So I have my CDL but am a functionally incompetent trucker. Now what?

So that when you start backing up, the trailer will be turning on into the space.

 

9am and 3pm might to much maybe 10 and 2 is better. The faster you back the less you want to turn the wheel left and right.

 

And you want to drive a truck instead? Well, if that is what you want have fun. My GF is a RN, and does testing for Covid 19. She makes much more than I do. They also manage to pay a lot of her salary in per diem which I don't quite understand, but glad she gets it that way. She may well make 6 figures doing this. If you change your mind give a shout. She works for a great staffing company.

 

When I read the first post , this is exactly what came into my mind immediately. How did this person ever pass the skills test.


that being said , if you do have a CDL @They Call Me Miss Frizzle then he’d the very good advice you e been given in the previous posts.

Good luck in driving career.

 

my friend when it went from being a “profession” to being a “job” the bottom completely fell out of driving.

we’re both old enough to remember trucking used to be fun , it’s always been work , but people respected your efforts.

nowadays , with the advent of drivers acting like and actually looking like slobs it’s pitiful.

spot on with your view in the post I quoted. Spot on.

not to hijack :

OP , you’ve been given great advice. Now take the reins and go for it. Remember though. Speed is never your friend in backing. And never let another driver shame you into not getting out and making sure that you’ve cleared any potential obstacles in your path.

Slow and steady....

 

Go back to reply #36 and do the following:

• Read it in its entirety
• Observe the sketch, try to understand the sketch and how it is related to the wording above it.
  
• Comprehend, if nothing else, the reason and the recommendation to TURN LEFT.
• Commit it to MEMORY.

Other recommendations on here are fine. And even though the video posted was not wrong, to TURN LEFT is a whole lot easier to remember, and to do, than everything that was shown in the video. All the 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock from the video is a bunch of phooey when there's not enough room to hit those angles. And with odd shaped spaces, and it being dark, it's not easy to tell any angle, except to TURN LEFT before you back up. It's that simple. Even though it is that simple, you'll want to turn left and point your trailer toward the hole you want it in. REREAD #36.

 

I was at a warehouse in Atlanta, and watched with amusement as an obviously new to trucking young female tried to back a Prime truck into a dock. Now she was very lucky, as there are normally trailers parked across from the dock. She lucked out and there were two spaces empty across from her. I thought this shouldn't be too hard. It took her 8 tries to get in. I can only imagine if those trailers had been there. She couldn't have been more than 25. Do they just put these people out there with little to no training? Incredible.

 

I was lucky I guess. I grew up working on a dairy farm in the 60’s. When I made trucking my career choice I was pretty much used to backing stuff.

it’s amazing to me how some of these poor hands make it though.

 

I can understand it from a corporate standpoint. Backing a truck in is not the most important thing. It is something that must be done though. The most important thing is to not kill or injure anyone during the process of moving the truck. At road speed is when these big rigs are at their most lethal. Eventually, all trucks/trailers will dock. And at dock speeds, things are not as dangerous.

At the dock where I backed, the driver's had it made. They just dumped them and drove off. But to be fair, backing twins is a whole nother world of complex. Plus they got paid to break down their twins and hook them up. They only had to put away their 5th wheel dolly.