jumped the fifth wheel

Proper hooking to a trailer ( the quick version )

Line up the tractor straight with the trailer. Back slowly until you are not quite touching the trailer with you 5th wheel, but close to it. If you don't know how far from the trailer this is, then back slowly, and stop when you think you are close. Get out, and see how far back you must go to contact the trailer. Back up just a little less than that.

When your 5th wheel is close to the trailer, get out and check the height. Make sure the front of the trailer is just slightly lower than the pivot point of the 5th wheel. This will ensure the trailer is lifted slightly as the tractor backs under it. Check the pin and upper 5th wheel on the trailer for cracks or damage.

Get back into the tractor, and back very slowly under the trailer. Make sure the trailer lifts a little as you back under it. Back until you hear the 5th wheel engage, and the tractor is stopped from going further back.

Get back out, and visually inspect if the 5th wheel's jaws have engaged to the pin on the trailer.

Hook up your air lines and Electrical line, then crank up your landing gear.

If you don't do any of these steps, you might get away with it, but the first time you high hook the trailer, or overshoot the 5th wheel altogether, you will wish you took the time to do it right.

The long and short of the story is, take the act of hooking a trailer seriously. It's not something you just do without a second thought. It only take a minute more time to do the action correctly, than it does to do it wrong. That extra minute is time well spent.

 

I havent done this yet, I usually back to the trailer and if I dont feel the trailer rising at all I stop and pull forward then go check the height, sometimes the last person cranked it way too high so I lower and go back for it. What tech said it smarter though getting out and looking, I have got where I know when i should feel the trailer rise, of course that was with the other truck, just got me a bigger truck last night so I will be taking techs advice for awhile.

Caution and an extra minute here and there will get you far as a trucker, its not worth taking shortcuts most of the time.

 

I wish somebody told me this before..
On a serious note You actually don't have to get out look at your mirrors and you can tell by looking at the frame to the bottom of the trailer.

 

hmmz thats true

im sure it was said but I will say it again, ALWAYS do your tug test once hooked up, I saw a guy hook to a trailer which didnt latch, he hooked up his lines and raised the landing gear, guess where the nose of the trailer was seconds later?.....

 

Truck frame?

 

lol bet he wished, he was one of those who gunned it...

thats one mistake i never want to make, lucky for him it was am empty but still

 

I never do tug tests until after I have already visually checked the 5th wheel. I see so many guys doing "A tug test" which they should really call "A drag the trailer forward 5 feet test". This bends the landing gear, making them harder to crank up after that.

***NEVER*** do any pulling on the trailer with the landing gear touching the ground. No reason can justify laziness.

I do admit I have been doing this long enough, that I know at what point I should feel the tractor touch the trailer. If I don't feel that, or if I do feel it, but do not see the trailer lift slightly, I stop and get out to see why. The name of the game is go slow, and makes sure everything is going right. If you rush the task, it will come back to bite you at some point.

 

All the things being said are true, but try doing it in a pig yard in the mud during a rain storm at night. On a dry day I would just turn the wheels hard right or hard left, and bump the fifth wheel around the pin and start over. Works better with a light or empty trailer. If its a high hook, and you did not slip the pin all the way over to the front of the fifth wheel, then you will need a lot of lumber (big wood blocks) for the landing gear. and maybe some help. This can be real tough when your trailer is pinched in between two other trailers. The trailer on the drivers side is so close that their is no room to turn and let the landing gear down. (half turns for over an hour) No airbags, in the mud, a risky move might be letting air out of the tires just to get lose, if you have an air line attachment to refill. (not recommended) but it can work. It can be very unsettling doing these things at night in the rain with no one around to help you if something goes wrong. fortunately I only did it once. Its like beating yourself up, no fun. :smt021

 

I always check to see if my trailer brakes work before taking off. And after i take off I check them again. But I always do a tug test. Never thought of it as bending the landing gear.

 

#### that would suck, I havent had to deal with this yet, most was getting into puddles to hook my trailer and getting dirty and wet.