advice on pulling doubles

Heaviest trailer in the front.
No sudden movements with the steering wheel at highway speed. They don't call them 'wiggle wagons' for nothing.
Easier to turn corners than with a 53 ft trailer. The second trailer will follow the track of the lead trailer.
Be very careful when the roads get slick.

 

If you can have your brakes ran after hooking. Watch the cross winds and don't make a sudden turns. Carry a bottle of WD40 with you so when you have problems with your lights just spray into the connectors and 9 times out of 10 they will go away. Don't try to be a heman and move converters gears on your owm. You'll be lucky if your tractor has a pintle hook on the back. Some even have them on the front.

When you need to drop the last box and hook another it's easy to do. Unhook your last box pull away, far enough to get another box in there. Drop you first box and hook the trailer you want to make a set. Drive striaght in back of your set then when you get about10 or 15 feet from the back of the trailer turn the tractor right about 45 degrees. Then back it up so the fifthwheel is aligned with the truck. Unhook and slide out about 45 degrees. Go around a hook the front trailer then make sure everything is in alignment and back under it , do your check and go. I've done that with triples in the middle of the desert at night and before you know it it will come second nature to you. Like said before make sure your heaviest box is first then the next one and so on.

 

Got laid off from UPS Logistics because of the Overnight buyout. Guess they found some one younger and cheaper. 12 of us went.

 

But that's more then some Overnight workers got walking picket lines for months .

 

don't forget to check the air line valves on the dolley and close them on the last box... and make sure your tires are turning before leaving the yard.

39 miles up the road with four flat spots thru the tires and rims almost to the drums... will earn you a free ride home, the safety guy drops off a new driver while picking you up and escorting you home...

I was the tire monkey 20+ years ago explaining to the yellow dispatcher in SLC that yes we were a tire bank, but they didn't have that many tires stocked with us plus we needed four rims... and a p.o. # authorizing the work...

he says... can you hang on a second... I need to get a three way call going so you can re-explain that to corporate real quick since I'm not really authorized to hand out po's that big...

 

I work At USF Reddaway as linehaul driver and we have so many different trailers you have to be careful when doing a u turn in the yard or turning very sharp the back box can and will come into contact with the front. Just do it slowly. every set can be different.

Also always make sure the valve on the con-gear is completely closed don't want it leaking the whole trip.The gear may have a push button but some guys will still open the valve.Always check it.

Learn how to back a con-gear with the front box saves alot of time and will save your back.

Always make sure you have your chains hooked from the gear to back of front box.The retaining clips on the hooks must be there and working for them to be legal and stay hooked.

When backing your front box up to a gear Do Not keep backing until you bump the gear. If you do eventually you will put the tongue of the gear through your light box or air valves. Just get close.

Carry some spare light cords so when you have problems with lights on the back box. The cords just go bad alot.

Try to get a dummy plug for the back box. It is a modified light cord plug that you can plug into the back box of a hooked set and it will work as a jumper for the lights.you will go from no lights to all working just by plugging it in This is absolutely a lifesaver ask your shop or fellow driver.

As already said always Check your air at the back box Check that the snubber is working on the pintle hook on the back of the front box.
Check the pintle hook after stopping Anywhere.......

I could go on and on but you'll learn your own bad habits such as" Heavy trailer in the front " Not always for me. If it's within 5,000-7,000 lbs and my light trailer is going to be my front after the next stop. I hook it as such so at the next terminal I am just dropping and hooking a back box.