Proper dock setup when driving a hostler unit?

Im a hostler and I can help. I am at work right now. Give me a little bit to get back to you on this.

 

Make your turn so that the rear on your left side is even with left side of the empty hole. Straighten out and straight back.

 

Are you driving an actual yard truck or a day cab?

 

Setup for me personally isn't that important in a yard mule because of how easily the wheels turn. What is important to me is making sure your mirrors are correct, since everybody has their own preference of how the mirrors are adjusted...especially if you're sharing the yard truck.

What I do sometimes to make things a little easier is to not lift the 5th wheel too high...but not so low either where the landing gear is dragging on the ground...but just enough so it looks more natural in the mirrors when backing up. Just the angle of the nose lifted higher than the tandem wheels can sometimes mess you up and can take some time to get use to. Constantly look at the angle of your trailer. Move you eyes back and forth from tandem to nose, and you'll know eventually if the angle of the trailer is correct over time...since all your doing is backing up trailers all day...lol.

And one more thing...don't be embarrassed to go out and look...even in a yard truck. When in doubt...GOAL. It would be more embarrassing if you hit something because of pride or you couldn't spare a couple seconds to go out and look. In that case...it's better to use GOALS (Go Out And Look Stupid) instead

 

Sorry. Been busy. Holidays and all.

I have to lift the trailer all thenway up cause we have hills to clear. So keep that in mind.

As far as my approach, it really depends how much room you have. I dont have on set method per se cause our place varies widely. Some doors you have to blind side some you can take a lot of room and some you have to do a 90.

If I have room in front of me I let my shoulder hit the middle of the space and do a left and then right. Remember it will be quicker cause you are not in a sleeper. Ill pull forward enough so I can see the hole and start backing then walk it in. Pull forward to correct if you have to.

If you dont have a lot of room pull forward about 10 spots a head then start backing and put a turn it to bend the trailer and walk it in.

Biggest thing is just practice. We have old trailers we dont use for anything, sometimes if we are slow I will practice backing that in to a door or spots on the lot.

You will eventually get a feel for it. It took about 2 years to really get it to where it is just muscle memory.