My company recently switched from penske to ryder when the lease went out. I now have an '07 International 9400i with a 72" sleeper and a 53' box. The trailer is not the "permanent one" as it is still on order from great dane. The thing is, this trailer dumps its air from the suspension when the trailer valve is popped, causing the trailer to drop down to the bottom. This is causing problems at docks for the lift drivers. There is usually anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of difference in height now. This also means that I now have to get in the truck, go to the plant on my time off and hook up to the trailer just so they can load it for the next trip. The penske trailer didn't operate that way, nor has any other one I've seen before. I saw another Ryder trailer yesterday at a truckstop do the same thing when the driver got out.
According to ryder "That's the way they're all goin' now. It's safer and more stable for loading/unloading" Is this really the case or is Ryder just cheaping out on the specs of their trailers? How are they supposed to get in and out of them when it's sitting 10 inches below the dock? The only way is to hold the trailer valve in when I pull the tractor valve or re-release the trailer brakes after I apply the tractor brakes and it pops out.

That's it. Just hold the trailer valve in and pull the tractor valve. That should keep the suspension aired up.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Well that's a new one on me. I also have an '07 Great Dane; got it in June, manufactured in February, and it doesn't drop it's air unless I pull the valve back by the tandems. A friend of mine has an '05 Dane and it doesn't have the optional dump valve so it won't even dump at all.
rx

Its all in how the suspensions are specd out. I've seen a lot that do, and a lot that don't. I think its silly and produces A LOT of unnecessary wear on the air bags to be dumping them EVERY time the brakes are set.

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The "dump" trailers work out best at places that have large forklifts loading heavy things. Champion paper is one place they work out good.

The rolls of paper and the forklift are so heavy the rear of the trailer drops all the way down making the rear unsteady and prone to lean to whichever side the lift is on, where if the trailer is sitting on solid stops the rear is much more stable.

I have seen quite a few air drop trailers that had swing arms that rotated down between the frame and axle when the park brakes are applied, allowing the trailer to drop only an inch or two.

The last co I drove for had Stoughton air-rides with an auto-dump, that would activate everytime you set the trlr brakes. But, the trailer wouldn't sink too far down, because it had those little support legs ( Like stranger was talking about) that flip down automatically when the susp. dumps.
Sounds like the trlr you have been pulling doesn't have those supports, so you may need to stay hooked up while being loaded (with just tractor brakes set).