Truckers -
a) What is a glad-hand? I WAG it’s the quick-connects between the cab and trailer?
b) Why do some trucks have a tiny door built within the back doors of the trailer? What purpose does it serve?
c) What does this mean? “I’m not tailgating; I’m drafting”
This appeared on the back of a truck I saw. Is this some kind of a trucker’s joke or trucker’s jargon?
Thanks,
Jinx
I can only answer the last one. Truckers often drive directly behind other trucks to “draft” which saves fuel by allowing the lead truck to push through the wind and the following trucks save the effort.
I suspect it’s a joke, explaining why they are tailgating cars which really don’t provide any drafting benefit.
I don’t know about the first two, but it is possible to draft off of a truck. It’s a lot like auto/bicycle racing, if you are behind a racer you can work less and maintain the same speed by dropping into his slipstream. You can also use the momentum to pass the racer. So the bumpersticker is a lame HA HA joke.
Just got off the phone with (former)Roommate (a professional truck driver) who is driving a semi right now (he was at a rest area, and could chat for a moment). His answers:
What is a glad-hand?
The hose connection between the tractor and the trailer. This is for the air pressure for the brakes in the back. Disconnect 'em, no brakes. This is a verrrrrry baaaaad thing.
Called a ‘glad-hand’ because the connection looks like it is shaking hands (so he was told years ago).
Why do some trucks have a tiny door built within the back doors of the trailer? What purpose does it serve?
Useful for checking cargo without opening the whole door, making sure the cargo has not shifted. Not as useful when you have a full load.
More often used to check the temperature in a refrigerated (“reefer” or “ice-box”) trailer without opening the door and allowing the cold to escape.
What does this mean? “I’m not tailgating; I’m drafting”
This appeared on the back of a truck I saw. Is this some kind of a trucker’s joke or trucker’s jargon?
Drafting is real - at times a truck can get so close as to ride the air stream of the truck ahead of it, just as race cars do on the track, or a baby dolphin cruising in its mother’s wake: less work is done and less energy is spent for the same distance.
Unfortunately, in the amount of fuel saved is negligible compared to the damage caused when one truck smashes into the vehicle ahead of it (it takes a good amount of dry pavement for an empty tractor-trailer to stop: add more time and distance for a loaded trailer and/or slick/stony pavement).
Hope this helps.
Thanks, everyone. I knew about the “drafting” phenomenon, but I did not know what it was called. (I assumed they weren’t talking about mechanical drawings!)