Central Vs. Swift

I'm a new swift driver that was assigned to the reefer dept. Ex Central.

So far all reefer trailers I had had a problem with moving the tandem.

Now I'm stuck because lack of communication between swift customer service and ex central customer service that work seperately Does any old timers from swift and central here that know if it's better to do dry van at swift are trailers in better shape? Thank You.

I've pulled Swift trailers for just over six months now. Only had two that had tandem pin problems that needed shop-level repair, out of I don't know how many.

What seems to be the problem you're having?

There is a problem with the valve that does not work and pins are stuck and do not move in. One time they had to replace the valve. Another time they had to hammer them in and then love the all thing. Another time again to hammer them in. One technician told me that central did not maintain their reefers so this is why most of them have problems often.

Last trailer it works and on second load it got stuck. After trying for an hour to play and shake it I call for service and then after I shut the truck off completely and let it rest it suddenly work again. Veteran drivers have a lot of tools that me as a new comer did not have time to accumulate yet. Besides its not my truck I don't think I should be the one spending the money to keep it or its trailers running properly.

I'm in the same boat with u all maintenance did for me is bring a BMFH and wack away. Quick trick though has worked most of the time release trailer (with tractor still engaged) wait 7-10min (so jump to line 2 lol) engage trailer again and quickly get back there and try it.

As far as the pins getting stuck that is common with all trailers at all companies. You'll get that sometimes. Keep a mini sledge hammer with you. That's your most important tool!

Also, a lot of times the pins are stuck because there is pressure on them, not because there is anything wrong with the system. Someone may have made a tight u-turn with the trailer and it twisted the tandems a bit. Other times the tandems are just shoved toward the front or back and the pin is jammed against the rail.

What you want to do is check the pins on both sides of the trailer. You might find that they are both shoved to the front or the rear. If so you should be able to rock the trailer back and forth a bit with the brakes set and get the pins centered in the holes. Then they'll release.

You might find that one pin is against the front of its hole and the other pin is against the rear. That means the tandems are twisted a bit. You may be able to do the same procedure as above and re-center the pins. Or you may have to do a bit of a tight turn in the opposite direction that they're currently twisted to straighten them out a little better.

But most of the time the pins aren't actually stuck because something is wrong with the system. They're stuck because they're wedged against the rail from the force of braking or tight turns.

Finally, sometimes one pin will release but not the other. Sometimes it's just wedged and you can knock it in with the hammer. Other times you might find that one of the bars underneath is unhooked from its pin. Take a look at the mechanism to see that everything is hooked up properly. You can normally figure out a way to hook the bar back up if a bolt sheared off and get the pin released.

The "center the pin in the hole" Brett talks about is not an exact science. Look at the pin in its hole and decide if the trailer rail needs to move forward of back. Keep the tandem brakes on, just like you were going to slide them and jog the trailer a teensy bit. Go back and look.

I bought the largest ball pein hammer at Harbor Freight ($8, 2 lb. size). I use it as a hammer on pins, etc., tire thumper, ice breaker, paper weight, and so on. Have a can of WD-40 (some people use "Nut Buster" but I think that's because of the name). These are the two things that you will use the most to fix the pins.

I've only had trailers with air operated pins/valves twice & didn't need to slide the tandems.

I know sliding tandems is a PITA sometimes, but that's part of a trucker's life.

Besides its not my truck I don't think I should be the one spending the money to keep it or its trailers running properly.

It's not your truck but it is your paycheck. The more you can do to keep those wheels turning the better your paycheck will look. The potential wait on someone else to do the service can be costly to your pocket.

Ride2BFree asks

Beides its not my truck I don't think I should be the one spending the money to keep it or its trailers running properly.

How/why are you spending money on your truck? Swift covers all road maintenance expenses. If you have to pay up for anything related to truck or trailer maintenance, send the receipts in with your bill scan, you get the money back.

You might lose several hours/days of your time (been there), that's about it.

Thank you all for the valuable info.