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- - The importance of the tug test! (https://www.classadrivers.com/forum/new-truck-drivers-get-help-here/37608-importance-tug-test.html)

Hey matcat??? I know it sounds funny....But I came up with that since the ''incident'' of a linehaul driver in PA on I-78 last year who lost his tail pup and noticed it once he got to his yard hours later. I guess he NEVER looked in his mirrors. I think it was yellow freight or UPS...thank god nobody got hurt there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by matcat (Post 445908)

If your tug testing hard enough that trailer will come off if the jaws arent closed properly! I don't do little girly tug tests, I tug it until the trailer starts dragging.

If you truck and trailer are in a straight line, but your king pin dropped in front of your fith wheel a your tug test will pass. You won't know something is up until you make a turn.

You have to get out and look.

When I drop a trailer I like to let the air out before I lower the landing gear. This leaves your trailer sitting a little lower. When you slide the fith wheel under, the trailer will raise up that little extra bit. It prevents the king pin from riding over the fith wheel. Of course you still have to make sure you are properly aligned, otherwise the kingpin will ride up and over the flat part of the fith wheel.

Because the trailer lifts up onto the fith wheel it will make it easier to crank your landing gear up. Not everyone does this so you still have to match the heights of the trailer and fith wheel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrylamar (Post 446640)

Well honestly I think you have to have a pretty poor attention span if you flat out overshoot your fifth wheel like that! I did it just 2 days ago, but it was quite obvious when the trailer kept getting closer, way closer then it should be. On top of that how would you NOT notice that when you get back out to hook up your lines?!?

I totally agree with checking and double checking the kingpin and jaws, and to use your flashlight to get under there and really inspect it.

The problem as I see it is that with all the "Buffet Bandits" in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 pounds, most area's under the trailer, the fifth wheel, the drives, etc., will never be checked.

Most are on the verge of cardiac arrest when they haul themselves in and out of the tractor.

Codger

Haha Buffet bandits, hahaha!

Quote:

Originally Posted by matcat (Post 446701)

Maybe, I hook up to different types of trailers. Each sit a little differently from the previous. They have various gaps betwee the trailer and the cab. So unless I get out and look, I may not notice. Check twice, drive away once!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin0915 (Post 446187)

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.

Would that happen to be the plant in Big Island, VA?
(Maybe that would explain why Schneider is now hauling our junk cardboard and not Swift).

As for the tug test, I second the notion of getting under the trailer and checking the jaws with a flashlight. Ten seconds spent is a small investment for some peace of mind. a