Well to be quite frank I'm not one of these guys that freaks out if it's hooked backwards. I don't prefer to pull one backwards but it's not the end of the world. I have pulled a set where the rear weighed 12k more than the front (long story) and it went through the TN/NC gorge just as nice as any. Now id imagine if an abrupt halt had to be made the rear would push the front right out of the way and it would look like a train derailment. The ones that wiggle the most in my experience are the ones that are loaded with nearly identical weights. I have also run city peddle routes fairly close to the terminal and I hooked them regardless of weight in the order that was of most convenience to me to save my balls and back an unnecessary unhook and rehook. Call it how you see it but I think some fellas blow all of this out of proportion and if you use a little common sense and precaution it really doesn't matter, especially if it's a measly couple hundred pound difference.Now we know where your AVATAR comes from, Fruitcake, I mean Fruitloop.
Keep this up you'll get bit in the butt
I think you are pulling our leg, how bout it?
I agree with what you say, I think may be how the trailers are loadedWell to be quite frank I'm not one of these guys that freaks out if it's hooked backwards. I don't prefer to pull one backwards but it's not the end of the world. I have pulled a set where the rear weighed 12k more than the front (long story) and it went through the TN/NC gorge just as nice as any. Now id imagine if an abrupt halt had to be made the rear would push the front right out of the way and it would look like a train derailment. The ones that wiggle the most in my experience are the ones that are loaded with nearly identical weights. I have also run city peddle routes fairly close to the terminal and I hooked them regardless of weight in the order that was of most convenience to me to save my balls and back an unnecessary unhook and rehook. Call it how you see it but I think some fellas blow all of this out of proportion and if you use a little common sense and precaution it really doesn't matter, especially if it's a measly couple hundred pound difference.
I take offense to that. I'm a 700 lb lazy road driver. Get it right! HahahaDid some lazy 600 pound road driver bring it to you hooked backwards? The nerve...
I have a friend who works for another LTL. He has a route that has a full trailer drop trailer and usually a peddle. Every now and then they will give him a liftgate as his peddle and it has no pintle hook so it has to be the rear. The drop customer is in a different town then the town he peddles and it's about 20 miles up the interstate and it passes a scale. Usually he makes his drop, hooks back to his peddle and drags an empty to the next town. Obviously since the liftate makes this impossible his dispatch pressures him to hook an empty as his lead and the liftgate as his rear and today it had about 5 thousand in it. Most drivers at this company just do it so far everyone has gotten away with it. Here's the question, is it an actual law to have the heavy in the front??? and if so can someone post a link so I can share it with him?? Thank you.
Same here. I've ran doubles/triples completely out of whack...but I knew there were no scales to cross, or if they were, I knew if they were closed. The liftgate thing is a no-brainer, as we can't hook a trailer behind ours. A citation is a citation, no question. But this issue gets over-blownRemember if you hook a light trailer up front on a single you gain approximately 2500 lbs on a single axle. One of the tricks we use on triples. On triples we are allowed 1500 lbs variance. In our terminal all of the city guys have to hook the lift gate on the rear. Not sure about the weights.
Had a 11,300 lb rear trailer on triples that scaled out over 22,000 lbs on the gear and 16,000 on the trailer axle. ???????
They probably made him switch cause he was over on the drive axle and would not be over on his dolly ... with your tractor and your dolly the 2000 lb difference usually evens out to where you are under a 1000 lb difference between the lead and the kite ... I did it all the time at conway .. no one ever said a thing and I never had any problemsWe had a fella get a company ticket (weight was far in excess of manifest) & DOT had him switch the heavy lead to the tail & continue. I can't come to terms with a set limit on front/back weight difference. A percentage would be more sensible. An 18 in front of a 21 seems better than a 3 ahead of a 6. Just an opinion.
Pulled a 12,000 in front of 16,000 and a 9000. Ran the scales. Legal with 1520 on the variance. Pulled straight as a arrow.Pulled a 10,711 lead and 10,898 rear the other day and live to tell about it.
I pull pup sets all night and every night. I don't think twice about hooking a set backwards as long as the weight difference is less than 5,000lbs or so. I've never had a problem. I should also mention that neither me or my meet man have scales to worry about. Having said that, I would never hook an empty as the lead trailer, if the rear trailer is loaded. If dispatch wants to use a liftgate and a drop trailer, then I would make the drop, single up the liftgate, do my P&D, and then return to pick up the drop trailer. If Dispatch has a problem with that, then call the Safety Department and let Dispatch and Safety fight it out. That decision needs to be made above your pay grade.
Amen and the ? Is common sense.Don't think to many driver have that anymore.Has a city driver I never worry about what's heavier or not.I have alway's said that all new driver's should pull a set with heavier in rear to get a feel of it.Sooner or later you going to get one that is loaded crazy.Back when I first started running the road with OD.I hooked my set heavy in front lighter in back.Well,rear trailer axle was heavier than front and front steer was hydro planing all the way from Har to JCY and I just didn't know why because no one had ever told me.Glad I'm still here today.Trainee's need to know the thing's that are not taught to them.When I train which is very little now I teach and show the trainee what they need to help them from doing the same mistakes.Just like how to hook & unhook trailer's.Most do it in away that you will forget to pull line's or forget to roll gear down sooner or later.Well to be quite frank I'm not one of these guys that freaks out if it's hooked backwards. I don't prefer to pull one backwards but it's not the end of the world. I have pulled a set where the rear weighed 12k more than the front (long story) and it went through the TN/NC gorge just as nice as any. Now id imagine if an abrupt halt had to be made the rear would push the front right out of the way and it would look like a train derailment. The ones that wiggle the most in my experience are the ones that are loaded with nearly identical weights. I have also run city peddle routes fairly close to the terminal and I hooked them regardless of weight in the order that was of most convenience to me to save my balls and back an unnecessary unhook and rehook. Call it how you see it but I think some fellas blow all of this out of proportion and if you use a little common sense and precaution it really doesn't matter, especially if it's a measly couple hundred pound difference.
I deliberately unhook by pulling the pin last. By doing it that way, you ensure that you're not getting back in the cab without having checked everything first.Amen and the ? Is common sense.Don't think to many driver have that anymore.Has a city driver I never worry about what's heavier or not.I have alway's said that all new driver's should pull a set with heavier in rear to get a feel of it.Sooner or later you going to get one that is loaded crazy.Back when I first started running the road with OD.I hooked my set heavy in front lighter in back.Well,rear trailer axle was heavier than front and front steer was hydro planing all the way from Har to JCY and I just didn't know why because no one had ever told me.Glad I'm still here today.Trainee's need to know the thing's that are not taught to them.When I train which is very little now I teach and show the trainee what they need to help them from doing the same mistakes.Just like how to hook & unhook trailer's.Most do it in away that you will forget to pull line's or forget to roll gear down sooner or later.
Yes Sir!! I see so many just pull out from under trailer without even looking.If you get in the habit of alway's looking back to first double check hose's are unhooked .Also,You never know when a landing gear will go.So I alway's pull out just a little to make sure trailer is going to stand on it's on.I deliberately unhook by pulling the pin last. By doing it that way, you ensure that you're not getting back in the cab without having checked everything first.
That's a trick most often learned after dropping a trailer or breaking something with a flying glad hand. I used my noggin and developed this routine to ensure that if anything was forgotten, it'd be pulling the pin itself instead of something that could do damage.
Yes Sir!! I see so many just pull out from under trailer without even looking.If you get in the habit of alway's looking back to first double check hose's are unhooked .Also,You never know when a landing gear will go.So I alway's pull out just a little to make sure trailer is going to stand on it's on.