Is there a reason everyone else in Europe uses palm couplings and we don’t? What are the pros and cons of them?
we do! pros are quick and no real strength needed. cons poor seal most of the time, very easy to go wrong
Harry Monk:
Is there a reason everyone else in Europe uses palm couplings and we don’t? What are the pros and cons of them?
They don’t seize up, they are cleaner & much easier to fit than C Type.
North America use Glad Hands too
For once I don’t understand why the rest of Europe doesn’t follow the British example - not a fan of palm couplings, especially if you’re dealing with rental trailers or doing regular trailer swaps as they almost always seem to leak air, even if you do lubricate the seals first. Mind you, I also bore my colleagues stiff about how they should use dog clips over here (after hearing stories of several dropped trailers), but that’s another tale . . .
As you say Mikey they are quick to use 
~ Craig
Palm couplings are easier, especially if the Brit type coupling is high up and you cant get any force behind it when you’re trying to connect but I prefere the Brit coupling as they generally dont leak and they wont snap off if you jacknife round while turning in a yard etc. Over here in Canada/America they use glad hands as has been mentioned which are basically palm couplings, they seem to hold their seal a lot better than the European equivilent, but maybe thats just because trailers dont get changed quite so often, unlike ferry freight in the UK for example where you can have one or two different trailers a day.
British military vehicles use palm couplings.
Best not start shouting and asking why Harry, some euro mp may hear you and decide that we all have to change to palms and retrofit 