One month into OTR training and still can't alley dock

I agree. It's like the forklift drivers that think you know their version of sign language, and you're obviously an idiot because you didn't know that their arm pointed straight to the sky meant "back to the left".

I just stop the truck. Tell me where TF you want me, I'll figure it out.

 

agree with the guy in Lual's clip. Big fan of passing the dock by a good 1/2 to 2/3 the trailers length, then glide it in rather than hook. I also tend to arrive in a swooping pass so the trail is heading a little the way it needs to go, and easier to clear the inner apex if the swing is tight.

But really its practice, and some days are diamonds some are stone. You can be a star 5 times in arow then have a shocker like you have no idea.

 

Ooooohhh, Boy...ain't that the truth...

 

Keep calm and get that trailer in there

 

From personal experience: you may find one day things suddenly “click” for you. So don’t panic. Relax best you can. And read through the previous responses here. Lots of good advice.
Best of luck to you!

 

I was taught to hold the bottom of the wheel. Where do you want the trailer to go?? Move your hand in the direction you want the trailer to go. NO more moving it in the opposite way.

 

Do you thoroughly understand what a good alley dock should look like and you are having difficulty making your actions move the trailer how you wish? Or, are you not understanding what is supposed to happen so you don’t know what actions to take? PLEASE don’t tell me a story, just answer my question.

This video is pretty good at explaining what the alley dock looks like and explaining what actions to take. There are lots of videos on YouTube that will help you. I would suggest you search for “alley dock + CDL school”. Since CDL schools have to teach so many students they have better videos and usually break it down to step-by-step directions. Schneider also often has very good videos for maneuvers.
https://youtu.be/PqLEdFbCQa0?

 

You are going to need to learn both how to alley dock with not much room past the alley dock hole and also need to learn how to alley dock with not much room in front of the alley dock. Customers always seem to use the space for backing as outside junk storage. Even when they build a brand new facility with acres and acres of empty space in front of the docks and beside the docks, the first place they store junk is outside and in the way of the space you need for docking trailers.

Your instructor has a reason for making you set-up the way he is demanding. This is not an equal partnership where your opinion and his opinion are equally valid. You are the student and the instructor knows how to back and he’s trying to tell you how, but you are maybe wishing it could be done differently. You don’t know how to do the thing so your opinion is not very important right now. Get over your ego and do what the instructor says. He decides when you are ready and as soon as you can do it HIS way, you will be closer to getting your own truck. When you have your own truck you can do it YOUR way, as long as you NEVER hit anything, even little unimportant stuff that shouldn’t be in the way to begin with. NEVER EVER HIT ANYTHING WITH YOUR TRAILER. Rookies think hitting small things is not a big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL.

 

The language barrier is your main concern, perhaps ask for a different trainer or establish a better hand signals system.