tight backing

i look like a rookie most of the time
backing has never been my strong point
but i have never backed into anything
i have confronted a driver swearing at me as i got out and looked thou

 

ive been driving quite a while, and yet im the guy youll see "looking like an idiot" as he gets out and looks 2,3,4,8 times if i feel at all doubtful about it. point. laugh. i care not a whit. ill be darned if im gonna let my or your impatience cause me to fell less than totally safe about the outcome of my backing. dont worry about how you look trying to get it right, worry instead about howb youll look when you get it wrong. take your time and if you need to get out 20 times, ill wait for you. ALSO....if you are like me, getting out a few times when necessary, you will occasionally come across a good samaritan that will "help" you....be wary of such help. their intentions may be wonderful, but when they give wrong info and you trust them...the resulting accident is still totally your fault.

 

The secret to backing is both the GOAL (Get Out And Look) and idle speed. A 53' trailer will react slower than a 48' (based on tandem location) but if you give yourself a good 5-6' passed your spot and can angle out at about a 45 degree from it with tractor turned back left to start the backup procedure, you should have a good setup to begin your sight side (driver's side) maneuvering.
Take your time and remember to angle into the spot nice and tight (there's trailer sticking out passed those tandems so GOAL) so you don't 'p' off that long-nose on your blind side.

One more piece of advice... turn off your radio. Nothing worse than a 'mumback' telling you how to drive your truck. If you hit something listening to that guy saying 'mumback... you're good,... mumback'... you'll discover he's not going to pay for backing you into something.

'Bigfoot'
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i was absolutely horrible at backing....I took my time. You will hear Super truckers saying stupid things on the radio....These are always the guys who say " I been driving a rig since I was 12 with my daddy" lol..... I took my time, backed, Looked, pulled up and adjusted, backed, Looked, adjusted, repeat .lol . The point being....Those Super truckers dont matter one bit in the scope of your career.

 

Aaahh #### it, Back up till it sounds expensive then back up 10 more feet that should do it. I will mess up the easiest backing maneuver so dont worry about it. I still run over a curb here there