Disappointed with CDL school

pretty much these companies just get a transcript from the school saying you got so many hours of instruction
for insurance purposes
most schools only teach you enough to get your license
then training at a company is another mess a lot of times
i learned the most on my own using common sense and taking it easy
no amount of training will have you ready to go solo
hopefully but not always training gives you tools to think on your own

 

Backing is something that is going to remain weak for a few months. Trust me on that. Even drivers with years under their belt have bad days with backing. Once you're in training, you should get more opportunity to work on your backing. Also remember that every truck and trailer, along with a change in the position of your tandems changes your backing anyway.

 

To the best of my knowledge road time tells little about how much driving experience you got . Some schools have a bench seat in the sleeper and may take 4 students out for 4 hours road time and they drive 1 hour each .

 

Backing comes with time. Besides you'll be going forward most of the time. Just like lilbit said we all have our days.

 

I had the same frustration with backing because I could only stay for 1/2 days due to work and the school always wanted me out on the road. I later found out an instructor came in over the weekend to take the truck to the test course, and he didn't mind if we practiced with the truck (never outside the yard) before he took it to the test site. That gave us an extra hour of backing practice on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

If the "hard-left" and "left" instructions confuse you, try focusing on target cones instead. I worked out alley docks and parallel parking by picking a cone to aim the trailer's rear left corner at and then following the trailer in with the cab. I found offsets and straight backing easiest when keeping about 18" between the left rear corner of the trailer and the cones I backed parallel to. For offset, I waited until the landing gear passed the last set of cones before going hard into the next lane and straightening out. That cut down on the number of pull-ups I needed. The other thing to remember with pull-ups is don't stop until your trailer is straightened out. You're going to lose a point anyway, you might as well make it work for you.

PS - One of the reasons they want you on the road so much is that most people fail the road portion of the test. In my state, if your back tandems even brush a curb, you get an instant fail. Don't stress so much on backing. You'll figure it out, soon.

PPS - If you have any friends with 5th wheel RVs, ask if you can practice backing in a empty parking lot. One of my classmates did that to get extra backing practice.

 

us recruiters have feelings to you know

 

It will all click.. just focus on those tandems and watch how they respond to your actions. Try not to get frustrated or it will get worse.