Pickup truck loses trailer going down I-15

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4169646]Doesn't surprise me. I worked at an equipment dealer, and people would come in rent a piece of equipment and a trailer as well. One guy came back, upon checking him in, I was horrified to see the latch on the ball hitch wasn't down and locked. When I confronted the customer on this, he said, "Oh, I never latch those, the weight of the trailer will keep it on the ball".[/QUOTE]


Another common mistake is they don't even hook up the safety chains or better yet, hook the break-a-way cable to the safety chains and not to the tow unit.

 

Of course the "semi" was an RV plate special. Really think they need to crack down on the RV exemption. Too many unqualified drivers and uninspected equipment.

 

That is a very good habit that can be a life saver.

Once coming west around Cookville, TN on I-40 I got behind a car pulling a travel trailer. He was going about 45 MPH when I was coming up behind him. About that time he sped up, when he hit 55 MPH the thing started wobbling everywhere, if I had been beside of him it would have hit me for in the wobbling the trailer went at least 3 foot across the center line.

He them slowed back down, them sped back up, about 4 different times, it seemed to me he was trying to past the speed of the wobble so he could make better time.

He finally pulled on the side of I-40 & I went on my way.


I've owned a farm for years with cows & such. I will tell you something about my fellow farmers. Many of them when they hook up to a trailer they never hook the lights up, they never hook the safety chain up & many of them will never tie anything down to their trailer. I've made many comments to fellow farmers about this, they just brush me off as being silly & a time waster

About 5 years ago one of them was pulling a 16 foot trailer, it came loose crossed the center line hitting a car head on killing the woman driver. Yet many of them still think its a waste of their valuable time to hook up lights, safety chain, & tying down their load.


Giving them plenty of room may save your life & even others. For there's many that do not practice safety.

 

Hi OHB, don't get me started on farmers. I worked for a farmer friend for a while, and I finally had to quit because of all the safety hazards I encountered (maybe it was because being a truck driver, I knew what to look for) Bald tires, axles with no dust cap, trucks with 1 working brake and no emergency brakes, overloaded wagons with no brakes being pulled by a tractor with no lights and 2 brakes. The older farmers were really the dangerous ones, as it seems the younger ones are more safety minded, but farm accidents for years were just a way of life for them.

 

Tell that to those people hauling landscaping equipment in Chicago....80% never hook up the lights, it's a guessing game everytime

 

The summer months on through "back to college" is the peak season for trailer rental. Between unsecured trailers, unsecured loads, and improperly balanced loads its time to stay on our toes.

A few months ago I was driving westbound on I-70 in Indiana in the middle of the night. A closely packed convoy of trucks were overtaking me in the hammer lane. Just as the lead truck was halfway up my trailer I saw a large object in the left half of the hammer lane at the limit of my low beams. It was a mattress, rolled and bound into a three foot diameter bundle. Reflexively I cut over to straddle the shoulder and watched the lead truck in the convoy come halfway into my lane and the each of the other trucks make the same maneuver. Had any of them hit the mattress it could have been bad news at highway speed.

Even if you don't see the civilian trailer their load can be on the road. Keep following distance and stay alert. Make room for others to avoid hitting anything on the road.

 

Funny you mention it, I recently been seeing a lot of cars with trailers lately, but on the side of the road rearranging or picking up their load. Once I saw a mattress flew off a truck. Cause a panic and people scattering

 

Need them dang safety chains was pulling a trailer with a backhoe behind a tri axle dump once and the pendalen hitch snapped the top off trailer bounced out and boy was I in for a ride slowing it down and keeping the trailer from tilting over took about 3/4 a mile trailer swinging from fast to slow lanes on the three lane

 

Years ago while hauling short wood to a paper mill during a very dry summer time about every 1,000 to 3,000 feet down the highway I would see a fire by the highway & wondered what in the world is going on. As I got closer to town I saw fire fighters out there trying to put the fires out. Found out a fellow pulling a backhoe on a trailer had a chain dragging on the right side that was starting the fires. In a few places it got into the woods & burnt up several acres of trees. Fortunately no houses burnt down.