Welp I won’t be going out this side again in a 45’
Posted by gilbydude98@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 100 comments
To clarify, i’ve gone out this way a hundred times, never scraped or had an issue. Car was parked in the street so I had to take her extra wide, and well… This was the outcome lol. Tough titties oh well
Haunting-Ad788@reddit
Move your fifth wheel forward.
Independent-Fun8926@reddit
Some companies spec fixed fifth wheels. No sliding. I think Sysco does, and I know Melton does. It’s possible OP can’t because US Foods didn’t order a sliding fifth wheel.
Which, for the record, is honestly fucking stupid. How much extra does that really cost? Of course I know companies will take the cheapest option even if it’s saving only a fee hundred bucks per truck. “It adds up!”
Ghosted1974@reddit
Zoom in. You can see the tracks where it will slide. It’s not fixed.
CaptCooterluvr@reddit
On a foodservice tractor is might not be “fixed” but between lack of use and lack of maintenance it might as well be
Ghosted1974@reddit
That’s just a cop out. If it can be moved, it will be. If you don’t know how, ask. If you don’t want to ask, turn in your license. There’s no room for pride in this business that cost people unnecessary money, company or not.
CaptCooterluvr@reddit
It’s not about pride, I bet that between lack of maintenance and use that fucker’s frozen in place and won’t slide without spending a day in the shop (who may not bother with it at all and just tell them to leave it back).
CrazyQuickDraw@reddit
Or lack of know-how.
AbrahamL26@reddit
You can also see the air supply for the ram to slide the locks.
Inker0@reddit
Owner of my company disabled the fifth wheel sliding on all his trucks after he had more then one driver trash either the cab/headache rack/ or fifth wheel itself trying to slide them. Which for what we do, we shouldn't have to move them anyway.
Some company's do it to not have that added risk I guess.
Fit_Hospital2423@reddit
Oh myyyyy….
UltraViolentNdYAG@reddit
How is this going to help as the tractors 5th breaks high ground? This advice is wrong!
The 5th being forward of the rear axle makes this far worse, not better. Break out a napkin sketch and do some basic geometry....
Mistermeena@reddit
No it doesn't. Bringing the legs closer to the chassis benefits From the fixed height of the drives and suspension. As the tractor passes over the high point the forwardmost part of the trailer lifts with it. I couldn't say if it would clear this either way though
Swifty-1985@reddit
Should be over the drive 👍
Negative334@reddit
I'm not the smartest man in the world, but have been driving long enough to see that it is possible your landing gear had about 3-4 more inches it could have been raised up. On the SWIFT trailers I pulled when fully raised there is maybe a 1/4 of and inch gap between the top of the landing gear and the feet.
I was taught to raise the gear until won't go up anymore, it's crazy how many landing gears you see on the road that are less than half way raised up, alot of lazy truckers out here
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
it was up all the way. i crank em in the morning until they stop. trust me if i could have i would have lol
Negative334@reddit
That's interesting what brand trailer is that?
musicalmadness1@reddit
Or barely and inch off the ground. Like wtf.
Negative334@reddit
Yup,
Imsus402@reddit
Does trailer have sliding rear tandems? If so, slide them all the way forward.
brsrafal@reddit
I don't know if this helps I always raise my landing gear all the way up I know most guys raising just enough
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
they were all the way up. other guys that have dealt with newer reefer trailers have commented the same thing somewhere in here. it may not looked cranked all the way to most people but i crank until it stops. def looks like it could go another 5-6 inches lol
brsrafal@reddit
Yeah it's definitely not your fault whoever designed this is a pure idiot I hope your company doesn't give you shit for this
onisyndicate@reddit
US FOODS review board is like:
Driver is at fault. Hit with a preventable accident for the next year on the driver's record. Do retraining.
Shitty part is the route will say don't use a trailer this long. Then they'll load you up on a trailer that trailer. You tell a supervisor and they say just run it.
Then supervisors get mad at drivers when the driver takes the stop off the dock and leaves it for them to redeliver.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
this guy US Foods
No_Parking_1252@reddit
Take the concrete with you
Responsible-Baby-551@reddit
Looks like your fifth wheel could go forward like a quarter mile
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
hahah i agree. but that’s how our fleet shop mechanic sets all the rigs in our division for our specific weight distribution. i was talking to him about it earlier
santanzchild@reddit
Since when does the mechanic decide how you balance your truck?
Hexo9@reddit
Local Food/drink delivery is weird. Pepsi bolts our tandems so we can’t move them.
chaoss402@reddit
You should be able to make it if you take it at an angle.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
i make it every time. it was a weird one today lol
chaoss402@reddit
Yeah, angles like that can be weird.
I used to deliver to a store that had a really steep driveway entrance. I always made it in just fine, then exited on the other side. It was an old store, and towards the end of that bid they tore the store down and did a total rebuild.
One day on a new bid that store was added onto my route. The new setup had me pulling in a different way, parking completely differently than I had before, and when I was done I went to leave through the driveway I used to use to enter the place. I didn't catch the landing gear, I caught one of my tires on the damn trailer cross member. I was going slowly enough that I stopped before doing any damage, but I was at a weird angle and backing back up to go out another exit was a real pain in the ass. Crazy to me how many drivers just send it through sharp angles like that and tear stuff up instead of stopping.
Were you able to back out of that or did you need a wrecker/assist?
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
i had to call a wrecker. he was trying to pull me forward since all i needed was a few inches to get past that high point, but his truck wasn’t doing shit i was stuck as a duck. old timer pulled a trick out of his sleeve and went and took off an airline under the tractor and that put more air in the bags and i drove right out. i never would’ve thought of that in a million years, now i know!
Montreal4life@reddit
took an airline out of the tractor? huh? can you explain?
Topopotomopolot@reddit
They probably disconnected the leveling valve and pushed it up (or down, can’t remember) to over inflate the bags. Then reconnected it on the original position.
The leveling valve is skinny little rod, that connects the frame to the axle and if that rod pushes up on the valve it inflates, but if it’s pulling down on the valve it deflates the air bags. (Cant actually remember if pushing on the valve inflates or deflates, but it’s one or the other.)
The leveling rod usually has a couple holes you can reposition the connection to if you want to ride higher or lower, but that’s not something you want to fiddle with if you’re hauling dry van or refer.
radujohn75@reddit
That right here, the leveling valve rod can be adjusted to go higher or lower. Exactly what I would have done. Would give an extra 2-4 inches per each hole.
d1duck2020@reddit
I do this several times a year in the oilfield when belly dumps, lowboys, and sand haulers get stuck blocking the road. My Spanish isn’t great so I have a hard time explaining it to some guys, but it comes down to “trust me, I’m old and have done this before”.
Montreal4life@reddit
mentally saving this thanks
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
that is exactly what he did. i’m glad to hear from another OG that knows the trick🫡
chaoss402@reddit
Just be careful with that, I'm not sure what psi it takes to destroy air bags but you do need to be careful to not over inflate them.
Topopotomopolot@reddit
It takes a lot.
I’m in heavy haul and I play with air bags a lot to do some funky shit from time to time.
If you’re maxed out at 80k you can probably do whatever you want to the air bags to get yourself unstuck, drive ten feet, then reset the air bags to cruise settings and roll. They’re pretty durable.
dmark266@reddit
All hail king thermo king
ScaryfatkidGT@reddit
More speed obviously
Fit_Hospital2423@reddit
If that happened to me, I’d be getting it off of there instead of taking pictures of it.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
very nice
Greenvenom12@reddit
Doesn’t your truck have a “jump” button?
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
it has every other button in the world and it likes to yell at me a lot and when it sees its own shadow it’s throws the collision warning and likes to hit the brakes on its own. but no jump button😂 i miss my old mid 2000’s freightliner. these brand new trucks piss me right tf off
Ryo0hki4242@reddit
I spent 3 days at a Kenworth with a problem that was a feature. My brakes would go from whatever I had them set on to like 52-58 psi when in reverse. Tech couldn't replicate it in the bay because he was on level ground. As soon as it was parked bobtail on an incline it would do it again. I asked him maybe it was because I'm on a slight incline. He thought about it.. moved it to a flat surface and the problem went away. Then put his face in his hands and realized it was a feature called Hill assist. I have a button on the console to turn it off temporarily and I didn't know it and wasted hours of Kenworth labor.
Ryo0hki4242@reddit
At least your not stuck on a railroad...
fortunato79@reddit
Raise the airbags
Kkalemauser@reddit
More speed!
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
haha right! as soon as i heard that landing gear i should’ve hit it😆 no problem. i stopped. and failed
Kkalemauser@reddit
Shit happens.
I had to be towed in this morning. Another coworker had to have a tow company bring him another truck at a meet point.
Rough day for a bunch of us.
Just a lil stuck.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
yup shit happens is right. i was on the phone with another driver (head set of course) and he said he’s never seen anything like that, but he also said it could’ve happened to even the most experienced driver. set me back about an hour waiting on the wrecker but i still knocked the day out🫡
MarkPellicle@reddit
Amen brother, as long as you keep the rubber side down and get home, everything else is just a few dollars that your company can afford.
thetruckerswallofsha@reddit
Dude you still got 5 inches you can jack that thing up more
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
it was up all the way haha i crank my landing gears all the way every morning till it stops
tyrannocanis@reddit
That's weird they should go a lot higher
BleachIF@reddit
This is a Utility Reefer, they all do that hahah. At least the new ones do
tyrannocanis@reddit
How useful
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
trust me if i could’ve i would’ve put that bitch in high gear and cranked away till i could pull out
Necessary_Might1432@reddit
We have 5 utility reefers in our fleet. They look the same when cranked all the way up. Its annoying af
jmzstl@reddit
Next time just slide the trailer tandems all the way forward and you’ll clear it.
trucker_dan@reddit
I’d always keep my 5th wheel as far forward as possible when running local. I’m not sure if this would help in your situation, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt.
scottiethegoonie@reddit
I used to do that but my truck will eat mudflaps on hard turns.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
i think i definitely should consider it and talk to my fleet boss about it. he’s a cranky old bastard but at the end of the day he’s not the one driving these rigs daily downtown in tight sketchy spots. i think even just 6” forward possibly could’ve helped me in this spot today
UltraViolentNdYAG@reddit
First thing I saw was overhead lines! Trifecta as the skids hit the earth!
12InchPickle@reddit
Easy fix.
Montreal4life@reddit
what would you do?
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
also curious. i was stuck as a duck and had no idea how to get out besides calling a wrecker
Shinrinn@reddit
You can manually over inflate your airbags to gain another inch or two. Probably be a pain in the ass to get to but you can disconnect your leveling valve and manually adjust to inflate/deflate your bags. Would have to find the sweet spot and then wedge the leveling valve lever so it stayed put while you moved the truck.
bobmonkeyclown@reddit
Once I had another truck push against my guard as I backed up. Doesn't work if only one of you has a guard, or neither.
If empty or light enough, interaxle lock might help in reverse. Just depends on a lot of things.
acd2002@reddit
You know, it's times like these where I wonder why trailer engineers don't have the landing gear be retractable.
Cl9Clapo@reddit
Lmfao learned my lesson the other day😂 went straight n begun a tug test. Reversed a lil went at a angle n got out!
Charliepetpup@reddit
5th wheel all the way back and tandems all the way back is asking to scrape landing gear lol
OOLU6234317@reddit
Slide that 5th boo boo
Ok_Length7872@reddit
Went from trying to avoid a car to not being able to avoid the hump, sorry this happened brotha man
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
no worries homie! appreciate it😎 i was bout 40 mins ahead when this happened, took me back about an hour an i just busted some ass and still finished before schedule. considering what happened, i wasn’t even mad today. shit happens brooooo
Ok_Length7872@reddit
Hey that’s how it is sometimes just gotta plan and execute on the go! I do tour trucking so I completely understand 😂
InvestigatorBroad114@reddit
Whooo that’s scary
Mister_Meenor@reddit
That's why I like our new Volvos. I'd crank up the bags and slide out of there.
they_took_my_van@reddit
Not as bad as what you did to the trailer 😮
ThatOneHelldiver@reddit
The issue is you didn't send it.
Seanw59@reddit
So close…
treesmith1@reddit
Don't feel bad. I saw a dude drop a trailer in a creek with an 8 foot embankment this morning. He could have rolled up 300 yards and had plenty of room to flip around. Glad I ain't payin' for the rotator.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
holy shit that sounds terrible. when shit like this happens to me, i just think it could always be worse😩😂
treesmith1@reddit
Damn Skippy! Best way to go. Why? Cause it's true as hell.
TimeMail9865@reddit
Yeah, that happens when the angle of the drop is too much.
thrownaway99345@reddit
One of the places I deliver to has an incline you have to back down, and some of our trailers' legs will grind it, scared the shit out of an hvac guy working outside a few weeks ago.
brisbanevinnie@reddit
Need some fireball to lube up the bottom of the legs so they can slide up that driveway.
Jimmysal@reddit
Looking at the concrete, you're not the first guy to say this.
gilbydude98@reddit (OP)
funny enough i called my supervisor right away to let him know i was calling in a wrecker and he said another driver did the same shit months ago. this driveway is a soul snatcher for semi’s i guess. we all gotta learn certain spots the hard way i guess lol
Sir_Uncle_Bill@reddit
Are you able to raise the air bags on the drives?
_x3_xrs_@reddit
Next time just get a better run at it
DaRealMexicanTrucker@reddit
Unlock your 5th wheel slide. Go in reverse all the way. Lock your slide. Should give you enough clearence to get over that hump.
Show_Quality_Trash@reddit
Slide the 5th
AdventurousNorth9414@reddit
Just needs two ugga-tugas.
Mahragha@reddit
Butter that up
IronDickus@reddit
Well keep going, you’re almost there.
Ornery_Bath_8701@reddit
But you got out okay right 👍