Ready to graduate but crap at backing!

True but most require 1 to 2 exp before they will hare a rookie.

 

the hardest thing for me in school was a tie between the blindside offset and the parallel parking. i pulled into a rest area in VA the other day and had to blindside parallel.

i hopped out of the truck and on my way to the restroom i stopped and realized that in about 20 seconds i had just done what i spent days in school attempting to master. the thought never crossed my mind about parking in that spot. i stuck it in there, did my business and left.

everyone has a weak spot. dont get frustrated, and dont oversteer. does your school make you run the tandems all the way up or back? remember that the shorter the trailer is, the faster it is going to respond from your turns on the wheel. overcorrecting is one of the biggest problems trainees have to overcome. that was my problem. i would overcorrect, and once you have missed the mark, its virtually game over. you can still recover and make it work, but you will use more than the one allowed pullup and GOAL.

ask anyone here and we all have bad days. it is how you deal with the bad is what will help you in the end. stop and take a deep breath and count to 5 and give it another shot. trust me, there are far worse things out here that you will have to worry about on the road. that is what school is supposed to do. teach and instruct. all you have to do is learn.

good luck!

 

School's only teach you the basic's................ you learn more once your on your own, it's call "experience first hand", school's will NEVER teach you that !!!!!!

 

I was a bag of nerves learning too..Backing is something youll have to teach yourself..Get to a tight dock with 2 brand new Peterbilts on either side of your dock & believe me youll learn how to back..GET OUT & LOOK IF NEEDED!!! I cant stress that enough...Youll get it just takes time & practice...Personally I think 11 weeks is way too long of a class...3 is about right,get hired then go out with a trainer for 2 weeks or so depending on progress & longer if needed..

 

You mean in a year he'll get the kingpin centered and couple a trailer ?

 

You have to be patient and keep working at it without getting frustrated. You need to be able to visualize what the trailer is doing in relation to what the tractor is doing.
When I went to test out I was in the middle of the parallel parking and got all confused and disorientated. I actually stopped the test and told them that I needed more practice on backing before I felt comfortable taking the test.
They explained to me that I could miss that one back, and still pass as long as I did well on everything else.
I told them that I did not want to just barely get by. That I wanted to be comfortable knowing that I could do this easily.
So I spent another week in school and really worked on my backing and passed easily.
Then I go to a flatbed company and had to learn the spread axle...lol
But I just takes time and you can and will master it!

 

A good way to think of backing is pretend the trailer is pulling the tractor into the spot & the tractor is simply following the trailer....Proper setup is the most important thing & everybody sets up diffrent..

 

What? ... I wonder what kind of ripoff school your going to...

 

Everybody has something they have to work on. My shifting was a challenge that i really had to work on. Two months on the road and I often wonder what my problem was. Backing was natural to me being a farm boy and all. My suggestion to you is to take it slow and make sure you understand how every adjustment of the sterring wheel affects what you see in your mirrors. You will get it and probably some where down the road you will look back and wonder what the hell was your problem. Keep at it!!