Broke Both Fairing

At my first company bending or breaking the "cab extender" fairings between the back of the sleeper and nose of the trailer was the most common mistake new drivers made. It costs the company money to repair them. It's kind of like putting a "I'm a rookie" sign on your truck for everyone to see, but it's not THAT big of a deal unless your goal is more like a perfectionist than good, reliable driver. The key is to understand what the situation was where you broke them fairings, and then recognize that situation when you arrive at a location and don't spin around in an area without enough room to do it without breaking something. 53 foot trailers pulled by conventional tractors just can't go everywhere. There are tricks you can use to minimize the amount of space when you HAVE TO make a tight turn. Most drivers just leiasueruly turn the steering wheel only while they are moving because it is easier to turn the steering wheel. That's fine if you have space to burn. If the space is tight and you are not 100% sure you can spin around, you should stop, turn the wheel fully, and then start moving. Yes cranking the steering wheel is more difficult while stopped, even with power steering. If you thought you had room to spin around and you get started and REALLY start to doubt you have the room, stop early instead taking it all the way until you get stuck or break something. You can start a max effort turn and stop after a few feet, crank in the opposite steering wheel and back up a few inches or foot, which will make the turn tighter (while making it more likely to break a fairing if you let the turn continue.

In an extreme case you might even make as much of the turn as you can, stop, drop the trailer, and then re-hook at a different angle to complete the turn. This will also tighten the turn but put your fairings more at risk. Each sitation is different. REMEMBER, doing the wrong thing in a hurry doesn't help anyone, not even the hotheads around you that may want you to hurry up. Go as slow as necessary to be sure you are safe.

If went almost a year before I bent my cab extender fairing in Jersey City, NJ at a crowded trucking company terminal. I felt like the most worthless driver for a few days and then got over it. My company may have charged me $150, I can't remember. We can't all be purfekt, all the time. It's not really a big deal except your perfect record is broken. Oh well. Cheer up.

 

I tell the company about lots of small details just in case. It lets them think I report everything and it they don't have to watch me super close. You never know when having a reputation for honesty or over-sharing will help you get away with something.

 

Probably best that it is, otherwise they'll just keep turning and crunch the corners of the sleeper.

 

And if he had hit the side of the truck?

Yeah, it's a small thing that no one gets too bent out of shape about, but hitting the bat wings is a sign the driver isn't paying attention and isn't thinking ahead.

 

Did he remind you that the company doesn't have a passenger policy?

 

Just curious. How do you break those off ?

 

You've got to be jacknifed pretty freaking bad.

Like past where you're turning so tight, part of your trailer tandems are going backwards.

 

I honestly never knew hitting those is even a thing. Same as hitting the cab. Must be some short wheelbase trucks. That and I don’t think I ever got anywhere near hitting a cab in my years.

 

Many drivers have made that mistake. I've bent a fairing in the past. Rule of thumb: if you do a u turn, you need to be able to do it without turning your steering wheel all the way to max. If you turn the wheel to the max, you're probably limited on space, that's why your truck touched your trailer. If the steering wheel goes all the way to the max, you gotta let begin to straighten itself asap if you can. If you can't, you weren't supposed to make that turn.

Nonetheless, as the other guys said, you're ok. It ain't like you put it in a ditch. These are just growing pains.