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Okay just want to clear up a question I got off Neil this morning about air couplings and sliding axles on trailers.
The coupling picture shows what we use over here.
With the trailer sliding axles, the pic shows the older type, the handle pulls out the locking pins and (with the trailer brake set) you slowly shunt forward or backwards to slide the trailer box over the axle group therefore changing the distance in relation to the king pin.
"Why on earth would i want to do that?????" i hear you muttering.
Well it for 2 main reasons.
1. You have maximum axle weights on each axle group (steers, drives and trailer) if you are too heavy on your trailer, you can slide your trailer axles back and it will lighten the load on the trailer but make your drives a bit heavier, note you can also move your 5th wheel so you can also alter the weight distribution between your drives and your steers. Notice on the pic the holes that the pins lock into, each hole makes the difference of about 500lbs.
2. Axle distance compliance. Each State & Province has its own rules and regs about the distance of the trailer axle group from the king pin or the drives. Bearing in mind you could be passing thru a few different jurisdictions, you have to be legal where ever you are, sometimes it means adjusting axles on route. The pic shows an older trailer with a manual handle to disengage the locking pins, the new ones have a little air operated button located roughly in the same spot which is a little easier.
The first few times you have to move the axles it can be a pain and sometimes on the older ones the pins need a little persuading with a hammer. The first time i had to do it, it took about 20 mins and a lot of sweating and cursing, now it takes about a minute. Most of the factories we go to require you to slide you axles to the rear anyway as it lifts the rear up to the same height as the door (read bay or ramp) over here we dont have adjustable height on the trailers.
"Where on earth do i get a hammer from" i can hear you ask.
Well the answer is $20 from Canadian Tire. Seriously you need to carry a hammer anyway to check tire pressures, dont laugh, i had never heared of that either but it makes perfect sense. When you are checking a vehicle over you give the double tires a whack and you instantly know if one is flat.
Hi Lyndon,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a right pain in the ar*e. Why can't they have air bags on the rear trailers so that you can lower and raise the height of the trailer, not to mention the easier ride. I've also noticed that the tractors have drums on both axles, not discs. They are about 20 years behind in the tech department.
What model Freightliner have you got? What do you have to do with the unit on your days off, are you allowed to keep it at home?
Take care
Andy
Hi Andy
ReplyDeleteThey are a pain but you adapt, its part and parcel of North merican Trucking. Yes its drum brakes and you are right about 20 years behind. I drive a Columbia and on days off i leave it in the H&R yard and thats when all the little jobs get fixed. We also have a fantastic wash bay with alsorts of chemicals so when i go back to work in the morning i am sure she will be nice and clean.
H&R dont let yu bring the truck home for insurance reasons so i phone Jan up when i am about 20 mins from Lethbridge and she meets me at the yard and we just sling all the washing & stuff straight into the car.
Lyndon.
Ah right. That's interesting. I know that Big Freight let you take the truck home, and I've even been told by one of their managers that you can arrange a holiday in say Florida, and the company finds a load for you there, you drive down and then sign off and park the truck where you are staying, then after your hol they find a re-load to come back home. It's a pitty you can't take it home as it would make life easier.
ReplyDeleteHi Andy
ReplyDeleteThat was one of th questions i asked at the interview as i had seen other companies do it.
Seemed like a good idea at the time but in hinde-sight i cant see the point in it, i wouldnt want it parked on the drive anyway.
I park up at the end of a run, Jan picks me up and we sometimes grab a meal on the way home.
Its nice to be able to just walk away from it after 2 weeks behind the wheel.
Lyndon