Swift Regret

Don't beat yourself up too much. Nobody knows how to back and get the truck around in tight spots on day one. That takes a bit of practice to get comfortable with and unfortunately the only way to get the practice is by doing it. It sounds like you are doing a good job, you haven't hit anything! Whatever you decide to do I hope it works out for the best.

 

If u want to learn how to back up then go to a empty truck stop and hit every spot in the back empty row .. There is not one person on this website or on the road that was good at backing when they first started.. Quit stressing about it.

Its not swifts fault for not training u. A month in a truck is not long enough to learn all the ins and outs. They teach u enough to get ur feet wet and they teachu the basic motions to keep ur head above water, its up to u as a driver to make sure u dont drown.. I think ur being a little emotional. U need some more practice at backing and its up to u to give urself that practice, stop worrying about what people think of u or how uback up, nobody cares at the end of the day as long as u dont hit them. If it tskes 45 minutes to hit a hole that somebody else hit in 45 seconds , who gives a rats ###. As long as u get it without damaging anything then it was a success.

You have to think for urself out here,. There is nobofy to hold ur hand or tell u what to do. It is alot of freedom than most jobs but comes at a cost for great responsibilty..

Do the best that u can do each day and at the end of the day think about what u couldve done better. Theres guys out here 40 years that make mistakes everyday still but they try to get better everyday.

Thats really all u can do.

Hope everything works out for u. Keep it between the lines driver

 

first of all, not all backing situations are available in any training. you take what you did learn and apply it to each and every backing situation you face.

you are not the only one to be knee deep in traffic, you think we all have perfect days with no traffic?

when would you have been ready to be on your own..??

6 more days, 11 more months, 27 more years?

as long as you did not have an accident or incident, you passed the test of life as a trucker.

 

“The account he is on doesn't allow students to back in their yard”
Once you have your CDL, are you really a student? You’re a driver early in career.

 

if he wants his product delivered, he had darned well better "allow" any driver to back in.

otherwise, to be prejudiced towards student's he had better be so with ALL foreigners as well...since hardly any of'em can speak a lick of English.

 

There are times I could not back at all, given a pick of any 20 docks and two acres of empty pavement. Reason? Fatigue. Embarrassing. But once I understood the mechanism of why the mind did what it did that morning led to a better sleep situation.

I started off going into produce warehouses where you wiggled a little to get your mirrors inside others. This was before the new single bracket mirrors. I broke off the old west coast mirrors a few times and paid cash for my education a mirror at a time.

Eventually backing got to be something I learned. And even today having been away for years Im pretty sure I can put a trailer into a dock in a move. You work on it and continue to work on it until you get it.

Some places, or many places do not take 53's that easily, the addition of the automatic bounce house makes it worse. Especially when jiggered by a weenie company drone to a slush box where you cannot carry a 90 degree angle shoving a loaded trailer around on it's own circle. (Pivoting tandems...)

You either learn or you don't and you have to learn by doing. This is something that has to be done one back at a time. CAREFULLY. as long you don't get RUSHITIS or in a Hurry or too tired etc you might never break something backing.

I hate to say it but you have to either keep at it or get off the horsie that threw you a time or two. You have to get back on and ride it or forget the whole thing. Most of it could be in your mind. How you deal with the stress. Backing is not my trouble. There are other things in trucking that is a trouble for me. But you get through it one move at a time.

It really does not matter what is on the side of that truck. Swift, or bomb express or some whatever outfit. You are still going to have to back in.

 

Here a tip next time you take a break try parking in a few spots at the truck stop. In the day there are more spots. And always get out if unsure to look at the back of trailer when your getting positioned to proceed back.
And when in tight areas stretching out your tandems on trailer helps. Take your time backing there is no need to hurry. Even if your told to.