Brand new to Doubles/Triples, what are the biggest differences?

I pulled a train once that had a box in the lead, a tank as second and a flat for the last trailer. Or 3 boxes, Yellow, CF and Dominion and tractor was another company. I didn't know who I worked fror.

 

I'm not sure where the fear drivers have of pulling them came from but I'd rather pull doubles than a 53 or 48. You will get used to seeing the rear box wiggle a little but it's no big deal.

 

Snow isn't the problem. The problem is the same whether you're pulling a long box, doubles or navigating a cruise ship....it's the idiots around you!

 

I run the Quad Cities out of Indy every night. No mountain ranges for me to deal with. Safe travels driver!

 

Well, the main differences are turning radius, can't back up (well some drivers can), generally work nights, and more connections. Personally, I prefer pulling a set over a van. Just remember the heavier trailer in the lead and don't try to correct the rear when it wiggles.

 

Triples are no big deal, I have hundreds of thousands of miles with them. Biggest thing is when hooking up develop a process, always LOOK under after hooking and check that fifth wheel latch. Also the rear pup moves around on you, resist the urge to keep looking in the mirror. You'll find yourself trying to correct its movement with the steering wheel, don't worry it'll follow you lol

 

Pull test all the time, i've seen more back pups not connected to the dolly and bam quite often at many large company lots when I temped. Advantage tighter turns with a couple 28s.

 

I've pulled doubles/triples for about 7 years and I got a laundry list of things you are going to deal with. I didn't read every previous comment so there might be some duplicate information.

1. Your pretrip is going to take longer. Hooking doubles takes 10-25 minutes while triples can tack on another 10 or so. If you are just starting out, a complete hook and pretrip will take about 45 minutes on triples.

2. Part of your pretrip is inspecting other crap you usually don't deal with. This goes for both hooking and unhooking. Headlamp and leather gloves are your best friend. Some trailers have dummy glad-hands while others use valves that you physically have to turn off and on to charge the rest of your trailers. Pintle hooks and safety chains need to be secured so you don't accidentally leave a trailer or two behind. Forgetting to close off a petcock valve on your dollies air tank can make for a frustrating night. Get used to carrying extra electrical cables since you will always... And I mean 100% guarantee end up with a trailer that has a bad electrical inlet or outlet on the back and your lights will be strobing like a holiday tree as you make your way down the road. One time I saw one trailer lit up and I thought I lost my last two. Turns out I had a bad electrical connection and the back two didn't have any lights.

3. Turning with triples is easier than a 53. You will be shocked how well everything tracks. Know where the hell you are going. If you get lost with triples inside town you are quickly going to wish that you didn't. A 115 foot roadtrain with 5 individual articulation points is going to make for a really bad day when lost since you can only back about 20 feet before you look like a folded up train wreck. Happened to me in Billings MT one year.

4. If Bambi decides to cross the road on you, you keep your cool and center your truck as best as you can to protect your headlights. You do any sudden changes in directions or sweerve, you will have a hard time not rolling your set or train. The technical term is rearward amplification. But in the industry it's just called crack of the whip. Swerve with a loaded dry van single, you can definitely roll. Do it with triples and that factor goes up by 8X.

5. This is kinda technical but it will make sense when you start pulling sets. This is true for both doubles and triples. When you are all hooked and ready to book, your final pretrip should involve you setting the tractor brakes and releasing your trailer brakes. Pull down on your Johnson bar/trolly valve/independent trailer brake (all names that I can think of for that spring loaded lever that says "do not use for parking"). If it is spring loaded, hang something heavy on it to hold it down in place. Go to the rearmost trailer and open and close both valves one at a time. An immediate escape of air should come out of each. This lets you know your system has a good airflow and your system is working properly. iF one valve doesn't release air, you need to recheck everything because you either forgot to connect a line or physically tum on a valve. What makes this mistake so hellish is that you can have a service line accidentally closed off and it will let you got about 30 miles with no issues. But once you start using up your air brakes, whatever trailer is not getting air will lock up. I once blew all four rear tires cause I forgot to open the service line on my middle trailer.

6. Read your permits! Running line means going through state lines. Some states make you drop a trailer before entering. Washington State for example will allow regular doubles but Rocky Mountain Doubles and triples are prohibited. In places like Montana you can only triple within two miles of an interstate. These are very esoteric rules that you have to know based on where you work in and out of.

Best of luck.