Using mirrors only on a 45 degree back?

It sounds like he was in a day cab and they didn't want him to look out the rear window. That makes sense since most road trucks don't have back windows and you wouldn't be able to see past the trailer/load anyway.

 

Lasat I did extreamly well in backing for my cdl test as well. However, How many hours did you drive before you tested? I know for me on test day at school I drove for maybe 45 minutes an hour around town while another student tested. Also, we tested in the same place we learned and practiced, with no obsticles. I am certain I would not have scored as well had I been driving for 6, 7, 8 maybe even 10 hours before the test, and in a different place with different obsticles. Also, we tested in volvo with a shorter wheel base and empty trailer.
It was all easier in school, I didn't drive 11 hours a day, or drive on 6 to 8 lane freeways, or up or down mountain passes, dealing with dispatch, shippers, recievers, DOT and other drivers, sleeping or at least trying to sleep in the truck with reefers kicking on and off and all the other noises. I still wake up several times a night.
Graduating truck driving school and getting you cdl is the easy part, and it is all different out here. The schools teach you the basics of driving a truck and to passthe cdl test. But compared to how it really is out here driving, well it is like going from grade school right to college.
My first hometime I SLEPT, that was pretty much it. Now I am in the middle, home is almost too quiet to sleep. Last time home, I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and almost started to get dressed, then I realized I didn't have to go outside across the lot, the bathroom is only a few steps a way and carpted!! What a treat.

 

I had a US Express driver take everything bolted on off of the left hand side of my tractor a few years ago. Instead of backing into the 4 or 5 empty doors to the left of me in an easy straight line back, he had to do a blind side right next to me. Also ripped his brand new trailer door off, then drove over it and backed into me again. Moral of the story is use those shiny things on the doors and GOAL if you ain't certain where that trailer tail is!

 

We were not allowed to have any part of our body out the window while backing. We were in a fairly confined area with several trucks maneuvering at the same time. I think someone there said it was a safety issue, but I am not really sure, either. I would think it was because they want you to become proficient in using your mirrors

 

I did not get to do anything over, the two points came from pull ups i made in the 100' alley to keep from hitting the line. there are no do overs on the test just like in real life once it's done it's done.

 

It's purely a safety issue. And DOT mandated during testing.

One day, I'll be allowed to watch one of those "testers" show me how a government approved pencil pusher would do it at a couple of our customers.

Sure, they may have a CDL. Anybody can get one......

 

fail

what good is looking out the back window gonna do when backing a trailer

hes talkin about hangin your head out the window to watch the trailer as u back

 

Yeah, exactly. That's why they would teach you not to do it if they were using one for practice.

Hanging your head out the window doesn't even work on trucks like mine, all you see is the exhaust stack. I do like having power mirrors though. It's real handy to be able to turn the mirror out to see.

 

LavenderTrucker
I had around 13 or so hours behind the wheel before i took my tests, and practicing the backing test every day for almost two weeks before testing. However that is how they do your training at JCC in NC. It is also a eight week class not one of those licence mills that guarantee you your licence you have to earn them. Not only did i have to pass the little DMV test witch is a joke, i had to pass the schooling part of it and that was alot harder because not only did you have the field and road training we also had to take three DOT quizzes, a map reading quiz, a size/weight quiz, skid control quiz, and two other quizzes. five different field test, a log test and the final written exam. So it was no walk in the clouds, it was alot of work and not every one in the class made it. Two of the five people taking the class for the second time still did not make it.

 

hanging your head out works in any truck up to a certain point, but once the trailer is that straight u dont look out the window anyway, thats when the mirrors come into play