ouch...

Drivers. This is a perfect example of a preventable injury. Please, if you are new do not do this. If you do not feel the weight of the load push down onto the fith wheel plate do not keep backing up. This is a prime example of why people high pin or worse do what he did. Thank you for your time.

 

mistakes happen. no matter long you been trucking. and we ALL get over it.

 

Had so many trailers over the years that were dropped high I no longer even try I put my double 2x6 behind my inner drives and back up , if the trailer was too high you will not have it go over the 5th if not then your landing gear is up off the ground so you don't have to even use low gear to raise them, Its a trick from the oilpatch were you use a lot of floats

 

If you can't perform your duties, you need medical help. I recommend: call your company and inform them that you need treatment. Ask if they have a doctor for you, or if you should go somewhere on your own. One thing - I've had a lot of injuries in my past, and every treatment facility will treat workman's comp, since they pay well. You have to tell them when you're getting checked in: when they ask about insurance, that's when you drop the WC on them. The entire workers comp organization is set up to help injured workers, don't worry about that. But I think you should ask the company first. One other item: when you're backing under the trailer, check the trailer height over your drives, check for the 5th wheel bump on the trailer. If the height over the drives is more than a couple of inches, if you don't hear the 5th wheel bump, stop. Please, don't ask how I came by this information. In fact, one more thing. Remember someone telling you to pause when pulling out from under a trailer? I always do. One time, though, in Ft. Wayne, I pulled out, paused, and the trailer fell on my drives! Believe me when I say I was so glad for that little pause. Saved my backside for sure. Dropping a trailer is not approved driving technique. Sometimes, luck is on your side. Sometimes, not so much.

 

Funny the comment to call a lawyer before even calling a Doctor!

Mikeeee

 

so you think scraping all the grease off your fifth wheel is a good idea?

 

Well this thread has responses about 60% good and 50% bad...

Mikeeee

 

IF you're high hooking a trailer, you are dead wrong. I find it hard to believe you got out and looked. If you back the fifth wheel under the trailer and stopped before backing into the king pin, how can you not notice a huge gap under there? I can look at the gap between the trailer and tires when I back under and I know how far it is up. FYI, I've back under trailers where the tires made contact with the trailer. Guess what? I locked the differential, and let out and the clutch and slide right under and lifted that trailer up. The tires do not get damaged either, the trailer apron is not going to cut anything and once the wheels are under, they just slide under till it makes contact with the fifth wheel, which will lift the trailer up.

Unless you have 11R24.5 tires and a fifth wheel designed for a tanker, there is absolutely no reason why some of these drivers should be dropping a trailer so dang high off the ground. Even if you don't have an air dump, the fifth wheel is sloped. So as you pull out, the trailer will drop slowly and slide down and make contact with the ground. WORK SMARTER, not harder. Make sure you are using the LOW gear on the landing gear too when it is fully loaded. We had a driver get knocked out a few weeks back when the landing gear whacked him in the face. ALWAYS drop the trailer 1-2 inches from the ground, lower your air bags, or if you don't have a dump, lower the landing gear till it is 1/2" inch or just BAAARELY touching the ground, then slowly, slowly, pull out from under it.

Go see the doctor under Workmans comp.

 

How did the 'landing gear' "whack him in the face"?

Mikeeee