This morning I was sat on a bay and watched a guy hooking under a trailer.
He slammed into the trailer and drove straight back out 3 times before the 4th tug test worked.
I have missed the pin once and it took a while to get unstuck, and cracked the faring (it was stobarts, no foul).
Just wondering how this guy slammed it 3 times but didn’t get stuck or do any damage?
Two possibles i can think of.
Tractor unit probably about an inch lower than the rubbing plate at the point of contact with the pin so the wide lowest point of the pin was wedging in the jaws instead of sliding home, if he’d been an inch lower still would probably overshot over the top of the fifth wheel and hit the lights or landing legs with the back of the unit, and/or stuffed the back of the cab ion for good measure…you still see people reversing straight up to a trailer (all on the mirrors) they didn’t drop and have no idea how high it is and just keep reversing until it stops, with luck connected, without luck damage but who cares eh 
The other possibility is the fifth wheel mechanism worn, so when the release handle was pulled when last trailer dropped it was still lodged where you rest the cut out, it might have needed to be clicked back a faction by hand to allow it to slam home when the next trailer picked up.
Another possibility is the trailer was too high up because some idiot lifted their suspension before dropping the trailer.
Usually the most common scenario.
I never bang under for this reason. Soon as the fifth wheel is under the trailer I lift the suspension untill the legs are off the ground.
I also do a visual inspection of the pin under the trailer with a flashlight but I suspect some will see this as overkill.
In my defence I have seen quite a few dropped trailers as I work in a supermarket but I’ve never seen the guy who dropped the trailer ever come back to work. It’s instant dismissal.
idrive:
This morning I was sat on a bay and watched a guy hooking under a trailer.
He slammed into the trailer and drove straight back out 3 times before the 4th tug test worked.
I have missed the pin once and it took a while to get unstuck, and cracked the faring (it was stobarts, no foul).
Just wondering how this guy slammed it 3 times but didn’t get stuck or do any damage?
The trailer could have had a pin lock on and it took three attempts to break it off, honestly I have seen it done by a French driver in our yard. 
Sounds like the release handle was stuck on the notch, instead of getting his fat arse out of the cab and knocking the handle off the notch he chose brute force.
Have a look at the character at the helm, if he has the gormless glazed slack jawed expression, and English as his first language then there you have it.
adam277:
Another possibility is the trailer was too high up because some idiot lifted their suspension before dropping the trailer.
Usually the most common scenario.I never bang under for this reason. Soon as the fifth wheel is under the trailer I lift the suspension untill the legs are off the ground.
I also do a visual inspection of the pin under the trailer with a flashlight but I suspect some will see this as overkill.In my defence I have seen quite a few dropped trailers as I work in a supermarket but I’ve never seen the guy who dropped the trailer ever come back to work. It’s instant dismissal.
Supermarket=incompetence at a level you never thought possible.
mike68:
Have a look at the character at the helm, if he has the gormless glazed slack jawed expression, and English as his first language then there you have it.
Mouth breather confirmed 
mike68:
adam277:
Another possibility is the trailer was too high up because some idiot lifted their suspension before dropping the trailer.
Usually the most common scenario.I never bang under for this reason. Soon as the fifth wheel is under the trailer I lift the suspension untill the legs are off the ground.
I also do a visual inspection of the pin under the trailer with a flashlight but I suspect some will see this as overkill.In my defence I have seen quite a few dropped trailers as I work in a supermarket but I’ve never seen the guy who dropped the trailer ever come back to work. It’s instant dismissal.
Supermarket=incompetence at a level you never thought possible.
Dropped one at Tescos 
Someone came over to talk to me while I was unhitching and I never double checked that the legs was down. At the time I had 20 years of class 1 under my belt, boy did I feel a prat. Trailer was empty, got it back up in 5 minutes no damage done. The outcome? Banned from Tescos for life Never shopped there again, That teach them.
elsa Lad:
mike68:
adam277:
Another possibility is the trailer was too high up because some idiot lifted their suspension before dropping the trailer.
Usually the most common scenario.I never bang under for this reason. Soon as the fifth wheel is under the trailer I lift the suspension untill the legs are off the ground.
I also do a visual inspection of the pin under the trailer with a flashlight but I suspect some will see this as overkill.In my defence I have seen quite a few dropped trailers as I work in a supermarket but I’ve never seen the guy who dropped the trailer ever come back to work. It’s instant dismissal.
Supermarket=incompetence at a level you never thought possible.
Dropped one at Tescos
Christ that was a long time ago, do that at my depot you wouldn’t get banned, you’d be given a holdall containing a Tesco uniform and a start date.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I committed the sin In 2011, still embarrassed about it. Probably good job I did get banned because don’t think I could show my face in the depot again.
idrive:
This morning I was sat on a bay and watched a guy hooking under a trailer.
He slammed into the trailer and drove straight back out 3 times before the 4th tug test worked.
I have missed the pin once and it took a while to get unstuck, and cracked the faring (it was stobarts, no foul).
Just wondering how this guy slammed it 3 times but didn’t get stuck or do any damage?
I’ve had this with rear steer trailers. Theres a wedge behind the pin to turn the back wheels. If you’re not completely straight when going under, the fifth wheel doesn’t engage the wedge properly and the bloody thing wont lock.
No end of crayon chewers happy to test Einstein’s definition of insanity
It might sound daft, but when coupling or uncoupling I always follow the same routine, with pin being the first item when coupling, and the last when dropping. The daft bit is before I pull away, I say the sequence out loud. Had some odd looks over the years but hey, whatever works.
Gently back up, dip suspension, go under with just the 5th wheel goes under the plate, level the suspension out, which is often enough to slightly lift the legs off the floor, facilitating winding the legs up without arms like popeye in low gear needed to do it. At this point, if there is still a gap - you can lift the suspension up further, and wind the legs up slightly to create that gap between the legs and the ground, then settle level again. When reversing back, the legs are only slightly off the ground, and will not get shoved back, tilting the feet over, which can damage them. You’ll also get a smooth slide of the 5th wheel and underplate, rather than anything involving “daylight” between the two. The only “danger” would be if you then steered it crooked, and ended up with an “uncontrolled vehicle movement” (trailer tilts sideways?) - which is why you should always back under in a straight line, and not around a corner/at an angle…
I was unable to find a video of anyone doing this technique, which I’m sure cannot cause any “Harm”…
How many of us do NOT get out of the cab to check “5th wheel height” for example?
Winseer:
How many of us do NOT get out of the cab to check “5th wheel height” for example?
Probably get roasted for this but…
Very rare I get out to check 5th height nowadays.
I’ve always gone under a trailer with suspension on lowest till plate under then lift till I see trailer rising with unit then complete move under.
Done it this way from when I shunted at a factory using a unit and NEVER missed a pin or even come close to it and I used to do up to 10 trailer moves a shift
I ALWAYS check that jaws are round pin after clip goes in though
I’ve done it this way since and you get a feel of when the plate is under trailer right ready to engage pin.
Only time I DO get out is if it “feels” wrong going under for pin. Any doubt and it’s get out time
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Winseer:
How many of us do NOT get out of the cab to check “5th wheel height” for example?
Never. Not once! Thinking about it I do a subconscious appraisal of the trailer height as I approach it and like any person be it a brickie, a carpenter, a plumber or whatever when you have many years under your belt you can make a snap judgement just by looking. I’m experienced enough to back under so that my 5th wheel is under the trailer rubbing plate without the pin being near to the jaws and then (despite a certain armchair lorry driver telling me that this is the wrong method) I raise the suspension whilst watching the trailer in my mirror.
If the trailer hasn’t lifted despite the air suspension being at max height I know that I’ve got to then start dicking about winding it down until the rubbing plate meets the 5th wheel. Rocket science it isn’t, and it should be second nature to anyone who does it for a living.
+1
Missing the pin is the ultimate cabbage trick.
Extra careful on rough ground
I could add “who gets out to check the trailer brake red button is pulled out” too eh? or “Check that blue button isn’t pushed in on shunt mode”…?
In 2008 doing a job in Milton Keynes - I went under a trailer, lifted it up, reversed under it onto the pin - only to nearly push the whole thing back two feet… Blue button was pushed in, with spring broken to prevent it from easily coming back out again… Trailer had only been dropped there within an hour previously, and still had some air in resovoir, obviously… Lucky for me there wasn’t anything behind the trailer!! These days, if it is any different trailer from usual - I’ll be getting out and checking stuff like that, assuming the worst…
Modern trailers - have kinda rendered that move “obsolete”, with myself concentrating on coming back dead straight onto the pin with level set, legs about an inch off the floor for final back onto pin - handily left that way most of the time by whatever shunter happened to deposit the trailer where one is now picking it up… Rear-Steer trailers - require that as standard as well, of course - so no worries.
elsa Lad:
mike68:
adam277:
Another possibility is the trailer was too high up because some idiot lifted their suspension before dropping the trailer.
Usually the most common scenario.I never bang under for this reason. Soon as the fifth wheel is under the trailer I lift the suspension untill the legs are off the ground.
I also do a visual inspection of the pin under the trailer with a flashlight but I suspect some will see this as overkill.In my defence I have seen quite a few dropped trailers as I work in a supermarket but I’ve never seen the guy who dropped the trailer ever come back to work. It’s instant dismissal.
Supermarket=incompetence at a level you never thought possible.
Dropped one at Tescos
I’d say that was a win for you 