A driver was parked near an exit but it would require a tight turn to get out. Instead of going around, he attempted the turn.
Just as he pulled out of his spot, another truck pulled in.
The diver ended up in a position where going forward or backward would do damage to the trailer.
He ended up blocking the only exit for about 10 minutes.
I wonder how much time he would have saved if he didn’t take the short way.
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Not all trailers are at the same height when you pick them up at a yard. Shunters sometimes have the landing gear all the way extended.
There are two things I saw happen.
- The trailer was so high that the kingpin went right over the fifth wheel. The driver took a shortcut and didn’t check for a gap between the fifth wheel and the trailer plate. He couldn’t pull back out either because the kingpin was up against the back of the fifth wheel. He had to play with adjusting everything to pull back out safely.
- Same situation, but this driver backed up so fast under the trailer that the side fairings on the truck broke off. Imagine trying to explain this damage to your employer because you took a shortcut?
I wonder how much time and money would have been saved if the proper steps of coupling/uncoupling were followed.
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I saw another driver hook up to a trailer, connect the hoses and drive away, leaving the trailer behind.
Although he did a tug test but he didn’t check to make sure the kingpin was locked.
There was damage to the hoses and electrical line on both the truck and trailer.
Again, imagine trying to explain this to you boss.
I also wonder how much time and money would have been saved if the proper steps were followed.
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This job has made me realize that shortcuts don’t save time and cost money and embarrassment.
In these situations, an extra 10 seconds to one minute would have prevented anything bad from happening.