Made my First Mistake

My routine is, crank down the gear, thump the tires and check the lights visually inspecting trailer while walking around, then disconnect air/electric lines, then pull fifth wheel, dump air bags and pull away slowly. A couple of months ago, I was on the phone (Bluetooth) with my wife while I was dropping a trailer.... Needless to say, my routine wasn't followed as I was distracted, pulled out from the trailer and, thump! I knew exactly what I had done when it happened. Fortunately all lines were still intact and barely even stretched out but they did put a tiny crease in the back of the sleeper. That is only the second time in my career I've done that.

What's more embarrassing is having a trailer fall on the frame rails right in front of the building and fuel pumps at the T/A in Brookville, PA. When I ran LTL, I did a switch there a couple nights a week. I had a new, then, 2012 Mack Pinnacle, and I had been having fifth wheel problems our shop couldn't quite figure out. Sometimes the jaws just wouldn't latch at all. Well, I backed under the trailer, they latched, I hooked up all my lines, got under it with my flashlight, jaws were latched, entered my info on the peoplenet and took off. I got right in front of the building, which is also in front of the fuel pumps there and bang! The trailer dropped but fortunately because I do not race through truck stops I got stopped before the trailer fell off the frame rails. Cranked trailer back up and slammed against fifth wheel and looked again, looked latched again, so I cautiously proceeded home. The shop replaced the whole fifth wheel and sent the old one to the main shop in Pittsburgh to figure out the problem. Turns out it had a bad spring in it. So all in all, I'm glad to have been embarrassed by the trailer falling off in the truck stop instead of out on the road where a lot more damage could have been done.

 

How does even a "green horn" not feel the load in the trailer when backing under it? I would have caught that before the fifth-wheel even grabbed the kingpin. Maybe it's just me, but I do a lot of "feel and intuition" driving. And if I don't feel the trailer on my skid plate as I'm SLOWLY backing under...I get out and crank the trailer down until it is touching my fifth wheel.

 

Who cares simple mistake. But remember one thing about trucking mistakes happen when you rush.

 

B I N G O !
If "Just a thought" like that don't make 'em stop an' go Hmmmmmm -----
By golly, I don't know what could.
Complex simplicity from another perspective.

I'm glad you wrote that JohnP3. It's a keeper for sure. :smt045
ThanX

Outstandin' example and one I'd use myself. :smt045
It says just enough and not too much.

Timing can make a difference too
If you can plan your explanation call around a dispatcher's meal time or
just about time for them to go home, even better, ......
Explain to 'em that your explanation for the current issue at hand and pertaining to the individual malfunction in question would likely not take up more than half an hour, ..... unless this would be a good time to ---(just talk about ANYthang to keep 'em on the phone for a little while when he wants to go home.

Then throw in the lure, ......
Of course, if y'all would just issue me a purchase order number (or whatever a company requires) for the air hoses,
I could install 'em in less time than tryin' to explain it and be on my way and outta your hair.

Play those cards right and the dispatcher will be convinced that you've done 'em a favor.
That's a good card to hold.

If I may digress ............................. Dispatchers.
Can't live with 'em and y'all can't live without 'em either.
Keepin' in mind that a good dispatcher is worth twice their weight in gold, ... or diesel (depending on current market value and adjusted for inflation)
And on the flip side, a good dispatcher can make ya or break ya with relative ease.
For this reason, I highly recommend that you never leave a bad taste in a dispatcher's mouth.
Get to know 'em, --- face-to-face if/when possible. Understand their job a little more from their vantage point.
HaiL!
Do what I do, ....... send 'em postcards when they send you someplace scenic.
Thank 'em for sendin' you there, ..... and it doesn't hurt to mention you'd like to do it again anytime.
But don't whine if/when y'all get a dawg load.
That's what they'll expect.
Surprise 'em.
Joke about it.
Who does that?
Probably only you.
Why would y'all do that?
That's what the dispatcher will remember.
And appreciate.
See where I'm goin' with this?
A T T I T U D E.
And, many times; attitude can take y'all farther than aptitude.
It's twue!
It's twue!


Now, I apologize to Wooly Rhino for high-jackin' his excellent post, ..........

Well, thar ya go amigo. You couldn't buy better advice than you're receivin' here for free.

That's the best way I know of to git-er-dun.

"Muscle Memory"? :smt108
Hmmmm ----
Imagine that.
In all the times I've learned that way, I never knew what that's called
or how it happens to happen that way.

I hope y'all are takin' notes here.

I think they DO feel the load in the trailer when backin' under it. Thing is, they're not familiar enough with the feelin' to know what it is that they feel.

How "green" is your horn, White Dog?
When did you first notice that you had the feel?

I'm relieved to assure you that it ain't just you.

What you call "feel and intuition" I call "drivin' by the seat of my pants". I like your reference, --- it's shorter.
I know what'cher talkin' 'bout though.
I don't bring the subject up much because of all the funny looks other Big truck truck drivers give me when I do. I've come to the conclusion that not every driver of Big trucks has this capability. It's as though the Big truck is a part, ...... an extension of me. I don't know how to explain it. But when I run into someone who can relate to and understand what we can't explain, I/We realize it's not just our imagination.

When I'm Big truck trailer truckin' I don't listen to music on the AM/FM radio.
I'll have the CB turned on real low so I can hear what I feel from the Big truck and it all blends together in a beautiful noise.
A new rattle or vibration?
Gotta trace it's origin till I find it

I love the sound of a turbo spindlin' up at the beginnin' of a climb and the feel of the torque kickin' in under the seat of my pants as the frame flexes a tad and the suspension takes a set.

WoaH!
Felt like I just ran over
a toothpick.
(Just kiddin'.
It was a pipe cleaner)

 

I'd venture to say the best of the best have made that mistake at least once... You can pull out your tire thumper and beat yourself up over and over and/or learn from it and move on. Not many will admit to such a brilliant move.. at least you had the landing gear down, I've seen some others do that, they didn't look to thrilled either. aaaa glad it wasn't me

 

actually your first mistake was entering transportation via the trucker route. The airline fiasco has happened to everyone of us and is yet another example of why an experienced driver carries a varied tool assortment.my toolbox has throttle springs in it from the mechanical cummins days. can you locate the throttle spring on the engine in the truck that you drive?

 

No...because most engines are Electronic now, not Mechanical.

 

If you can't use those springs, I could use 'em

 

I think we all have done it once in our truckin' history. If it's on a company rig, I'd have just shelled out the cash for new lines and light cord, plus taxi fare to get me to the parts house and back. No need to tell the company if the only damage was those lines and your ego.