i failed the alley dock for the third time! uggggh.....

Alley is hard,I had same issue too when I was in trucking school.I fail it twice until I got it the third time.keep working on it,you will get it.Good luck.

 

38' trailer. You training at Parker out of Avon?

 

Alley docking is really simple. You need to learn to read your trailer. Once you know how to move your trailer you can get it. Practice straight line backing and offsets to get it down; when you do these note that the small movements of your wheel left or right does alot and hard right or left turns are harder to correct. When I do sight side alley docking, the set up is very important:

I turn my wheel slightly to the right and reverse then turn right a bit more.

When I see my spot getting closer I make a hard right, and if I notice the trailer going to much left I correct by turning the wheel to the left a bit.

Once I get my trailer in the spot and left off my hard right and start turning to the left.

After you get your trailer lined up, pull forward if you need to then straight line back.

GOAL to make see how much more you need to reverse, then back it on in.

I hope this helps you, this is how I alley dock. It sounds to me like your having trouble reading the trailer. Before you test again, try getting some practice time in and reverse alot.

 

using a single axle with a 38' trailer will be hard for most, the shorter the length the faster the trailer will react to the wheel, hence the need to only turn the wheel a little bit. always stop turning BEFORE your trailer is where you want it, remember it is still moving in that same direction in the time it takes your brain to realize, react, and redo.

as jb^ says, set yourself up. move parallel to the alley, get your nose half way past it, then cut to the right, then to the left and stop. imagine you are a snake and you've slithered into a big backward S although not as pronounced. this sets up the end of the trailer to go right into the alley and minimizes how much you have to maneuver when you're pushing it back.

finally, train your eyes not to look all over while backing up. pick either the edge of the trailer wall, or one of the tandem tires, but not all three. use that one point of reference to guage where you are in relation to the edge of the alley or lines on the pavement. this will help you to aim where you want it to go.

 

Check out youtube for alley dock, so interesting backing videos. Might even get a pointer or 2 from watching them. Can see what they are doing right, or wrong.

 

This was a tough one, old paper printing place, downtown Detroit. Took a little doing. Forklift driver was kind enough to come spot for me. But remember don't always count on your spotter, check things for yourself.

 

In Idaho you only get 2 of each. If you hit a cone or go over a line you fail.

 

Not to sound righteous, but I really like that rule. I feel there are too many drivers who have their license and do not deserve one. Not saying that's what the situation is with you danny_379, but I agree you need to take time and learn more before another attempt.