45 degree alley backing help please

One thing to remember is that tractors turn in circles and most newbies overdo the amount of angle to begin with. Until you are straight with your trailer, it is still drifting (increasing the angle). And when it comes time to get straight with it, start a little early and get straight with it as soon as possible! When you are straight with the trailer, get the wheel back to the middle or your trailer will take off the other way. Most drivers that are good backers are good pool players because they can see angles.

As long as you are moving and not straight with your trailer it is still drifting. You have to "cancel the drift" as soon as you can or by the time you get caught up with your trailer, you will have missed it because you now have 20 feet of trailer drift to contend with.

Does this make any sense? I might be jumping too many steps. But backing is more an instinct than a formula.

 

I only do this when i knew they gave a crappy old trl too work with , i more or less didnt care about the junky trl so i practice on it, basicly if you got traction on the drives , en know your tractor , i could push alot of trls and the company i pulled for the drivers run thru salt and crap and before we dropped the trl in yard we was too run thru the truck wash en drop en hook en then the spotter would take out once all the crap was off, most times drivers would get in a hurry and drop the trl ,and brakes would freeze up, i hook on it drag it up the truck wash and wait on it, so i just use that trick on docks , but only on ice most times it would slide out from under me, backing on ice is a whole differnt ballgame , most times i never touch the trl brakes i just use the angle of dock shoot for 3 foot off too right en let slide down hill too dock which works when no other trucks around, most times in my tote on cat walk i carryed 25 pounds of cat litter i spread out first then back in on that with trl brakes pushed in, worked everytime.

 

I'm having major problems with this 45 degree back I'm testing next week I don't know what to do

 

I am in the same boat. I am about 2 to 3 weeks from my USA Truck upgrade testing. I need about 90 more driving hours to test. Last night my trainer and I were in Ohio doing a drop and hook. My primary problem comes from not starting my left turn quick enough or not putting enough left turn in. This always seems to cause the rear of my trailer to go way to far to my left as I back causing me to have to start with corrections then get totally out of position. Its coming but slowly I just hope I can get some backing practice done at Van Buren before my official testing starts. My first trainer as well as my team trainer both tell me that backing is something that takes a lot of time to get good at because there is so many different backing situations you will come across. I still think of the day on my first week in Ok when my trainer backed into a dock all the way from the road. I guess I could do it, but I don't know how long it would take. I am just glad my first trainer as well as my current one have lots of patience and have been very helpful getting me over this "hump".

 

I will say this as simple a possible, PRACTICE. Spend as much time a you can possibly do. One thing till this day, after 37 years of driving, I still Get Out and Look. do NOT be afraid to do this. If your not sure, and you cant see what your looking at, Get Out of the truck and look. Dont ask anyone, get out and learn. It will help you in the future. There is no book, magic wand or anything that will make you better at backing up. PRACTICE. Good Luck.

 

The only way to learn is to do it. Like the man said, practice.
An amateur practices until he can do it right, a professional practices until he cannot do it wrong.

 

Thanks to everyone I know I have to practice but I can't get any in the truck at school I've been in the truck to do the 45 about 5 times and this is my 4th wk.I'm just getting ill that I can't get more time doing it I keep tell them I need to get in there and practice,they keep saying ok but I'm still waiting if I knew someone around home that had a truck that could show me but I don't . I'm going to pass this somehow I just wish I had done a lil more research before I picked a school

 

Listen to me. Calm down. You will do just fine. Getting nervous and upset will not help you pass the test. In your mind,be a "CLOUD RIDER", look down, and just picture yourself doing a perfect job of this task. You will do it. I promise.
Perhaps you have focused all of your nervous feelings on this part of the exam. Perfectly normal thing to do. Sounds like you have put forth the effort in class, just concerned about prooving what you have learned.
Just go out out there and do it.
And, if a problem develops, there is such a thing as try again.
You will do it.

 

Hope you guys get the chance to read this before you test, maybe it can help.

[FONT=&quot]Use the steering wheel to your advantage! Everybody teaches "steer the opposite direction"...bad thinking, poor instruction!

Your visual part of your brain is already doing a "reversal" with all the information coming in through the eye...it has to reverse the image to be processed. So when you try to think "opposite" you actually are stressing yourself a bit more. Here is the trick I taught all my students for 15 years:

The top of the steering wheel turns the direction you want going forward, the bottom of the steering wheel turns the direction you want to turn going backwards.

The set up is the most important part of backing into a dock or parking location. Let's learn what I call the "Banana Profile":
1. With the units in a straight configuration, drive across the front of the location until the space between the tractor and trailer is at the midpoint of your location.
2. As you cross this midpoint, turn left to a 45 degree angle away from the point. Drive straight (45 degrees from the location) until the tandems are at the midpoint of the location. (you must be watching your drivers side mirror) As the tandems attain the midpoint turn the wheel left (again) to put a bend in the tractor/trailer until you have achieved the "Banana Profile". (The tractor/trailer has the same shape as a banana.) Now straighten up and continue until you have clearance of the drivers side rear corner of the trailer and the location the trailer will be backing into.
3. At this point, you should be able to smoothly "track" right into the "hole". Just visualize the line and adjust the turn aspect (declining) as you enter the hole and straighten up as you go.

LET THE TRAILER DO THE WORK...ADJUST TO THE TRAILER, DON'T FORCE THE TURN MOVEMENT BY OVER STEERING. The longer the trailer, the more time it will take to show its movement. Don't get anxious, be patient, and let the trailer make some movement, then you correct the tractor to the movement of the trailer.

1. When backing, place your hand palm down on the center bottom of the steering wheel.
2. Use the bottom as your guide for the direction you want the back of the trailer to move.
3. Having your hand, palm down, gripping the wheel will prevent you (with the natural limits of movement) from over-steering. DO NOT LET GO OF THE WHEEL!
4. Grip the window post (the separation bar between the wing window and the door window) with your left hand, and again, DON'T LET GO. This "anchor" stops you from moving around in your seat...every time you move it changes the visual perspective in your mirrors...SIT STILL!
5. A tractor/trailer combination will NEVER back in a straight line...you need to "add" and "subtract" turn movement constantly. A little adjustment either way will keep the units straight and where you want to go.
6. If there is no "guide line" painted on the surface, visualize the straight line you want to line the drivers side (sight side) of the trailer then the tractor onto.
7. When you start backing, pay attention to the tandems (trailer wheels)...these are your first and primary points of lining up the unit. As soon as the tandems have gone into the box, begin reducing the turn aspect of the tractor (bring the nose around to the "square line" with the trailer. Now change your focus to the midpoint of the trailer...just before the midpoint gets to the "line", get the tractor square with the trailer so there is no turn occurring...you have achieved the aspect of straight line backing once the tractor is square with the trailer and the midpoint of the trailer is in the box.
8. Keep in mind there are 3 "pivot points" to a tractor/trailer combination.
8a. Tandems are the rear pivot.
8b. King pin (drive wheels) is the center pivot.
8c. Steer tires are the forward pivot.
To move the tractor trailer either direction (right or left) you must accomplish an "S" configuration/movement with the tractor/trailer. Which direction you need to move the units is the direction you begin the movement. (This is for forward adjustments...if you have not centered the units in the dock.) To move it will require 3 steering movements...make sure the movement is sufficient (far enough forward in distance) to achieve the moving distance required (right or left). Just imagine you are driving on an "S" painted on the ground and follow it COMPLETELY. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]__________________[/FONT]

 

I was nervous about backing at first just like you and let me tell ya that's your only enemy...if you relax and pay attention you will find backing is fairly simple and kinda fun. On a 45 or 90 you start with a small turn of the wheel then increase as you are getting close to the outside of the hole followed by turning the wheel the other way to straighten the tractor up again, take it slow get out and look and remember that a little turn can move the rear of the trailer a good bit in a fairly short distance. I drive a W9 which has about 30% less turning radius than most of your newer trucks and after backing a Volvo recently i saw how easy it is to turn too much, trucks like that will move a trailer 1 foot sideways for every 6 feet you go back when the wheel is turned all the way. Also draw a picture in your head of the truck, trailer, hole and path you take to connect them and make the maneuver, i know guys that could nail it all day by doing that with only a few turns of practice. Good luck and try to always have fun with it nobody expects you to be a pro right away and neither should you.