A question I have that I do not understand from my instructer

I'm pretty sure when the Brit says "catch up to the trailer", he wants you to get back under it. Straight as you say.

You have a question, ask him what he means.

Before you even start, visualize what the tractor would do pulling forward out of that spot to where you start. That is pretty much how you will back in.

Like otherhalf said, buy a toy 18 at Walmart. It works wonders to get the concept down. Then take it back.

Always leave half your angle to get back under the trailer. Example, pushing the trailer around 90 degrees... by the time the trailer gets 45 degrees, you should be turning your tractor wheels the other way to get back under the trailer. By the time the tractor is lined back up (back under) the trailer will of used up that additional 45 degrees.

Practice and practice and practice every chance you get. It's really not that hard once you get the basics down.

Type "backing" in the forum search feature above. There is alot of good detailed threads on backing already here.

 

If you can get him to not tell you what to do it will definitely help. We had one instructor that just had to tell you what to do and when to do it and you never learned anything. Luckily the instructors were somewhat rotated so I never had to deal with him much. He was my road instructor though and he was the complete opposite on the road, he wouldn't say anything.

The worst part he was one of those guys that was dead set on you getting a maneuver in one shot. The other instructor wouldn't say a thing the whole time and even encouraged pull ups. You would just ask him afterwards what you screwed up and how to do better which worked well.

I got lucky with a trainer as well as he never gave you instruction while backing. He was merely out there to stop you if you were about to do something stupid. We would always have a conversation about the backing afterwards though and it helped me immensely using this method. He did help me once though at R Best in Hunt's Point but it was nasty and only the second dock I'd ever hit. I've never had to ask someone to spot me but I probably would today if I had to hit that same door there right now.

 

Had a student ask me recently if I yelled and cursed at students. I told him if you scare the SH--t out of me I may do that but that I did not believe those actions benefited either of us. He said that I had better learn to scream and curse at him or he would never learn a dam--d thing, that's how his dad taught him things and how he was trained in the military. I told him we would try and figure something else out.

 

I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or commend him. I'm curious what you figured out as an alternative to yelling?!

 

Patience, I have enough patience to deal with almost anything or anyone... and I spent a lot of time with him, a lot of step by step explaining, demonstrating and helping. He really just needed someone to befriend and encourage him. He turned our pretty good. I had him on my mind reading this thread because he stopped in yesterday and we went to lunch. That's what I enjoy about being at a Community College. We have a small instructor to student ratio (1-3), most of our students are local and we get to know each other personally, so we are interested in them, their accomplishments, their family their future etc. Some went to school with my kids or the kids of the other instructors or administrators. We take it personally when someone doesn't do well and believe the fault/blame is ours not theirs and we do our best to fix it.

 

Always nice to know someone cares... I doubt the mills treat their students this way!

 

Without seemingly trying to defend the mills, our goals are different. We don't attempt to just run warm bodies through for profit (Nothing wrong with profit), we attempt not only to train students but also to instill a sense of responsibility and pride in what we all (Instructors and students) are doing.

 

True; I prefer the latter, personally

 

When i was in school(wich was like 2months ago) doing a offset left i would turn the steering wheel one full rotation right, then begin to backup till i saw half the landing gear in my mirror. I would then straighten the truck out, look in my blind side mirror to find the cone and adjust. That being said ive been with a trainer for 5 weeks now and pretty much everything i learned in school doesnt apply in the real world(so far). School for me was just a hoop to jump through. Good luck with your school but take it all with a grain of salt.

 

I was afraid of that... When I asked my instructor what real-world situation the serpentine maneuver simulated, he replied, "it doesn't."