Good Night From II

I didn't find the in-cab release to be very effective at all.
Nothing happened. It never released.
If the spring is so much stronger with the in-cab release, why doesn't it work as advertised?
So what is the point of them?

 

It is the air cylinder that makes it harder to pull by hand

 

Mine did till i hauled a van and the van caught the line and snapped it. Flatbeds sit higher off the frame than vans, taller apron.

Bloody T680s put the slide and release lines on a mount that sticks up a shade too much.

Line might not be air tight. An air leak in the release line will cause them to not release. And they barley ever work in the cold well. Id hit the things two or three times sometimes. And sometimes still have to pull.

But most the times ours work good if we can keep the line safe.

 

Oh, there was one thing that was irritating today.
I picked up a 40k load that was t-called here at Gary, and the driver did not leave a scale ticket.

Is that now going to be an issue because of the new t-call procedure?

This Covid scare is going too far in some ways, and this is one of them.
No one to require that things get done correctly because they are afraid of a window visit, when masks are required in the terminals? Afraid to touch the paper or something?
We are even required to scan in the paperwork because too many drivers do not even remember to put it in the bill box.

Stupid system for a stupid time, I guess.

A service failure should be put on any driver that does not do things correctly.
It really is not that difficult.

 

With these frigid temps air leaks are more common.
And the grease gets thick and gummy so it takes longer to work things free.

 

Put the truck in reverse with parking break on and apply throttle off and on rocking the truck while engaging the kingpin release. I think but am not positive that the failure of the air kingpin release is due to insufficient lubrication. Others likely know better.

Isn't there a grease point on the mechanism?

 

I think so. But also it wont activate on my truck unless the valves are pulled.

 

Yeah ive been miffed about that, flatbed started that policy like 1.5 years ago. Cause people were forgetting paperwork. I mean we have always had the option to just leave the trailer with bills, which is why it became an issue for us. Gods pity the fool of a flatbedder that drops an overweight load.

 

I think that would work better with the trailer 'brake' set and the tractor brake off.
That yellow parking brake is for the tractor, but the tractor has to be able to move in order to free up the fifth wheel.
The tractor can not rock if the brake is set.

And it wasn't because of insufficient lubrication, it was because it was -10 degrees and the lubrication gets very thick at that temp.

That is why that 5th wheel puller worked, as well as the tow chain the repair guy used.
It pulled out the handle long enough to let the thick lube work free enough.
A bit colder and that might not have worked.

 

Don't you mean pushed?
And only for the tractor.

The trailer air supply should be pulled out to lock it in place, while the tractor valve should be pushed in.

In my truck if the tractor brake is pulled to set the parking brake, the 5th wheel release won't activate.