Buddy was canned for dropping a trailer, but he didn't actually couple it.

this actually HAS happened to me. about a year ago at the pilot in corbin, ky. know who did it to.....or at least 99.5% sure it was him.

pulled in there to take 30 and backed in beside a US express truck with him on my left. looked over at the guy when I pulled the brakes and gave the courtesy nod to him and shut down. you know that feeling when you can just feel someone looking at you? looked over and he's staring me down hard. looked sort of familiar, like I'd seen him before but couldn't place it. possibly he worked for the company I was with at some point previous to that and that's why he looked vaguely familiar. thought it odd but just blew it off. got out and went in to buy some smokes and do my business and came back out to the truck.

as I walked around the front of his truck to mine, he comes walking around the right side of his truck, which would have been my left side, in a hurry and got back in his truck. thought to myself it was nice to see someone actually doing a walk around before they rolled. then he didn't go anywhere. that immediately had my gut telling me something wasn't right and I got out to do a walk around of my own. soon as I looked under I saw the handle all the way out. didn't even need to follow up with the visual on the jaws.

got back in, fired it up and backed into it and got that familiar click and tugged it hard then shut it down and got out. I wasn't even halfway around his hood and he jumped in the back and pulled his curtain. I beat on his truck and beat on his truck yelling for him to get the #### out. good thing for him he didn't and hid his ##### ### back there till I left. one of the few times with that company I had a load with a tight timeline. if I'd have had time to play with I would have pulled to another spot out of sight where I could have watched and sat there and waited him out till he had to get out of the truck for something.

don't know why he did it, other than I'm pretty sure he worked for my company previously and I'd seen him around the yard and that's why he looked familiar. I know it wasn't because of anything I'd ever done to him.

 

Had worked at 1 place years ago that fired a driver for dropping a trailer when he called in to tell them about it, BOSS was determined that the driver never check that it was hooked properly and would not listen to any reasoning, until he went to get the trailer and the 5th wheel was still hooked to the king pin.

Next day they checked their 5 NEW to THEM R MODEL MACKS they just bought and found 3 with bolts sheared off on the 5th wheel mounts

 

What I do now when I park and walk away from my gear is...I will set the trailer brakes before the tractor brakes then pull foward and put as pressure as I can on the jaws & king pin then set my tractor brakes..Then I will grab my bar a pull on that pin with all I got and it will not release.... then its sweet dreams until the "lots" knock on the door..

 

His trainer did not tell him he needed a flashlight. Thats the problem right there. Blame his trainer not his buddy. This is getting hillarious. Keep it coming people. Thanks for entertaining me.

 

I read it somewhere here that common sense is not so common anymore.

 

New member, low post count - asking about a potentially embarrassing thing for a"buddy"

hmmmm. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so skeptical...

Valid topic nonetheless. Just sort of sounds like "It isn't my joint - I'm holding it for a friend."

 

OMG that would be something to see...A 5th wheel skid plate still connected to a dropped trailer..Been out here a few years and can say "no I have never seen that before".. wow..

 

Is funny, because when I was in training with my last carrier one of the videos we had to watch was for "Coupling and Un-coupling". Somehow we got talking and one of the supervisor was like "That's why you should always check it after you stop at a T/S to get a snack or whatever ... in case some disgruntled ex-employee or someone you cut off that day ends up pulling next to you in the fuel island". I'm like "No ####### way someone would actually do that?"