My Experiences so far have all resulted in frustration and me taking a temporary break

Shhhh...we shouldn't tell him about tarping and chaining in 30+ mph winds with a wind chill of about -20....cause all flatbedders get a cozy warm garage to apply the "fun stuff"!

 

One of the biggest problems that most drivers have with alley docking is that they cannot properly judge the rate of rotation of the trailer.

The rate is variable. If you start a truck straight, then turn the wheel and back, your trailer starts turning slowly, but the rate of turning accelerates until your tractor is around 90 degrees to the trailer, or maybe a bit more, depending on your truck and trailer.

This is very different from a one-piece vehicle that turns at roughly the same rate as long as the steering wheel is kept in a certain position.

I strongly suggest Steven's Transport. Their training program will teach you the basics of backing, at their terminal. You might still get a poor trainer for your OTR time, but if you still feel unready, I believe they will allow you to ask for a little more time with a finishing trainer. It has been nearly 2 years since I left Steven's though.

 

@Farmerbob1 is right, Stevens Transport does have excellent training program. Coast to coast reefer outfit. The pay isn't great though, but it's a start.

 

Almost every single Coca Cola live load or unload I have ever done has required a true alley dock, either due to the lot being designed 50 years ago for shorter trailers, or because the yard dogs use the 'extra' space in front of the docks for empty trailer storage.

 

My problem is the same except I don't have girlfriends plural thats just way too much drama for me. I'm trying to just do backing it in the real world and learn as I go because my backing training was kinda... Meh. It takes longer and I get some looks, but so far so good. Just take your time. You can also drive at night and parking at truck stops during the day is easy. Also you can trip plan shut down off a highway TS or a mom and pop shop TS or a casino. They are generally less full and easier to park in my experience so far. If I can get parked there most people probably can.

You can also get more girlfriends plural at a casino. And if any of your new casino girlfriends as you why your truck is parked crooked just tell them your not crooked, everyone else is.

 

I understand what you're going through because I was in exactly the same spot as you two months ago.

There is no surefire formula since different trucks have different handling and your position changes everything BUT if there's one constant thing you should do is always watch your rear tires.

So assuming you are backing in the driver's side, you start by turning your steering wheel right to test how your truck pivots. If you need to make a sharper turn, turn more to the right, if you need to make a wider turn, turn left. Do so until you're almost aligned with the (imaginary) lane of the dock and turn it hard right until your drive tires are ALMOST in the imaginary lane. At that moment, lock it to the left until your tractor is aligned with your trailer. If your trailer goes too much to the right, pull forward to straighten out and repeat the steps again (locking to the right until the drive tires are parallel with the lane then locking left until the tractor aligns) then from there it's a straight back.

Hope it isn't confusing for you.

 

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve had to tarp in -20 weather or 30mph winds. But only because I lost the other hand due to frostbite while tarping and a cheater bar shattered it like the liquid metal cop dude in Terminator 2.

For real though... most people I hear telling horror stories about tarping in the cold or wind either a. Aren’t flatbedders or, b. Are flatbedders with pride issues that want to make us sound like we work so much harder than everyone else.

If anything, I’d rather tarp -20 with Wyoming force winds than tarp in the summer in anywhere(but especially Phoenix). Dry heat my ###.

Wind is easily solved with some binders or dunnahe on the tarp while folding it and rolling it up, or hanging binders from the D Rings while tarping.

It’s amazing how you can drape a tarp and go to put bungees or shock cord on it and #### near be yanked over the entire load by a light breeze, but if you put a binder on each corner of the tarp on the d rings, it’s like Thor’s hammer. It’s not moving an inch.

 

In logan county KY at the aluminum shops, you have to back into a dock inside the building if they do not have you pull through the rail dock side. It's not difficult. The darn bay is like 50 feet wide.

 

If you dont get the situation on the home front straightened out first you will not last long . Practice practice practice all you can really do . Good luck

 

I get livid thinking about my training experience with a mega. 3 weeks of training and no simulated dock on the entire 20 acre academy as part of the $4k training. Blind side parallel backing was 75% of the "training". Don't worry, they would say, the real training starts with the "Mentor".

Exact same story as the OP, the big dummy would jump out of the truck and start waving his arms around like a gorilla. I asked, no BEGGED, the idiot to give me a minute to figure the best setup, and just make sure I didn't hit anything. This is how I was trained he said, I don't know any other way to do it.. JUST MAKE SURE I DON'T HIT ANYTHING, AND GIVE ME LITERALLY ONE MINUTE, 60 SECONDS to setup,, WHAT PART OF THAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? Why are you G.O.A.L'ing when I am out here spotting you? He would say.. If I ever see that little SOB out in the wild it's gonna be a smackdown I tell you!