Could trucker quickly separate tractor from trailer for this refrigerator(?) fire?

Fully charged to minimum 10 bc. Must be in the cab.

 

Doesn't have to be in the cab just mounted somewhere readily accessible. Mine is mounted in the compartment under the sleeper and the DOT never bats an eye when I show them. If you've ever had a truck fire or a trailer fire you'll realize that the extinguishers we carry won't even come close to putting it out.

Jan 1st 2007 I had a hand get ice in the airlines on the trailer which resulted in his brakes hanging up. He pulled if that way for 48 miles at which time his brakes were hot enough he had tires smoldering. At that point he blew 2 tires which gave such a rush of oxygen that the other tires ignited on the drivers side. He used his extinguisher plus the ones in the 3 other trucks with him and couldn't put it out. When I arrived I had gathered up twelve 20 pound extinguishers which didn't even come close to putting it out. We were watching it burn when a fresh water transport happened by hauling 200 bbls of water to a rig we used the entire tanker to get if out and cool the metal over the axles of the lowboy enough that it wouldn't flare up again. That trailer cost my insurance 75000 dollars to repair which included transporting it to the manufacturer in Canada to put new axles and suspension under it and test the frame to make sure it would still carry the weight we put on it. I'll say when we got it back it was a pile of #### from that day on.


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Very few tractors have an air actuated (from the cab) "kingpin release" for safety reasons. So it would require the driver getting out, grabbing his "5th wheel puller handle", and pulling the pin release handle (assuming it was not so hot they couldn't reach in to do it), and assuming he wouldn't worry about dollying down, I'd say it could take about 30 seconds from stop to get it released and yank out from under the trailer, letting it drop. (assuming the trailer brakes could hold well enough to let the tractor depart without the trailer)

 

Unless you had an air release fifth wheel you would just walk away from this one, well run....

 

I used to think it could be done. Pull the kingpin and run.

But some trucks have "obstructions" on the frame after the 5th wheel that the trailer can catch on.
(because my idiot self has tried to pull a trailer with the 5th wheel improperly locked, d'Oh!)

Biscuits might still be a refer load BTW, Pillsbury cans are in the cooler aisle.

I tried to put out a guy's car fire with an on board can, and it was one of the bigger ones.
All I did was buy time for him to get his papers and laptop out of the car and a duffel out of the trunk.

When the fire-can ran out? I did my best bomb-tech impersonation.
("if you see me running, get out of my way and try to keep up!")

But I guess I stalled the fire long enough for the fire co to arrive. They made the scene about the same time I stopped running.

So I guess I saved the tail-lights and rear of the car for the pick-n-pull guys.

 

How long it takes depends on the condition of the crank handle and the gears inside. If the handle is not bolted on right or doesn't fit the crank arm correctly it can take several minutes longer than usual. If the gears are dried up beyond the point of no return it could be hard to crank. Normally it only takes less than 30 sec. And yes

 

I think you got your priorities backwards. Tractor's worth more than a trailer. Trailers are cheaper to fix too.

Problem is, no point in dying stupidly. I'd hate to tell a guy to try to unhitch a burning refer trailer then have the fuel line between the tank and the refer catch.

Getting caught in a ring of fire trying to crank down landing gear? Pass.

 

actually, newer tractors (2011 and newer) have fifth wheel release buttons. Volvo, international, peterbilt, kenworth, freightliner, western star all have started putting in fifth wheel release buttons in the cab as a standard option. i'm not sure about mack.