Trailer hand brakes

I ran Containers in the late 80`s to about 97, and the boss wanted us to stop, using the hand valve, to save on his tractor brakes. Back then, that was his theory. I always test the hand valve , to see what it takes, for the trailer brakes to grab. In the winter, forgot what year, long ago, Single axle Intntl, 48` trl, M/T, the wind snaps my tractor, almost into a jackknife, I know what pressure it takes to apply the hand valve and catch the rears to get traction, So I apply it at the second im in a jackknife disaster, and give the tractor just enough gas, so the trailer pulls back, and the tractor gases slightly forward, PULLS out of it and slowly straightens up, Here on the radio, a driver (RoadWay) says, If you didn`t pull out of that, you were taking me with you. A driver needs to know how and when to use the hand valve. These days Its rare for me to use it, I leave enough room in front of me, I can coast to a stop.

 

It's a dangerous habit to pull the handbrake down in an emergency. Through the years I've almost been hit a few times by the trailer next to me as it slid sideways with the tires locked up. The last time it was a postal service trailer in Dallas- he suddenly realized traffic 1/4 mile ahead of him was stopped. He almost didn't stop in time and nearly took out the driver's side of my tractor. If he had used the foot control he would have had plenty of time to stop safely and calmly.

You have to design good reflexes and practice them often in this job. When you need them you won't have time to think. And, you won't have the time or room to react the wrong way.

 

Having never been in a jackknife situation (knock on wood and pray!), I've only ever used the trailer brake lever to check the trailer brakes as part of my Pretrip. I thought that was what it was there for!

 

That was probably the last time I can remember using it, and It worked. Luck?

 

Or knowing your equipment, how it reacts, and most importantly trusted your ability instead of freezing up

 

The original poster is right, Not a good idea at all using the trailer hand valve, and for anyone new in trucking, I would not recomend them even looking at the valve.

 

Personally I don't think they should be looking at any control until they both know what it is, it's proper functions, and the dangers of misuse.

Of course I would also like 20 hours of skid pad training prior to issuance of any class license.


But yeah how did Trillium say it to Zafod? "Buttons are not toys"

 

My tractor doesn't even have one. Its an ex Covenant tractor. Are some fleets simply not ordering them on their equipment?

 

Fwiw, I only used it to keep the truck from moving on a Cat scale when I drove for Stevens. Even then I couldn't do that with the T2000, only the T600's, the T2's valve wouldn't stay appied.