Backing

I used to jackknife my 30ft gooseneck into my very tight urban driveway every day. Got CDL on my own without school, failed 90 alley dock 3x. Why? Cuz every time i ever tried was my first time in a big rig. Had no seat time and the turn ratio was completely foreign. And im a sucky tester.

Drove a daycab spread for a while. Switched to a long classic sleeper with a spread and had to start all over for a few days.

In real life, its usually what you do while going forward to set up for a back in that counts. The side of your trailer is a rifle site. You dont pull a rifle trigger if you arent on target do you? dont back into something if you havent got the site lined up on target while going forward. Your forward maneuvering is done when your rub rail or van side is aiming at the bumper, telephone pole or dock line you need. I know the testpad is different and limits your choices but keep that point in mind, youll always use it. It is much easier to back in with the tandems all the way back IMO. You wont have tail swing to worry about. Find a wheelbarrow. Hold it behind you. Now youre a semi truck, walk around the yard backing it into spots.

When you are reversing, put your hand on the bottom of the wheel. If you pull your hand to the right, back of the trailer is going to the right. No math involved. When you get dyslexic in the mirrors, stop, put it in neutral and rest your knee a min. Look forward at where you are, close your eyes a second, breath and burn that image into your head. Forget the mirrors for a few seconds until you have your sense of direction back.

 

It was more constructive than your comment...


Grab a beer and lets talk about it.

 

As soon as you recognize you are off STOP!

G.O.A.T

Get out and THINK. Look at the whole vehicle, particularly the angle tractor to trailer. Remember the steers control the tractor and the tractor controls the trailer.

Even if it's just a quick pop out and in, it will change your frame of reference and you will start to understand WHY things are happening. Once you have why, then you can control the what and where.

 

Another thing is this

If a pull up ends with your tractor less then straight, back again just enough to actually straighten the combination. Can't tell you how many times I've seen a driver with the tractor tipped left, and every #### pull up they are still tipped left... gee? I wonder why your trailer seems to end up in the same place every time....

 

I had no luck with that. I have to do the 2-d geometry in my head. I suggested a top down view with a toy truck because I have heard lots of drivers say it helped them, but it only confused me.

For me, it's all about the geometry of the setup, and then it's about tire position and truck/trailer angles.

I will also use landmarking if there are distinctive objects that I can use. For example, as you pass a dock door, look to see what is exactly opposite it in the lot. If it is something distinctly different enough to track easily, you can then use that to help guide you.

I also carry a red LED emergency flasher that I will drop on the pavement if I am backing in poor visual conditions, or on ice or unmarked pavement.

 

Something i forgot is if you are really really close on a boundary you cant see in front of you, do your get out and look, take a few deep breaths and compose yourself, pace out and count the heel to toe steps from your bumper to the cones. Now go back and look where your mirror is. Start there. Pace it out with one less step, and spit on the ground discreetly. Youve now left a maximum forward marker. Be confident in that marker and you can now use all of your available forward space.


The comment above about the tractor driving the trailor is a good point. Consider that in turning maneuvers, both the tractor chassis and trailer chassis move in arcs from a pivot point. The trailer can stay pretty straight and linear, while the tractor arcs [setting up a jackknife using many pullups for instance.] The trailer can arc while the tractor moves linear. They can both move linear or both move in simultaneous arc. But you need awareness of this for complex situations.

Number one truckstop tight spot fail i see is guys who dont aim right going forward and thus start backing from a bad spot. Then they get way jackknifed to compensate, but theyre too close to the trucks, wall or fence on the other side and now their tractor chassis is completely parallel to that boundary. They keep trying to go forward and back and never gain the clearance to swing their nose around. Why? Cuz they let their tractor get fully 90* to the spot they want and now the drives arent getting farther from the barrier when they move. It is fine to be 90* to your OWN trailer. 90* to the spot youre trying to get into is a bad situation in a tight lot. If your hitch isnt getting farther from the barrier, you arent gaining any clearance for your nose to swing around and straighten up. Draw imaginary lines through the truck and trailer in your head and compare them to the boundaries you have to work around. Dont let your axis and the boundary become parallel. Little by little your 5th wheel needs to be moving deeper into the parking spot or youre just driving past it. You will point out eventually.

 

Indeed. The tightest spot you can back into is going to require you to reverse the maneuver that you have to do to pull out when someone tard-parks their truck in an imaginary parking space in front of you.

I *HATE* those long, drifting backs where you have to reverse the straight out, then sharp cut you have to do on a tight exit.

You have go start the back from ten or so parking spots away, on the far side of the lane from a normal set, and slowly guide back in perfectly, within a few inches of the bumper of the truck on your driver side, and really tight on the door mirror of the truck on the passenger side.

If you get good enough to manage long drifting backs into really tight spots with minimal fuss, you have won the game.

 

That brings up another real life thing to remember. You show up somewhere and they say go turn around. And its a tee shape with junk everywhere. Do you go clockwise or counter clockwise?

The answer is it is always easier to put the trailer in a small slot and keep the tractor in the open space where it can swing, than to put the tractor in the alley with the trailer hanging out. So think lollypop. The trailer can go where the stem is but power unit needs the circle end to maneuver. Pull forward into a truckstop spot and youre there until daylight to get out.

 

You think you have problems now, go with an open deck company. For a few days, I relearn how to back a 48' rgn with the tandems all the way in back. Next week it's a 53' step with a 10' spread. Couple days later and I'm back under an RGN. Whoops! Got too ####y, now I'm under a close set 53' flatbed..... I never back the same way for more than 2wks straight.

 

Imagine.

Imagine there are two painted lines extending out from the lane you need to back into.

In between those imagined lines is where your trailer tandems need to be.

Everything else is just straightening out. Don't be afraid to do an extra pull-up or two to line it all up.