Backing 48' fixed spread axle trailer in tight spots

I was brought up to call that a "tricycle", and SMT is right, it is an acquired skill. How the trailer backs will vary depending on how it is loaded and how much traction there is. It will turn slower on asphalt than on gravel, for example. It also depends on whether or not you have a dump valve. The slickest thing I've ever had was a curtain van where you could lift the front axle and spin it into the hole on just the back axle. Absent that, you've got to oversteer initially to get it turning in and then correct quickly. Tight docks can totally suck. There are docks I go to regularly that I will not even try unless I have a double space.

Two quick points I can offer- 1. If you're backing a spread, you're pulling ahead. 2. Use all the room you've got.

 

agreed for sure, and if you have to make more room then do it. can tell you how many times i have pulled out blocked traffic and then backed in. the cars will stop lol. TAKE YOUR TIME. they will honk hors ignore them. i have been backing spreads for over 1.5 years and still cant do it on occation

 

0° would be straight, 90° would be jack knifed and 120° you'll be in your trailer unless you have a very long stretch.

 

not again... lol

 

Who do you work for hauling tile and slabs? That what i haul for our business in lake havasu. I make weekly runs to phoenix az to pick up or material.

 

I've been pulling a 10' spread since May. Pay attention to any small hills, dips, or bumps as you are backing or making a sharp turn. Sometimes the back axles may be in the air and your turning radius will be on the front axle or vice versa.

Uneven terrain is the most challenging. You have to make your best guess how the trailer will react as it transitions from pivoting on the front or the back axle.

 

Backing a spread axle is not that difficult, It does take some getting used to.

This is the big secret no one is willing to share..

If you look at the spot you want to back into and don't think it will go, then don't go.
If your not sure about a spot, get out and look and walk it.
Take your time, go as slow as you need to, pull up if you need to.
don't worry about what other say or do. It is your truck and trailer to back.

Should someone make a comment in a disparaging manor. remember this phrase

Thank you for your input, your comment and opinion is duly noted.

 

I'll say this after a few years being a door swinging dock banger, thinking I knew something about backing chops, when I switched to a split axle flatbed I gained a healthy respect for those that drive this setup. You really learn how to follow the trailer at a shallow angle, taking a much longer pull up, and using the natural "fall off" of the trailer to initiate getting into the hole as you back the tractor up straight.

 

Up here our tridems are 12' spreads with 57,000 on them. if the axles are fixed at the back of the trailer i find it's a lot easier on the gear to back in sharp in 2 or 3 short little cuts. just pull up a few feet to move the front of the truck over a bit. you can get the front of the trailer over and the front of the truck back around without being at too wild an angle to the trailer that way.

 

My suggestion would be to use all the room you have available to minimize stress, wear & potential of damage to your equipment & the load. Sometimes it will be a football field, sometimes a postage stamp.

I have driven pretty much every kind of trailer & it's always the same. They want you to get that in there.

Take your time & take any available room.

Last thought, you have to know when to tell a customer no. Not talking about a tight spot. I have had customers expect me to put my rig in precarious situations. Just recently had one with a steep 4' rise from street to top of his narrow, short (as in not long) driveway. I was dragging a 3 axle RGN with 31' in the well. I would have bellied out before the trailer tires got off the street as my tractor was sitting on the flat spot on top. Would have been the same If I tried to back in, just in reverse.

Told him no, he got pissed, his secretary scraped the front end of her car on the street as she pulled out to go to lunch, he loaded me on the street. Of course he didn't come down the steep drive, he used his little side gate to go out in an alley that led to the road with very gradual slope to the street.