alley docking

Few tips my instructors told me:

Right (turn) is wrong 90% of time
drive axle 3 and not the drive axle (axle 2 )
If you need to pull up, pull up to the left and not the right
When you pull up, pull the f' up, don't pull up just a few feet, it will not help much
when in doubt, get out and check.

 

Here ya go...sharing again...luckily I have this typed out, saved, and ready to go:

Use the steering wheel to your advantage! Everybody teaches "steer the opposite direction"...bad thinking, poor instruction!

Your visual part of your brain is already doing a "reversal" with all the information coming in through the eye...it has to reverse the image to be processed. So when you try to think "opposite" you actually are stressing yourself a bit more. Here is the trick I taught all my students for 15 years:

The top of the steering wheel turns the direction you want going forward, the bottom of the steering wheel turns the direction you want to turn going backwards.

The set up is the most important part of backing into a dock or parking location. Let's learn what I call the "Banana Profile":
1. With the units in a straight configuration, drive across the front of the location until the space between the tractor and trailer is at the midpoint of your location.
2. As you cross this midpoint, turn right to a 45 degree angle away from the point. Drive straight (45 degrees from the location) until the tandems are at the midpoint of the location. (You must be watching your driver’s side mirror) As the tandems attain the midpoint turn the wheel left (again) to put a bend in the tractor/trailer until you have achieved the "Banana Profile". (The tractor/trailer has the same shape as a banana.) Now straighten up and continue until you have clearance of the driver’s side rear corner of the trailer and the location the trailer will be backing into.
3. At this point, you should be able to smoothly "track" right into the "hole". Just visualize the line and adjust the turn aspect (declining) as you enter the hole and straighten up as you go.

LET THE TRAILER DO THE WORK...ADJUST TO THE TRAILER, DON'T FORCE THE TURN MOVEMENT BY OVER STEERING. The longer the trailer, the more time it will take to show its movement. Don't get anxious, be patient, and let the trailer make some movement, then you correct the tractor to the movement of the trailer.

1. When backing, place your hand palm down on the center bottom of the steering wheel.
2. Use the bottom as your guide for the direction you want the back of the trailer to move.
3. Having your hand, palm down, gripping the wheel will prevent you (with the natural limits of movement) from over-steering. DO NOT LET GO OF THE WHEEL!
4. Grip the window post (the separation bar between the wing window and the door window) with your left hand, and again, DON'T LET GO. This "anchor" stops you from moving around in your seat...every time you move it changes the visual perspective in your mirrors...SIT STILL!
5. A tractor/trailer combination will NEVER back in a straight line...you need to "add" and "subtract" turn movement constantly. A little adjustment either way will keep the units straight and where you want to go.
6. If there is no "guide line" painted on the surface, visualize the straight line you want to line the driver’s side (sight side) of the trailer then the tractor onto.
7. When you start backing, pay attention to the tandems (trailer wheels)...these are your first and primary points of lining up the unit. As soon as the tandems have gone into the box, begin reducing the turn aspect of the tractor (bring the nose around to the "square line" with the trailer. Now change your focus to the midpoint of the trailer...just before the midpoint gets to the "line", get the tractor square with the trailer so there is no turn occurring...you have achieved the aspect of straight line backing once the tractor is square with the trailer and the midpoint of the trailer is in the box.
8. Keep in mind there are 3 "pivot points" to a tractor/trailer combination.
8a. Tandems are the rear pivot.
8b. King pin (drive wheels) is the center pivot.
8c. Steer tires are the forward pivot.
To move the tractor trailer either direction (right or left) you must accomplish an "S" configuration/movement with the tractor/trailer. Which direction you need to move the units is the direction you begin the movement. (This is for forward adjustments...if you have not centered the units in the dock.) To move it will require 3 steering movements...make sure the movement is sufficient (far enough forward in distance) to achieve the moving distance required (right or left). Just imagine you are driving on an "S" painted on the ground and follow it COMPLETELY.

 

if i was a newb this info would definetly help... great info

 

If you can straightback you can alleydock since it is the same thing The only difference is that you are allowing your trailer to sway more. If you know how to turn in the opposite direction to make your trailer go left/right, then if you have to alley dock to the left, turn harder to the right until your trailer wheel gets lined up to the hole you want to back into. Then act like you are straight backing and straighten up your truck. Alleydock was hard for me in school too, but I can do it now while talking on the phone and sipping a milk shake without a pull up. You will master it too when you are out on your own. When you are all alone you can spend all day and night screwing up until you finally see your mistake and remember how to correct it next time.

 

I just finished school with MTI Richfield, WI. The alley back was also my issue. I could nail the offset but the alley gave me fits. I drove buses and motorcoaches for 7 years and they always did what I told them too. These trucks are speaking a different language. LOL. Good luck! I start with a trainer sometime this week after orientation. I'll get lots of practice then.

 

The key is to get good at backing in odd situations. I almost never have room to make a full 9 and 12. The key is looking at what room you have then figuring out how to get the trailer where it needs to be. In any backing the key is to get one side of your trailer lined up to the spot. Once the pivot tire ( generaly back tire) passes the front of the spot kick the tractor around hard to straiten the trailer. Once it's almost strait, kick the cab around. Remember everything is backwards.

Send from my dumb iPhone

 

Pivot tire? Really?

All 8 (or four) tires pivot off of 1?

Me thinks you need to watch someone backing into a dock (hole) and pay attention to the actual pivot point(s)!

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Go slow. especially when learning. Remember that its nothing like a car where the machine responds almost instantly. When you move the wheel, the truck has to move a bit before the trailer will show the response. Everybody has an area that might give them a little trouble at first. When I was learning I could do alley docking with my eyes closed after just a few hours. But making a right hand turn going forward? oh brother, The instructor had to keep telling me " You just went over the curb again" Then there was a classmate who could not seem to learn shifting gears. The first time he did it without grinding the teacher said "That has to be like an out of body experience for you"

Don't sweat it. It'll come.