FOR THE LOVE OF ALL ....HAVE MERCY!!!!

Sometimes it's not a bad idea to either turn that radio off or not install one.

 

I'm in my 9th year....I still get out and look. I was backing out of my spot at the Flying J in Fort Chiswell, VA. I nosed in behind a truck. He was gone by the time I woke up this morning, but I couldn't pull forward and make the turn out of there. Way too tight. I had to back out, I had to get out and look at least 3 times. Don't worry about how you look to others. If you hit something because you didn't look, then you'll look stupid to everyone!

 

Trust me, nobody's watching you.
As long as you don't hit anything nobody cares.
Everything is forgotten in this industry 2 hours
After it happens.
Just the way it is.

 

You've had lots of good feedback so far. I'm going to tackle a dirty little secret about customer docks you need to be aware of and how to overcome it.

Usually if I have a difficult time backing straight into a customer dock, it's because THEY PAINT THE LINES CROOKED.

You might laugh at that statement, but it's OFTEN the case. The guy painting the lines seems to have eyeballed perpendicular to the dock and called it good, BUT he might have those lines up to 10° off of 90°.

There might not be ANY lines to help. You might have a straight crack in the concrete where they poured the slabs (which are usually straight) or you might have nothing at all.

Bring items with you that are very visible you can lay on the ground to orient yourself. Bring a can of florescent paint and paint your own line. At night bring several of those flashlight/glow sticks and line them up.

GOAL early, GOAL often. Do NOT think that you have to prove anything by backing in without a GOAL. Do it. Especially if you might take the hood off a truck.

 

Thanks for that info. That explain a dock I bump frequently, no matter which line I line up with I end up about a foot off square. The last few times I've picked a constant spot on each side to go off.

 

My brother is a truck driver with 30 years experience as a master plumber. When we teamed he would break out a string and triangulate perpendicular to the dock, a common thing for plumbers. Then he would break out a can of flourescent paint and put down a true line. It made backing MUCH easier.

One customer came running out as he was spray painting the true line, pissed off that he was "destroying property". My brother showed him why we had to do it. True line was a good two feet from their line.

"Oh...we always had guys taking all day to back into this dock."

Next week after that we made another delivery and they had a professional line painted right over my brother's line.

 

There are days where I am the best trailer backer in the world, and there are days where I say to myself “really?” Sometimes it depends on the location of your tandems, and like Lepton said, painted lines are crooked, and docks aren’t square to the parking lot.

My first trip with Ashley Furniture to Knoxville, Arkansas the place was so tight the trainer and I both worked up a sweat trying to get on the door. I told him as we were leaving that stop I may not be cut out for this particular job. It didn’t get better, but it got easier learning how to set up. Just relax and take your time, who cares what anyone thinks. Good luck.

 

Wait until you've been driving for years and the same thing happens to you.

 

Just remember.... those guys who are backing at 80 mph will eventually hit something. Take it slow and get out and look.
If you do not something going slow... You won't hardly do any damage compared to that guy going fast.