Bad Coupling Pics

My trainer told me "the tug is good, hear the click, man you don't gotta look, it's good." No way, I get my flashlight everytime and crawl under there to look.

I thought you were Captain Obvious'ing me lol. Yeah, it's definitely a good thing for people to know and a detail that's so small, it gets overlooked more often than it should. Thanks.

Oh I know that. I was saying a few things that I didn't include here while a was cranking it on low for about 300 turns. Lol

The driver who dropped the trailer previously to you, cranked the gear way too high. The landing gear pads should barely touch the ground when spotting a trailer.

I know you know that...meant for those in the forum who may not know that.

Great job catching it!

Remember the goal of TT is to teach. What may seem obvious to one person might be completely new to someone reading Forum content for the first time.

Every time I hook to a trailer I always shimmy under the trailer and with a flashlight check to ensure a positive coupling.

My trainer told me "the tug is good, hear the click, man you don't gotta look, it's good." No way, I get my flashlight everytime and crawl under there to look.

Tell your trainer overconfidence isn't sexy.

Every time I hook to a trailer I always shimmy under the trailer and with a flashlight check to ensure a positive coupling.

Ditto for me... I check every time. It's too quick and easy and important not to do.

G.O.A.L, click, tug, G.O.A.L I had a trailer that as I was hooking somehow released the king pin lock before I actually got it in the hole. The 45k pound load was heavy enough for me to "feel" the tug. However when I got out to look I saw the problem. Could have been a nightmare.

I just wanted to add a little visual to this whole conversation that helps to illustrate the point being made. When I rolled into our terminal in Gulfport, Mississippi recently to have some service done on my truck, I noticed the brick columns at the entrance, along with the security gates, were destroyed. It looked like maybe someone had just rammed right into the whole thing with their truck, which seemed unlikely. After inquiring as to what actually took place out there, I was informed that someone had hooked to their trailer inside the yard and took off out the gate with it not being coupled properly. Apparently the trailer came loose from the tractor just as they were going through the gate. Here's a look at the damages that could have been avoided with a simple one minute double check of their work...

Now imagine what might have taken place had this happened to them while cruising down the busy interstate at highway speeds. Always make sure that those locking jaws are closed on that king-pin.