Backing, how long did it take you to catch on?

I had backing down by about age 3 or 4...as soon as I could reach the pedal on the lawn tractor, grandpa started teaching me. Probably the only person in my kindergarten class (including the teacher) that was proficient in that skill.

 

My backing is a mess. An uncle of mine that used to truck for like 5-10 years told me he was never really very good at backing those things up.

 

About 10 minutes.
I was lucky that it just came naturally.
Just clicked on and made sense.

 

Never hit anything so I guess I was good from day 1.

It depends on the person and of course how often you have to back. Not sure how to define 'good' but after a couple of months my confidence increased a lot.

Like @Dave_in_AZ said the set up is key. Don't be afraid to stop for a minute, clear your head and set up again if it's giving you a hard time.

No matter how 'good' you get though never stop getting better.

 

It took me about 10 to 20 years where I can stick a 18 wheeler into a given space in one move which has become a trademark of sorts. It's something I learned to be pretty good at. And it's really easy if you think about it. Trailer goes here, you follow trailer back making sure it does not hit anything or goes wild. As long trailer obediently does it's thing all you have to do is follow it in. Easy peasy.

It's not so much the laughing. I remember very well when I was new in my day. And people laughed. And how they laughed.

Once in a great while someone trying to something meets Mr Physics or even Mr Being too Tired to do anything. And the result after a short slapstick type comedy where Wile E Coyote aka "Genius" loses horribly to physics or plain stupidty at something so simple as backing a 18 wheeler is WORTH LAUGHING at.

One time in a filthy pouring rain long ago, the kind of cold wet weather that it's best to stay snug in your bed rather than go out in it for any reason... we were fighting a foot thick mud in a spare hillside parking spot up in the old American Eagle 76 in Milldale. It only rained harder the more we cursed the mud and so on. You are not supposed to take 18 wheeler highway trucks off road loaded, but that was exactly what we were doing.

A boy in his orange truck showed up. maybe 9 of us surrounded him and he swelled up like a peacock, finally 9 hard bit tough professional truckers are ready to BACK ME INTO MY SPOT IN THIS AWFUL MUD AND RAIN. I AM SOOOO LUCKY. YAY. the joy lit up his face. We put a man on every corner. Left front, right front tractor drive corners, Trailer corners on all 4 and so on.

Then...

Took a few minutes to where when this boy looked really close in his mirrior that is shaking and filled with water from the rain, wipes the same mirrior again which promptly floods even more required a more repeat treatment as he eyeballs carefully the FAR LEFT REAR SPOTTER telling him to turn the wheel to the left.

Ok no power steering, he works really hard to tun the wheel to the left. Then begins to move. As his eyes hit all his mirriors, on the spotters EVERYONE carefully gave him a opposite signal.

The fast result was for a few minutes he moved back and forth a total of 5 feet in the mud working his steering wheel to exhaustion. he worked really really hard, changing gears, wheels cleaning mirriors and so on.

Finally 2+2 = I am a fool added up in his overworked mind. He stopped and cursed us out, then broke out laughing. We had him in his spot in about 5 seconds. We all went inside with him still alternate cursing us out and laughing on the floor for what we have done.

You had to be there that night. I have absolutely no idea if he was still in trucking or not. He was so young. It's also fortunate that this was before the days of cell phones and internet. So that there is no video (Thank god) of the things we did to that poor kid.

It was quite something. But at the same time it was not really fair. Not in that rain and mud.

We'll help where possible but generally it is accepted you are on your own with backing. If you are very careful and constantly check your work as you back there will be no problems. If you do not then you will hit something, cut a tire or whatever and it will be ruled preventable. Maybe expensive enough to cause you to lose your trucking job for a while.

I have been in situations where I have checked my work in the night while 5 truckers sat on the bench making bets if I will hit that fine Peterbilt large car custom on my right in the rain and fog that night. None of them lifted a finger to help me. Or to prevent a potential accident. Only my attention to that backing problem when the mirriors refused to show both sets of that pete lights to my right side in the dock helped me understand finally that my trailer was about to hit that pete and potentially take his whole hood off.

I managed to curse the 5 sitting on the bench 10 yards away for doing nothing. IF that was what trucking is becoming then maybe we should all be replaced in favor of robot trucks that will do a better job than our own lazy unmotivated selves. And we would deserve to be replaced too.

 

Ironically, the most difficult spots turn out to be the easiest because you take your time and think through it before you start to back.

 

I got 31 docks to hit in my next two loads.
If you're with me, there's a good chance you're an expert by the end of the week.

 

What do you have problems with? Where do you live in Tx?

 

I live in north Austin Leander area. Hard to say what my issue is. I am working an account that has a lot of weird, tight backing scenarios. Lots of weaving around cars, dumpsters and curbs to hit a dock that is angles weird... Or I have to just back from a street and cars flying past me from my blind spot makes it hard to think.

In the last two weeks my terminal and truck stop backing has finally improved when I learned the formula for proper setup and figured out to leave space to get behind trailer. It still leaves some to be desired, but at least I know how to approach it now.

 

Most drivers trained in the last few years will leave trucking before they become good at backing. They back MAYBE once per day, but mostly they park at the fuel pumps, beside the CAT scale, and at the entrance/exit to the truck stop, anything but backing into a parking spot. Their primary thought when having to back up is "somebody should spend a few million more dollars so I can find a pull-thru spot, but those greedy bastages hate truckers.