Dropped a trailer pulling away from the dock.

I am going to jump in and stir the pot a little. I consider myself a honest person, but I have always lived by the opinion that a person can be too honest. I see these "super truckers" going down the road with this painted on their tractors, "1 to 5 million safe no accident miles", The thought goes through my mind, "you ain't told everything". Always remember, don't answer a question before it is asked.

Now, turning the attention to the 5th wheel. It is a rare ocurrence that a 5th wheel will fail, but it does happen and it is a good practice to squat under the trailer and look at the jaws, but again, I have seen even that not preventing the failure of a 5th wheel. While at Overnite Transportation, years ago, we had a B model Mack that was famous for the 5th wheel failing. They even rebuilt the 5th wheel but it still would fail. We only used the tractor for yard work and I can't tell you how many times trailers were dropped. They finally junked the tractor.

 

I worked a seasonal job at a cranberry marsh, loading and shuttling trailers to a drop site on the property. They had 2 trucks, a very tired Plainfield Trucking FL conventional, and an even more tired K100 that was an old Moodie truck. It took 2 trucks to load and stage the trailers. 5-6 wagons a day I did that, checked and tugged everytime. The KW lost a wagon one day, empty thank heaven, I told them I was not going to use it, and double dropped with the FL. They took the 5th wheel off, it worked fine on the ground, I said no way.

 

I think safe miles means you haven’t hurt anybody yet. I don’t know a single trucker who hasn’t had an accident with a vehicle. Myself actually being the exception to that.

 

Lot of those guys got trucks with those decals already on them.

 

Some places even count the mirror strikes where Bubba comes into your lane, nails your mirror ripping it off and keeps on going. Trash trucks are notorious for this. That's why I kinda don't mind cameras. Hug the right and hope for the best. They text and wander right into you.

 

its only chargeable if you cant make to a safe destination off the road and then call company.

 

Because there’s cameras everywhere

 

They may be surprised you told the truth. If they ask anything about why, just make it simple. Say, what did you want to me to do, lie? Would you rather me say that I am so stupid, I knew it wasn't hooked up right and just drove away anyway?