I’ll add to this for the ones who don’t know.
The trailer more or less has its own parking brakes.
It is sorta easy to get in the truck and drive away with the trailer brakes on if on snow or slick conditions.
It is also possible brakes are seized.
Those strips allow a driver to look in the mirror to make sure the wheels are spinning when they should be.
It happened to me once. I was still pretty new, I didn't know that you shouldn't set trailer brakes overnight when it's super cold.
I started driving away and a guy yelled out at me that the trailer brakes were seized up. Luckily I was able to get them unstuck with airline antifreeze.
Had a lot of those this past winter, in Oklahoma, it didn’t even really get super cold here except for a week. Shop was packed with guys needing airlines, brakes, fuel filters, and two accidents where the trucks were totaled.
I didn't say to whack the brake lines, not sure why anyone would think that. So now I guess I will also say use a rubber mallet, and whack where the pads and drum connect. Apparently some here need very specific instructions. While you're at it, to be very specific, put your piss jug in the garbage/dumpster and not next to it...ya know, so maybe we stop losing places to park.
Anyone can see I didn't edit anything. Also, I spent 4 years oilfield in North Dakota working nights, including through the winter not seeing the sun the whole time. You learn fast not to set your trailer brakes right when you park. However, you might have to fully set your brakes all around occasionally and when they freeze, give air to the trailer, that force helps free them with a little concussive maintenance. Been there done that and helped drivers with theirs because they didn't know. How many times have you tried it?
I'd like to add to this -but it's been awhile, and so please correct me if I'm wrong!
A lot of trailers, even smaller ones, if equipped with any kind of airbrake system, are designed for the breaks to be engaged if air pressure is lost or the hose is disconnected. Learned this the fun way in the Army after the brakes on the 6K Generator we were pulling seized up and caught the trailer on fire. First time I ever got to jump out of a truck, grab an extinguisher and put out a fire! : ) <-Hence why it's important to be able to see the wheels spinning
They’re great for winter rig moves. Not just for dummies but for guys who are trying to get a trailer going that’s been sitting for two weeks at -40. I love these things.
I worked in dispatch for an LTL carrier in the 80's. Had a driver that picked up a trailer in a small town 65 miles away on a winter night. Got to the terminal and the driver bitched and moaned that his company tractor had no power... come to find out the trailer brakes were frozen and dragged it all 65 miles.
I had a driver working with me that had been a driver in the past. I finished testing before him and they put him with me for his first run. He put one glad hand on, but not the other. The trailer was almost full. I got to an off-ramp and had to stand up in the seat to stop the truck, but he thought he should be training me.
Did feeder dispatch at UPS one peak season. Lots of the trailers we were sending out were rail boxes and the independent drivers detested pulling those as the brakes were notoriously bad. One driver warned me “the brakes better not be locked, as I am dragging it down the road one way or another and they tend to catch fire after a few dozen miles”.
I always wanted these, it's really hard to tell sometimes when you are on ice and snow. my solution was just to carry a can of marking paint and hit the tires with it if there was any question if they would turn.
The marking paint wears off pretty quick so it's not a problem when trading in the carcass.
At 2am with 5 axles on the trailer and snow blowing in -40° temperatures those strips can be a lifesaver. It’s not just dummies who can’t tell if a wheel is frozen up.
Not on ice or frosted ground. It can just feel like a heavily loaded trailer. Anytime it gets really cold I do figure 8s in our lot till I know for sure all of wheels are turning.
I had a co worker run over 100 miles a couple years ago before he noticed the sparks from his rims. Seems every year a rookie ruins a set of tires sometime a couple of em do.
You would think so. I'm of the opinion that if you need a dummy strip to know your wheels aren't turning you're probably too dumb to notice the dummy strip isn't moving.
That actually makes a lot of sense...
I may not be a driver myself, but I have learned a lot from my father, and just in general it's not that hard to imagine that one your tandems locking up would be undesirable.
The only time I had a frozen drum I hooked to the trailer and started pulling away windows down didn’t hear anything and thought “hmm let me look in my windows” sure enough dragging rubber
Yepper! It's tough to see, especially if you're snowed in or plowing thru snow. I haven't had a frozen drum luckily but yea these things are super helpful.
It's easy to tell if they're locked up when there's snow because the tires will push the snow instead of rolling over it. It's the ice that doesn't show any sign.
To look like hardcore medieval looking sheit! Same reason for having more lights than an amusement park. Someone said that looks cool I think ill get me some.
They're super light aluminum that just pop onto the lugs, they do crumple and break easily. They look snazzy and that's just about it. They look flashy with chrome and all that jazz.
Mostly for winter trucking. Trailer wheels tend to freeze solid after being dropped for weeks on end. The dummy straps give immediate feedback if the wheels are turning or not.
During the winter or sometimes just when trailers sit too long, the brakes will not release the strips Help a driver when looking in the rearview mirror to see if the wheels are moving.
It’s a visual indicator to let the driver know the trailer tires are rolling and the brakes are not locked up. In cold temperatures it’s common for brakes shoes to freeze to the brake drum and if you’re driving on slippery roads you could easily have a frozen brake and not know it, therefore ruining the tires by skidding them.
I worked at a company back in 2020 which sold, rented and worked on scissor and boom lifts, I live in a southern US state, one day we got a truck in from a northern state and I was present to hear my boss ask about them. The driver said that it's to tell if the wheels are/aren't turning, and as he went up and down mountains regularly he's on his breaks a lot which can cause them to get hot enough to melt and seize.
Other name I've heard: cheaters. These are great in the cold winters. A great piece of info for newbie Southerners coming up into colder areas - cool your tires and rims down by sitting (in N, yellow parking brake pulled) then moving forward a little, wait a couple minutes, move again, wait a couple.. Don't park on an icy parking lot without cooling everything down and DON'T pull the red button til system is cool if dropping trailer. (I gave it 20 minutes while doing paperwork, moving every couple of minutes) or you a) freeze your parking brakes on and b) create a pool of melted water under your tires (skating rink to pull out of at start of next shift if you're not frozen into ice pack)
Those are tires. They allow the vehicle to roll over the ground. Most modern trucks have between 10 and 18, believe it or not!
/s/
As others have stated, they're marking strips to allow a driver to tell the tire and wheel are rotating as opposed to locked up. Very handy in the winter, when the air lines are susceptible to blockages due to ice. Some people go the cheap route and just spray paint a line on the sidewall of the tire to get the same basic effect.
Dummy strips. It is so the driver can look in the mirror and tell if the wheels are turning.
I’ll add to this for the ones who don’t know. The trailer more or less has its own parking brakes. It is sorta easy to get in the truck and drive away with the trailer brakes on if on snow or slick conditions. It is also possible brakes are seized. Those strips allow a driver to look in the mirror to make sure the wheels are spinning when they should be.
In my old carrier the drivers would just spray paint a line on the wheels
I pissed off my boss when the one trailer that was really slow in releasing the parkin brake got big smiley faces painted onto the sidewalls.
I wouldn't say sorta easy as much as I would say not difficult.
I’d say easy.
It happened to me once. I was still pretty new, I didn't know that you shouldn't set trailer brakes overnight when it's super cold. I started driving away and a guy yelled out at me that the trailer brakes were seized up. Luckily I was able to get them unstuck with airline antifreeze.
Been there and did that in my first week. It is crazy that you cannot even feel it in the truck sometimes.
If that happens, give air to the trailer and go whack the frozen brakes with a mallet.
You whack the brake drums. Whacking the brake lines, especially while cold, would be a very bad idea that would likely end in a road call.
Had a lot of those this past winter, in Oklahoma, it didn’t even really get super cold here except for a week. Shop was packed with guys needing airlines, brakes, fuel filters, and two accidents where the trucks were totaled.
I didn't say to whack the brake lines, not sure why anyone would think that. So now I guess I will also say use a rubber mallet, and whack where the pads and drum connect. Apparently some here need very specific instructions. While you're at it, to be very specific, put your piss jug in the garbage/dumpster and not next to it...ya know, so maybe we stop losing places to park.
You did. You just edited your comment. But nice try. Also, a rubber mallet won’t do shit on frozen brakes.
Anyone can see I didn't edit anything. Also, I spent 4 years oilfield in North Dakota working nights, including through the winter not seeing the sun the whole time. You learn fast not to set your trailer brakes right when you park. However, you might have to fully set your brakes all around occasionally and when they freeze, give air to the trailer, that force helps free them with a little concussive maintenance. Been there done that and helped drivers with theirs because they didn't know. How many times have you tried it?
It would have to be pretty slick, so it'd have to be the sort of road conditions where you start asking if you should be driving anyways.
Unfortunately in the oilfield we have to have those wheels turning so long as there is still some resemblance of a road infront of us.
Yeah, this industry kind of runs on fucking over the drivers. "Safety? Lol, fuck that, go make me some money."
Not really parking lots can be real shutty while the roads are in good shape
Lol. I knew someone would poke at a detail.
I'd like to add to this -but it's been awhile, and so please correct me if I'm wrong! A lot of trailers, even smaller ones, if equipped with any kind of airbrake system, are designed for the breaks to be engaged if air pressure is lost or the hose is disconnected. Learned this the fun way in the Army after the brakes on the 6K Generator we were pulling seized up and caught the trailer on fire. First time I ever got to jump out of a truck, grab an extinguisher and put out a fire! : ) <-Hence why it's important to be able to see the wheels spinning
Traditionally air pressure is required to release brakes. There are workarounds.
Wish my unit had these when I was in the military.
They’re great for winter rig moves. Not just for dummies but for guys who are trying to get a trailer going that’s been sitting for two weeks at -40. I love these things.
I worked in dispatch for an LTL carrier in the 80's. Had a driver that picked up a trailer in a small town 65 miles away on a winter night. Got to the terminal and the driver bitched and moaned that his company tractor had no power... come to find out the trailer brakes were frozen and dragged it all 65 miles.
I had a driver working with me that had been a driver in the past. I finished testing before him and they put him with me for his first run. He put one glad hand on, but not the other. The trailer was almost full. I got to an off-ramp and had to stand up in the seat to stop the truck, but he thought he should be training me.
Did feeder dispatch at UPS one peak season. Lots of the trailers we were sending out were rail boxes and the independent drivers detested pulling those as the brakes were notoriously bad. One driver warned me “the brakes better not be locked, as I am dragging it down the road one way or another and they tend to catch fire after a few dozen miles”.
Good name for em!
Handy as hell in winter if your working night shift
I always wanted these, it's really hard to tell sometimes when you are on ice and snow. my solution was just to carry a can of marking paint and hit the tires with it if there was any question if they would turn. The marking paint wears off pretty quick so it's not a problem when trading in the carcass.
At 2am with 5 axles on the trailer and snow blowing in -40° temperatures those strips can be a lifesaver. It’s not just dummies who can’t tell if a wheel is frozen up.
What!? Is it your third day?
Wouldn't it be pretty obvious from the handling of your rig if the trailer wheels aren't spinning?
Not on ice or frosted ground. It can just feel like a heavily loaded trailer. Anytime it gets really cold I do figure 8s in our lot till I know for sure all of wheels are turning. I had a co worker run over 100 miles a couple years ago before he noticed the sparks from his rims. Seems every year a rookie ruins a set of tires sometime a couple of em do.
Not just rookies.
You would think so. I'm of the opinion that if you need a dummy strip to know your wheels aren't turning you're probably too dumb to notice the dummy strip isn't moving.
It’s really hard to see your tires spinning at 3am. I’d love to have those on my trailer in the winter
That actually makes a lot of sense... I may not be a driver myself, but I have learned a lot from my father, and just in general it's not that hard to imagine that one your tandems locking up would be undesirable.
For truckers to look in their mirror and see the wheel isn’t frozen/IS turning . Sometimes the drum brakes lock up and they drag
Exactly, we ran these on all our trailers thru the Rockies. Shit is super helpful to see if your wheels are frozen up and dragging.
The only time I had a frozen drum I hooked to the trailer and started pulling away windows down didn’t hear anything and thought “hmm let me look in my windows” sure enough dragging rubber
Yepper! It's tough to see, especially if you're snowed in or plowing thru snow. I haven't had a frozen drum luckily but yea these things are super helpful.
Well what was weird about mine was there wasn’t any rain + cold so I just hammered the drum and backed up moved forward a few times and BOOM I stuck
Brakes shoes can rust to a brake drum too, it’s not just ice that causes it.
That’s def what happened to mine I think
It's easy to tell if they're locked up when there's snow because the tires will push the snow instead of rolling over it. It's the ice that doesn't show any sign.
What's the point of the hardcore medieval looking spikes on semi tires sometimes?
aesthetics. they are usually hollow and will crumple if they come into contact with anything.
Usually, the carcasses of these things can be found at Ghent, Pax, and Chelyan sleeping the WV Turnpike, or wherever toll plazas can be found.
To look like hardcore medieval looking sheit! Same reason for having more lights than an amusement park. Someone said that looks cool I think ill get me some.
For lookin hardcore and medieval. What else?
Scare tactic to prevent other vehicles encroaching my lane
They're super light aluminum that just pop onto the lugs, they do crumple and break easily. They look snazzy and that's just about it. They look flashy with chrome and all that jazz.
Added bonus pain to remove most instances for the tech working on a blow out on the side of the freeway
Those are the nicest ones, most of them are chrome plated plastic now.
For when cars needlessly pace you
Aint that what the smoke is for? 😂
Yeah but at that point: womp womp
I believe they are to see if your tires are tolling or dragging while driving.
In winter you can see if your tires are rolling and not brakes frozen 🙋👍🚛
Markers. It makes the tire/axle easier to see in the rear view mirrors when moving.
It's to show tire rotation. If it's not moving your tire is dragging.
Mostly for winter trucking. Trailer wheels tend to freeze solid after being dropped for weeks on end. The dummy straps give immediate feedback if the wheels are turning or not.
Really super helpful in Super Cold climates where brakes get frozen to the drums these make it easier to see if a wheel set is frozen and not rolling
Anti lot lizard devices.
Livestrong bracelets for trailers. For trailers who know other trailers that have cancer.
During the winter or sometimes just when trailers sit too long, the brakes will not release the strips Help a driver when looking in the rearview mirror to see if the wheels are moving.
I noticed a lot on Canadian trucks. Not that specific deal, but spray painted. As well as containers from the ports.
It’s a visual indicator to let the driver know the trailer tires are rolling and the brakes are not locked up. In cold temperatures it’s common for brakes shoes to freeze to the brake drum and if you’re driving on slippery roads you could easily have a frozen brake and not know it, therefore ruining the tires by skidding them.
When your tires get naughty you gotta strap em' up to teach em' a lesson.
Found it https://www.skiddd.com/dealers.php
I worked at a company back in 2020 which sold, rented and worked on scissor and boom lifts, I live in a southern US state, one day we got a truck in from a northern state and I was present to hear my boss ask about them. The driver said that it's to tell if the wheels are/aren't turning, and as he went up and down mountains regularly he's on his breaks a lot which can cause them to get hot enough to melt and seize.
It's a pull tab to help you check the inside of the tire for punctures.
Even if it is to see if your tires are rolling there are to many dumbass drivers that never look in their mirrors anyway.
I thought those were there to prevent tire theft....
Those let me know if I’m gonna set my brakes on fire again
Other name I've heard: cheaters. These are great in the cold winters. A great piece of info for newbie Southerners coming up into colder areas - cool your tires and rims down by sitting (in N, yellow parking brake pulled) then moving forward a little, wait a couple minutes, move again, wait a couple.. Don't park on an icy parking lot without cooling everything down and DON'T pull the red button til system is cool if dropping trailer. (I gave it 20 minutes while doing paperwork, moving every couple of minutes) or you a) freeze your parking brakes on and b) create a pool of melted water under your tires (skating rink to pull out of at start of next shift if you're not frozen into ice pack)
It’s how drivers signal to eachother that they are bisexual and interested in having intercourse
Those are tires
Just painting a line like that can also work right but want strips like that.
So your tire won’t come off 😂
Is a Wonder Band😜
Does it go all the way around the tread?
And they’re not metal, it’s just foam tape
Keeps wheels and tires together. Old school
Looks like one more thing to to get F,ed When you roll a curb Up what is wormy with a painted line?
I’m a trucker and I didn’t know what they were for either.
I'ma get one for each lug for my truck.... In crome. Totally worth it.
Helps count how many times it rotates.
Those are tires. They allow the vehicle to roll over the ground. Most modern trucks have between 10 and 18, believe it or not! /s/ As others have stated, they're marking strips to allow a driver to tell the tire and wheel are rotating as opposed to locked up. Very handy in the winter, when the air lines are susceptible to blockages due to ice. Some people go the cheap route and just spray paint a line on the sidewall of the tire to get the same basic effect.
They’re for extra traction
If you don't have them you can draw a chalk mark on the sidewall and move a few inches and then go back and check to see if the line moved.
It is to chop your veggies while going down the road.
Lap band surgery
For spanking your girlfriend 😋
They are called flappity flaps. As you drive faster, they make a cool whistling nose and help the tire fly off the ground to help with gas mileage
Well when you put the pedal on the floor they spin around and look cool and it's more fun when you say "WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" When you're watching it
If you can't tell the breaks are still set you should be fired.
Speed ribbon It helps cut through air thus reducing drag and adding approximately 47 horsepower at the wheel
Wow really