Anyone in Phoenix help with doubles?

Also, you should know once that dolly is hooked to the rear of the first trailer and the airlines are connected, depending on the dolly the fifth wheel on it may rise up to a foot when you hit the trailer air supply.

High hooking is a pain in the neck. I think we've all done it at least once. You can get yourself out of it without damage to the equipment most times, but that's why I say to double check your height when backing into your rear trailer. No different than judging your fifth wheel hooking a regular 53'. Same principal, same result. You can air up that dolly before you judge the rear trailer height, minimizing the chance of something going wrong.

Yes, you can go to UPS and hook a set. I jumped in both feet with no experience running them, and I did fine. Running them is a bit different, the turn radius and cornering is a bit different than what you're used to. Keep your eye on those mirrors.

In the end, like every other trucking job, it's apathy and complacency that will get you every time. Start with good habits and do the same thing every time. Don't get sloppy or lazy. That, more than anything will keep you and the public around you safe.

 

The reason you do not set dolly under trailer is so you can wiggle it a bit if required to connect pintle hook. I always hook up safety chains first.

 

Good question. On our dollies, the emergency line on the "out" side would purge all the air out (unless you have a glad hand cover or a shut off valve on the lead trailer "out"). Same thing with your service line if you hit the brakes. Your con would just dump all the air out.

But here is what I do sometimes.. if I am already hooked to a set, and I have to swap out my rear trailer, I will disconnect the air lines from my back trailer and use the glad hand covers on my front trailer to seal them off. This will allow me to move my con gear without waiting for the independent air reservoir (on the con) to drain all the air out....And subsequently wait for it to refill. This process usually saves me a whooping 90-120 seconds at best. Hope this makes sense.

 

@G13Tomcat -
I appreciate your thinking of me as a possible resource, but I've never hooked/pulled doubles. I am an LTL linehaul driver, but Dayton only uses long boxes.

@trecord88 -
I'd give you props if you managed to go in there and hook up a set without hands-on experience. My advice would be to be honest about your lack of training on doubles, so you don't come off as having lied about it. I personally would be iffy about trying to hook a set without being shown in person and practicing it a couple times. I understand that's what the original point of the thread was--finding someone who could show you in person.

This reminds me of when I started out, thinking that shifting a truck would be no problem since I can drive a car with a manual transmission. Some skills transferred, but it still took being shown and hands-on practice. If I hadn't been shown how to shift, I never would have made it out of the parking lot! Similarly, even though I have a doubles endorsement and understand the concept, I'd still want to be shown before attempting it myself. I'm not sure YouTube videos would be enough for me personally.

 

@road_runner .... that kinda explains it.

 

Again, backing a con that is attached to a trailer is fairly challenging if nobody is there to give you some pointers. I knew a guy out of a different barn that could back up doubles (with a con behind the second trailer) and hook a third rear box. He is also the same guy that will back doubles against the dock and then break his set from there, rather than breaking your set in the lot and then backing in each trailer separately.

 

^^^^^ I've backed my set a few times in the day, and lemme tell ya. If that's not the most "challenging" scenario, idk what is. That dude hooking a 3rd after backing, and bumping with doubles, ..... um....risky ####, IMHO!

I just think the OP should maybe go to the barn he wants to hire out of, and WATCH the guys THERE do it a few times, so he knows what order to do what. It's pretty much how I learned. I was actually HIRED before I totally "got it" but then again, had a few years driving under my belt, before-hand.