i was reading cdl manual and dont understand this part.

There will be a larger gap--greater distance--from the tractor's wheels to the trailer's landing gear. This means the landing gear is more susceptible to contacting elevations in the pavement vs. if the wheels are closer to the landing gear.

 

I have seen this happen down in Mississippi. The road had such a big bow caused by that dang Yazoo clay the trucks landing gear made contact with the road. The force of the vehicle caused it to slide across the bow, but it damaged the landing pads and made a loud noise. I used to love that stuff, was like riding a roller coaster going across I 20.

 

This is what the rule book wants you to avoid. You may encounter a railroad crossing with such a high hump that there is a danger of having your landing gear becoming hung up on that hump as this video illustrates.

The driver in this particular case was a complete bozo because he either wasn't paying attention to the posted signs prohibiting truck crossings or he decided to just go for it anyway.

The moral of the story is to be mindful of high hump railroad crossings. However, railroads are not the only hazard to trailer landing gear. I once tore up landing gear exiting a dirt lot where the dirt level was lower than the concrete lip I was moving onto. And was only going 3 mph to damage my landing gear severely.

Should you ever encounter trouble at a RR crossing, there is an 800 number posted on or near the crossing gates that you should call ahead of 911.

What?!? No way! I'm calling 911 first.

Just relax. Heres why:

Calling this 800 number puts you in direct contact with the railroad controllers BEFORE 911 dispatch can. I learned this from a RR safety guy who spoke at the trucking school I attended. Information on this sign also gives precise RR crossing location to railroad controllers.

Hope this helps.

 

This is the landing gear I broke exiting that dirt lot. Western Express had a way of not making you feel bad if you created for them an extra expense that could have been avoided.

I should point that this damage occurred in the dirt lot directly across from the TA in Barstow, California exiting towards the Pilot.

 

this is what they mean....

see the LONG distance from the tractor tires to the trailer tires?