no, its used to attach the king pin when not in use. I just store mine back in the original box.

And as far as trailer doors, i carry a spare set of door ties. They are just 4-5 links of chain, with a couple rock climbing clips on each end. have had to use them a couple times, but havent seen a trailer bad enough yet to need both of em.

 

The trailer doors do not get ripped off per se, what happens is some drivers when backing into a dock where the dock door opening is about as wide as the trailer or a little narrower, winds up hitting the trailer door hinges on the dock door wall. The hinges are made out of aluminum. which then crack and break sending the door to the ground. Sometimes the original door is recovered and re-hung sometimes it's not and a new one is hung.

The driver of the company is not always the one responsible, sometimes when the trailer is at a shipper or consignee, the yard dog driver shuttling trailers around winds up being the culprit.

 

That makes sense! So the Kingpin lock would be stored on this thingy when the lock is not in use.

Thanks Kevin!

 

Likewise rapatorr and I to am still trying to as we speak today. Im in Sacramento, CA. I already did all those things they are teaching him and passed with flying colors like: pre-trip, alley dock, straight line, up-shifting, down-shifting, hooking & un hooking, etc. Seems like a repeat of what Ive already passed. I think I logged like over 1000 miles in class. :bow:

Quote:
Originally Posted by rapatorr
I too just graduated a couple months ago from AREA truck driving school in Santa Clara,CA, unfortunately I can get a job even though I have all my endorsements and a clean record, best of luck to you, I hope you get hired as soon as you graduate.

 

I know I was being a SA.

I was a Shipping Mgr for over 20 years and we had Barr Nunn as a dedicated carrier for a few years. We use to have 60 drop Barr Nunn drop trailers on our lot.

Barr Nunn use to make sure we always had a full case of new hinges at all times. Our yard truck drivers would take a door off almost daily and our Maint. Dept. would put them back on.

 

Uh, no. The KINGPIN LOCK is placed OVER THE KINGPIN when you drop the trailer, to prevent SOMEONE ELSE from trying to hook the trailer (ie: steal or tow it). Works REALLY WELL with the "GLADHAND LOCK", which also prevents someone from putting air into the brake system to release the SPRING BRAKES. Between the two - the trailer is both un-hookable and un-movable (wheels locked).

This doesn't PREVENT trailer theft (as nothing stops a DETERMINED THIEF) - just makes the trailer "reasonably safe" against someone just casually rolling up to it and taking off with it. Someone cutting off a kingpin lock and gladhand lock usually takes enough time to draw someone's (negative) attention.

The thing Kevin was talking about (they're called CARABINERS there college-boy) are the D-Ring devices frequently used for key rings, that can substitute (with a couple of links of chain) for a bad door clip (the device that holds the trailer door OPEN and against the trailer body). You "should" be glancing at these during your PTI (and WRITING THEM UP if they're bad, maybe one day they'll actually FIX THEM). You can use the "alternate device" old Kev described to "rig" them open so you don't tear them off (the doors) or swing them into someone else's nice paint job when yer docking...

Kingpin locks usually get stored in a ziplock baggie or their original box, as they tend to get greasy/nasty. Watch yer head when putting it on too - the apron is really greasy too.

Rick

 

There are two types of king-pin-locks. If someone is using a cast aluminum one, it is actually very easy to defeat. Back under the trailer as though you're going to hook it, and when you "hit it", you crack it. Rotate it 180 degrees, and back into it again. Comes off in two pieces. ( I put one on a trailer I was dropping to go into the shop, and some smart-zz put SUPER-GLUE into the keyhole. That's how I got it off.)

 

I know SirCronus, at this point if feels like a bunch of us just got screwed by the schools. They knew that we wouldn't be able to get jobs, it's hard enough when the economy is good, now imagine nowadays!
Does your school have job placement by any chance? You might get lucky, who knows?
So yeah, don't give up, keep your head up and your eyes open for a chance:thumbsup:

 

Have you tried Roehl out of Marshfield, WI?
They have a number of terminals around the country.
And, as of about 3 weeks ago, I was told that they are still training.
I would expect they would also take school graduates.
Try them.
Millis, out of Black River Falls, WI was also a training company.
See what they tell you.
About all I can suggest.

 

Today was an awesome day in Lewiston ID. I started out driving the "bridge" route. Basically I drove from the terminal, over the bridge to Clarkston WA, then over the next bridge back to Lewiston, and again into Clarkston. The morning driving was pretty easy because there was not any traffic.

Next I headed out of Lewiston on Highway 12 and got to go through the weigh station for the first time. The Lewiston Highway 12 station is a left exit, and I knew it was coming up so I was prepared to exit. As I approached the scales the DOT officer was standing at the railing smoking a cigarette. Bob, the instructor, said " Well he can't give you a red light because he's outside". Well as my steers hit the scale, the DOT gives me a hand signal from the other side of the railing to stop. I roll down the window and here is our conversation:

DOT: Good morning.
ME: Good morning sir.
DOT: Do you have your logbook this morning.
ME: Yes sir I do.
DOT: Is it current.
ME: Yes it is.
DOT: May I see it please.
ME: Certainly... As I reach into the shelf above me and retrieve my book.
DOT: He walks around the railing and grabs my book. Next he looks at EVERY page in the logbook, dating all the way back to June 29th. There are a couple of pages that I had to void because I messed up. He looked at those really close, and then looked at the next page. After looking through my entire logbook, right up until my last duty change, he says good job and have a nice day!

Bob said that I did a really good job. He said that the DOT will usually find something in a students log to give them a hassle about. I just told him that I am logging everything as I do it, and it is really not that difficult.

So my first experience with DOT could not have gone any better in my opinion. I felt pretty good after this and ended up driving 2.5 hours and 80 miles this morning. Dave started driving in Troy ID, and took us back through Pullman WA and into Clarkston where he continued to drive through the city. Dave drove for 3 hours and 78 miles.

After lunch we headed back out to get more city driving in Clarkston and Lewiston. Nothing too much happened while I drove. I was able to find a couple of more curbs that the trailer could have gotten by if I judged them a little bit better, but all in all I did really good. i drove for 1.5 hours and 26 miles after lunch.

Dave drove for 2 hours and 28 miles this afternoon. Bob decided to try a couple of new turns that he had not done before. The first was pretty tight, but Dave was able to get by without hitting the curb, or any 4 wheelers. The second was on the next block and was a left hand turn. This turn was very tight and required the trailer to go into the turn lane where a 4 wheeler needed to back out of the way. On the other side was a tree where the branches came into Bob's window. Dave did really good and was able to complete the turn without incident, until he got about 200 feet down the road where a Clarkston Police Officer was stopped in his car just shaking his head at us. Apparently they would rather Swift not use that corner any more. Bob knew the officer, so he let it go with the shaking of his head and no other action.

Dave and I both feel that we need more time driving in the city to pass the WA State test, but Bob believes we could pass know. I figure he sees new students every 2 weeks, so he has a good idea of our skills. Over the next couple of days we will get a lot more city driving and build our confidence level for the test.

Below is a link to the GPS tracker for today if anyone is interested. If you click on the Google Earth link at the top, you can actually zoom in and see everything.
13 | Author Ford390pwr | free Mobile GPS Tracking Service