If the rust spots are evenly spaced, you can use surface stitches to cover them. Good stitches might be Smyrna cross stitch, satin-stitch heart, queen stitch, satin stitch lozenges/triangles, palestrina knots, etc. If the spots are not evenly spaced, balance the design by adding extra stitches between the spots.
Fortunately, most states require drivers to equip their trailers with brakes and devices known as brake controllers. When a driver presses on the brake pedal in his truck, the brake controller lets the trailer's brake system know how much braking power is needed to stop the trailer.
From the drivers seat you can control the rate of brake application from soft to aggressive my simply moving the control forward or backward. Most controllers also have a manual over-ride device which allows the user to apply the trailers brakes independently of the vehicles brakes.