Backing Up!!!

I occasionally back into a building in Toledo to load out. The buoilding is one lane for trucks, and the other for railroad cars, and is over 450 foot deep. You have to back in alongside the wall, staying fairly close to align with the loading setup. You get extra "style" points if you can back in with the truck above idle. I've never had a problem backing in, but it terrifies some drivers I see there.

Longest backup I did was at one of our yards. I had to back up straight over 3/4 of a mile down a siding at a railyard. There was a train parked at the far end of the siding, and it broke down right there. I had driven up figuring that it would move within a few minutes as they normally do, but instead ended up having to back out.

 

Mirrors are the key.. you have two of them! The main problem with teaching straight line backing is that new drivers tend to stare and wait for something to happen.. the best way I found to teach newbies to back is first get them sitting up straight with there backs against the seat and have them look at BOTH mirrors as if they are scanning ahead of the truck, left mirror, right mirror etc. I ask them if they can seem the wheel on the trailer on BOTH sides of the trailer. I tell them that if you can see wheels on both sides of the trailer, you are going STRAIGHT. This is done in the backing area and the truck is straight and the trailer is straight and they release the clutch and start backing. On straight backing I also have them keep their hands and the "ten and two" position and tell them to NOT release their hands from it! They are only allowed to "shuffle" the wheel to the left and the right. This will keep most people from starting the yo yo and over-steering.

When the student is forced to keep their head moving from mirror to mirror then can readily pick up the visual changes in the side of the trailer and the WHEELS on the trailer. When the start to drift, this is where I explain that they are to correct and then take back the correction. So they apply a little correction or "bite" and then wait for a couple of seconds and then take the bite back! It's steer, center.. steer center. Even if they do not really know where the center is, they can usually be helped by seeing that the corrections make the trailer do something! After some practice and by moving their focus from side to side, they can catch the drift a lot faster than someone who is left mirror dominant. I have also covered the mirror on mirror dominate people to break them of the habit of staring.

Sorry for the novel

 

um i thought there are 4 mirrors. heck i got 4 and use the ones on the hood more than my side mirrors. they give a wide angle to see more. of course i use my side mirrors when backing but the hood mirrors are very helpful on the blindside backing.

 

i have to pull into silos often and then back out when loaded, most have foot and a half each side. if you go in straight, it will come back out straight if you don't mess it up by turning the wheel, easier said than done.lol i drove concrete truck for years and found it is easiest just to follow your tracks in the dust that you made going in, or back in the same tracks that the truck in front of ya made.

 

Thanks for all the great tips.Did straight line backing today did it perfect all 4 times i was asked to do it!

 

The trailer will go the same way the bottom of the steering wheel is moved when backing. Drive the trailer tires, if you have a tank trailer aligning the sides of the trailer with the mirrors will not work.

 

Fozzy of Oklahoma, Thanks for the very clear explanation. That wasn't a novel, IMHO, just a very clear explanation. Thanks!

 

Just wait Thomas You get to parralel park your tractor-trailer when you take your CDL test, always lots of fun and a good reason to learn how to back properly.

 

Hey Thomas I went to that very same school. It's not that good and they rush you out as soon as you pass your road test. Just a typical CDL mill, but at least you will have a CDL. Your last week you will do some serpentine and 90 degree backs. 90's are not hard and aside from a straight line, which you hardly ever use in the real world, they are my favorite. Learn those as best as you can. I always set myself up to do a 90 if I can.
A lot of people use their spot mirrors to help back but I can't see as much detail in them and hardly ever use them for that purpose. Not saying that they don't work for backing, just not for me.

 

On Monday we will be doing left,right turns in a industrial area.I am suppose to take the road test Wednesday in Irving.