Made A Embarrassing Rookie Mistake

I forgot to roll down the legs on my rear trailer, it hit the ground with a solid thud. They had to send 2 forklifts out to lift the nose so I could crank legs down.

They wanted me to park the trailer in a door, when I pulled in I saw a trailer already in it. When I was breaking down my set a spotter drove by and I tried to hurry to catch him, to see what he wanted me to do. But I forgot something.

I made the same mistake almost exactly 7 years ago when I had only been driving two months. Unfortunately, it is probably going to cost me my safe miles and saftey bonus.

We live, and learn, and laugh at ourselves in the process.

You identified the problem. You let yourself get distracted. Most experienced truck drivers like to use the same pattern when building or breaking down a set, or just dropping a trailer. I always do the landing gear first, then the fifth wheel, then the lines. I'm sure you have your own system.

Much like you, I've dropped trailers twice. I was extra fortunate that both mine landed on the frame. I basically caught the trailer before it hit the ground. Both times I did the same thing you did - I let myself get distracted in the middle of my routine.

Take note newbies. Get comfortable with a pattern you follow. Strictly adhere to it. Don't get distracted. With big trucks, bad things happen when we're distracted.

Something I’ve done a few times over the past almost seven years myself is unhook from a trailer while forgetting to unhook the air lines. It had a been a long time since I’ve done it. Than about a month and a half ago I did it. And then a week later I did it again. Unfortunately the second time I stretched out the coils in the harness, and had to make the drive of shame into the shop to get em swapped out.

We have new trailers that you have to crank from the right side instead of the left. That threw me off. Not to many sounds I hate more than hearing the thud of the Gladhands smacking against the back of the cab.

I'm sure you have your own system

I do, normally I double check everything after I get my locks off. Today I got in a rush and forgot to do that, which ended up biting me.

Not to many sounds I hate more than hearing the thud of the Gladhands smacking against the back of the cab.

With our Freightliners they can come through the back window. So you end up needing new lines, a new window and a new seat.

Sorry to hear. Definitely about adherence to the pattern or system.

Out of distraction, I've yet to drip a trailer, but I've pulled out with the lines connected twice. Once recently. Got away lucky. The previous time, I bought and replaced the pigtail myself, was pretty embarrassed.

Yeah, I've left the lines connected as well, and then there's the double 'thunk thunk' against the back of the cab as the lines snap free. It's embarrassing.

I always pulled out slowly and kept the frame under the trailer until it was stable. There were times when I didn't have the legs down as far as I should have, or the ground was softer than it looked, and I was still in a position to fix it.

I dropped my first trailer a couple months ago. The nose of the trailer was on the bottom of the fifth wheel plate by 2 inches and I managed to crank it and get the tractor back under it. 20/20 hindsight I realized I got out of the rookie habit of saying out loud to myself the following and pointing to the part of the trailer. I called it "Calling out the Big 3".

COUPLING:

1) Kingpin is secured 2) Lines are connected 3) Landing Gear is up "We are are ready to hit the road"

UNCOUPLING:

1) Trailer is in good order (swept clean, BOL in bill box, tires and mudflaps in good order, etc) 2) Lines are disconnected 3) Landing Gear is down "We are are ready to uncouple from this trailer"

"We" refers to me and God (not the multiple personality disorder my wife accuses me of!)

In either case I CREEP forward a few feet and watch the mirrors to double check. I've realized this is not a rookie habit it's a professional habit. May look goofy but I know my own quirks. Average drivers focus on their strengths, great drivers focus on their weaknesses and identify areas of improvement.

In the end, do NOT focus on the error too long and crawl inside your own head dude. Everyone has their moments. Learn, move on, and continue to succeed!

"We" refers to me and God (not the multiple personality disorder my wife accuses me of!)

It's funny, but anyone who spends an enormous amount of time alone (myself included) always says "we" when referring to themselves. When I first started driving, I noticed that everyone said things like, "We're heading to...." or "We have four hours to go."

I've always done it, and I still do.

In fact, I also walk around talking as if there's someone in the room with me. I'm constantly explaining myself to this imaginary person. The other day, I read that we organize our own thoughts by explaining them. It helps us sort through our thought processes to make sure we have a grasp on things. I like that explanation better than, "he's obviously insane" so I'm going with it!

"We" refers to me and God (not the multiple personality disorder my wife accuses me of!)

It's funny, but anyone who spends an enormous amount of time alone (myself included) always says "we" when referring to themselves. When I first started driving, I noticed that everyone said things like, "We're heading to...." or "We have four hours to go."

I've always done it, and I still do.

In fact, I also walk around talking as if there's someone in the room with me. I'm constantly explaining myself to this imaginary person. The other day, I read that we organize our own thoughts by explaining them. It helps us sort through our thought processes to make sure we have a grasp on things. I like that explanation better than, "he's obviously insane" so I'm going with it!

Did the same thing many months ago. I was distracted and pulled out from the trailer and felt a bang. I stopped.

I guess I got lucky because the trailer ended up on my drives and somehow, by dropping my air bags, I found a way to get back under it.

Lesson learned