I don't get it

Same thing happened to me in Evanston, Wy a couple of weeks ago except that he smashed up the entire driver's side of my cab. It was early morning and I was in the shower (at least he came in and reported it) but there were 3 open spaces next to me. I'm still on vacation now and will probably resort to using loaner truck next week if mine is not ready.

 

I hear ya. The back row is always my favorite spot.

 

Empty spaces or at least cones would be a better idea. I'd have to fire myself if I knowingly let an inexperienced person practice backing in a place where they could hurt someone or do some real expensive damage. I like to practice low-end risk management which means the path with the least amount of risk and chance for success wins every time and just because I can do something doesn't mean I need to do it especially if it entails showing off 'cause that's usually when things go horribly wrong. This one kid took some crap on the CB about being too chicken to blindside. Suffice it to say he did just not successfully. Something about an obstruction on the blind side did the trailer in pretty darn good (which he was aware of after GOALing), but then again that was after getting unstuck from the mud with a mild case of over correcting resulting in an inability to stop in time from hitting the obstruction.

 

My trainer at swift always had me backing at swift terminals between empty trailers that way if i did hit anything atleast it was company property!! But i learned quickly how to assess what spot i want and can manage!! But i can handle the backing pretty well for a newbie or atleast i think !!

 

Best advice I can give for you is when you're in a truck by yourself or if your trainer lets you and you have lots of free time on your hands (like now when freight is really slow) to practice in empty spots with the 5th wheel and trailer tandems shifted into all of the different holes. It will be different on other trucks too. Then there's backing when you first wake up to when you are just getting off the road from a full day of driving or the customer docks are completely encased in snow and ice... it just takes time, patience and lots of thinking so keep doing what you're doing then do it some more and always keep your cool as too much confidence and too little can be equally dangerous.

 

Watched a driver pull into a truck stop, all he had to do was pull straight forward of the empty spot, and back straight back into it.
He started off very well. Pulled straight up, and started backing up.
That's when it got a little messy. For some unknown reason, he turns his steering wheel. Got all out of shape.
Pulled up, got straight, put it in reverse. This time, he turned the steering wheel the other way.
I'm not kidding, he pulled up at least 10 times. I was becoming concerned, because he was trying to back in next to me.
But, he finally figured it out.

 

Sometimes it just comes down to pure laziness for some of the drivers out there. It's kinda like some people on welfare or what not that work harder at not working than working an actual job.

 

I think the biggest problem all drivers have is not G.O.A.Ling... I don't know why but, for some reason people out there care more about how they look to other drivers then they do about costly damage!
Not this kid! When I was driving I would stand up, open the door and yes I'd even Get Out And Look, whatever I had to to get it in the spot.
You have to use every option available to you, to hell what other drivers think of you... It's better to have a job then to have the admiration of a driver(s) you will never see again!

 

At a Pilot the other night (Dubois, PA) there was a CRST trainee backing into a spot behind the fuel islands. Doing so he blocked entry to the fuel islands... for a good 10 minutes. Trucks were backed up onto the highway trying to get in for fuel. Multiple pull ups, etc. His trainer was outside trying to help him out. When he FINALLY got into the spot, we looked down the parking rows and there must have been 20-25 spaces he could have backed into without causing the hazard he did... not to mention the frayed nerves and tempers of drivers trying to "get on with it".

 

I find that it is harder for me to back into spots that have 2 or 3 empty places...ok, that didnt make sense... let me try again. . If there are 3 or more spots empty, it is harder for me to back. So I try to get next to a truck, and use that as a guide... Im good at backing, for a girl...lol... but I am more nervous to park between 2 trucks at a truck stop than at a dock... does that make sense....