Trailer unhitched on the interstate

It was a "good drop" now let's get it hooked

 

I can testify to this because it almost happened to me a few times-most recently a couple of months ago.
The 1st time it happened there was sludge buildup in the fifth wheel to a point where the locking jaws disengaged after I was pulling out of the safety inspection lanes at one of our terminals. And what saved me was I was pulling out at less than 3 mph and making a turn when I noticed the trailer was dragging back.

The 2nd time it happened my fifth wheel had to be REBUILT after the lockjaws kept on disengaging while I was trying to hook up to a trailer. The shop technicians were pulling out chunks of metal from the fifth wheel along with sludge buildup.

The most recent incident happened when I was about to pull a Walmart trailer at Wintersville, Ohio. I was only going 3 mph through the yard when the lockjaws disengaged and head of the trailer slammed down on the chassis of my truck.

Shop technicians came out, inspected the trailer and my fifth wheel. And the trailer suffered no damage because the head the trailer hit the chassis, and as such the landing gear wasn’t damaged.
It turned out the ADJUSTMENT BOLT on the fifth wheel had POPPED OUT all the way-something that is NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!

In all three incidents I did tug tests AND visual inspections verifying that the lockjaws were engaged around the kingpin!
Sometimes you can take all the precautions in the world and **** happens-especially in our line of work!

 

Every time!! I shine my flashlight and I triple check that every time. I once hooked to a trailer in some loose gravel. So I didn’t hit that pin quite as hard as I usually want. Still sounded like I heard the click and I tugged about four times real hard. No way it couldn’t be connected. Right? Wrong! Got all hooked up and started to pull out and as my gut told me something just didn’t feel right I looked back and could see the trailer starting to slide. Jumped out put the landing gear down and hooked up to it right with a good slam. This was when I first started out! Freaked me out! I crawl under there every single time and look now Because I was like 100% sure I hooked that trailer.

 

You really dont need to slam it tho...i finesse my clutch and just barely touch it enough to engage and lock... If u have to slam into the pin to get it to lock ... U have problems with ur 5th wheel... I see so many guys that just slam into the pin as hard as they can... And i cant do nothing but laugh... Just tears up your equipment.

 

Very true. Especially when they skip the pin and then crush the fairings or back of the cab.

 

Same here I hardly have to bump it.

 

I cringe every time I accidentally hit too hard. That happened primarily with loaded RGNs and you couldn't very well finesse those... You can hear the handle lock back in place gently rolling into it.

 

So just to clarify “high hook” is when the pin goes over the fith wheel?

I’m only asking cause it would seem if that’s the case the trailer would slide off the first turn you make.
And as a driver you would or should realize you trailer is much closer than it should be.

 

Yes, and you should definitely notice it when you go to hook up lines.

 

Or look under the trailer