Jacknife while making a u-turn

I was at the Anheuser Busch in St Louise, MO trying to set up for a dock into door 47. The dock is to my right. I made a u-turn to the right (dock is to the left of my truck now), then another u-turn to set up for a straight-line back. When i was doing the second u-turn, my passenger-side cab extender got damaged because my trailer did not pivot/turn and produced a jacknife.

How could this happen? I did plenty of u-turns before and never once jacknifed. I wasn't going fast, nor was the road slippery or uneven. My tandems, however, was slid all the way back. Could my tandems being all the way back caused the jacknifing? I'm afraid to do u-turns now. Please...how could this have happened? My trailer was supposed to swing like it always does when i u-turn.

 

You simply just turned too short and the tractor hit the trailer. Some companies have put reflectors in the trailer where the cab extender pieces would contact the trailer so you could see it was turning too short and about to hit. Lesson learned, now don't do it again.

 

Why do u need to do a u turn? I have never done a u turn. Ever. That does nothing but tear up equipment, as you have found...

If there was enough room to do a u turn. Then there should be enough room to get straightened out when u were on the blindside? Especially since u got setup for a straightline back in the end.. Why couldnt u just so that in the first place?

 

Driver error — Not the end of the world or a ‘major’ screw up by any means. The longer you continue that turn (if I interpreted your post correctly), the more likely you are to tear up a fairing. On the bright side, if it happened once, it almost certainly won’t happen again

 

Let me correct what i said. After the first u-turn to get the dock to my left, i turned sharply to the right to set up for a straight-line back. Isn't the trailer supposed to spin/pivot as i turn hard right? It's the same concept as a u-turn, right? Was it because the tandems are all the way back? This is why i'm afraid to do a u-turn

 

That's amazing to never have done a u-turn. You must've had all the room in the world to do two turns to swing yourself around at a shipper/receiver/truck stop/cul de sac

 

One other thing. There was a truck to the left of my dock. I had to turn turn hard right to straighten up next to him

 

Isn't u-turns done by turning hard left or hard right? I don't understand what you mean by turning too short. When i did the first u-turn, my trailer was still bent towards the right as i turned hard right to set myself for a straight backing. Is that what you meant by turning too short? Or is hard left/right for too long considered turning too short?

There was a truck to the left of my dock which is why i had to u-turn once before turning again to the right for a straight back set up.

 

The trailer will spin as well, but only to a certain extent, and yes, your tandem position will affect this. If your wheel is full lock, the trailer won’t keep up if you’re doing that much turning

 

I see. Lesson learned. The tandems were locked all the way to the back. I will be sure not to swing too hard with the tandems locked in the back. Thank you very much