Hard docks.......what was the worst docks you had to back into??

There was a warehouse or a Furniture place in Houston Tx very tight. Get assigned a dock you still had to wait for 3 trucks to leave to even think of backing in. With the trucks backed into the dock, you had room for a truck to squeeze through between the trucks and ditch (The Ditch 6 feet deep)

Other than that one the hardest ones for me were the ones I had to much room, with all doors open and you had to put it into a certain Dock. I would always miss my assigned door and hit the one next to it.

 

You are like me ! Give me to much room , I get lost! Give me a tight dock not a problem! Give me a open lot , watch out!

 

# 1 - I had a regular customer who had a dock that was far below the road surface with a very steep ramp, which all of it was an enclosed area that had no light. I had to back into the parking lot first and then make my way passed all the employee's cars. Then when I just got to the end of the cars, I had to make a sharp turn into the dock and slowly slide down the ramp, hoping not the slam into the dock. I slammed into the dock just once and it took out my lift gate hydraulics and lights.

# 2 - I had to pick up at one of the Avrett docks once (refused the second and third loads from that place), all the docks were full except one slot and the space between the trailers was so tight that I couldn't get out of the truck. As soon as I checked in, the dock manager ran outside to watch me, so as I manoeuvred my truck around the parking lot, he was getting nervous, but when I opened my doors (barn doors) and squeezed into the spot they gave me he looked like he was going to pass out not believe anyone could get it in that spot. I think they set me up to hit one of the trailers in the dock

 

My drop earlier this week in Springboro, Ohio. Had an LTL 3 dropper from El Paso and this was #2. It was a small extruder repair shop and I was delivering one from El Paso. The dock could not be backed into from the sight side and barely able to be accessed from the blind side. The lot was extremely small with barely enough room to turn around in.

 

Not a dock, but, the most challenging backing I've done was backing up a 29-foot pup tanker with a permanently mounted con-gear with a 6-foot neck. Hooked to the pintle-hitch at the back of the truck, first had to back around a 45-degree turn, but that wasn't the fun part. With the short neck it would cut so fast that if you could so much as see the inside tire on the con-gear you were too far gone.

The fun part was backing this 8-foot wide tanker pup onto an 8'6" wide double-drop trailer.

 

Had to hit this one the other night. The white you can barely see next to the container is the outside of my driver's side nose of the trailer. Needless to say, it was tough to hit the dock, fit between that container and not push the trailer into my cab all at the same time. The dock is running at a 90 degree angle to the tractor and the container there.

 

My hubby says his hardest was in Fontana Ca. Had to pull past place turn around in a cul-de-sac, and blind back into the "yard" (hitting the mercedes parked on the road would have made it easier) miss a concrete bump out ( fire hydrant and dumpster) jackknife around concrete lip on dock and miss all the stuff in the other dock. Their was 5 ft in front of the tractor by the time he got bumped to the dock.

Not a semi but for me, backing an 8 horse trailer ( gooseneck) 1/2 mile from the road to gate,twice, couldn't turn it around on the property, so had to back out, turn on the road ( two driveways and road really). Then do it again in reverse. . . literally.

Mustangs, gotta love'em.

 

On the other side. I had some major damage to a building and hired a firm to rebuild/repair.
One day (out of blue) I had 3 semi trucks and one expidited type put into my HOME DRIVEWAY to unload....
(what was supposed to be a "You guys put on new roof, West wall, I am NOT going to be climbing up there..." to taking active roll. (they did deduct $800 from bill for my labor/help)
So I am unloading oversize stuff with skid loader. The driver was amazed at my plan. I slid a tripple pallet back till most of it suspended between skid loader/rear of EX truck, had him stick a metal gate to support it while I moved to center and pick it up/he drives ahead and I am able to slowly move it to side.
The two trucks with cement block (fully loaded) thankfully had cranes. But the next truck with 4000 lb cement door frames did not. (skid loader rated for 2000 lbs at under 4') NOT twice that at full height.

So (a seperate construction crew) had left a THRULL? rough ground forklift (that you can extend over 35' tilt/crab steer.... I had never driven one before... (I called them, and they gave permission)
How it happened that they all show up same day, when nobody from EITHER work crew was around.

Hectic morning. The drivers changed from ticked to happy. I made it work and got them rolling again.
Just to be clear. This was NOT MY FAULT. I would have been in my rights to tell them. "You call the contractor and figure it out yourself"

 

The old Entenmann's bakery off north ave by 294 in Northlake Illinois comes to mind as a pain in the butt . Also the old docks at publix were and pain to back into them black holes . There was on that I used to deliver to in St.Louis back in the 80's that you had to jackknife into and block the whole street and on the side walk on the other side of the street and it was half way into a building also . That was with a cabover and a 48 footer !!

 

You go to the heartland of the east coast,that's all you'll find if hard docks.What I hate is the dock is hard enough to get into,does a car have to park in the way and make it even more difficult.Its always an employee who does'nt have an ounce of common since and could care less about the drivers that have to back into that dock.