Saw a Yellow trailer in the middle of the highway

does r and l carriers have scales on the forklifts, atleast some of them?

 

i generally agree here. The only problem with LTL is you can't always (in some cases usually don't) see how the trailers are loaded. Fortunately, my company generally gets it right (one of the few things we actually DO get right......).

 

i've always wondered how this could happen. Then, i realize that the pintle hooks appear to be generally bolted to the frame, not welded. (?) In a situation where the rear trailer----and then the dolly starts to go over, the bolts can't take that kind of stress start to shear off? And........over goes the trailer(?)

 

The latch on pintle hook above the eye usually gives up before the bolts.
I have never seen the bolts shear off yet.
The steel just behind the eye on dolly will also twist.

 

I had a back trailer come loose, fortunately while still on the yard one night many years ago. This was a pre hooked set, which I tended to inspect better than if I had hooked it myself. I did all of my normal safety checks as I had done the prior 20 years successfully without a mishap. I visually inspected the bolt position on side of 5th wheel. I checked the release handle to see that it was secure in the locked position. I visually inspected the jaws on back of 5th wheel. I looked for a gap on the top plate to indicate a high hook (high pin). I also did a tug test of the back box with no air supplied to the rear trailer or dolly. I was hourly while on the yard, so I never ever got in a hurry or out of my routine, nor would have if I wasn’t getting paid. I did several stops and starts waiting my turn to get out the gate. After getting through the gate I stopped on the driveway to log my delay pay. When I finally was ready to leave the back box dropped. The location of the drop was several hundred yards from the initial hook point and had a half dozen starts and stops prior to the drop. Fortunately it didn’t break any air lines or landing gear. Anyone that knows Buster Brown knows they will fire you for any mistake or not following UPS protocol. I didn’t get fired, likely only because the 5th wheel was ruled defective. It was a miracle the trailer didn’t come loose on the highway, but I did all I could have done to see that it was properly secured.

 

Explain to us track suit, flip flop wearers, what a backwards hook is.
Is that a doubles thing.
I never even heard the term.

 

Doubles are very difficult to back up, since the dollies are 96", but the trailers are 102". So you can't really see what's going on back there. At least that was my experience when I worked for Yellow.

 

More than likely. I used to be a combo driver for Yellow, and loading & pinning up doubles for other drivers was a part of that job that I didn't really like, since I liked to just drive instead. Some of those dollies were complete pieces of crap. The real ####ty ones were used when there was a shortage.

That said, I always pinned to standards even though I wasn't pre-tripping the set. Tug-tests, visuals on the pin locks, etc.

It could very well be a mechanical failure of a dolly letting go, which happens when you run junk.