Alley docking question

Good luck with that method on some NYC side street. No room for a nice pull up.

 

Here's a real world example of what you are going to face getting into a dock. There's no room to put a full 75' big rig straight out from the hole (unless you want to plow a hole in the building across the street and take out the telephone pole as well). You HAVE to be able to figure out the relationship of the trailer and tractor. Notice the driver in this video was attempting to "get in front" of his trailer at first, but couldn't because of the wall of snow. He adjusted by pulling forward of the telephone pole, initiating the follow to the point he was going to hit the pole, jack it hard to get around the pole, and then hard to "get in front" again to successfully straighten into the hole to the dock.

The difficulty of this particular dock isn't that atypical of many shippers, receivers, or truck stops. Many of them seem to have no consideration at all regarding the problems they are creating for truck drivers. Which is surprising, given that they need us and would do so much better if they would be more efficient with how they handle the space around their docks. Warehouse workers often like to park their cars right in your way, truck stops put rows ridiculously close together, companies work on setting world records for largest garbage heap right in the middle of the yard, etc. etc.

Once you are proficient there's a sick satisfaction being able to pull off a great job of backing in a difficult situation. Especially when the dock workers have a bet going whether you're going to be able to get in the hole or not.

 

Easier way.

Less room on the blind side = pull forward further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiC4Dc2G_-U

 

Yeah, every back is going to be different. Some you can set up to back straight, some you have to swing from a 90 degree angle. Just remember that you can ALWAYS save some space by turning before you stop and back... Like, if you're backing on your sight side, cut the wheel hard to the left before you stop to back, that gets the trailer turning tighter a little sooner, giving you what can be a very valuable couple of feet in front of your truck when you follow to the front of the trailer.

And if you're in a position like in that video... Slide your tandems forward. The shorter the distance, the tighter you can make that turn. You're rarely going to be in any situation where axle weight matters at the dock you're trying to back into. If you have a cell phone, open google maps, and look at the satellite view of where you're going. Plan ahead and you can make it so much easier.

 

This is something I do on EVERY run. It can be a valuable way to save a lot of aggravation. For example, I had a delivery in rural Nevada to a very small warehouse off a narrow two lane road. The shortest way to get there would have required a blind side back. I looked at the situation on Google Satellite View and realized that if I took a long trip around a 2 mile block I would arrive to the customer with an easy driver's side back. They were a little surprised I came from the "wrong way" and ended up getting it in the dock quickly and easily.

Another delivery was setting up to get into a one dock operation in the middle of a moonless night, so when the customer arrived at 6:00 am we would already have the trailer in the dock and they could wake us up with the first forklift into the trailer and my teammate could start running and gunning. Satellite View showed that going the long way around the block set me up perfectly for a driver's side back, but made more challenging because the owner had his boat parked in the way. A couple of cheap flashlights placed on the boat, the dumpster, and a concrete wall lit the way for a 200' back that went driver's side, blind side, driver's side into the dock.

Be resourceful.

One thing to remember as you watch these Youtube videos. Every truck has a different turning radius and wheelbase. Setting up perfectly in a Cascadia is different than a long wheelbase Pete. You have to figure out each truck you drive AND account for where the trailer tandems are set. It takes longer for the trailer to react if you have the tandems all the way back.

 

In Idaho, our skill test requires us to do the "S" alley docking, where your truck is parallel to the 'hole'. Took me an entire day to nail it... unfortunately, I'm still having to use 1 of 2 pull ups. Some people get it, others it takes couple months, some will always have a hard time. Practice makes perfect.

 

Back into alleys andtight parking lots everday. Some I cowboy the trailer in...some sort of a diagonal semi-blindside.We,re talking daycab with tandems all the way forwards.My initial setup starts about a block before I get to the alley. Flashers on let whoever is chomping right behind me go around. THEN its start getting truck and trailer tires a foot or so off the curb where the opening of the alley is.Pass entrance with drives then immediately go diagonal 3/4 of the way across the street(slightly turn the steers right before I stop to give a little wiggle room for adjustments. Next keep tractor UNDER the trailer to "push it in the hole " and free up some much needed tractor swing around room. Same thing on bindside back in.Crane your head around and get a plan Before you get there. If theres cars parked where I dont have tractor swing around room. Circle the block and come at it the opposite way.