Having trouble in training

Discussion in 'Car Hauler and Auto Carrier Trucking Forum' started by DAX_, Jun 17, 2025.

  1. DAX_

    DAX_ Medium Load Member

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    Hanging out the window and backing up in perfectly straight line. Having trouble. Haven’t even started driving the cars on to the trailer yet.
    Any tips.
     
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  3. Hammer166

    Hammer166 Crusty Information Officer

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    Grab the bottom center of the steering wheel in an overhand grip. That serves two functions, it greatly restricts the mobility of your arm and prevents over steering, and you always know where dead center is
     
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  4. DAX_

    DAX_ Medium Load Member

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    Thanks I will try this. Even though they want our hands on 12 o clock
     
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  5. larry_minn

    larry_minn Light Load Member

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    Good luck. No advice. I know I could not do it at speed required. Backing up a rollback was getting close to my comfort zone. *in a rwd 200 hp tractor*. I’m sure it’s like roofing. After a while not steep roofs you walk across purlings without thought. But not me today..
     
  6. Walk Among Us

    Walk Among Us Medium Load Member

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    Do u guys have big time failures while loading cars?
     
  7. larry_minn

    larry_minn Light Load Member

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    I am not involved. Did chat with guy who was. His worst was using wrong valve and lowering top onto vehicle on bottom. But it was used, buyer did not care about added damage. He never had to report it. He claimed he felt zero fear driving to park OVER cab of his truck. The stuff in back they can lower some. But that’s high. Nope, not me.
     
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  8. Hammer166

    Hammer166 Crusty Information Officer

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    No offense, but whoever is training you is clueless if that's what they insist on. Flat out ask them why. Sit in a car and show them how the bottom way restricts motion ( and that's a good thing because you only want minor Corrections up on the truck.)

    Yes I do realize I'm asking you to pee into the wind, because I've talked to several friends who have gone to work for these big companies and the stuff they try and teach, that somebody in the safety department came up with, is absolutely ridiculous.

    If they're going to insist on the 12:00, which is quite likely, the best advice I can give you is to do just like you're driving forward, look where you're going not at the tire. Once you're up on the decking then you can follow the line of holes, but out on the pavement you want to be looking out past your tire if you're going to back straight
     
  9. Hammer166

    Hammer166 Crusty Information Officer

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    There's been more than one driver backed one off the head rack. It's generally bad habits. Myself, I'm off the gas, and coasting while covering the brake, before I'm completely off the trailer on to the truck.
     
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  10. DAX_

    DAX_ Medium Load Member

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    So do you think following the crack in the concrete with your tire is a good way to learn? That’s basically what we’re doing rn
     
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  11. Hammer166

    Hammer166 Crusty Information Officer

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    That's no different than chasing a row of holes up a trailer. The biggest struggle for most people I've tried to train is that it is very hard to follow that line starting and stopping. The trick is to see the trend. You don't want to be a hole or two holes out of position before you realize what's happened. You want to be moving, even slowly, and you will see the tire start to move away from where you want it, and then it's easy to catch.

    , I'll have to really pay attention to what my eyes are doing next time I'm loading, but my guess is is that I'm pretty rapidly shifting My View From middle distance to tire back and forth. It's just like driving down the road if you're too focused on the close you're going to be zigzagging all over the place, the trend is just easier for our eyes to see looking out a little bit
     
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