Not going too well

You mentioned doing well on the blindsided? You could do the same thing for the offset, just think of it as a blindside with a straight back into the offset spot.

It doesn't take much to get the trailer to start heading the way you want. The more time you give it, the sharper it will start to turn. Just give it another second or two and you should see it.

 

It's hard for some experienced drivers to let people learn. They know early when something isn't going to work and the student never has the chance to see what happens.

 

It's got to be a head thing that you have to overcome. The reason for this is you know exactly what to do. So all that's left is to relax and do it. I test next week to but everything is random. Outside of a straight back who knows what I'm going to get. All I know is that it looked impossible and still does but I've done them once and I know I can again. Still I'm nervous and you should be your paying for training that you don't know. All I know is my instructor shows me how but come test time I will take much more time to get it right. Maybe on your own and no instructor will help you deal with the pressure better.

 

Without reading every post I'll just say that most beginners should make sure they focus every time they back. Watching your cut points which you should know i.e. Your tandems or bumper and secondly take it slow. Don't underestimate the value of that alone. If. O thing you won't make a mistake as fast.

 

I found that learning how to back is a gradual process. You aren't going to instantly get it, it takes time. The set up is the most important part. It is a lot harder to fix when you under estimate the set up rather than over estimate... meaning your trailer will end up to far to the right (passenger side). So when you think you've pulled up far enough, give yourself another ten feet and the start backing. Take your time, ignore all the bs, and hopefully you can get a good trainer over the road. Good luck.

 

At my school they taught us half of the landing gear on offsets. Its more reliable then counting. Honestly once you do it the right way a few times you will develope your own feel for it.

Every trailer is different.

 

Re: This.
Getting yelled at.

What @TripleSix was trying to tell you that you didn't hear was: Not everyday is going to be a walk on the beach. One day you'll have to dock after driving the wrong way on a one way street - you'll have to cut off traffic, you'll see plenty of fingers and hear plenty of horns. And THEN when you're docked you'll be blocking traffic still. And you'll get more fingers & horns. Now tell me - do you think they're interested in helping you either?

This trainer is your 'pressure'. Just an introduction to what you'll face. If you crap out with this guy yelling at you from his car - how the hell are you going to make it when you're driving in the real world? Isn't anybody going to be nice to you out there, cupcake.

If you think it's going to be all easy then you've got a few hard lessons coming. And, in likelihood, a short career.

Get thru it & to quote Mr. Kimble: 'Stop whining!'

 

When I first started dealing with onry people that liked to yell it set me back too. Look at it as an opportunity to practice existing in those situations until eventually people will yell and you won’t give it a second thought.

Some people that’s just how they are, don’t take it personal. That guy has something you want.. so just bear with it, get your cdl and head on down the road.

Some dudes just go crazy at work, but have a drink with them adterwards and they might be the nicest guys you’ve ever met. Seen that At least once.

 

Look man, listen. Trainers like yours, the one's that just yell and belittle students, are garbage people, plain and simple. Having said that, there is a HUGE trick that you can pick up from getting a trainer like that. And that trick will help you for years down the road in this career. You really, honestly, have to give zero cares in the world about other people's emotions when in that truck. Every day you are driving that truck, LITERALLY EVERY DAY, you are going to piss people off. You are gonna have people eyeballing you every time you back into a truck stop. People are going to yell at you, people are going to honk at you, people are going to brake check you, some people will even follow you to a stop light and let you know how ugly your face is. Your dispatcher is going to be trying to rush you through loads once your on your own. Even your fellow truck drivers will be trying to bully you around at times. You can't worry yourself about any of it. Because when you start to worry about other people, then you start to not focus on what your doing. And when you don't focus on what your doing, you make a rookie mistake that haunts you for the next 3 years.

 

I get what you are saying. High pressure and angry people are part of the job. Even I still deal with it in my relatively easy local job. But driving school isn’t so much about learning the daily pressures of the job, that comes later. Right now he is just learning how to drive the truck (which is the easy part), and for that, a lazy ornery sob of a trainer is not a good thing.

There was one guy I went to school with, a super nice middle aged guy who used to drive a panel truck or some such thing, so he thought driving a rig would be easy peasy. Wrong. Well he learned everything ok, did well on his cdl test, and went on with a trainer, only to find out he could not handle driving in big cities. Like he had a big nervous breakdown and everything. So he quit right away, but eventually landed a local job and lived happily ever after.

Our op might find that driving otr is harder than he thought, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for him.