about to start my journey

Know how far you are going.

How many hours it will take to drive there.

Break it up onto paper to your required breaks, and so on. Know quickly if you will be late or not.

If so, get a new appointment time. Do it legal. Never allow anyone to make you run illegally. You would be gone and they will make the next newbie run hard.

 

And one big bag for 8 days worth of clothes. Plus one cold weather kit and one hot weather kit. There will be times you go from Winter to summer and back again or the other way around in a day or less.

Make sure all your clothes fit in one washing machine with a dallop of tide.

 

I knew somebody would require the legal disclaimer.

Disclaimer : Sexy co-driver must be a (natural) female of the species.

 

Do you have a manual 5th wheel or air release?

It's pretty easy to see. You just need to comprehend what you're looking at.

You will see a bar ( jaw ), going across the kingpin when it's locked. It's pretty close to an inch thick, and will have some space above and below it.

My air release is a little different, and reminds me more of the mandibles on an insect.

 

We dropped a trailer during training. Me and my trainer both looked and saw that the lock was across the kingpin but I guess there was ice or something built up from our 300 mile bobtail adventure

 

Of the.... cat species?

 

I’ve run both 5th wheels.
All I can say is. I see the bar across. Looks like it is at the groove in the king pin. But locked good?
I dropped a trailer after traveling 13 miles. City and freeway. It was in a snow storm. I looked and appeared to be locked? Was suggested to have excessive amounts of grease on the king pin with snow and ice. “Only thing that works?”
Yet...visually I couldn’t tell if it was locked good or not?

 

We had a container get off our 5th wheel. To be fair it was one of those Hollands. But to be even more fair it was a empty container on a Ford 9000 vs a Tidyings bridge on 95 south into Maryland past the new scales by Havre De Grace. The container landed on our aft drives which held it there until we pulled aside.

If it had escaped into all three of those lanes packed full of rush traffic doing 80 plus I think people would have died and We would not be here to write about it.

 

I once left a proper female who wished to enjoy my company and go dating to see if we were marriage material not far from Salinas.

That was a long time ago. Thinking about SF in general and some of the situations ive seen in there, I just as soon forget about the whole place. But that gal.. she was something on the eyes I tell you. Then again thinking about SF, she must have been... for lack of a better word thirsty for a mate.

 

You tug tested as well? I have a trailer brake lever in my tractor. I get going about 3 to 5 mph, and apply it. Truck stops.

I almost dropped one once as well. But, I didn't visually check it. Just heard that "clink", and figured it was locked.
Wrong.
Came loose about 20 feet after I started moving, and I was able to stop without dropping it.