Learn from mistakes

I would like to be able to say I never made a mistake, but we all know that's just not true. To err is human.  Learning from my mistakes is a good thing. Learning from the mistakes made by others is a really good thing.  It's a lot less painful.

Not too long ago a friend backed up to his fifth wheel trailer at a crowded campground to hitch up and head home.  After raising the front jacks and thereby lowering the trailer onto the hitch in the bed of his truck, he did a visual check to make sure all was as it should be before pulling out.  He made it about two feet before the trailer came loose from the hitch and landed on the bed of his truck. Both the truck and trailer were damaged as was his pride, I am sure.

Here is what had happened.  You may have noticed that all the parts of a fifth wheel hitch are usually painted black. In the shade or dim light it can easily appear to be properly connected and latched. When he did his visual inspection everything looked fine, but in reality he had secured the hitch without the pin from the trailer being engaged behind the locking mechanism. It was on top of it.  When he pulled away all hell broke loose, so to speak.  Later, as we discussed it, he suggested that the actual locking parts of the hitch ought to be painted a different color so it would be easier to see if things were connected as they should be.

That is exactly what I did today. Now, if I am properly hitched, I should see the white pin with a red locking mechanism in place. Hopefully the same thing won't happen to me.  The campgrounds are all pretty crowded this time of year and that would be a really embarrassing thing to have happen.

We hope to see you on the road soon.