Trailer separations occur in North America at a rate of more than two and a half per day, says Premier Manufacturing, but the company said it hopes their Saf-T-Latch leads to fewer accidents.
The Saf-T-Latch, No. 820ELA, is connected to a Premier air chamber. If a driver forgets to close the hitch manually, the coupling is designed to close when the emergency brake is released.
“This new product is intended to be a fail-safe in the event an operator forgets to close the latch on the hitch,” said Paul Grycko, president, Premier Manufacturing. “We have no doubt this product will reduce the number of disconnects occurring, which improves industry safety.”
Premier said it has had discussions with fleets to develop a product like the 820ELA to further enhance their own current safety protocols.
“Fleets have approached us and asked that we help find a solution to trailer separation events,” Grycko said. “We think the new 820ELA is an additional safety measure that will help do that.”
Premier highlighted that it is always the responsibility of the person making the coupling connection to ensure the latch is closed and the driver’s responsibility to verify that the equipment is correctly connected before moving the vehicle. If the coupling is not properly closed, the 820ELA is there to help avoid a catastrophic failure.
