Some questions I need help with

Seriously?

Don't you mean Columbia or Cascadia? Freightliner dropped the Century a few years ago and replaced it with Cascadia!

They have the same turning radius....identical trucks except for inside and the bells and whistles!

and you want to lease?

 

Wish you the best of luck leasing. Running your own business can provide the means too true financial freedom or complete devastation. I sure hope you don't end up like so many and end up living in the truck and bringing home $300-500 bucks a week. That would suck royally.

 

The shorter the wheel base, the more manueverable it will be. Get your tape measure out! The bigger sleepers tend to have longer wheel bases.

 

OkieCowgirl, they are right.....Practice, practice, practice. It may take even a few more years to get comfortable with it, but you will. I was kinda slow picking it up too. Just dont get so discouraged that you develop a mental block, and make it harder on yourself. As for backing, I like this Volvo I'm driving. Pretty easy to look out the window and see the trailer, cause the cab and sleeper are the same width, and there is no stack right there in your face when you turn your head to look back.

 

put your hand on the bottom of the wheel and turn it the direction you want it to go.

pick up some orange cones and use them in parking lots when you can. Put bicycle flags in them if you need to see them better.

It's a Matter of figuring out where the pivot point is on the trailer tandem. Pretty much in the middle of them. Same with the tractor.

bend the truck and trailer only to about half what you want the trailer to turn.

Go to the toy section and get a toy tractor trailer unit and practice backing it up on the table when you are eating meals.

I know my daughters had a little rug that had the outline of a city complete with streets on it. I got my daughters when they were younger to back up semi's on those streets.

 

The shorter the wheelbase, and the further the setback on the steer axle, the tighter it'll turn. Also, a shorter distance between the tandems and the kingpin will result in a trailer that turns faster than one with a longer distance.


As far as backing up goes, when you have a trailer, put your hand at the 12 o'clock position on the steering wheel, and push your hand in the direction you want the tail end of the trailer to go.

If backing up bobtail, place your hand at the 6 o'clock position on the wheel, and push your hand in the direction you want the tail end of your bobtail to go.

Good luck, be patient, and keep good business records, and you'll do fine.

 

Your trailer didnt follow you? Sounds like you got bigger problems than what truck to lease..

 

You might want to rethink these directions! they are completely opposite of correct.....meaning wrong/backwards!

[with trailer].....bottom of the wheel is the direction the rear of the trailer moves

[bob tail].....same as an automobile

Top of the wheel (12 o'clock) is turning direction going forward, bottom (6 o'clock) is for reverse.

 

I always hated the whole "Put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel and turn the way you want the trailer to go" piece of advice. When I taught at a CDL mill alot of instructors taught that, but I never did.

 

I taught it in the military that way too. They taught it to me at the tech school that way. And both my uncle taught me when I was 10 on the farm that way.

I'd say it's a pretty good example.

So please share with us your way.