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Holland | Fifth wheel

yrc-atm

yrc-atm

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So we had the area safety man here in Milwaukee on Friday. He set up a check point at the exit where he stopped everyone to check for all the necessary safety equipment. You know ID badges trailer locks etc. He checked paperwork, and licensing, and did a pretrip which included a fifth wheel check. He gave a driver the "you are good to go" and the driver pulled ahead 50 feet and dropped the trailer onto the frame blocking the street! These are the same ****ing clowns who told me in a grievance hearing that once they are hooked it is impossible for them to become unhooked. What a joke.
 
yrc-atm said:
So we had the area safety man here in Milwaukee on Friday. He set up a check point at the exit where he stopped everyone to check for all the necessary safety equipment. You know ID badges trailer locks etc. He checked paperwork, and licensing, and did a pretrip which included a fifth wheel check. He gave a driver the "you are good to go" and the driver pulled ahead 50 feet and dropped the trailer onto the frame blocking the street! These are the same :censored: clowns who told me in a grievance hearing that once they are hooked it is impossible for them to become unhooked. What a joke.
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Just curious, was it a Volvo ?
 
yrc-atm said:
Sterling.
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The company man doing the inspection should be fired immediately, unless the king pin broke or the jaws broke on the fifth wheel.I have been told by union and non Union mechanics that the if the fifth wheel is locked properly that it is next to impossible for it to come uncoupled.
I have seen line haul units come in high hooked.I even showed another line haul driver and he was freaking out.There was lots of weight in the nose of the trailer and I think that saved him.
I was told that my sterling ( a 20 series) needed to have the fifth wheel taken apart and grease cleaned out.The handle was lacking about an inch from being all the way in and the thumb latch wasn't hanging down at a 90 degree.You could test pull all day and not release it but it wasn't hooked all the way. It is very dangerous and more emphasis needs to be put on making 100% that we are hooked.
 
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falconfan said:
The company man doing the inspection should be fired immediately, unless the king pin broke or the jaws broke on the fifth wheel.I have been told by union and non Union mechanics that the if the fifth wheel is locked properly that it is next to impossible for it to come uncoupled.
I have seen line haul units come in high hooked.I even showed another line haul driver and he was freaking out.There was lots of weight in the nose of the trailer and I think that saved him.
I was told that my sterling ( a 20 series) needed to have the fifth wheel taken apart and grease cleaned out.The handle was lacking about an inch from being all the way in and the thumb latch wasn't hanging down at a 90 degree.You could test pull all day and not release it but it wasn't hooked all the way. It is very dangerous and more emphasis needs to be put on making 100% that we are hooked.
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The unit was pretriped by the driver and then inspected by the area safety manager before the separation. The fifth wheels are supposed to be steam cleaned as part of its PM. I dont think these have ever been cleaned, just regreased. Every driver should ask for the PM record of the fifth wheel when the tractor is given to you at dispatch. Watch them scramble.
 
When I was working at Holland. ..I've seen them replace wore out ones ... I know mine was. 5816 was my city unit. It even went to grand Rapids. ..or was it Holland Michigan for a radiator. ... it came back with a new motor same radiator. ... so I joked with dispatch that I needed a new motor hoping to get a radiator. ..lol
 
We had problems with the Volvos.One in particular tractor was dropped several times.The Atlanta-driver who was assigned to the unit was very angry at the city guys dropping trailers and putting his tractor out of service for inspection.He insisted that they weren't hooked and the lever was about an inch from being in all the way.Again,you could test pull all you wanted but they usually didn't come uncoupled until they made a turn or hit some bumps or holes in the road.
I happened to get a Volvo when my tractor was in shop and the same thing happened to me.It looks hooked except for the little bit of lever that isn't in all the way.I barely raised my dolly and drove slowly to shop and showed shop foreman. He said that is what was going on and he actually fooled with the lever and got it to click in all the way.If they are hooked they will not come un hooked unless something breaks.The malfunction is that they shouldn't be so hard to hook in the first place.
I think some do a visual but don't exactly know what to look for.
The company should have a safety video showing what to look for with 5th wheel inspection on all of the 5th wheels we use, instead of the stupid video showing us how to put on a pair of gloves and goggles.
 
falconfan said:
We had problems with the Volvos.One in particular tractor was dropped several times.The Atlanta-driver who was assigned to the unit was very angry at the city guys dropping trailers and putting his tractor out of service for inspection.He insisted that they weren't hooked and the lever was about an inch from being in all the way.Again,you could test pull all you wanted but they usually didn't come uncoupled until they made a turn or hit some bumps or holes in the road.
I happened to get a Volvo when my tractor was in shop and the same thing happened to me.It looks hooked except for the little bit of lever that isn't in all the way.I barely raised my dolly and drove slowly to shop and showed shop foreman. He said that is what was going on and he actually fooled with the lever and got it to click in all the way.If they are hooked they will not come un hooked unless something breaks.The malfunction is that they shouldn't be so hard to hook in the first place.
I think some do a visual but don't exactly know what to look for.
The company should have a safety video showing what to look for with 5th wheel inspection on all of the 5th wheels we use, instead of the stupid video showing us how to put on a pair of gloves and goggles.
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You sound just like the pos labor manager from the grievance hearing. Once they are hooked they cant come unhooked huh? Its a mechanical device and they CAN and DO fail. Especially when they arent maintained properly.
 
yrc-atm said:
So we had the area safety man here in Milwaukee on Friday. He set up a check point at the exit where he stopped everyone to check for all the necessary safety equipment. You know ID badges trailer locks etc. He checked paperwork, and licensing, and did a pretrip which included a fifth wheel check. He gave a driver the "you are good to go" and the driver pulled ahead 50 feet and dropped the trailer onto the frame blocking the street! These are the same :censored: clowns who told me in a grievance hearing that once they are hooked it is impossible for them to become unhooked. What a joke.
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3 years ago I was driving a Volvo and pulling a 53' van. I did my pre trip and tugged on the trailer. I left the terminal and drove about 15 miles. Through city traffic and on the interstate. It was also raining that day. As I pulled up to a red light and stopped, everything was fine. As I released the clutch gently, preparing to take off, I looked back and watched the almost empty trailer slide off the side of my fifth wheel and land on the tractor frame. I was so stunned It was numbing. The fear of what could have happened if the trailer had come lose while driving hit me hard. I jumped out, rolled the landing gear down and rehooked it. It was terrible. Nothing was found to be wrong but it was hooked well enough to go 15 miles and then released. If I had messed up, that would be my bad, but for it to come lose by itself made me always Leary.
 
yrc-atm said:
You sound just like the pos labor manager from the grievance hearing. Once they are hooked they cant come unhooked huh? Its a mechanical device and they CAN and DO fail. Especially when they arent maintained properly.
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I'm telling you what a 17 year line haul driver told me about his equipment.Also ,if it does come unhooked due to a mechanical failure it would be found by objective parties.All of the mechanics I have talked to say the same thing.I don't claim to know a damn thing about it and you sound like a pos loud mouth. I don't understand the need to insult to make a point but I ain't the one.Go put lip stick on one of your bitches, I don't wear it.
 
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When you hook a Volvo with an air release fifth wheel make sure the air cylinder is fully retracted before hooking. Mine was intermittently not retracting and several times I found the release handle out an inch or two and not properly latched. It might look good when you look at the jaws from the back but if the handle isn't in all the way it isn't locked. They finally replaced my air cylinder and it seemed to take care of the problem, but I would still check it religiously.

Another problem I had was somehow the city guys were getting the inside of the handle release lever stuck around the backside of the air release cylinder face that is supposed to contact the lever to release it. Several times I had to dolly down and try and straighten that mess out I found on pre trip.
 
freight jockey said:
When you hook a Volvo with an air release fifth wheel make sure the air cylinder is fully retracted before hooking. Mine was intermittently not retracting and several times I found the release handle out an inch or two and not properly latched. It might look good when you look at the jaws from the back but if the handle isn't in all the way it isn't locked. They finally replaced my air cylinder and it seemed to take care of the problem, but I would still check it religiously.

Another problem I had was somehow the city guys were getting the inside of the handle release lever stuck around the backside of the air release cylinder face that is supposed to contact the lever to release it. Several times I had to dolly down and try and straighten that mess out I found on pre trip.
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You can bet your bottom dollar this is 99% of the problem with the Volvos.I wish you would e- mail corporate safety with that info and maybe they would make sure the info was posted at all barns.
How did you get the air out of the cylinder so handle would go in all the way or did the pressure from the handle father trying a time or two do it?
You should be on my he next company safety video. Great info, Thanks.
 
falconfan said:
You can bet your bottom dollar this is 99% of the problem with the Volvos.I wish you would e- mail corporate safety with that info and maybe they would make sure the info was posted at all barns.
How did you get the air out of the cylinder so handle would go in all the way or did the pressure from the handle father trying a time or two do it?
You should be on my he next company safety video. Great info, Thanks.
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I tapped the face of the ram on the air cylinder with a hammer to get it to fully retract, it didn't seem to have any air in it holding it out. There are return springs on the ram and they were in good shape. Maybe an internal problem with cylinder ? IDK I always visually checked the cylinder before hooking after I discovered the problem. Wrote the not latching properly up several times and they lubed this, checked that, even completely disassembled and cleaned the fifth wheel, it never fixed it though. Once I found the problem I took it to the JO shop and pointed it out, they replaced the cylinder then. They also found later that the release lever getting around the backside of the cylinder ram was due to a bent/worn release lever.

Several times I did a pre-trip on the line with a Volvo after a pre-hook and found the release handle out very little and the safety latch not down properly. I always dropped and rehooked just to be safe.

I have since retired, but did give the driver that got my unit thorough instructions and what to look for to make sure it was properly latched.
 
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