Guy Dropped A Trailer

Right in front of us in our yard. Just pulled out and kept going and the trailer followed about 25 feet and fell off. It was empty, so my trainer helped them get it back up. Dont know if he damaged his air and power lines or not. The guy who dropped it was a trainer. The student had backed it in and hit the release. The trainer wanted to straightenn it up and never checked it had been released. No harm done exceptto the mans pride. I made several notes about what to lcheck in the future.

Yikes. Share your notes please. I'm curious what mistakes this guy made.

First and most important mistake was a rookie will be in a bit of a rush when he/she does good so he should have checked before doing anything else.

That's the scariest thing about driving...one very brief moment of inattention and you may not get a second chance. Luckily in this case there was no harm done but that is profoundly embarrassing for him.

Every once in a great while you'll see that happen at a truck stop. The unfortunate thing is a lot of times the trailer will hang on while you're going straight and winds up coming off when you go around a turn. And when is that first turn? When you're coming out of the truck stop parking lot and turning onto the roadway - which is exactly where the trailer falls on its nose - completely across the highway in front of the truck stop blocking everything!!

I can't think of too many things more embarrassing than that.

Theres a few ways to ensure that this will never happen to you, hopefully. Always check your 5th wheel pin after backing in under your trailer. Always check it before you leave the truck stop ( some think its funny to pull the pin on trucks setting). Always check it before pulling away from the dock, after loading OR unloading. And when you park at the truckstop, set your trailer brakes first, then pull forward slowly, then set your tractor brakes. That way you will be tight against the 5th wheel pin, and it is nearly impossible to release the pin...BUT before you leave the ts...check it.

From what I over heard, the student was telling him, he had released the trailer, the trainer insisted the student never told him. Most of our company trucks have auto king pin releases on the dash. The lesson to me was, always check and never assume. In all deference to the trainer, he was being impatient and in a hurry. When he came out to reback in staight, he was going too fast. If he had pulled out a bit slower, and watched..........

We had hooked up the night before and visually inspected the jaws. We did a tug test just for fun, before we pulled out, after watching that.