was this one of you guys??

CavemanCharlie wrote:

Muddydogs wrote:
From what I see as soon as the trailer came through the tractor trailers wind cone the trailer started to sway, this is not uncommon especially since the truck looks to be a little tail heavy. A cross wind aggravates the situation although I couldn't tell from the video how much if any wind was present. If the driver had used the brake controller the trailer brake light should have lit up so I have to assume he never touched the brakes.

I would think instead of trashing the operator and providing no real useful information we as a group should be discussing this and maybe providing useful information that might help keep someone else out of this situation.

What I would have done in this situation, I have been here a couple times towing rigs for work that weren't set up quite right, is as soon as I felt the trailer start to sway I would have got my finger on the trailer brake controller and started to apply the trailer brakes which usually takes care of the problem right away. If I reacted to slow and the sway got excessive I would have applied the trailer brakes and powered up the truck to pull the trailer straight. Once the rig straightened out I would pull over and rework the hitch setup.

To tell you the truth passing a tractor trailer is my ultimate test of how well my truck trailer combo is set up. When I hook onto a new trailer I feel the rig out and avoid passing big rigs on the freeway until I have a feel of the combo and am confident that its set up right and running well. You know you have a good combo when you pass a big rig going down hill in a Wyoming cross wind and the trailer doesn't wiggle. From my experience speed isn't really an issue if the rig is set up right. As for the feel well its all in your rear. Your butt is connected to the seat and will give you the first indications that something is getting loose before you see it in the mirrors.

I agree with this.

Except I don't think the trailer brake lights come one when I apply the trailer brakes with the controller. I'm not sure though.

For those of you saying he should have hit his pickup brake that is the worst thing you can do. Actually, he did a purdy good job of hanging on to it. Maybe the trailer brakes were not hooked up?? We have no real way of knowing from that video what all the conditions were.

I agree. You are actually safer speeding up vs slowing down with a wagging trailer....that is if you can't get the trailer brake to engage first manually.