I’m a yard Shunter and where I work I have to apply wheel chocks as well as the park brake on every trailer I move I do up to 60 moves a day we had a fatality about 4 years ago when a contractor was crushed to death as he’d not applied his park brake on the unit and as he put on the red air line the whole lot rolled forward and he jumped off the back and tried to climb back into the cab but sadly he was crushed against the side of the building the previous driver had not applied the trailer park brake so I just want to stress please apply the park brake
gazsa401:
I’m a yard Shunter and where I work I have to apply wheel chocks as well as the park brake on every trailer I move I do up to 60 moves a day we had a fatality about 4 years ago when a contractor was crushed to death as he’d not applied his park brake on the unit and as he put on the red air line the whole lot rolled forward and he jumped off the back and tried to climb back into the cab but sadly he was crushed against the side of the building the previous driver had not applied the trailer park brake so I just want to stress please apply the park brake
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That sounds like DHL / Imperial Tobacco.
I always split couple - I’m always ready to whip off the red if there is any movement.
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The trailer brakes come on when the red airline is disconnected.
If the trailer moves backwards when you reverse under it, Then applying the trailer brake would probably have made no difference, The brakes were probably nackered anyway.
Applying the trailer brake and checking the trailer brake is sometimes impossible when lifting or dropping a trailer at the docks, It’s usually so tight between other trailers that you have to hook up, attached the airlines and raise the suspension so you can pull the trailer out before you can even wind the legs up.
I can’t understand why they don’t stick the trailer brake in an accessable place, Like the front of the trailer.
Dieseldoforme:
gazsa401:
I’m a yard Shunter and where I work I have to apply wheel chocks as well as the park brake on every trailer I move I do up to 60 moves a day we had a fatality about 4 years ago when a contractor was crushed to death as he’d not applied his park brake on the unit and as he put on the red air line the whole lot rolled forward and he jumped off the back and tried to climb back into the cab but sadly he was crushed against the side of the building the previous driver had not applied the trailer park brake so I just want to stress please apply the park brake.
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That sounds like DHL / Imperial Tobacco.I always split couple - I’m always ready to whip off the red if there is any movement.
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Yes it is I’m employed by Imperial and DHL are our main contractor we’ve got our own trailer fleet and DHL pull for us
If you’re paid by the hour/day then it doesn’t matter if it takes all day to do 60 shunts… I never understand why people cut corners on safety, when they don’t even get an early finish/extra money out of it. 
Some frown on me for the “steady as it goes - safety first” approach, but it’s kept me out of trouble since the late 1980’s already, so I must be doing something right. Another reason why “hourly paid” suits me better than “salaried” ever did as well I guess. 
Some yards tell you off for putting on the trailer brake, because the trailer you’ve just dropped on a bay won’t be there more than 30 minutes before being moved somewhere else… I imagine this is therefore a shunter’s preference.
I did always wonder why it is that when an “uncontrolled vehicle movement” occurs, such as connecting the red airline, and the whole lot starts to move (happened to me during a split couple once) you just don’t pull off the red airline…
In my case, the whole lot threatened to squish me against the A-frame, but because I’d lifted the 5th wheel up in the air on the suspension when going under it, the trailer merely coupled into place with a bang, and a rather sheepish me got down from the catwalk rather shaken, but not stirred at least. 
The lesson to be learned for me here was “Don’t assume the trailer swap other guy put the brake on!”
Also, why don’t all trailers have the red button where the air connections are, rather than down the side hiding with the MOT plate somewhere like so many do… 
gazsa401:
Yes it is I’m employed by Imperial and DHL are our main contractor
we’ve got our own trailer fleet and DHL pull for us.
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Some poor guy lost his life and both firms got fines/costs over 100 grand.
I can’t understand why Imperial don’t fit a simple “non return kerb.”
It’s a triangular shaped kerb. The back wheels of the trailer just run over
it and cannot run forward unless a fair amount of tugging is applied.
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Dieseldoforme:
gazsa401:
Yes it is I’m employed by Imperial and DHL are our main contractor
we’ve got our own trailer fleet and DHL pull for us..
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Some poor guy lost his life and both firms got fines/costs over 100 grand.I can’t understand why Imperial don’t fit a simple “non return kerb.”
It’s a triangular shaped kerb. The back wheels of the trailer just run over
it and cannot run forward unless a fair amount of tugging is applied.
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Most of the yard does have double sleeping policemen where you have to back over so at least one of the trailer axles sits in between the humps and because all our trailers are tandem axles and DHLs are tri axle it was a bit difficult to mark the yard out but we do try different ideas my main problem is I find some drivers especially some that don’t regularly come onto our site think your having a go at them when you ask them if they’ve applied the trailer brake there’s signs everywhere but you’ll be amazed how matter that forget and we do random trailer brake checks so I’m only trying to stop them getting a rollicking
gazsa401:
I’m only trying to stop them getting a rollicking.
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One man is dead.
Maybe they need a rollicking.
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Dieseldoforme:
gazsa401:
I’m only trying to stop them getting a rollicking..
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One man is dead.Maybe they need a rollicking.
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I no mate you haven’t got to tell me but all I get off some of them is your only the Shunter
gazsa401:
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I know mate you haven’t got to tell me but all I get off some
of them is you’re only the Shunter.
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No - you’re not paid to confront a Driver. It’s not worth it.
I would note the trailer number that hasn’t got the
brake applied and report it in writing to your gaffer.
Trlr 192. Brake not applied. 1030. 15/10/13.
I would also keep a short note of my report.
Report the trailer not the Driver.
It’s up to the Gaffer to find the culprit and you’ve covered your back.
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Dieseldoforme:
gazsa401:
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I know mate you haven’t got to tell me but all I get off some
of them is you’re only the Shunter..
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No - you’re not paid to confront a Driver. It’s not worth it.I would note the trailer number that hasn’t got the
brake applied and report it in writing to your gaffer.
Trlr 192. Brake not applied. 1030. 15/10/13.
I would also keep a short note of my report.
Report the trailer not the Driver.
It’s up to the Gaffer to find the culprit and you’ve covered your back.
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I do have to do that but I try the professional approach first because I don’t like to see people get in to any bother I used to work with a lot of the regular drivers when I was a driver so a lot of the lads are ok it’s just sometimes DHL bring in other DHL drivers from other depots and they think I’m employed by DHL and as I’ve told you I’m employed by Imperial and most of the time it’s the DHL driver foreman that report the drivers and not me but never mind we’ll get there in the end
I never apply the park brake on a trailer and I always work on the basis that no-one else does either.
That way I assume responsibility for my own actions.
If a trailer were to roll on me during coupling, it would be my fault for not checking for myself.
If everyone assumed responsibility for their own actions and not rely on what other people do or don’t do, the world would be a better place.
I used to take trailers to a well known overnight freight depot in the midlands , I always put my trailer brake on when I dropped my trailer , but I lost count of the amount of times that the trailer I was collecting did not have the trailer brake applied. They used to be dropped of in the yard by tugs and the tug drivers could not be arsed to climb down and apply the trailer brakes. I raised this as a health and safety issue on many occasions but no action was taken , so I did the next best thing , I left before I got killed 
If a trailer is dropped without the brake being applied and it causes an incident to anyone then its the fault of the driver who dropped it but that does not apply to the driver picking it up because its their responsibility to check the brake is applied before doing anything with it
ROG:
If a trailer is dropped without the brake being applied and it causes an incident to anyone then its the fault of the driver who dropped it but that does not apply to the driver picking it up because its their responsibility to check the brake is applied before doing anything with it
HUH 
As old as the hills;
You’ve heard the story about Anybody, Nobody, Somebody, and Everybody?
An important job had to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
dowahdiddyman:
trubster:
I always apply the handbrake.It is the responsibility of the driver coupling up to CHECK the KNOB!
Especially if split coupling which is probably the only way anything serious could happen unless the driver doesn’t couple up properly.
A solo trailer will never start rolling whilst uncoupled
Sorry but i`ve had a solo trailer move when I tried to get under it,rolled back about 6 feet.
if you connect ya air line it will
Over here in Can/USA, the tractor & trailer brake’s are together on the dash.
What post next?
Please use your lights when it’s dark
Please use your wipers when it’s raining
Some loading bays, along with areas of what “looks” like level ground are places where a roll-forward is most likely to occur.
This is also dangerous when you’ve got legs “almost” touching the ground, because of the “sag” likely to happen when putting on the red airline.
Trailer brake check and be aware of any un-evenness in the ground would save a lot of lives I’m sure.
I can’t believe everyone who gets crushed has “left the handbrake off in the cab” which seems to crop up a lot, when hearing news reports of fatalities.
When the slope is the other way, here’s another thing that can happen:
Couple up to un-braked trailer, and forget to do “tug check”… There’s a ripple in the ground high enough to give the trailer some friction so it doesn’t slide backwards as you go underneath…
Connect red airline - the trailer now rolls away from you, and if you’re an idiot who’s wound up the legs first when coupling, then you’ve got a trailer on it’s nose with a bang possibly ripping off your back lights, or whatever is sticking out at the back of the tractor.
Another scenario:
Couple up with un-even ground, so that the trailer has a slight list to it… One side, the trailer bottom is flat against the top of the 5th wheel plate… Which passes your walk-around check…But alas, you don’t check the other side, where there is over an inch gap, because of the non-level ground!
Off you go after coupling, and lose the trailer at the first roundabout, or any bit of road that jogs up trailer enough to make it jump the partially-connected kingpin…
