Things are getting a little better, would be nice if all the trucks worked at the same time. Offset and parallel parking are my issues at the moment. Thanks everyone for your replies.
Not impressed w/my school so far, am I justified in being upset?
Discussion in 'Trucking Schools and CDL Training Forum' started by Switcher, May 5, 2021.
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How are they teaching you to do these maneuvers?
Last edited: May 17, 2021
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Offset back: (KEY THING TO REMEMBER; RIGHT LANE, TURN RIGHT, USE RIGHT MIRROR:: LEFT LANE, TURN LEFT, USE LEFT MIRROR) So...Whichever lane you start in, turn the wheel full in that direction (Left lane wheel left, right lane wheel right) hold turn till tractor faces either 11 or 1 depending on which turn you are making. As soon as you hit that "clock position" chase trailer. Use the appropriate mirror as stated above and look for your "buddy cone" The cone in the middle of the 2 lanes they have set up behind you. Then you watch the mirror for your rear trailer wheels to cross over into the other lane you are heading for. Once you hit that lane FULL reverse wheel turn from the original direction. So if you started wheel left, now it's hard right on the wheel. Then chase the trailer and get underneath of it. You can of course make small minor adjustments as needed to get the trailer in the correct position to straight line back through the box and finish your offset backing maneuver.
Parallel backing maneuver: Exactly the same as the start of offset backing. Except once the trailer wheel is close to crossing into the "box" you hard turn the wheel in opposite direction to get that trailer deep into the box and then chase the trailer and bring the tractor around into the box just missing the corner cone. The key to this maneuver is when you are angling the trailer towards the back corner of the parallel box, you should only see the center and outer rear cone in your mirror. If you see all 3 cones that make up the back of the box then your angle is off and your trailer won't get either deep enough or too deep into the box and you'll fail the maneuver.
I'm sorry if none of this makes sense. I'm trying to put into words what I've only mostly been told or seen lol If any of this helps you I'll be shocked LOL -
That's very similar to our instructions except instead of facing at 11 or 1, they are teaching us to back the cab until we see a certain unique marker on the side of the trailer appear in our mirror. Problem is everyone sees something different because no one is seated in the same position, and there's no identifying marks on the trailer's passenger side for me. I have plenty of experience backing trailers but they want me to do it their way because it's proven to work and they don't have time to let everyone figure out their own method.....supposedly teaching us to use marks on the trailer is also a way for the class to get shut down by the state.
natedogg323 Thanks this. -
I can say that when I first started training with the straight line back, the trailer I was using had these big bulbous red rear marker lights on the bottom corner. I used those to identify which side of my trailer was not "perfectly straight" so I corrected appropriately as I moved through the maneuver. That was the best way for me to keep it straight. Outside of that specific application, I can't understand why they are trying to get you to focus on the trailer during backing maneuvers like parallel and offset. It seems like a failed concept based on what you said. NO one sees the trailer exactly the same. That confuses me....?
Switcher Thanks this. -
Last edited: May 17, 2021
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Today in the morning a fellow student was doing pre trip practice on one of the yard trailers and noticed a cracked brake pad.
tarmadilo Thanks this. -
Switcher Thanks this.
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