Today was my first day ever driving a Tractor.

Day 2 went better than Day 1, by a long shot.

Tomorrow is focus on Air Brake Inspection, and 5th Wheel/Coupling. I practices both today and feel confident I’ll do well tomorrow without instruction.

Straight back is becoming more instinctual and natural feeling, as well as left/right swing and offsets, doesn’t mean I didn’t make a ton of mistakes though, I definitely made a lot. Tried my hand at 45 sight view backing and throughout the day it became to make more sense and what I needed the trailer to do and how to control it become more apparent.

Tomorrow I’ll be covering all that I’ve been practicing on so far, and potentially adding parallel, 90 degree and 45 blind side.


Even though I didn’t practice it as much today, shifting and downshifting seemed more natural and fluid, getting used to the tractor/trailer is getting easier.

Another kick ### day!!!

 

Be the tortoise. Slow and smooth.
Slow throttle
Slow steering
Smooth throttle
Smooth steering

Don’t get in a hurry. Take your time.
When it starts to not be right, STOP. Take a breath, count to 5. Look at the situation again, then ask yourself “what do I need to do different”
Then make those changes and try again. That’s the thing most people miss. If it didn’t work the first time, just doing the same thing is not going to change it. You have to make an adjustment of some kind. What that adjustment is depends on the situation.

The key to a good back is all setup. It starts long before the truck is in reverse.

One thing new drivers do, and even some of us that have been doing this for a few months. Getting impatient and start over steering. Slow down, let the trailer respond to the input. It’s gonna take a moment.

 

Yes!

I’m coming to realize this, you know what the rear trailer/tires need to do, don't focus so much on where they are, focus on where they need to go..

Bad angle? Can’t be saved? Should have set yourself up for success as much as possible initially of course but, pull up!!! Why make insane maneuvers to fix something that was doomed from the start, better to just pull up, it’s safer, it’s easier, and my job counts on it.

 

Smooth is fast, fast is slow!

 

And please don't be jumping the clutch all you have to do is ease out on the clutch and the truck will move away from a stop smoothly...

 

I moved my seat up.

it helped so I can only compress 2-3 inches and comfortably release slowly. I found my sweet spot in my tractor, still have issues with jumping the clutch but I found what I need to do to ensure I mitigate the issue, just about leaning into the solution now and getting comfortable.

 

Sometimes the "gets easier the more you do it" creates sloppiness as in "this ain't any problem", then slams into a YELLOW post.

Pup Trailers were the Most Challenging with a Road Tractor and much more elevating at Night, while raining. Day cab or Switcher Truck (6 and 10 wheel) made is easier to Jack-Knife therein creating sloppier (and hilarious for others watching) experiences. Glad I had the repetitive experiences, OTR, Local and Yard Hostler.

 

With all of the years of experience on this forum and still we all have days we can't hit a straight back in broad daylight and 100 Sq miles to setup perfect. Stop worrying about being perfect, master being safe, and efficiency will follow.

 

In the 90s l was working a 30mi run every day and only able to get 2 loads a day, and I saw an add in the newspaper for drivers to work 2 hours early in the am. but we had to meet the cargo plane every morning at 5 am and roll off the cargo and fill the box truck and go 3mi to the dock and roll em off,
, on the test drive you had back it up to the dock door and I was turning the steering the wrong way and the boss rideing on the ck run told me I was going to be driving the tractor pulling a 40ft trailer and it payed 10 more bucks a day and he picked off drivers that were used to pulling trailers that way, but a lot of days it takes 1 hour to get done and the pay was the same, So you can get it done and then get a job pulling any type things you like?

 

Yes pull up to fix that mistake!
Be carefully however of how you pull up. Many people have a tendency to try to steer the wrong way for their pull up and actually make thong worse for themselves.
If you had a good set up and line of sight when you started and just turned too soon or too late, most times you can bring the trailer right back to that start point and then pinpointing your mistake and correcting it will become easier.

Everyone is correct about it getting easier the more you do it but what I feel most needs to be pointed out is you actually need to pay attention to your mistake and learn what not to do as much as you pay attention to your succeses.