Mentor Blues!

Or, you could always look under there before you move the truck.
That's one thing a pre-trip is good for, as well as simple walk arounds after any stop.

 

Most of you are not going to like this, but here goes.

The useage of trailer brakes to slow a truck down, check for black ice while driving, try to straighten out a jacknife, ect, has been around as long as there has been a trailer brake handle. Many, if not most, O/Os use the trailer brake to save their brakes. Comapny drivers also use the trailer brakes to slow down a few MPH, to disengage the cruise while holding the throttle in order not to lose speed, ect. There are many reasons.

You don't use a trailer brake to slow down when it's wet and loaded light or empty. You don't use it going down a mountain as a main source of brakes. Using it to slow down for an off ramp, then switching to full pedal brakes on the ramp is no problem, if you have half a brain about when and how to use it.

You will notice lots of trucks do not have a trailer brake handle anymore. This is because many of the new drivers are too stupid to know how to properly use this device. The things I listed above are not all approved uses for such brake, but can be used with common sense. If you think you are going to wreck or cause a spontanious fire because you use the trailer brake, you are either mis-informed, or one of those too stupid to know how to use the brake correctly. Many companies will teach you not to use that brake because of stupid people that trained before you. The best idea is to not have it at all if you are hiring everyone that walks in off the street to drive for you, and training people that have never driven a stick shift before.

The responses I have read on this thread about the doom, gloom, and tragedy waiting to happen is just unbelieviable, until I saw the experience levels, and remember what kind of training the big boxes do.

To the OP. I can't believe you put yourself in the position of maybe never getting a new trainer instead of sucking it up and getting your time in. You should have just went along, after he went to sleep used the foot brake, and used common sense in using the trailer brake when he was up.

OK, flame away.

 

If there were other problems with your trainer, you should have mentioned them. It appeared if this was the only disagreement. Unless he was using the trailer brake 100%, you shouldn't have been in any danger unless the guy just couldn't drive to begin with.

I have read here of drivers getting off a truck and it being over a month before another one came along, or after a couple weeks the company deemed them unemployed.

Him not allowing you to not use the trailer brake was stupid on his part, but I don't have the whole story between the two of you, so that's all I can comment on that part.

 

That's kind of what I was thinking. Just because it was "good" when you left it, does not mean it will be "good" when you return.

 

* A dirty trick some jerks play is to pull the 5th wheel release on a truck while it's parked. To prevent this, after parked set the trailer brake (knob or handle) and pull gently forward. Now set tractor brake. This lock the pin against the 5th wheel jaw and prevents the handle from being pulled. Good tip to keep in your back pocket (for the real newbies, you experienced guys know this).

Back when I drove for Blue Bird, the head of the shop just loved to do this. He would pull the handle and then just wait for the driver to get ready to move his truck. That seemed to be a kick for him. I have been pulling on the pin for a long time now. The trailer brake was real handy for sliding the tandems when you had a heavy load and the brakes just where not that snug or trying to move on wet pavement or dirt.

 

Some of Swift's trucks won't allow the pin to be pulled unless the landing gear has been set and pressure released from the 5th wheel, I love this function. If sometimes you can't pull your own 5th wheel pin try simply setting your landing gear down firmer on the ground. I never had a truck do this until coming to Swift.

 

Most of the time...the 5th wheel is "pressure locked"....don't put the landing gear down "harder"...just climb back up into the seat and give a gentle push against the king pin/5th wheel, and let her settle....should release with ease!

 

When I was in training with my 'mentor' about every other trailer had this problem where I couldn't pull the release handle. I'd yell at him to back up a little, but then he would hop out with his studly 12 ounce claw hammer and bang on the 5th wheel while I continued to pull in vain. Then he'd tell me to hop up and release the air bags. I'd have to hurry, to pull the handle during the 'sweet spot' while the bags were deflating otherwise it would get hung up again at the bottom of the range. He could never bring himself to back up a little because that would mean his student knew more than he did after 7 years of trucking.

Same thing with the trailer tandem slide. Oftentimes the pins are jammed in there with friction. So set the brakes and back up one time against them to find that sweet spot again. This mentor would have me pulling as hard as I could while he would try to pull forward-- not gonna work til the pins are free. If I was in the seat and he was pulling the handle, I'd always back up one time then quickly get it in forward gear because he'd be vigorously gesturing that I was going the wrong way lol. Sometimes you just gotta outsmart your mentor lol.