Don't forget about tail swing

My first accident was in a tow truck when a truck turning left passed me and swung too far right before going left and did the same exact thing. I was stopped at the red light.

I then proceeded to chase him into the parking lot he went into and pulled up next to him where he had stopped and was looking at the docks to his left. He then proceeded to crank the wheel hard right to set up for his backing up, and despite me laying on the horn, he proceeded to punch or without looking where he was actually going and tore my hood off with his fuel tank.

Guess I should have just replaced the mirror.

 

Tail swing is a difficult concept for many new[er] drivers to grasp. Best way to demonstrate this is have them move their trailer tandems to the 40' CA spot, then pull right up alongside and parallel with a short concrete wall just close enough so the mirrors/tires don't hit the wall/curb, then initiate an immediate hard turn away from the wall and see how far they get before something doesn't feel right.

But we all pull out of some tight spaces and turn and hope we gauged the situation well enough to "get by", and probably come closer then we imagined more often then we imagine. buttthholes who park up along "no parking unless you're a no-good, inconsiderate, lazy, incompetent jerk" curbs in front of a row of trucks cause these tight turns to happen too often, too.

This same geometry problem is what gets lots of drivers in trouble backing into a tight spot when their tandems are slid far forward.

 

I learned that the hard way in the late 80s as 53 footers were replacing 48s ..at the old gateway ts in East St Louis ..I bought Rollins leasing a new hood lol..live and learn .

 

lol, ####,He said Rollins!! Way back machine.......

Im wondering(Speaking of Gauging tailswing), If Domino Sugar in Baltimore is still loading at that same Tight ### Facility like it was 25 years ago.....We had 48' Trailers and we were mirror to mirror Pizzed off crowd we were!

 

I go a long way back with Rollins out of Omaha branch # 421 ..a good bunch they were !
My last truck before the penske buy out was 540662 .
Still see a few around if ya know what to look for .

 

Cross the scale and go by the liquid tanker loading bays, pass the dry bulk loading bays on left and turn right between two buildings while cross rail road tracks. Docks are on the driver side. The docks closer to the bay have a slight blind side, docks back towards the other end have a hell of a time because the building directly across from the docks, it doesn't like to move. Sound familiar?

 

Think about log trucks lol seen one turn a van into a convertible at a red light once lol

 

Big daddy tail swing. Truck stops nope, rest areas no way, city streets forget about it.

 

http://i.imgur.com/eQqyhWf.gifv