Pulling Doubles, are they as intimidating as I'm thinking?

80-90% of new CDL drivers quit the industry before they work for 1 year. The companies that hire, fire, replace thousands of drivers in a year may not want to do without trainers until they have enough 5 year experienced drivers to train. So they offer the job to guys as they hit their time-requirement that is given to them by their insurance company. Lots of people in the industry treat the job like it JUST a temporary job, like waitressing. It's something you may have to do for a short time until something better works out. Some people get into trucking because it fits their personality and they want to stand out form the crowd of newbies and newbie-trainers that bring their 4-wheel bad habits and reckless attitudes and just EXPECT to collect a few traffic tickets and accidents <yikes>.

 

hello. while we are on the subject of trailer dollies and i hope you don't mind me interupting but i also have applied for a position driving doubles. i have never pulled doubles or hooked them up. my question and concern is how heavy are the tongues on the trailer dolly to pick up to pull them? and is it really hard to pull them to your tractor to transport them to the trailer? they said they will train me but while i am waiting to start training i thought i would ask around and get some answers. i am 73 years old so i am wondering how heavy these dollys are.

 

So they are balanced in an interesting way that makes them lighter than you think to lift. I'd say if you can lift a 25-pound object, you can lift the front of a dolly.

Now moving it around once you've lifted it, that can be a bit more strenuous. I've seen people back until they gently tap the dolly... You need to make sure all of your air lines are safe out of the way, and that you tap the dolly VERY gently (1 mph). Then pull forward three inches, and hook the dolly.

That isn't my preferred way of doing it, but we've all tapped the dolly occasionally on accident. If you prepare for it and are super careful, it's perfectly safe.

Oh, but don't do it in front of your trainer. Lol get out and look a million times to see how close you are, with him. Lol

If you're not gonna tap the dolly, eventually you'll know how close you are by looking. That takes practice, but you'll get there. Get as close as you can, though. Sometimes rolling a dolly can be a real chore on uneven ground.

 

I'm 5'2" 150 pounds. I can move around a converter dolly on paved level ground with little problem. If the ground is gravel or not paved, I can move them but I do get warm doing it. Generally, if you are moving a converter dolly more distance than the length on one pup trailer, you use your truck, not your muscles. The trucks at most places using doubles has a pintle hook on the back of the tractor, and sometimes on the front, just for moving around converter dollies.

Many convertor dollies have a wheeled jackstand built into them. If that's the case it's just a matter of rolling the dolly where you want it to go. You generally push the tongue toward the direction to need to go and then start the dolly moving by pushing on the top of a dolly tire to make it move. Some older converter dollies have stationary foot on the bottom of the built in jackstand rather than a wheel. If you have ever seen an RV trailer when it is not connected to a tow vehicle. The jackstand on an RV and a converter dolly are similar. Some RVs use a simple foot, and some RVs have a wheeled foot near the tongue.

 

thank you for getting back to me . this information from you is very helpful to me thank you

hello. yes i was on the usss independence cva 62 1968-1970

 

too many s's in there lol uss independence cva62.