From the conference room back to the driver's seat

Not often, once you get a good load on, set it. After that I just spot check when I get a minute.

 

And if you're cheap, there is the build-it-yourself version from NAPA (or Amazon):



http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ride-Pressure-Meter-Gauges/dp/B0045IZ652/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1461616948&sr=8-3&keywords=2+1/16"+air+pressure+gauge

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http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-AK18-Air-Shock-Accessory/dp/B000CD5QHM/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&keywords=monroe ak18&qid=1425761877&ref_=mp_s_a_1_1&sr=8-1

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http://www.amazon.com/Equus-9921-Black-Single-Mounting/dp/B001DKO5VQ/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&keywords=gauge panel&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1425762560&ref_=mp_s_a_1_10&sr=8-10



Here is that setup (with a vdo gauge) on my trailer:





If I were doing it again, I would get a gauge with individual tick-marks for each PSI increment. And if I did much off road, I might encase it inside something like a document holder ( http://www.amazon.com/World-America...7431&sr=8-11&keywords=trailer+document+holder ) to keep crap off the gauge, but for now I just wipe it down.

 

On my truck and trailer I have air guages. I can get real real close. I have a spread so if I'm close to gross I favor more weight to the rear. Works good up to about the last 8 to 500 lbs for me. If I get that close I find a scale of nessasary. Mine actualy converts to actual weight.

 

I have the right weigh on my truck and love it! I don't have one on the trailer where I'm at right now but with the one in the truck showing me my drives I can get my load balanced out within 300lbs. When I purchase a trailer this month or next I'll add the system to the trailer as well. When I worked for a different carrier they had them on all of there reefer trailers, it was sure nice when your out in the middle of nowhere picking up potatoes or apples to make sure the weights are right before you leave the shipper. Especially since the closets cat scale is 100 miles away and there's a dot scale between you and it.

It's recommended about every 6 months to just double check the calibration. The one for my drives needs it about every 12 months. It's easy to do and takes all of 60 seconds. I think they are worth it and pay for themselves in a matter of days if your loads are always heavy.

 

I would move the leveling valve.

 

My concern with dumping the back axle would be in regard to where your axles are on that long trailer. I wonder if structural damage could occur if much of a heavy load was positioned behind the front axle.

I had dump valves on both axles of a reefer that I had
It was really handy for backing into tight areas, as you could work the trailer sideways by dumping one going forward and the other going back. It didn't take long to run out of air doing that though. I had to dump both axles while loading so as not to walk away from a dock with repeated trips by the forklift.

You could have a poor man's lift axle for running light or empty with the addition of a couple of chains. One would have to have leveling valve on the non lift axle for that, but for just dumping while going around a corner I don't think that you would have to be concerned with over-infation as it would take some time to get that much air in the bags.

There is my two cents worth.