This section of the Professional Driver Development Program is for those who already have their Commercial Driver’s License. It’s not a complete program but rather, general tips to improve safety on the road while you work.
Many people believe that truckers do nothing except sit on their backsides and steer their truck down a highway. Nothing could be further from the truth. This isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle. Just like everything else in life, if we don’t know how something works, we have no business using it. The same is true for these big, beautiful, powerful machines.
There are many controls on our equipment both on the tractors and on the trailers. If you learn how to correctly use these controls and when to use them, you will be driving like a professional in no time. This section of your training manual will teach you all there is to know about fully utilizing the truck’s potential to make your job easier. Let the truck do all the work and work smart, not hard.
There will be times when your trailer is loaded less than perfectly in terms of weight. This is not necessarily the fault of the shipper but can be something as simple as heavy objects in small boxes which could move verses large boxes which need to be closer to the front of the trailer to reduce the possibility of it tipping over lower ones.
We will look at how to slide the 5th wheel and the trailer bogies to adjust the weight distribution of your load to obtain the correct axle weights. Next, we will learn all about the trailer air suspension and how to correctly use it. Safety is our first priority so a detailed look at trailer creeps and how to prevent it will be explained as well.
Just opening your trailer doors incorrectly could cause you great harm if your load has shifted during transportation. We will use trailer door restraint straps to keep ourselves safe and also reduce expensive damage to freight.
Dangerous goods need to be handled very carefully and safely for everyone around us and for ourselves. Learning how to properly use placard holders is vital for the safe transportation of all dangerous goods loads.
Some loads that we transport need to be climate controlled. We want to prevent some items and commodities from freezing in the winter and other loads from becoming too hot. We will learn how to operate the climate controls and hazards to watch for with these units.
Some heavy truck manufacturers love to add bright, shiny gauges and even more switches but what are they all for? Why so many? Do we really need them all? The easy answer is there are several that we absolutely need and many more that we don’t, but they look cool and it’s nice being able to scan the dash quickly for the information that we need. I will explain both the Volvo and Kenworth dash lights, gauges, and switches.
While it sounds very easy to slide the 5th wheel on your tractor and adjust the weight on your steer tires and drives, it is also very easy to cause a lot of expensive damage to the truck during and after the 5th wheel movement. You shouldn’t have to slide the 5th wheel at all during your workday. Most often you can simply slide the trailer bogies and get the proper weight distribution.
To slide the 5th wheel, there is a switch located on the dash of the truck. You simply push the switch, and the 5th wheel locking pins will retract allowing the 5th wheel to be moved back or forth. You must have a trailer attached in order to slide the plate, which is far too heavy, and covered in grease, to be moved by hand. Once the pins are in you release the tractor only brakes and pull either forward or backwards according to your requirements.
If you slide it towards the cab or forward, you have to be vigilant in ensuring there is sufficient space between the trailer front and the tractor back, so they do not come in contact with each other turning corners and backing up. I strongly recommend that you only slide the 5th wheel backwards towards the trailer to avoid causing damage. If you are unsure, don’t do anything at all with the 5th wheel. Simply slide your bogies instead.
Sliding the bogies takes a little more work and although you are able to do this completely on your own, having another person to help you makes it much easier. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “many hands make light work”. This is very true in this case.
On the driver side of the trailer just in front of the bogie tires, you will see a small, usually silver pull / push plunger. If you pull that up or out (depending on the type you find on that trailer), you will hear air which causes the bogie pins to retract into the assembly. Once all 4 bogie pins are in, you can now slide the bogies either forward or backwards.
To do this, enter the cab and release just the tractor brakes. Leave the red trailer air supply button pulled out. Put the truck in gear and slowly pull forward or backwards. Each hole it slides, is equal to about 250 lbs. or 113.4 kgs. Once it slides a little, pull the tractor brake and check the progress. It will be much easier to keep track of where the pins are and where they move to if you make a chalk mark the position, they are originally in. You will know exactly how far they slide if you mark their place first.
Once they have moved the correct number of spaces, re-enter the cab and push both brake buttons. Hold the trailer service brake (spike) and gently go forward and backwards to ensure all 4 pins find their way fully into a hole on the bogie slide rails. Exit the cab and double check that all 4 pins are visible. Don’t try to slide the bogies on mud, dirt, or gravel surfaces. The tires will simply slide without changing the position of the wheels.
There will be times when you will arrive at a dock that is lower than your trailer floor surface. In this case, you will be told to lower the suspension of your trailer which also lowers the height of your trailer floor surface. First let’s take a brief look at the dangers that can potentially happen with trailer suspension height.
The most important one is called “trailer creep” and can cause serious injury or death to those inside the warehouse loading and unloading your trailer. When your suspension lowers, it does so exactly the same way as your tractor suspension lowers except that your trailer box will come down AND forward at the same time. Imagine that the dock plate is already on the back of your trailer and that’s when you lower your suspension.
As the trailer height comes down, it also comes forward without the trailer wheels moving so a chock will not prevent the box from moving forward. The dock plate can slip off the back of the trailer and fall below the floor surface of the warehouse. This can cause some very serious injury or death to the lift truck driver. To prevent this from happening, lower the suspension on your way past the control to open the trailer doors. By the time you open the doors, go back into the dock, and chock your wheels, the suspension will be all the way down.
You must ensure that your suspension is all the way up before you start to drive again. Driving with your airbags deflated will cause serious damage to your trailer’s suspension system. Always check your trailer airbags during your complete pre-trip of your trailer. Make sure your control box door is properly latched shut. This box is either silver or black and is located on the driver’s side just in front of the bogie tires.
These handy little straps will save you from serious injury if your load shifts during transit. For my drivers, they are mandatory on all loaded trailers. You should suggest your company makes them mandatory as well. Drivers receive their own strap and are taught them how to use them by the safety department trainers. Ensure you place your strap securely on your doors and open only one door at a time checking inside to ensure there is no freight leaning against either door before removing the strap.
These thin metal frames are much like a photo frame except they were created to hold dangerous goods placards to warn others that your shipment can be dangerous to the public. You will find at least one frame on each side of the trailer as well as the front and back.
These are considered attachments so ensure that they are secured to the trailer and will not come off hitting the car behind you. If your load contains dangerous goods and placards are required, ensure that your placards are the correct ones for your load, they are secured within the placard frames, are clearly visible, and are on all 4 sides of your trailer. You will learn all about dangerous goods including how to recognize loads and how to understand paperwork for these loads.
There are 2 types of climate control trailers here at my company. We have Carrier units and Thermal King units. Although they function in basically the same way, they do vary slightly in how their controls are operated. There are 2 modes of operation. Continuous mode and start / stop mode. Continuous mode just keeps running and running. Start / stop mode means that it operates just like your home furnace. It will run until it is 1 or 2 degrees above the setpoint then shuts off until it is 2 or 3 degrees below the setpoint. You need to verify on your paperwork what the setpoint must be set at. Also verify that it is Fahrenheit.
The climate control unit needs to be turned on at all times while there is freight requiring it in the trailer. Do not turn it off while you sleep because the inside temperature of the trailer will change. The Carrier units have an on / off flick switch and Thermal King has an on button and an off button. Both types of units have buttons for defrost, up arrows and down arrows, 2 displayed numbers, menu buttons, and more. The 1st number is the actual temperature inside the trailer and the second number is the setpoint or the temperature that the unit is set to. You will need to turn the unit on as soon as you know you require a temperature-controlled unit. It may take several hours for the actual temperature to match the setpoint.
The reefers and heaters all have their own diesel fuel tank attached to the trailer. It has its own fuel gauge right below the fill spout on the tank. There is no gauge inside the truck so be sure you check the actual trailer tank for the correct fuel level. If you find that the tank is ¾ or fuller, you are good to go. If it is less than ¾ full of fuel, then you will need to fuel up prior to leaving the area so it doesn’t become a concern on your trip.
Don’t allow the trailer to run out of fuel and be sure to fuel it every time you fuel your truck. If you find the reefer / heater tank empty, take a photo, and report it immediately to fleet services. Once the trailer is empty of the freight which required the temperature control, turn the reefer unit off. We don’t want to waste fuel or money running these engines when they are not required.
While you are driving, you will be able to see the trailer light which indicates whether the reefer / heater is operating correctly by looking in the driver side main mirrors. If the light is either green or white, the unit is operating correctly. If the light is yellow, red, or orange, the unit is not operating correctly. It’s very important to check that light every 5 to 10 minutes while driving. Any faults should be reported to fleet services then cleared.
We will now move to the right side of the steering wheel to the single row of switches. The first one closest to the steering column looks like a fan and has a light bar to indicate when it has been activated. This is for the control panel on the back wall of the cab. This combination heater unit allows the truck to stay warm overnight without the engine running. It also allows you to control the radio, interior lights, inverter (if the truck is equipped with one), and the temperature controls. Simply activate this switch before shutting the engine off and you’ll be toasty warm all winter. The little light bar will light up on the switch when it’s activated.
Beside this is a switch with a bar and several tiny lines beneath it. This is for the interior dome light on the roof of the bunk. Next to that are 2 empty or blank switches that don’t do anything. The last switch on this row is a picture of a boot. This activates the floor lights under the front of the lower bunk as well as on the side door panels. This makes walking in the dark safer though isn’t bright enough to keep you awake. Next to this row of switches is the trailer service brake or spike at the bottom, and above it are the spring brake buttons.
We then find 2 more rows of switches with the first 2 on the top row looking like some kind of small spacecraft. These 2 switches operate your differentials on the rear axles of the tractor. They are what we call safety switches. If you look carefully at them, you will see that there are extra small square tabs on the bottom of each switch. Safety switches can’t be activated while the vehicle is in motion, so they are protected from accidentally activating these switches when you don’t intend to. To activate this type of switch, you first need to lift and hold the safety button then press the bottom of the button at the same time. You will quickly get the hang of how to do this and be a pro in no time.
The button beside these is also a traction control type of switch. You probably want to operate all 3 switches if you become stuck in mud, on ice, or in snow. The third switch is not a safety switch and can be used at any time even if the vehicle is in motion. Once you have all 3 of these switches engaged, gently press down on the accelerator until the truck moves forward then let off the accelerator pedal. The idea here is not to spin the tires making the ground below them slick or you will never get out on your own.
We just want to get the truck to rock back and forth. Each time you press the accelerator gently, the truck will move forward a tiny bit. When you let off the accelerator, the truck will go backwards to where it was originally. Each time you press the pedal, press just a tiny bit harder and if your timing is correct, the truck will begin to rock. You will feel the tires grip something solid in just a minute or so and then you can press harder on the accelerator and the truck will come loose and move forward. Once you are somewhere between 10’ and 20’ away from the place you were stuck, bring your truck to a complete stop. Push the 2 first switches back down and ensure the dash lights go off before driving away. Never drive with any safety switch activated. That is not what they are designed for.
The fourth switch is a picture of a truck with an arrow running from the front to the back of the truck. This is the release for the 5th wheel slide pins. Again, it is a safety switch that can’t accidentally be activated. You should never have to slide the 5th wheel on your truck so you can just ignore this switch. If you can’t bring your axel group weights into compliance sliding just the bogies, make sure you have a trailer connected securely and your vehicle is completely stopped. There are specific instructions on how to operate this in another chapter.
The last switch on this row is a picture of a truck in a circle with brackets on either side. This indicates the truck is in motion. It’s not a safety switch so it can be activated at any time. The problem with this switch it that it will activate itself at any time without warning even on flat ground. It’s called hill assist and will keep your truck from rolling backwards during the time it takes to remove your foot from the brake pedal and press down on the accelerator. If you step on your accelerator and your vehicle doesn’t move easily, there is a reason. Don’t press harder on the pedal or you will burn out your brakes. Just wait until they release on their own.
It will be very rare when you are required to use any of the switches in this top row. You can basically just ignore this entire row of switches except under unusual circumstances. Next, we move to the bottom row of switches where we find only one safety switch. It is a picture of a truck with an arrow running up and down. It is used to deflate the airbags on the back axels of the tractor to lower the tractor frame when dropping trailers or when hooking up extra low trailers. It should also be used to avoid losing all that nice new 5th wheel grease immediately after having your truck serviced.
We then move on to the heater / defroster controls. You should already know how to operate these so we will just skip to air conditioning. The bunk heater is perfect for keeping the truck warm all winter without running the engine, however, this is not the same in the summer. In order for you to have air conditioning, you need to run the truck since the bunk heater doesn’t control air conditioning. Beside the climate controls is the radio. This concludes the operator controls on the dash of the Volvo trucks. Next, we will move to control arms.
On the left side of the steering wheel is a control arm which operates your high beam headlights. Enabling your high beams will also cause a blue light to appear on your dash lights. Ensure your low beams are on at all times when other traffic is either in front of you or coming towards you. Don’t flash your high beams at others who may not realize theirs are on. Simply pay more attention to the right line, or fog line so their bright lights don’t distract you.
On the right side of the steering column are 2 additional control arms. One is for your windshield wipers and washers. You already know how to use this one so we will look at the second one. This control arm is for your engine brake which we call a “Jake Brake”. Technically: it is called a compression release engine brake and was originally built by Jacobs Vehicle Systems in 1965 which is where the name came from originally.
Jake brakes are illegal to use in most cities and towns so unless you are driving through the mountains, they should be turned off completely. “Off” is at the top followed by “A” which stands for automatic. This is then followed by the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 is low and only uses 20% of the braking ability. Level 2 is mid-way and uses % of the truck’s braking ability. Level 3 is high and uses the full 100% braking ability. The “B” means Brake Program Mode.
On vehicles with I-Shift or Powertronic, there is also a “B-button” that is used to activate the “brake program”. This function provides faster down-changes during braking. Please read the section on mountain driving very carefully prior to attempting to drive through the mountains.
The rest of the dash that we have not yet covered is your heat and defrost controls along with your radio controls. You already know how to use these control panels as part of your inside pre-trip inspection of the tractor. There are 2 other things that you will find that should be mentioned. The first is a tablet-like electronic device which is your electronic log device. You will be taught to use this as a hands-on exercise in the classroom. The next is a dashcam if your truck is equipped with one. If your truck doesn’t have a dashcam, ask the company to install one in your truck for you.
One more thing that will probably save you a world of inconvenience and frustration is the power disrupter switch or what we call a kill switch. It is a small black box located beside the driver’s seat near where the outside compartment release is. It is divided into 2 sections with a red button and a black button. If you press the red button, it will totally cut all electricity to the vehicle and even your power locks will not work. This should be used each time you leave the vehicle for more than 24 hours, so the fridge doesn’t burn out and stop working. It also prevents small shorts in the wiring from draining the battery charge leaving you unable to start the truck when you return to work. This kill switch is located on the Volvo trucks but not on the Kenworth.