Ten Bolts

Ten Bolts. Hardened steel, approximately 2 inches long 3/4 of an inch wide.


Ten Bolts, running through 4 holes on 2 pieces of steel.


Ten Bolts with a nut on the end, holding the 2 pieces of steel together.


Ten Bolts, day in and day out, doing their job.


Ten Bolts that handle an extreme amount of pressure.

Ten Bolts, that demand my attention every day, several times a day.

Ten bolts that I hope YOU will pay attention to as well.


I check these ten bolts every day. I inspect them closely, looking for cracks or any part of them that might be shiny, for shiny metal means newly exposed metal, and THAT is one thing I NEVER want to see from these ten bolts.


Ten bolts that stand between you, me and a potentially really bad day.


Why do I obsess about these ten bolts? Well, let me tell you why I care so much about these ten little bolts.


Ever seen a truck without a trailer driving down the road? See that big Horseshoe looking plate on the back of it. That is called a 5th Wheel, and that is what holds a trailer onto a truck. This 5th wheel is attached to the frame of the truck using just ten little bolts.


An empty trailer weighs around 17,000 lbs. Fully loaded, it can weight 63,000 lbs. Imagine if that fell off the back of the truck while the truck was traveling down the highway at 65 miles per hour. It happens, I have seen it happen , and it scared the poop out of me.


The first thing that happens is the brakes lock up. When the trailer disconnects from the tractor, it rips the airlines off. This releases the air from the brakes and they immediately lock up. So not only has the trailer decided to go for a ride, but it has done it while screeching to an out-of-control stop.

And guess what. IT does not stay in a straight line. It will slip, slide and bounce every which way! Never good at highway speeds!

Now if this trailer is fully loaded, the momentum that this thing has will carry it quite a way in whatever direction it has decided to travel. Hopefully, straight into a ditch and not into a family on their way to Wally World!

That is why before I start my day, and periodically throughout the day, I check not only these ten bolts but also my tires, my brakes and anything else that I feel may affect my ability to drive safely down the road and protect the motoring public. The list of things I am mandated to check before I start my day is fairly long, but I do it every day to help assure the days safe completion. But even the closest inspection does not mean a disaster will never happen.

Let me tell you what happened to my one evening in Des Moines, Iowa. I hooked up to another trailer after dropping my load in the specified dock. I performed what is called a tug test, where once the trailer and the tractor are connected you put the truck in gear and PULL against the pin that holds the trailer to the tractor. I also visually inspected the connection, and those pesky ten bolts.

After performing a few other tests which I will not bore you with, I began my journey to the gate leading out to the main road. I reached the gate, made my right hand turn, and watched my mirrors in horror as the trailer STILL came off the 5th wheel. The cause was probably the rough parking lot I had to travel through to get to the gate. Who knows? It was secure when I pulled from the dock and it was NOT when I hit the street. Fortunately I was moving slow and saw the trailer coming off before it was all the way off. Tragedy and a long, long day were averted.

So I have said all that to make this point. The next time you are passing a truck, and you decide to take your time, or maybe even just hang out there for a while, think of this.....

Ten Bolts........how comfortable am I with my life in the hands of this truck driver I do not know, and those ten little bolts?