So you're saying I'm off topic ...?...LOL

I'm saying you're off topic.

Let's chock the wheels and move on.

First- As a long term flat/step guy who has recently had to resort to a curtain van job to stay busy I have to say I hate this whole dock thing. It seems like it's always back in & wait for hours.

But this has been an interesting thread, at least when it's been on topic. Here's what I think;

I don't like setting all my brakes at a dock. When I set the trailer it automatically deflates the air bags, which causes two issues; It puts the whole combination in a bind as the trailer then rolls forward against the tractor brakes, and I can't use the scale guage to judge my weight.

I've only been in this situation a few times, but I've never been comfortable with anything I've done. I'll welcome most opinions. My best solution has been to let the trailer bags deflate with the tractor brakes released, then dynamite the tractor. This means I can't use the trailer scale as I'm being loaded. I don't understand why a lumber mill will never have a problem shifting my load, but getting 7 pallets of bottled water shuffled around requires divine intervention.

On the other hand I think I was really clever last week. I had my first experience with getting my emergency gladhand locked off. After it was locked they told me I was too far away from the dock & wanted me to back up further. But the guy on the yard goat, who had the key to the gladhand lock was out in the back 40 somewhere. So I put the service gladhand from the tractor on the emergency side of the trailer & sent enough air through the handvalve to release the trailer brakes & allow me to back up 6 inches.

Now can we please start building houses again so I can go back to hauling lumber.

I think that putting a lock on the glad hand is a fairly recent phenomenon in this business. When I pulled a van some years ago there were only a few who required a lock or had you disconnect the air air lines. I don't recall having to do anything such as that when I first started in this business back in the 1970's.

It's just more BS, thought up by some insurance co. types, sitting in an office somewhere, out of touch with reality.

it's because many people have been hurt when the driver pulled away. I have personally seen one one guy suffer a broken back when the driver pulled away while the guy was on top of the tank closing the hatch, the driver saw the guy unhook the hose and thought he was done and took off, so that's why they do it , to protect thenselves from dum-asses with no sense.
I kind of like it. when they unlock it and tell me okay, if they have forgotten anything, then it's on them..

good lord what a thread. actually having hauled JD for TMC, I would not put anything past some of the people who work at JD dealerships.

unless we figured out what happened and I missed, let me offer my perspective:

whether or not we set the trailer brakes at a JD dealership depends on the height of their dock or ramp. our newer Bensons dump the airbags when the red valve is pulled. you would not believe how many JD dealerships are not equipped or trained to safely unload some of the equipment they order.

we do not carry chocks, I have never seen chocks at a JD dealership, this guy needed ramps, not chocks. I would be real surprised if a TMC specialized driver did not set his tractor brakes, can't say I would have set my trailer brakes in the same situation. I have seen some idiotic ways people have tried to load and unload flatbeds, sometimes the best I can do is stay the hell away from the trailer while they are doing it.

Then pull the yellow knob to set the tractor brakes, leave the red knob pushed in, and pull the "Johnson bar/trolley valve" which will apply the trailer brakes while still allowing the air ride to stay charged.

that would work, most stuff I haul comes off from the sides, I do recall having to set the trailer brakes while they were trying to unload a 30' grain drill with an 8wd tractor and it was pushing my trailer away from the dock.

bottom line, it was not safe to unload a tractor from a stepdeck backed up to that dock, they should have used portable ramps.