Advice on Pulling Doubles

I laugh and say "they follow like little puppies!" I find they follow better than a straight 53. You can turn a little tighter. But backing up is not an option. You do have to be more aware of where you're driving forward to. If you drive steady on the wheel, and make smooth lane changes, they don't seem to wiggle too much. Hooking them together takes more time than just hooking to a loaded 53, but not much. I always carry extra glad hand seals and such anyway.

 

When you're hooking up a set of doubles be very careful not to run the dolly past the king pin on your back trailer.
If you're breaking up a set and keeping the same dolly (good dollies can be like gold and if you can keep one you're better off) be sure to drop the dolly in a place you can get it out again with a minimum of effort.
There's a lot of steps, all of them important, to making up and breaking a set of doubles. If you can, try to establish a routine where you do all the steps in a certain order and don't vary the routine unless you have to.
Take your time at first. As you get used to it you'll get faster. If it takes you a few minutes more than anyone else nobody will ever notice, If you try speeding through the process and wind up dropping a trailer nobody will ever forget,
One more thing...don't run over your foot when you're moving a dolly. It hurts and it makes you look stupid. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

Compared to taking a 48 ft orb53 ft trailer around a 90 degree corner, I found it best to corner like the 2nd pup trailer did not exist. The 2nd trailer will almost exactly follow in the tracks of the first trailer. As a full-time 53 ft trailer driver I frequently swung FAR too wide taking a set of doubles around corners or trying to swing for a pull-thru parking spot.

 

All the talk about stay away from trying to back up a set. Look havent you guys seen these Roadway drivers that can back a set around the terminal 10 times? And I'm sure they could back triples on the first try also!!!

 

They are very easy to drive forward, but you should really only drive them forward unless you figure out how to back them up.

In other words, make absolutely SURE the way ahead is clear before you move forward.

Other than that? Easier than 53 footers, in my opinion.

 

When I would find a good Silver Eagle at FXF I felt a desire to protect it with my life. If I managed to find one with super singles I'd hide it when I finished my run. I hate super singles in general but being able to maneuver the dolly with one hand and zero strain was amazing.