock. When you were locked there were no lights showing, when they unlocked you the red light would come on.

The dock next to me they stopped using because the light showed green when the lock was engaged. :roll:

the best way to insure that you wont wreck the hook and accidently pulling a trailer away from the dock is go and visually inspect the lock. if someone is stupid enough to walk back into a trailer after they release the hook its thier own damn fault for going back into the trailer after they release the hook

malfunctions
 

I was at a dock and the loader came out and looked at me, then looked at the red light. Walked over and said I guess the light ain't working but you are done. He got kinda pissy when I got out and looked to see if the bumper lock had lowered before proceeding.

I was unloading at a grocery warehouse once that had a tricky bumper lock. I had gotten my paperwork and had a green light. I released my brakes and was about to pull out when I felt resistance. I tried again, nothing. I set my tractor brakes and got out. It was dark so I got my flashlight to see if I had a stuck brake or something. That's when I noticed the dock lock was still clamped on my bumper. I went in and informed the recieving clerk, he called on his radio that "That damn lock is stuck again." A guy came out with a sledge hammer and went out with me. He went under the trailer and gave it a good whack, causing it to release. He told me that it got stuck from time to time. :lol:

There was no damage, probably because I was easing it out of the dock since I had trucks on both sides and didn't pull out in full force.

At the Wal-Mart I work at, we almost had a guy get taken away in a trailer. Usually our loads are transported in trailers with roll up doors but this one was a swing door trailer. I thought we had more freight to unload so I went in with one of my co-workers with a pallet jack to check. Turns out the pallets in the trailer were for the next stop so we walk back out. All of a sudden I hear "Oh shit!". I turned around and saw my coworker standing on the dock plate, his pallet jack gone. Just as he had walked out of the trailer, the driver had pulled out. The pallet jack didn't make it and fell to the ground. Nobody was hurt and the jack survived the fall, lol. I didn't realize the driver had been released already. :oops: