articulated trucks and trailers.docVIP

Something about articulated trucks and trailers Coupling and uncoupling The cargo trailer is, by means of a king pin, hooked to a horseshoe-shaped quick-release coupling device called a fifth wheel or a turntable hitch at the rear of the towing engine that allows easy hook up and release. The truck trailer cannot move by itself because it only has wheels at the rear end, hence the name semi-trailer: it requires a forward axle, provided by the towing engine, to carry half the load weight. The vehicle has a tendency to fold at the pivot point between the semi and the trailer when braking hard at high speeds. Such a truck accident is called a trailer swing, although it is commonly described as a jackknife. Jackknifing is a condition where the tractive unit swings round against the trailer: not vice-versa. See: jackknifing. Braking Semi trucks use air pressure, rather than hydraulic fluid, to actuate the brakes mainly due to the much larger braking forces required. This also allows for ease of coupling and uncoupling of trailers from the tractor unit, as well as reducing the potential for problems common to hydraulic systems, such as leakage or brake failure caused when overheated brake fluid vaporizes in the hydraulic lines. The most common failure is brake fade, usually caused when the drums or discs and the linings of the brakes overheat from excessive use. The parking brake of the tractor unit and the emergency brakes of the trailer are spring brakes that require air pressure in order to be released. They are applied when air pressure is released from the system, and disengaged when air pressure is supplied. This is an emergency feature which ensures that if air pressure to either unit is lost, the trailer will stop to a grinding halt instead of not stopping and becoming uncontrollable. Left A view of semi-trailer Suzies at the back of an Australian prime mover. The red line is emergency/supply and the blue is control line The trailer controls are coupled to the