Tips for backing.

This one is done if you all don't cut it out.

 

I don't know.. I thought this thread was getting on the educational side.. we're getting to see no matter what country one is from, everyone thinks and acts the same.

 

When learning to back up a tractor and one trailer (SEMI) think of the tractor drive axles as the steering of a single unit. When the drives are at an angle they will move the front of the trailer in the direction that they are pointing, even it the tractor steering tires are parallel to them. If you keep the center point of the drive axle group and the trailer axle group in mind when planning your corner, and the swing clearance of the steering end of the tractor in mind you will with practice be able to judge your approach points.
Most of the time people learn to back up by just doing it and never consider the mechanics behind the maneuver .

 

Just back it into the hole perfectly on the first try and you will avoid all problems. That's how I do it every time.

 

Keep trying by yourself, don't ask for help. Eventually you'll be very good at it. On the other hand, with instruction, you might succeed at school, but you will fail miserably on the road. That's what happened to me. I asked my trainer stop giving me advice, after while I relized what I was doing wrong and became good at it. By the way, I haven't yet to do 90 degree back. Give it time, it will start clicking

 

Hahaha!!!

 

Lets never forget to "Get Out And Look"

 

At the Central Transport terminal in El Paso (100 docks)..all the trailers are smashed together..It so fricken unreal, I still dont believe it...All trailers touching...you cant get in, you cant get out, its unbelievable !!!
You got to hook it, drag it, then have room to use the crank...It was wierd hitting trailers on purpose...nails on a chalkboard!! Just get it kinda in the hole and rub and scrape your way in..
Once in a while youd get a trailer that was low and you could airbag lift it so your not dragging the landing gear 20 ft..Ironically, it is thier main trailer repair facility...and no plans to change anything there...
Me and a buddy started there at the same time...We laughed and laughed so much...Everyday we looked at eachother with the wtf look over something...
A typical conversations would be "hey boss, I cant get these trailer doors to close, they are all messed up!!!"
Boss says "dats whut da potholes be fo" Im all "what?"
"Put da tie ya in da hole, den da doors line up"

Dam if he wasnt right

 

A little long winded, but here goes:

Lining up to go straight back into a hole, if you have room, is the easiest way to get it in there. Look straight across from the hole and choose a spot... another trailer across the lot, a tree, a fence pole, something that you can use as a reference. If you are on a concrete lot with lines, find the one that you want to use for a reference. Draw an imaginary line to that point. When your drives cross that line, crank it hard to the right, keeping that line in mind. When they cross it going back, crank it left and straighten out when you get back on your line. If this is done right, timing is everything, you should be lined up to go straight back into the hole.

A tip for straight backing. When you have everything lined up and are going to go backwards, place one hand on the top of the wheel. Keep it there. Start back. Learn to detect the drift as early as you can, the sooner, the better. If you can't see one side of your trailer in the mirror, you are getting out of line. USE BOTH MIRRORS. Steer into the drift for a little at a time. What that means is to dip the wheel about a half turn left or right as needed in the direction you are drifting for about a second, then return your hand to the top. Repeat as needed. If a second or two of dip is not enough you need to work at detecting the drift earlier. Get good at this and life will be much easier going backwards. Don't go spinning the wheel as you will end up chasing the trailer. If it gets too far out of line, stop, pull forward and re-align. Keep your hand in the one spot and you will always know where the tires are pointed.

Now for my favorite, the 90° back... useful when you try to get into a dock that was originally designed for a 40' trailer or a truck stop that's too cheap to buy real estate. Here's how I do it. Pull past your hole staying perpendicular to the hole. Every truck is going to turn a little different. The way to figure out exactly where to stop for you to start your backing maneuver can be reverse engineered by pulling straight out of a space; When the tandems are at the end of the space (or trailer) next to you, turn the wheel as hard left as quickly as you can. Stay on the hard left until the trailer is at a 45° angle to the parking spot and go hard right as fast as you can. When everything lines up straight, stop. You should be perpendicular to the spaces at this time. Note how far you are away from the spaces (trailers) as this is how far you want to be when you set up. Note where the back of your trailer is in relation to the space you want to be in. I drive a Century pulling 53' vans. I usually have the tandems slid to within 3 holes of the front. (2nd hole back for me is the sweet spot to scale a heavy load). For me, I will stop with my trailer doors between the two trailers to the left of the hole - about 12'. All of our trailers have a stripe on them to show where the 90° angle is, in an attempt to stop crunched fairings. Once I'm pulled up to my starting point I will turn on my 4-ways, sound the horn, and start in reverse. I let the clutch all the way out and do the maneuver at idle. As soon as I start moving I cut hard right. Watch your nose to be sure you're out far enough to clear any trailers/trucks. Next watch to see when the truck & trailer are at a 90°angle to each other. Don't forget to use the right mirror too. The first couple times you may want to push the clutch in and stop as you approach 90° to get get a feel for where it is. It occurs when you look out the right mirror and see the straight across the nose of the trailer or when the stripe is about 6" away from the fairing. Usually you won't go quite this far. Keep the stripe in sight and you won't hit your fairings (also true when spinning a U-turn in a lot - no stripe? watch the nose in the right mirror). When you are getting near the 90° mark, spin the wheel to the left all the way. Hold it here until the truck and trailer are straight again. If you timed it right, you will proceed straight back into the hole without a pull-up. Be sure to watch your nose as you come in front of the trailer. Pull forward and try again if you were too for to the right to start.

What to look for: When you get the truck & trailer to a 90° the tandems will be spinning in front of where they are going to go into the space at. If that point is in front of the spot to the left of where you want to be, pull back out straight, back straight up however far you were off and try again. If you are to the right, pull up a little and try again. You want to make your correction perpendicular to the spot as if you had originally started there. Sidewalk chalk can help. Walk straight out of your space to where you want to be to a point in line with the side of your trailer. Mark a spot on the ground (or put a piece of trash, a rock or something there). Your trailer tandems should spin around that spot as you are halfway through the maneuver. Minor corrections can be made by going a little tighter to pull it left, or not going as tight to make it push right a little, but you will likely have to make a pull up. The first few times you'll end up not getting the tractor in front of the trailer by the time the trailer is aligned in the spot. You must keep it hard to the left all the way until you are in front. Sometimes it's because there isn't enough room. When the tractor get parallel to the road, stop, look at the angle you have. Turn the wheels right and pull up with the goal of taking out half of the angle. Stop, GOAL!, turn left again and proceed back.

I like this maneuver because it is all math. Set it up the same way every time and you will get the same results every time. It works the same on the blind side, just in reverse. Don't attempt a blind side without getting out at least 4 times to be sure you are going where you want to go, and if you don't, absolutely, positively, HAVE to blind side, then don't do it.

Hope this helps. Be safe out there.