Make sure your tandems are LOCKED!!!

We recently had a Port driver pulling a twenty foot container on a goose neck tri-axle frame. Needless to say he forgot to check the slider pins (only two on those set ups). We now have a loaded container on a frame on the ground and the tri-axle set up is across the yard. It happened not far from the yard. Never did like pulling those units.

 

There's no excuse for not checking the tandem pins after you've hooked to a trailer. They should be checked EVERY TIME.

 

A lot of the YouTube comments say it was cause he hit the guard rail ... Even if he hit the guard rail with the pins locked he wouldn't had flown off like that would he??

 

Watch the video... he NAILED the guardrail, and yeah, it can rip the tandems right off of the trailer. Check out the damage to the left front of the slider towards the end of the video. This had nothing to do with not checking the slider pins.

 

Nailing the guard rail may also push in the pins on that side, while at the same time putting a lot of backward force on the tandems (think wheels rubbing against the guard rail). I don't think this had anything to do with not making sure the tandems were locked, this more likely had something to do with distraction or fatigue. Whenever you are in a construction zone the lanes can be very narrow and you really need to be on top of your situation at all times, it is not a good time to be talking on the phone, eating, drinking, or changing radio stations...

... for that matter it isn't a good time to be yakking on the CB either...

 

Never forget this...happened probably in 1997.

I was leaving with a load out of Budweiser in Williamsburg, VA. As I'm pulling to the guard shack, I notice flashing lights on the exit lane leading to the road. Driver forgot to lock his tandems, and his had not only slid out from underneath the trailer, they were up against the doors! Up in the air! Wildest thing I had ever seen.

 

Pre-tripping a trailer is just as important as the tractor, and needs to be done each time you hook up. If you get into a routine for checking over a wagon, it will prevent incidents like the above from occurring. As to the video, it can't be determined if the guardrail contact caused the pins to let go, but there are numerous incidents of what happens what the pins aren't checked before departure, and that can cause real problems. Don't forget.

 

Let me add make sure your fifthwheel pin is locked also,lol.

 

Today in Leesburg Fl. i had a 20 foot Container of counter top granite. It was heavy and top heavy. The tandems were slided to level the weight. When i got to the customer, trying to slide that 20 foot container without a dock where i could back up was very challenging. My clutch was making noises that it shouln't make. So the cust. brought a heavy duty lift. backed against it and i put fifth wheel grease on the slinding frame. After a couple of tries, it slided smooth with the grease. I also checked the pins after i slided the tandems back in place. Coming back on I-75 south, a couple a motorist flag me down pointing at the back of the Container. I thanked them and i though it was a tire, when i walked back, saw that the metal that holds the mud flap and the turn and parking light was hanging only by the electric wire. This part was heavy. It gave away where old welding spots where. I think that the lift push that part and bend it or something. But yea, sliding those tandems and the abuse that those pins receive with heavy containers will make it fail! This is part of the equiptment inspection after every delivery! not only for pre trip or posr trip!