Alley backing from street

I'm quoting your comment only to point out you have not used the word practice enough. You used it 2 times. You should have used it 1000 times. My old terminal in Atlanta had a old place near it where some of the trainers taught students. When I was stuck there sometimes I would drive over and practice backing. Even drivers that have YEARS expierence need to do this. Most of the local drivers lose their virginity early when it comes to these difficult backs. An OTR driver might do a back from a busy road maybe 1 or 2 times a year. My point however is no driver has the right to hold up traffic past a reasonable amount of time. You just don't. I have actually got out of a car walk over and help a driver before. It's like I said. Balance. Don't get in a hurry. Don't get all frustrated. Don't do something stupid. Finally don't hold up that traffic longer then reasonable.

 

How can I do better next time, I wish more would think that way.

Practice is the key to getting better of course but just as important is keeping your head while under pressure which I alluded to in an earlier post.

Some guys can do a really difficult back in one shot when there's no pressure to get it done but add in traffic, an audience or other things and they start to feel pressure, try to hurry and turn into a headless chicken.

Everyone deals with pressure differently but just as important is being able to recognize you're under pressure if that makes any sense. Many careers end quickly due to people not being able to recognize and/or deal with pressure IMO.

Getting back to the practice though you can never get enough. Don't always look for the easiest spot at the truck stop. Don't always look for the easiest hole at a yard drop. Don't be afraid to practice the blind side when you can do it without being in the way.

 

actually just practice and then practice some more .... it just seems to come to you after a while ... .. and you probably still won't be very good at it when you finish training .. but as long as you are careful and GET OUT AND lOOK .... what I use to do was go to a truck stop or a yard during the day out back and out of the way pick a triple spot (don't practice by other trucks ) and pretend to go between 2 trucks ... kinda guess where the blindside of your trailer is during your back and get out and see how close you were that really helps for you to learn blindside awareness. . another thing I used to do was carry a bean bag and get out and mentally back the truck in and I would put the bean bag (coffee cup would be ok ) on the spot I wanted my tandems to pivot at .... then practice on limited space on the front and all kinds of different situations . another thing is be aware of your front end also pull up something and try to get to 6inches away from it and get out and see how close you are without getting any closer ..... and most definitely when you get out on your own please get out and look and you will have to get in some tight spots and ask the guy next to you or anybody else around to help watch your blind sides don't be scared to admit you need help I have been doing this for 35 years and I still will ask if it's really tight .... and believe me I would rather help you than have you hit my truck and when you are backing in off the street into a tight spot ... don't worry about to much time and don't worry about any inconvenience you may be causing the cars ( if you have to pull up or straiten out let the traffic pass and start over ) if it looks like you may take a bit to get in don't start until you have someone to help watch your blind spots and the traffic .... and tell them what you want them to do .. like "I can see the dock ok but please watch the cars trying to sneak in behind me". and believe me they will . that way your helpers will know what you need them to watch .... don't assume that they know and never assume that the four wheelers have any common sense at all .. and there is not a reasonable time limit to getting backed in and if you wanted to find out if that's true. ask your safety department what's worse taking two hours to get into a dock or taking 5 minutes and hitting something you wasn't supposed to . just practice and get out and look and don't get frustrated stay calm it is definitely not a race ..

 

if swift has a 4 or 5 minute time limit on backing up ... that explains a lot

 

The single most important part of backing is the setup. If you miss that, it's a mess. Learn the correct setups and your baking will improve dramatically.

When you've got the back lot to yourself, spots wide open everywhere, challenge yourself as has been said. Pretend those spots all have rigs in them, make every easy back count. Practice is how you improve.

I had to take a local close quarters training after a preventable. I resented it, until I realized how much the trainer was teaching me. The one thing he showed me that really stands out is to fix it going forward if you can't see it. Meaning, if your tractor and trailer aren't straight, and you cannot see what's on that blind side, straighten them by pulling forward, doing the serpentine move (I'm sure it's on YouTube) to straighten the rig and also get it centered in the hole.

Be patient with yourself.

 

With all due respect you are giving bad advice. You are going to be the reason somebody gets in a large heavy traveled road and block it for 10 or 15 minutes screwing around .Then cause them to get a fricking ticket. I don't give a tinkers #### how many years you have done this job. Cops everywhere look for reasons to ticket truckers. You as a driver can not get in the middle of a busy road indefinitely and with impunity block it. No don't rush, im not implying rushing or being dangerous. Some states require you to have someone helping you to do this. If possible never attempt it alone. But to advise drivers that there is no reasonable time to get the hell off a road your blocking is irresponsible.

 

in my experience cop won't stop or may stop and help ....either way driver would not get a ticket. just isn't a time clock on backing period. .. you can let traffic pass .... and be Calm ...

 

To hell with your trainers impatience. If you get an accident, thats your butt on the line. When in doubt, pop the brakes and get out and look. If the traffic is really bad, I'd also recommend getting a hand from the loading dock to help with traffic control while youre backing in. Or call dispatch and have them send a cop out to control the traffic if its that bad.

 

Au contraire on the cops. Cops will and have written tickets to truckers for this and less. I said in one of my posts an advertising company in Indianapolis warned me to get off the road ASAP because the IPD kept a look out for this. This is why a driver before they attempt should have a good idea of how to do an alley back. Most of the time thankfully you don't really have to worry about stationary objects once you get lined up on the dock your going into. In some respects these backs are some of the easiest backs a trucker will do. What complicates them is the busy road. You as a driver can never know when some in a bad hurry person in a car will dart off and you not account for them. Like I said I delivered a lot of Fuji photo paper all over the country. Almost every one of these deliveries were in large metro areas and there were busy roads. One day in Atlanta I was doing this on Peachtree Street about 4 30PM. Those cars were like wasps flying by me.

 

NO. If you get into an accident on a trainers truck BOTH of you are going to get in trouble. I know of a situation where a USA Truck Trainer got fired because of several preventables students did. The trainer is 100% responsible for that truck.