General Safety Infomation
! WARNING
If the door opens, your cargo may be ejected onto the road,
resulting in death or serious injury to other drivers.
Always secure the door latch after closing. Place a linchpin in the
catch.
INAPPROPRIATE CARGO
Your trailer may be designed for specific cargo. If your trailer is designed for
specific cargo, only carry that cargo in the trailer. A trailer must not be used to carry
certain items, such as people, containers of hazardous substances or containers of
flammable substances.
! WARNING
Never transport people inside or on your trailer. Besides putting
their lives at risk, the transport of people in a trailer is illegal.
! WARNING
Do not transport flammable, explosive, poisonous or other
dangerous materials in your trailer.
The exception is fuel in the tank of a vehicle or equipment being
hauled.
INOPERABLE BRAKES OR LIGHTS
Be sure that the electric brakes and all of the lights on your trailer are functioning
properly before towing your trailer. Electric brakes and lights on a trailer are
controlled via a connection to the tow vehicle, generally a multi-pin electrical
connector. Check the trailer tail lights by turning on your tow vehicle headlights.
Check the trailer brake lights by having someone step on the tow vehicle brake
pedal while you look at trailer lights. Do the same thing to check the turn signal
lights.
If your trailer has electric brakes, your tow vehicle will have an electric brake
controller that sends power to the trailer brakes. Before towing the trailer on the
road, you must operate the brake controller while trying to pull the trailer in order to
confirm that the electric brakes operate. While towing the trailer at less than 5 mph,
manually operate the electric brake controller in the tow vehicle cab. You should
feel the operation of the trailer brakes.
If your trailer has hydraulic “surge” brakes, pull the emergency breakaway brake
lanyard to check the operation of the surge mechanism.
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