Spotters (yard tractors)

You really think those guys have the time or the will to do that just to inconvenience you?

 

Former yard goat driver here. Me and my coworkers couldn't stand to get out of out truck to go open and close trailer doors and we have nothing to gain from raising the landing gear.

i jumped the kingpin in a grape field one time. Trailer was too high. It was 3 am and nobody was around to hear me scream. Or curse. I was messing with it for an hour. The people who were around could not speak a word of English since they were farm laborers.

I did think I was a stud when I would park trailers 2" from each other. But I forgot that our line drivers didn't. Have a fifth wheel that raised and lowered. The terminal manager had a fun time yelling at me and if I posted what he said I would get banned for life from truckersreport

 

This sounds like it would be something A & E would be very interested in. They would air it right after Pawn Stars. Haha...

 

I actually like Pawn Stars, once you get past the stupidity of Chumlee and Rick, Big Hoss and the Old man being stuck on themsleves, you can learn a little bit about antiques by watching the show.

Hardcore Pawn is the one I can't stand. It only focuses on anger, sibling rivalry, and ghetto people arguing over what their junk is worth.

 

I have had my fair share of those fun times. The worst is when its real cold outside and takes a couple hours to crank the #### thing up.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4228919]I'd totally believe they do it on purpose. I have an old friend that went into the RR ramp in Neenah, Wis. (still there?) and the spotter guy (total jerk) would drop the trailers 1" apart, sometimes touching each other. Couldn't even get under the trailer to turn the handle. Had to literally hook up the lines and drag it out. When my friend confronted him on this, he just laughed. My friend started to walk away, turned around, and "roundhoused" the guy in the jaw, and the guys glasses went flying, and he hit the dirt. My friend was banned from the ramp.[/QUOTE]

HAHA that's awesome!

 

If a spotter driver is too stupid to realise that when he sets a trailer down and his fifth wheel has not gone all the way down (like 5" from the bottom) he should be fired.
It doesn't take more than a few seconds for a jockey to raise the trailer and give the handle a few spins up...
This is a source of constant irritation at many yards and it could be easily eliminated.

 

Was having some tire work done last week, and got to talking with my long time tire man. We live very close to a large paper mill, maybe 200 loads a day go out. He has the contract to do tire work on dropped trailers there.Told me the yard dog drivers tear up at least a set of tire a week on the trailers they spot. After hooking to a trailer to move, if the brakes won't release, they just drag the trailer to where it is supposed to go, not worried about putting flat spots on the tires, sometimes down to the cords. When he is called to replace the destroyed tires, and tells the trucking company how it happened, they will not complain to the shipper for fear of losing a shipping contract, or the spotting outfit for fear of retaliation.

 

The same could be said for the "doofus" that dropped the trailer high in the first place!
Also, the driver getting that high trailer might have a high fifth wheel! Now those supposed few seconds you say Yard jockeys have turns into more time lifting the trailer back up again so the driver can raise the trailer back up! Most jockeys have no time to waste Maxgussam! We have to move,move, move or else!

JD

 

Sorry jbatmick, but I think your tire man is talking out his arse! You're not backing a trailer into a dock, brakes locked, with an under 200HP yard tractor! Not happenin' captain!
Of course there's no way a driver is grabbing a whole hand full of the trolley handle(company Jake brake) going down the highways and byways of America! OK

JD