backing a truck up

i agree with im6under do well on the test but you dont have to do it perfect when you get to the backing test you want to have extra points to burn for a pull up and a short stop when he gets out there dont let another truck bully him into hurrying up to get parked take you time stop look and if all else fails ask for help but DO NOT ask someone to do it for you slow down its not a race take your time and think about what your doing/ where you are now and what you need to be doing in the next 5 seconds/ where youll be in that time and there is nothing wrong with getting out to look

 

The way it works best for me is to simply:

Push the bottom of the steering wheel in the direction I want the back of the trailer to go.

Setup is essential - if you don't get set up right, you might as well go home.

I'm a mirror freak - sticking my head out just doesn't work. But getting out and looking is always a good thing. If you lose track of something or some one stop the truck and go find them (or at least make sure they're not in the way)

 

Think opposite. You wanna go left turn right. Ya wanna go right turn left...

 

yah - I tried that.

I confuse easily

 

It helps me to roll down my driver side window and look at the rear tandems (to see their rotation/position) and the back of the trailer. It is better to make small adjustments than to try and 'man handle' the trailer into position (a little left, then straighten out, a little left etc of course this depends on the type of backup you are doing). As already stated setup is the key to backing up. Once he gets his own truck he can play with setups and backing by putting out a couple pop cans out in a gravel lot and trying to back up between them, or going to a vacant industrial bldg with docks and trying different things. Just keep practicing the different setups and eventually it will just click.

Even the old timers say there are days that they cant back up to a dock right to save their lives, we all have good days and bad so just keep at it.

Cheers,

-Reby

 

I won't try to claim to be an "old timer" - but that's a true statement. Some days I can put the truck into a spot for a compact car, some days I cant even put it in the right lot

 

Don't worry. It will stay the same.

 

We're all newbies at backing. Even the old guys. Just kidding old guys.

Two things to remember. First one is actually something I learned from England of all places. A little bit of "pivot" and a whole lot of "roll". So don't pivot too much or your tandems will run away from you.

Second thing. 4x4 maneuver. Ask people here what it means.

 

Here's one from one of the "old timers." The day that I've had to pick up a load at a place that's so tight one would think that you couldn't get to it with a pickup truck, I would nail it right away. And it's that day that I couldn't back into a dock with all the lines on the ground and a hundred square miles of space to get it done! Some days you wake up and do everything right,...except back up. There were days when I would have to blind side into a difficult place, nail it and then have the same problem as in the first part of this paragraph. Don't let it get you down. It happens to EVERYONE!

Georgia Joker