to all end dump haulers...

I was working for this company and they decided to put me in this 48’ dump trailer. I’m fairly new at this as before I pulled a flatbed OTR for a few months. Needless to say the company had another driver ride with me a couple of days. We noticed that there was a good bit of play between the 5th wheel and the kingpin I guess. All I know is if you have to let off the throttle and then accelerate, you could feel the bump. Anyways on a rainy day I picked up a load of crush-n-run and where I had to deliver it to was on a slight incline. (I did a through pretrip before I left the yard mind you.) Everything seemed okay but when the trailer reached the 3rd extension out, I felt that bump and the next thing I knew the truck and trailer was falling over. When it landed, part of the material was still stuck in trailer. I tried to tell the boss that our mechanic was aware of that issue but needless to say he wasn’t hearing it. I lost my job of course and having a problem getting another because of it. Anyone have any suggestions what my next move should be or do I even have a next move. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

I don’t think the loose fifth wheel would of made it tip over. Did the fifth wheel stay connected to the kingpin after the tip over? Was the trailer going up with a lean?

 

Sounds to me like your 5th wheel wasn’t blocked, your trainer should have looked at that, it’s a bummer you had to take the fall for something possibly so simple, no pun intended.

 

Not a lot of activity in this sub-forum the last half year. You might try reading back through some of the older posts for information on dump trailer woes. You are not the first driver to turn a trailer over . Material sticking in the nose of a dump trailer is a big problem for all drivers. That includes shorter dump trailers as well . Ask me how I know that. The terain you are dumping on needs to be level, even a slight incline can be problem. Also the wind can be a big no no

 

the list of woes for dump trailers includes material sticking to one side, the material doesn't necessarily have be all the way up to nose of trailer

 

My two biggest senses when dumping; sight and sound. Sight....watch the trailer go up, it’s going to tell you if something funny is going on, don’t try and rush through a lean, get out and look and see what’s up. Build a ramp if need be to counteract the lean.

Sound....put your window down and listen, listen to the load slide out, after enough years of listening you’re going to be able to tell where in the trailer the load is at based on sound, that will then give you the confidence to raise it to the top.

On top of all this, take your time. I could care less who thinks I’m being too cautious, I get in nobody’s hurry, ever.

 

Anyone wanting to pull a dump trailer , would do well to take this drivers clear and succinct explanation of how to successfully dump a load to heart

 

sounds like you were pulling a frameless and in that case fifth wheel would need to be blocked.Also I hope you dumped all the air before taking it up.Sounds like the trainer didn’t know anymore then you,sad.

 

Hey guys what’s goin on in here. Everyone still staying busy?
@Trashtrucker1707 @NightWind hows things been?