Having problems with backing

I have 2 years OTR I still get out and look

 

Saw a dock today... there was a truck there... in L shape tractor and trailer... Not tight place but I kept wondering how driver got it there considering everything...
Here is a satellite view of the dock. The red arrows show the entrance which was an incline going up and the yellow line was the docking area right next to a wall on the right...



The driver said he did a blind side... jackknifed going towards the dock with tandems all the way to the front... then, at certain point, he turned wheel hard to the right and pulled forward... And then, he moved tandems all the way to the rear and finished backing up...
Not much room between the wall in front and the yellow poles in the back and the building wall...



Red arrows point to the poles...








This is how the truck and trailer looked like on the dock...

I wish I were there when driver backed to that dock just to see how he managed space and the obstacles...

I am not a good backer... but might have tried to back first to the bigger docking area behind the first one and then pull up as close as I could to the wall and poles to right and as soon as possible, turn the wheel to the left so to have rear of trailer pointing to the dock and then move back and forth with tandems all the way to the rear in order to place the trailer on that dock... but the small room in front might make it a little difficult...

I would like to know how some of you, experienced drivers would have backed to that dock.
Hey @MACK E-6 please join in too... I really appreciate your backing expertise and talents...

 

Easier said then done, but never GAF about others pressing you when backing in. If you don’t know 100% what’s surrounding you, the truck doesn’t move.

I once had a guy air horning me and waiving me to “go, go” as I kept having to stop as my over the top side of the truck was getting close to a truck immediately to my right. He couldn’t see that truck from where he was positioned. He kept trying to tell me I had clearance, and I have listen to him I would’ve took the fender off that truck. They’ll get over it, but if you smash into something they’ll be long gone and you left with the big mess.

 

Here’s the dock. There’s a fire hydrant in the middle of the Lot. Not enough room for me to u turn around it.They also had 4 Trailers dropped in the corner. My Trucks 285” w.b. Classic. I made a U turn between the fire hydrant and had to get on the grass a bit. Clipped the Tankers fender. The Plant Manager came out and asked my opinion on where a new gate would be best. A Gate near the dock, with gravel or pavement instead of grass was my suggestion. Apparently they’ve had a lot of incidents.

 

Definitely a pretty awful dock... and with 4 trailers in that corner... I dread those places... tight with lots of obstacles...
Walked by that same dock again today... and the same driver was there... waiting his turn to back to that awful dock... So, this time I waited and watched...

The dock is where the red arrow points to...


Took him 5 or so pull ups to position end of the trailer at the dock but it was in an awful angle... Rear end of trailer was too close to the short concrete wall and the front left corner of trailer and left side of cab and drives were almost touching the wall and rail on the left...





So... he pulled up to the left and did a few more back and forth and then slid the tandems all the way to the rear and finished his backing...



Driver is a real professional...
Wish I had stayed and watched him leaving the place and avoiding the tip of the rail...

There's only one entry/ exit in the back of that strip mall... Not really a place I would like to go... ever!

 

The nervousness will wear off.

But something that helped me was almost pretending I was sitting on the back of the trailer pulling in (instead of backing in). I know that sounds weird. But once you do it once, it'll make perfect sense. It helped me out 100%.

 

This dock is definitely one of "those" docks.

 

best advice I got about backing is “turn towards the problem” to correct position