Jiffing 101 for yellow guys

If you get greasy, it is usually because the guy before you did it wrong. You have to admit that the small air hoses inside of the frame of the jiff get very greasy from the 5th wheel being slid over them, dropping gobs of grease in there.

But I agree with you, after the first 100 or so times, it does get easier. I can tell that you are going to have a smile on your face watching the Yellow guys learn this!

 

Thank you..
seems to me like its a whole lotta work for nothing just get the key to another truck seem being as big a company as you are you should have plenty sitting a round...Now as far as my ignorance goes I have hauled doubles before but did it with a twin screw never ever had need to split a tandem to a single axle... guess i have been an otr driver all my time never messed with all that ltl junk...

 

Latanea,

I am not attacking you. I must have misread what you meant by 'hehehe.' I didn't say that you would laugh at others, I said you would have a smile on your face. I don't think that's the same. I was in no way saying that you were a bad person, or someone who would take pleasure in the misery of others.

Really, we have a minor disagreement on an obscure piece of equipment that 99% of the people on this board have never worked with. No big deal, I'll drop it.

I know you, your company and your union get attacked alot on here. I have never done any of those things. I am neutral on unions. I feel that if you want one, you should be able to have one- if you don't- that's fine too. I want YRC to work out. If those good jobs go away, they will be replaced by bad ones. I have many friends who work within YRC, which is why I am interested. As I have said before, I like your posts and think you add alot to this forum.

We can disagree without being disagreeable, especially on something as minor as a jiff-lock. I am sorry if I did not communicate the tone of my post well enough. I meant no insult. Friends?

 

Actually I went through 5 days of training at Roadway Chicago Heights including how to use the jifflock. Problem is you get to Kmart or somewhere you do not have access to the proper tool for moving the fifth wheel and have to use alternate methods that take too much effort. The tool should either be on the tractors, the jifflocks, or at locations where they are needed.

 

From time to time, I would run into the situation where the frame rail that the 5th wheel slides on would be warped or bent and there was no way to get the 5th wheel from the jiff-lock to slide over the gap to the tractor frame.

Also, sometimes the heights of the frame rails would not be close enough, height wise, to slide across the gap. That just has to do with differences in tire tread, inflation, model of tractor and jiff-lock.

I have even seen the 5th wheel lying on the ground in the middle of the yard from when the driver tried to slide the 5th wheel by going forward and slamming on the brakes!! That's a hard lesson learned. Laziness is the mother of invention, I guess.

You are right, without that tool, it is tough to work that 5th wheel to where it needs to be.

 

Also, Latanea is right. Jiffs give a carrier alot of flexibility in how they haul their trailers. I am sure that they solve more big problems for YRC than the small problems that they create, IMO.