Question about backing in training

Poor guy,lol.But it sounds like You all had a lot of fun,lol.

 

It is not only a good cover story it is the truth.

 

I was helping this Swift driver back in the other day, then this other driver started giving him exact opposite signals confusing the poor kid.

 

The much less eloquent, far too helpful, often rambling; always narrating - the Morgan Freeman of TTR, folks!

 

One thing I learned when straight line backing is don't turn the steering wheel more than a quarter turn. So if you see the trailer starting to "stick out" turn the wheel a quarter turn towards it for a couple seconds then bring the wheel back to center. You'll get it! Don't give up

 

Yep, you flip the wheel to left a quarter turn and then you flip it back....if you time it correctly, you are straight again.

When I was in cdl school, we backed across a parking lot and it took us a minute to do it. After doing that for a day, a few of us decided to get it done faster.

We throttled up to 1,500 rpms or higher, and it would only take us 30 seconds to back across the lot. You had to focus on what your trailer was doing, and you could only had time to make minor inputs.

I never thought about using the high range in reverse....that would have been interesting.

You just need to practice, and then practice some more.

 

My educated guess is that Swift driver is new to the game, was taught how to back at Swift Academy, and his trainer didn't know or care enough to "unteach" him and show him how backing is done in the real world.

Sad.

The hardest trainees to teach backing were fresh from Swift Academy. They were taught a "back by numbers" method that defies logic. I had to make them forget the crap they were taught to pass the CDL test and explain the concepts of following the angle and getting in line.

By the way @scottied67, better hand signals next time you help out. Cross your forearms for "STOP" for starters. There's a set of hand signals used at every oil rig to help spot somebody backing. Something like the following image.

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to do a tight back when you are getting the ubiquitous circling arm motion. Very frustrating to see a trainer impatiently waving his arm in a meaningless circle, then getting angry at the trainee for not understanding gibberish.

 

I thought you only needed one signal, swing your arm like a 3rd Base coach waving the runner home. That one signal can mean stop, go, left, right, turn more, turn less, 3/16 of an inch farther, speed up, slow down, etc.

 

Still using the same hand signals I used to walk 400 ton cranes around jobsites. I assure you my signals were valid, clear and accurate just they don't translate well to a POV forehead mounted camera.

But that's why I stay on the blind side of the vehicle, mostly there to let the operator know not to hit anything. The operator is responsible for the side he can see.

When we walked crawler cranes, we usually had a hand stationed on each corner of the rig letting the *one* main signaler up front know if they were getting too close to something.

But I still think radios are the best signaling device.