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ABF | For Two Bits I'll Get You Home.

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retired01776

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Not sure if I posted this before, but I came across it on facebook today and thought I would post it here. Old memories.
For 2 Bits, I will get you home..........
Saw a picture somewhere else and it reminded me of a snow storm back in 1998. Blinding snow storm. I left worcester at 11 pm heading home. It was bitter cold and snowing lightly. By the time I got near the ct border it was snowing hard and wind was blowing. I always had a habit of looking in my mirrors and checking my trailers every few minutes while driving and as I was coming down the hill on 84 by Ruby Road I noticed my rear trailer lights were out. I pulled into the rest area a few miles further down the road and figured the cord must have popped off. But the light cord was intact and the lights were not working. The snow was coming down hard now and no one behind me would be able to see my rear trailer without the lights. I called into dispatch and they couldn't find anyone to come out to fix my lights at 2 am in a snow storm. So I was stranded there. Another driver overheard the conversation and asked the dispatcher for the phone and then asked me if I had a quarter. I had no idea what he was talking about and wasn't in the mood for jokes. And it was Bill Hyland. He said for 2 bits, I will get you home. In the middle of what was almost blizzard conditions? Yup. Take a quarter and stick it in the light socket on the rear trailer. You'll have lights. I did it and the lights came on. And I made it home. When I pulled into the inbound lot I set the brakes, got out and went to dispatch to check in and remembered to go back and retrieve my quarter before leaving.
 
retired01776 said:
Not sure if I posted this before, but I came across it on facebook today and thought I would post it here. Old memories.
For 2 Bits, I will get you home..........
Saw a picture somewhere else and it reminded me of a snow storm back in 1998. Blinding snow storm. I left worcester at 11 pm heading home. It was bitter cold and snowing lightly. By the time I got near the ct border it was snowing hard and wind was blowing. I always had a habit of looking in my mirrors and checking my trailers every few minutes while driving and as I was coming down the hill on 84 by Ruby Road I noticed my rear trailer lights were out. I pulled into the rest area a few miles further down the road and figured the cord must have popped off. But the light cord was intact and the lights were not working. The snow was coming down hard now and no one behind me would be able to see my rear trailer without the lights. I called into dispatch and they couldn't find anyone to come out to fix my lights at 2 am in a snow storm. So I was stranded there. Another driver overheard the conversation and asked the dispatcher for the phone and then asked me if I had a quarter. I had no idea what he was talking about and wasn't in the mood for jokes. And it was Bill Hyland. He said for 2 bits, I will get you home. In the middle of what was almost blizzard conditions? Yup. Take a quarter and stick it in the light socket on the rear trailer. You'll have lights. I did it and the lights came on. And I made it home. When I pulled into the inbound lot I set the brakes, got out and went to dispatch to check in and remembered to go back and retrieve my quarter before leaving.
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A good story, Brother! We've all been there in one form or another,.....that gut-sinking feeling when you're on your own in severe weather.....
And a good Samaritan with an off-the-wall jury-rig that defies the engineers,...but is based in pure common sense......And Experience....

That's Truck Driving in a nutshell..............Can't be quantified in a Computer Code,...or entered on a balance sheet......But it got the Freight Moved......

Bill Hyland is nominated for the Distinguished Freight Cross.........
 
retired01776 said:
Not sure if I posted this before, but I came across it on facebook today and thought I would post it here. Old memories.
For 2 Bits, I will get you home..........
Saw a picture somewhere else and it reminded me of a snow storm back in 1998. Blinding snow storm. I left worcester at 11 pm heading home. It was bitter cold and snowing lightly. By the time I got near the ct border it was snowing hard and wind was blowing. I always had a habit of looking in my mirrors and checking my trailers every few minutes while driving and as I was coming down the hill on 84 by Ruby Road I noticed my rear trailer lights were out. I pulled into the rest area a few miles further down the road and figured the cord must have popped off. But the light cord was intact and the lights were not working. The snow was coming down hard now and no one behind me would be able to see my rear trailer without the lights. I called into dispatch and they couldn't find anyone to come out to fix my lights at 2 am in a snow storm. So I was stranded there. Another driver overheard the conversation and asked the dispatcher for the phone and then asked me if I had a quarter. I had no idea what he was talking about and wasn't in the mood for jokes. And it was Bill Hyland. He said for 2 bits, I will get you home. In the middle of what was almost blizzard conditions? Yup. Take a quarter and stick it in the light socket on the rear trailer. You'll have lights. I did it and the lights came on. And I made it home. When I pulled into the inbound lot I set the brakes, got out and went to dispatch to check in and remembered to go back and retrieve my quarter before leaving.
Click to expand...
Going to plead ignorance here. I have heard of doing the quarter thing,but are you saying the rear plug of the rear trailer? Or the front plug on the rear? Thx
 
BIG R GUY said:
At 46 mph, I normally have people just passing me anyway,since I mount a reflective triangle on the trailer door.
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I passed you the other day but you didn't wave when I beeped.

Amish-Buggy-by-Tracy-Fredrychowski.png
 
Triplex said:
Actually there are no plugs on the rear trailer, only sockets. The plugs are on the light cords. No wonder you have no mirrors. :hide:
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Just curious, what happens when you plug a quarter in the socket and ground post comes in contact with marker light or T S post?
 
almost13ranch said:
I’ve used that trick many times. You go over the center pin, which is hot because of ABS brakes system, and under the top most side pins. That jumpers the tail light and marker light circuits. I used to carry a spare light cord plug with a jumper inside for the same reason, it was faster.
Click to expand...

We never had ABS, no wire was hot in the plug until marker, TS or stop lights were activated.
I was curious as to how the ground would not short when coming in contact with the other light pins.
 
seabreeze said:
We never had ABS, no wire was hot in the plug until marker, TS or stop lights were activated.
I was curious as to how the ground would not short when coming in contact with the other light pins.
Click to expand...
I understand your question now, you insert the quarter sideways not flat over all of the pins. Then the quarter only comes into contact with the center pin and the upper 2 pins on each side. Before ABS brakes, the center pin was hot and used to trickle charge a lift gate battery. It would also jump the taillight to the clearance lights even if the center pin wasn’t hot, that’s how my dummy plug was wired.
 
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almost13ranch said:
I understand your question now, you insert the quarter sideways not flat over all of the pins. Then the quarter only comes into contact with the center pin and the upper 2 pins on each side. Before ABS brakes, the center pin was hot and used to trickle charge a lift gate battery.
Click to expand...

Now you make it clear, our center pins were never hot, line drivers don't know about lift gates.
We do good to know which side the truck is driven from.
BTW, I was putting that quarter in flat!!!
 
The pin in question was powered by a 12 gauge blue wire. It was used at times to power an inside trailer light for loading/unloading. It was normally hot with the ignition switch on. The marker/clearance/tail lights are across form each other at the top. (Brown & black), green wire is right turn, yellow is left turn, the large pin is the ground & usually has a 10 gauge white wire.
At one time the trailer lights were grounded to the trailer frame & the fifth wheel completed the ground to the tractor. Later the lights were grounded through the trailer cord to the tractor. We had a fleet of tractors for two or three years that when they were built the plug in the rear of the tractor did not have the white ground wire in the plug at then rear of the tractor. When management was finally shown the ground had been left off they made sure the next year model did have the wire installed to ground the plug to the tractor.
 
DCM_Doc said:
The pin in question was powered by a 12 gauge blue wire. It was used at times to power an inside trailer light for loading/unloading. It was normally hot with the ignition switch on. The marker/clearance/tail lights are across form each other at the top. (Brown & black), green wire is right turn, yellow is left turn, the large pin is the ground & usually has a 10 gauge white wire.
At one time the trailer lights were grounded to the trailer frame & the fifth wheel completed the ground to the tractor. Later the lights were grounded through the trailer cord to the tractor. We had a fleet of tractors for two or three years that when they were built the plug in the rear of the tractor did not have the white ground wire in the plug at then rear of the tractor. When management was finally shown the ground had been left off they made sure the next year model did have the wire installed to ground the plug to the tractor.
Click to expand...

Damn you are old, I can remember when the ground cable was snatched off the 5th wheel and you had no lights.
Like I said ours had no hot wire in the plug until lights were activated.
 
I took an old lite cord and cut off the end and wired a magnetic licence plate lite to it so if the meet guy or cops cry about it i just plug it in and stick it on im sure not to many of us want to mess around at the shop for that meaningless lite
 
almost13ranch said:
I’ve used that trick many times. You go over the center pin, which is hot because of ABS brakes system, and under the top most side pins. That jumpers the tail light and marker light circuits. I used to carry a spare light cord plug with a jumper inside for the same reason, it was faster.
Click to expand...
canaryinthemine said:
A good story, Brother! We've all been there in one form or another,.....that gut-sinking feeling when you're on your own in severe weather.....
And a good Samaritan with an off-the-wall jury-rig that defies the engineers,...but is based in pure common sense......And Experience....

That's Truck Driving in a nutshell..............Can't be quantified in a Computer Code,...or entered on a balance sheet......But it got the Freight Moved......

Bill Hyland is nominated for the Distinguished Freight Cross.........
Click to expand...
Bill was an old school Union Steward, he knew all the tricks that he picked up over all his years of driving. We all missed him when he retired.
 
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