Uncoupling order, lowering landing gear and air bag suspension?

Yes you can hook and not be hooked right. I dropped a trailer after pulling it 13 miles. I really don’t like the common 5th wheels with jaws. I much prefer the higher quality 5th wheels. They have a wedge that moves across the opening for the kingpin.
On that above where I dropped. I had hooked up on the middle of a snow storm. I received some expert advise on that. Said hooking up in snow storms is bad. Best thing they found to work was: Put excessive amounts of grease on the kingpin.
Also from that. I started checking the adjustment rod out the front. If it isn’t completely bottomed out. You’re not hooked good. Doesn’t matter if the jaws look like they’re closed.

 

6 and 7 need to be reversed - its too easy to get distracted in the process and pull out with your lines still attached.

Also please see
Bad Hook - or why you always use a flashlight to look at the jaws

And

Oops..someone has some serious explaining to do...

 

Another thing on high hook. Some trucks just sit higher than others. So it’s nice to drop that trailer a little lower.
Don’t forget. Pull forward a little to get the kingpin out of the 5th wheel before dropping the suspension. Kingpin can get caught in there.
Your biggest problem is going to be backing without hitting anything. Some backs are tough. Get the tandems all the way back. That avoids hitting anything with trailer swing.
You will run into people who don’t know how to back. They’ll freak because you’re getting close to the right front corner of his truck. You’re supposed to do that. With 100% of your focus on his truck. You want to wrap your trailer tandems around that corner of his truck. Drop the trailer right in. While avoiding the blind side truck you can’t see. You don’t need him distracting you by freaking because he doesn’t know backing.

 

As someone else said, try to work from the back to the front. So then you have 3 steps: 1-landing gear, 2-kingpin, 3-air lines. That's it. Do it the same way every time. And when you lower the gear, you don't have to split hairs and be anal about leaving it EXACTLY one inch off the ground. You can do a 1/2 inch. If my trailer is loaded, I will only leave it slightly above the ground. The reason being, if you are loaded to the gills and leave the trailer an inch or so off the ground, eventually all that weight coming down on the landing gear may take its toll.

One more thing that no one mentioned: if you dump the airbags to pull out, MAKE SURE you pump 'em back up before you drive away to park. So deflate, pull away from trailer, inflate, then drive away. Driving with the bags empty isn't good for the truck. Not only that but if you forget that your bags are lowered, you might drive off like that after you re-couple.

 

You'll want to pull that little red button out on the dash before you leave the truck.

No one has mentioned that as step #1.

We win!!!!!

 

Oh Dave! Some of us love all that air blasting out of the red hose when we don’t pull the red button!

 

No 1. Set both sets of brakes.
No 2. Lower landing gear until there is an 2 inch gap between pads and the ground.
No 3. Disconnect air and electrical lines.
No 4. Pull fifth wheel release.
No 5. Pull forward 6 inches or so you will hear jaws release from king pin.
No 6. Dump air suspension and let it completely deflate.
No 7. Pull completely out from under the trailer slowly.
No 8. Raise air suspension back up.

The reason I do it like this is because it prevents me from dropping a trailer or ripping air lines out because the last thing I do outside of the truck is release the fifth wheel.
When lowering landing gear I leave a gap because it helps with two things.
When the trailer is loaded another driver can back up under it and it will pick the gear up off the ground preventing it from dragging. The other reason is if you lower the gear all the way to the ground when the air suspension in the trailer drains it will raise the nose of the trailer therfore making it more likely to high hook.

I seldom chock the wheels most places dont have a chock. They have what is called a dock lock which is a big bar that clamps around the ICC bumper. Keeping it from moving. The trailer brakes will hold an trailer if they won't they need to be worked on.

 

I never chock wheels unless I'm told to or a sign signifies to.
Backing into a dock usually want the wheels chocked because running a heavy forklift in and out of the trailer can move the trailer.

 

I just want to add that I was taught to leave the landing gear handle loose and do not put it back on the cradle when dropping a trailer. I was told the reason is, it's possible when the next guy hooks up it could become jammed and difficult to remove from the cradle. By leaving it loose when you drop it, it prevents that from happening. Made sense to me so that is the way I've always done it.
Additionally, some trucks no longer have a way for you to drop your bags. Why, I have no idea. Mine has a bag drop.
Lastly, the high hooking that has been mentioned is something for the person hooking to a trailer to contend with. It is an ingrained part of my hook up procedure to ensure I don't high hook. I back up far enough the fifth wheel plate is under the trailer and if I have any doubt about whether the trailer is sitting too high, I get out and look. Not uncommon I have to go crank the trailer down just a bit to ensure fifth wheel plate and trailer plate are completely against each other before I finish backing and couple to the trailer.

 

That’s how I dry my hair