Getting Good at Backing

a.) Where do you live??
b.) Our resident YouTube trainer, @scottied67 has some REALLY good videos, very informative.
c.) Keep on chasing the hole.... and remember to GOAL.

 

Good ideas. That's exactly what I did. Sometimes I'd pull in to a big truckstop with lots of open parking spaces on the back row and practice.

 

Go home and kick your wife out.
That'll teach him.

 

That there ^^^^ is actually hilarious, as i spit my morning coffee on the keyboard! LmFaO!

 

Ya know, there's always the old "broom on the belt" trick from the '80's that has worked for many people. That, and Tonka (or whatever they make nowadays) toy trucks. It's how I taught my wife.

 

For each driver there was a certain number of attempts or number of hours required to become OK at backing. It's just a matter od doing it over and over until you hit your magic number of attempts or time. I strongly suggest you never ever avoid backing and use a pull-thru spot. That just delays the calendar date at which you reach your magic number.

Try to practice the exact same type of backing over and over. For me it was backing into an empty spot that had a line down the driver side of the parking space. Pretend the end of that line, next to your left front bumper after you are in the spot, is a very expensive truck driven by a very angry driver. NO MATTER WHAT DON"T TOUCH THAT LINE with your trailer tires. Pull up if necessary. If you are too close (too left in the slot) DON"T STEER RIGHT to try and move over, that puts the trailer further left. Once the tandems are at or ahead of that front edge of the line steer LEFT, which will point your trailer rear to the right. Many newbies keep trying to steer right as they pull up and it makes matter worse and wastes the space in front of the spot.

Approach the empty spot slowly. As your drive tires reach that magic line painted on the ground, STOP the truck, turn steering wheel all the way to the right, and then slowly drive forward until your have a 45 degree angle between tractor and trailer. STOP, turn steering wheel all the way to the left and pull forward until you are now 45 degree angle between tractor and trailer. You should be looking at the tractors that would be parked parallel to where you are trying to back in. Now you straighten the steering wheel and start rolling forward until your trailer tandems are beyond the magic line. I usually like my ICC bumper to be about at or beyond the magic line. When I start to back up, stop the truck and input ALL POSSIBLE STEERING input before you start moving. This one trick saves you so much space. Many new drivers, and ALL LAZY drivers like to casually input a little steering wheel change as they roll. Few places have enough space you can afford to waste it trying to keep flabby arms as flabby as possible.

It's best for you to do the same wrong thing over and over and then adjust than to randomly do some of this and then randomly some of that. The random and purposeless attempts are just a waste of time. Pick landmarks and start your process right there. If this causes you to be consistently too far left or too far right in the spot, adjust your landmark. Consistently wrong is better than randomly right. We've all been there it's just a matter of you practicing until you see the detail that is important to you and it "clicks". I keep in mind my trailer will pivot around the trailer tandems. Good luck.

 

I've been driving for six months, for me it just kinda clicked one day. I would practice at truck stops, watch how other drivers how they backed in different situations. Don't be afraid to ask for help and don't forget to G.O.A.L get out and look, do it as many times as needed. You haven't messed up until you hit something is what my trainer told me.

 

It helps if you stay in the same truck all the time..every truck handles differently.
I dont bother practicing, I avoid all unneccessary backing...too many bad things can happen.
After a while, youll impress yourself, with where you can put the truck.
I hate when they force me to slide tandems at the guard shack..Im always at 41 ft mark..53 mark really screws me up.
Youll figure it out.

 

Staying in the same truck is the crux . . . I agree there. We have six trucks at our barn, and I drive the same one, religiously. I've driven all six, only 3 are sleeper Pete's and boss likes us to take a sleeper JIC... LoL. The turning radius on these bad boys suck, but then again, If I got into one of the daycabs... it would be "ODD" to say the least. I used to pull one a few years ago; kindof miss the old gal, LoL!

REPETITION and not "re-learning" to me, is key as well.
Agreed.