Having recently passed my C+E my biggest fear is not getting the trailer hooked up right to the point where I double check everything especially the 5th wheel, even dropped a trailer and reconnecting the other day as I was not 100% happy first time. I know I will settle in to a routine and as I get more experiance and I will relax a little.
But still…
Tonight coming home from work on a roundabout in Nottingham I see my biggest nightmare in front of me some poor bloke sitting in the middle of a it with two police officers looking blankly at a unit and trailer only connected by 15ft of very streached suzie cables, at a glance it looked like the 5th wheel was still unlocked as the handle looked pretty far out but I could be wrong as the police were waving us past to keep traffic moving and I did not even get chance to grab a pic on the mobile.
He is going to have alot of explaining to do to his gaffer and the boys in blue.
I still have these thoughts now, and have been driving for almost 9 years.
It doesnt do any harm at all to be slightly paranoid about something as important as securing you trailer. If I couple and it engages at a very low speed and doesnt sound right I sometimes make and break again. Its better to be like that than the other way. Most drivers have something they are slightly paranoid about mostly due to a close shave at sometime in the past. Mine is the parking brake at night due to me cleaning the cab one night with the curtains closed and I knocked it off and gently rolled into the rear of the trailer parked in front of me, Scared me to death to suddenly realise I was moving and even after many years I still check its on about a dozen times when parked up.
We had a bloke where i used to work who lost his trailer on an island,he had drove about 100 miles to his drop,tipped his load and was making his way back to the depot,he had drove about 15 miles when the trailer came off, he had not long passed his test, the wagon was sent away to vosa and jost who both said there was nothing wrong with the 5th wheel and it had to be driver error,now i dont have 20 odd years expierence under my belt,but i fail to see how it could be driver error if he had drove approx 115 miles before the trailer uncoupled, it was also a brand new unit and a brand new trailer so it wasnt as if anything was worn out… he ended up getting a written warning,and his confidence completely shatered,any ideas what went wrong 
gav:
We had a bloke where i used to work who lost his trailer on an island,he had drove about 100 miles to his drop,tipped his load and was making his way back to the depot,he had drove about 15 miles when the trailer came off, he had not long passed his test, the wagon was sent away to vosa and jost who both said there was nothing wrong with the 5th wheel and it had to be driver error,now i dont have 20 odd years expierence under my belt,but i fail to see how it could be driver error if he had drove approx 115 miles before the trailer uncoupled, it was also a brand new unit and a brand new trailer so it wasnt as if anything was worn out… he ended up getting a written warning,and his confidence completely shatered,any ideas what went wrong
If he was driving sensibly, ie. not accelerating harshly and taking bends/corners steady, then I wouldn’t dismiss the weight of the load holding the trailer in place, especially if the pin was between the jaws.
YES the King pin was not sitting correctly
at the time and as ROB K said when the
load had been dropped it was no longer
held under tension and more than likely
came loose after going over a bit of rough
road surface, the old system of haveing
a securing hook or lock fitted to the area
of the coupling which was required to
be moved should have not been replaced
by this little catch which one nows sees on
a majority of couplings,
I guess dropping the trailer is the biggest nightmare for us ALL
while at Wilkos last week, 1 of the “old hands” almost lost his trailer, if it wasnt for a young guy shouting and stopping him I still check, check, and double check. and if for some reason Im distracted or my routine is broken, I either start over again or put the trailer brake on and give it a tug.
Also if I`m away from the rig for a while and return, I always take a quick glance to check if the dogclip is in place and no one has tampered with the handle.
As for those so called automatic 5th wheels where the spring lever drops down over the handle when the pin is engaged, I ALWAYS fit a dogclip to stop the spring lever bouncing up, and as a agency driver, I carry a spare dogclip in my kit to make sure I can do it
I,m ok with artic trailers .When i was driving a drawbar that bugged me . I always thought it was going to come off it’s little diddy coupling . I was never 100% confident with it .
Pierre has a good point about re-checking after a stop , on services,at a drop or even in your own yard.There are some pathetic morons out there who will pull your pin just for a laugh 
It’s happened a few times a while back at a place I used to work, along with pieces of kit (straps etc) going missing, all traced back to one idiot who had an axe to grind.Also, you may unintensionally hack someone off on the road, pull off for a break and hey presto … theres the oppourtunity for revenge.I always re- check, it takes seconds but could be invaluable.
paul@midway:
I,m ok with artic trailers .When i was driving a drawbar that bugged me . I always thought it was going to come off it’s little diddy coupling . I was never 100% confident with it .
Actually with a drawbar at least you can see that the pin has fully dropped through the eyehole on the trailer.
I know yeah , is still couldn’t find myself to trust it . 
peirre:
I guess dropping the trailer is the biggest nightmare for us ALL
Dropping the trailer may be embarrassing, having the rig rolling uncontrolled across the yard because you didn’t put the unit handbrake on before connecting the airline is potentially fatal.
But also worth a chuckle watching drivers jump off the walkway and then sprint around to the cab to pull on the handbrake !!!
It’s amazing the amount of people that do that rather than just pull the red off.
not quite so funny when the driver releases the trailer brake and is crushed against the wall and killed
paul@midway:
But also worth a chuckle watching drivers jump off the walkway and then sprint around to the cab to pull on the handbrake !!!
It’s amazing the amount of people that do that rather than just pull the red off.
Done it my self, forgot to put hand brake on, started to roll forward pulled red line in an instant. Trailer was a slider and it had been raining very had in the night. No prizes for guessing what happened next.
Wayne.
There are some pathetic morons out there who will pull your pin just for a laugh
Had this happen to me many years ago. It was only my ‘paranoa’ that made me spot it before we moved off,
Still in the habit of checking it it the truck has been out of sight ast all.
Lucy:
This is why I paranoically (is that a word?) check my coupling by going under the trailer with a torch. That way I can see for myself that a) the jaws are closed and b) they are closed around the right (narrow) bit of the pin. The lads I work with think it’s hilarious when I do it, but better that than risk losing a trailer IMHO. 
same as you lucy and i get laughed at but id still rather be safe than sorry
Mothertrucker:
There are some pathetic morons out there who will pull your pin just for a laugh
I have a glance at the pin & dogclip EVERY time I have been away.
It only takes a second to duck down and look while opening the door.
ady1:
Lucy:
This is why I paranoically (is that a word?) check my coupling by going under the trailer with a torch. That way I can see for myself that a) the jaws are closed and b) they are closed around the right (narrow) bit of the pin. The lads I work with think it’s hilarious when I do it, but better that than risk losing a trailer IMHO.
same as you lucy and i get laughed at but id still rather be safe than sorry
That makes 3 of us then !!!