Straight line backing

Buy a small toy truck and trailer (Ok, don't laugh yet)- anytime you're in a tough situation, grab a sheet of paper- put your permit book in the steering wheel to use as a desk, put the paper on it with a quick drawing of the dock you're backing into. Back the toy truck in on your steering wheel- this makes you focus on the whole truck and not just your cab. Makes it easier and gives you an edge.

And a toy to play with while waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive.

 

OP, just take her nice and slow in the training process. Most newbies over-react on the steering wheel backing. You drive forward in a straight line you don't move the wheel. Reverse should just be the opposite with minimal corrections in a straight line. Learn to use visual aids like painted lines, old tire marks, expansion joints in concrete, etc to aid in your trailer tire track if need be. The set up is the most important. As you approach where you are going to back, look right and get a visual what is straight across from the dock and make your wide swing into that spot. Then you will be pretty close to a straight in back. Never be ashamed to take a pullup and realign if you are off. Even the best do it. Nothing will happen overnight. Practice makes perfect.

 

That sounds stupid, but it does work. We had a woman in school that failed the backing test twice. She was on her last try. The instructor asked me to work with her. We went to Walmart and bought a toy 18 wheeler and went back to the motel. Kinky huh, lol. JK. After that she got the concept and passed the test the next day.

 

Not a thing to prove fella,my ##### is paid for,
ALL OF IT!,likely because I never would do anything the truckin forum way.
Point is ,some continue to appear as . . . .

 

Really Now
Reality 101 No Doubt . . . . . . . .

 

What helped me was watching the numbers on the trailer. When they start to dissapear or you see too much your getting crooked.

 

Not to sound like an ##### but if you cant get straight line backing down you dont belong behind the wheel of a truck.... The only advice i can offer is once you see your trailer start to tinge to the side steer at it to correct it all it takes is light steady turns of the wheel. I will also admit that straight line backing becomes even harder out of school... backing is a pain in the neck when the cones arent there to guide you. Also make sure your mirrors are properly adjusted... if there not it may even look like your doing it but the mirrors play with you on it.

 

I see some people have no idea what it's like on a paving crew. 10mph? Hah! Put it in high range, floor it, and hope you can keep up with that spreader. Then when you do catch it, you get to sit there in neutral while they drag you backwards at full speed. Oh yeah, this while running the controls for the dump cause you better not let that machine run out of rock either.

 

I just went through this at C-1, drivers solutions in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. When backing up.......DO NOT use the passenger mirror. Most of the image in that mirror makes it look like you are drifting back right. Keep your eye on your rear tandem wheels, when they fade out of sight turn right Just about four inches on the wheel) and then back when they come back into view. I found that the slop/play in the steerring wheel was a problem. When I weaved the wheel back and forth in between the slop zones/play ends, the truck would go straight back. Use the line of the trailer and your rear tandems as a guide. All my friends who have years of experience and this helped me pass my schooling.

 

Given the opportunity,I could physically discredit 80% of what you folks learned in TruckinUp Class.
Looking in mirrors and what you "look at" or "look for" is as true as anything you see in the other.
Watching the end of the trailer from across the cab is not straight line backing with the right mirror.
Want proof ? sit in the right seat and watch the left mirror when someone is backing up
Take a piece of cardboard and cover the top "half" of the left mirror
then go play straight line backing and you will then see what the right side
really shows you.

Again,the Experienced Know the Exceptions