CRE driver couldn't back into an airplane hanger

[LennyD]

I pulled into the McCarren Walmart DC earlier today and noticed a CRE driver who appeared to have less backing ability than the worst virgin driver from my trucking school. This guy got "lined up" 2-3 times, had absolutely nothing in his way (didn't even need to take the slightest angle), and he could not perform this most basic backing task, even with a shirtless, shoeless, preteen boy spotting him!

I told myself I would help him out if he needed it after I got my paperwork finished. When I came out, someone else was helping him.

I got his truck number and i'll leave it up to the replies here to decide whether or not I should turn him into his safety department.

Part of me says it's really none of my biz, the other part says that if this guy displays such poor control of his vehicle in a parking lot, he probably isn't much better on the road, and its probably a total fluke that he passed any driving tests.

[Skywalker]

I got his truck number and i'll leave it up to the replies here to decide whether or not I should turn him into his safety department.

Part of me says it's really none of my biz, the other part says that if this guy displays such poor control of his vehicle in a parking lot, he probably isn't much better on the road, and its probably a total fluke that he passed any driving tests.

Obviously, he's a "graduate" of the CRE School of Steering Wheel Holding, so its highly unlikely that CRE's Safety Department :? will even give a flip. :P :evil:

But what the heck....let them know....you could save his life one day. If he screws up and backs into someone else's truck....

[golfhobo]

I really don't understand why backing is so difficult, but I've seen MANY who can't do it (old and new.)

I don't think "reporting" him will make any difference. And, I don't think it necessarily has a bearing on one's ability to drive on the open road.

A solo driver (most have little or no experience) tried to back in next to me at a shipper this week, (wide open docking lot) he obviously knew NOTHING about the dynamics and geometrics involved. I tried to explain it to him, after guiding him around for awhile, but he was obviously a "krainian" of some sort, and spoke very little English!

It SURE is easy to get a CDL these days! :shock:

The BEST we can do, is get out and "spot" them, then try to teach them!

What ELSE you gonna do at a shipper for a couple of hours?? 8)

[Uturn2001]

I would let it go.

You do not really know for certain that his problems was due to a lack of training or what. It is possible he was just having a bad day, maybe was just tired or had a headache or whatever. As long as he was not running over things he should not have been just let it go.

Even after several years of driving I have had days I could not put a trailer into a dock with what should have been the simplest of tasks, and other days I could hit a 90 degree blind side alley dock on the first try.

[Uturn2001]

its probably a total fluke that he passed any driving tests.

Well if he went through the CRE school in SLC it is not a fluke as CRE managed to get 3rd party testing status. They test out their own students.

Anyway, not that long ago California ordered everyone who went through that school and got a CDL and then transferred their liscence to CA to be retested.

[Ridge Runner]

Your right Uturn. I drop around 8 to 10 trailers a night and I have THOSE nights too. The easiest back takes three pull-ups.

[got mud?]

I pulled into the McCarren Walmart DC earlier today and noticed a CRE driver who appeared to have less backing ability than the worst virgin driver from my trucking school. This guy got "lined up" 2-3 times, had absolutely nothing in his way (didn't even need to take the slightest angle), and he could not perform this most basic backing task, even with a shirtless, shoeless, preteen boy spotting him!

I told myself I would help him out if he needed it after I got my paperwork finished. When I came out, someone else was helping him.

I got his truck number and i'll leave it up to the replies here to decide whether or not I should turn him into his safety department.

Part of me says it's really none of my biz, the other part says that if this guy displays such poor control of his vehicle in a parking lot, he probably isn't much better on the road, and its probably a total fluke that he passed any driving tests.

if he didn't hit anything I would let it go. he will learn. admit it you have had days where you couldn't back I know

[Aligator]

That mighta been me!.......'cept I don't work for CRE.

Power steering pump went out a few weeks ago and I had to drive around with no power steering at idle.

Ever try to line up for a space like that? Man I could not believe how difficult it was! To make the steers turn I had to be moving, so of course I kept missing my spot.....finally, out of desperation I pulled way the hell out in front and to the left of the spot stuck 'er in gear and used both hands and my feet braced on the floor to get some leverage on the steering wheel. I actually worked up a sweat.

But nobody got hurt and nothing got bent......

[married to the road]

There was a woman in orientation with me that could not back. We were in line to take a backing test and she was the one in front of me, (my luck) and she would swing around and get a great setup to where all she had to do was back straight up in a bay, but she would start turning her wheel as soon as she started backing up. Then she would start steering in the other direction and wound up all crooked. So then she would pull up and get straightened out again and try to start all over. This went on for about 30 minutes before the instructor finally told me to go out there and tell her to get out and let me try. And she had prvious driving experince. They still sent her out with a trainer to see if he could help. When I came back to test out, I found out that she was still out on the road and the trainer had called in the training dept. to say that she still could not manage to back and they looked up on computer and found out she had came over from Swift and had been fired for a backing accident. I guess she thought that she could get by flatbedding because we don't have to back up as much.

[Skywalker]

That mighta been me!.......'cept I don't work for CRE.

Power steering pump went out a few weeks ago and I had to drive around with no power steering at idle.

Ever try to line up for a space like that? Man I could not believe how difficult it was! To make the steers turn I had to be moving, so of course I kept missing my spot.....finally, out of desperation I pulled way the hell out in front and to the left of the spot stuck 'er in gear and used both hands and my feet braced on the floor to get some leverage on the steering wheel. I actually worked up a sweat.

But nobody got hurt and nothing got bent......

Just caused a "flashback"!! About two years ago..... I was out on Long Island and I had to deliver to an appliance warehouse where you had to go into the inside of the building and back into a slot..... very tight place with a 53'er....and it was an old building. Yup, my power steering pump went out earlier that day..... :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Needless to say, that day "sucked". Took plenty-much time to get in between two trailers....and much sweat dripping off nose..... Did I say that day "sucked"? And it was a NEW truck!! Went straight from there to the KW dealer out there on Long Island....and took a few days off while they worked the truck in and got it fixed.

I say let it go...I've had bad days myself.... and like everyone else said: If they didn't hit anything...no harm no foul.

Besides, you never know....CRE may have a recorder on the line that answers and you leave a message.... Thats what the doofii at Covenant do..... Probably set to "auto-erase" at that.

[silvan]

I'd let it go. Backing doesn't mean :dung: with respect to his ability to drive. I sucked at backing. It took me several years to be able to back without people laughing at me. So what? I didn't hit stuff. That's what matters. Did this guy hit anything? If not, what business is it of yours how long it takes him to get into the hole?

I used to have this one dock that I'd spend an hour trying to get lined up with. I arranged to get there in the wee hours of the morning, so nobody would see me struggle.

Now people regularly say things like "Damn, I wish everyone could back as well as you do. You should see some of these idiots we get in here." Idiots like I used to be for far longer than would be indicated by a "normal" learning curve.

So what?

If he didn't hit anything, don't break his balls.

[LennyD]

After re-reading my post, I realized that I forgot to mention the crucial detail as to why I posted this at all.

Every attempt he made, he woud abruptly stop about 30 feet from the building. I'm no eye doctor, but this seems very indicative of a problem with depth perception (like he sees nothing until he is at this distance, then what he does see isn't clear so he has to stop).

I would never turn someone over to safety to bust their balls.

I would if I was genuinely concerened... but I really wonder if it's any of my biz.

[Uturn2001]

Since we are talking about backing:

The hardest backs I ever had to do was to hit the middle dock of a 20+ dock warehouse when I am the only truck there, no lines painted on the ground, and 40 acres of lot in front of the building. :shock:

[got mud?]

Since we are talking about backing:

The hardest backs I ever had to do was to hit the middle dock of a 20+ dock warehouse when I am the only truck there, no lines painted on the ground, and 40 acres of lot in front of the building. :shock:

I second that Uturn2001!!! been there!!! its even worse if they tell you to "just pick a door"

[VitoCorleone99]

...Power steering pump went out a few weeks ago and I had to drive around with no power steering at idle...

That sucks bad! Mine went out a while back. I had a couple of stops to make, so I planned to catch a Kenworth dealer on the next run. Then a tight dispatch with no time to stop, then another, then another... lots of fun backing. One night I got stuck in some mud and had a devil of a time getting out. When I got out, my steering was fixed. 8) I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on the internet, so I don't know what happened there, but it's been fine ever since.

I wouldn't be inclined to call about a driver who couldn't back though. It seems to be entirely separate from going down the road, at least in my limited experience. Offering to help was probably the best anyone could do. I imagine most companies would rather keep the butt in the seat and hope no damage was done than to tackle the problem head-on anyway.

[Phantom433a]

Since we are talking about backing:

The hardest backs I ever had to do was to hit the middle dock of a 20+ dock warehouse when I am the only truck there, no lines painted on the ground, and 40 acres of lot in front of the building. :shock:

I second that Uturn2001!!! been there!!! its even worse if they tell you to "just pick a door"

yup, gotta agree.....I pulled into a place and was told to take any door......there was no other trucks there.....took me like 4-5 tries. Dock foreman asked me if I had just started. "Nope, ya gave me too much space"

[Orangetxguy]

The cheapest entertainment in the world I think, is watching the Roadwarriors backing in to spot's at the TA truckstop's in Ontario CA.
I cannot relate, the number of hours of kicks and giggles I have had, watching some folks, backing their rigs.

Now...back in 87, I was delivering a load to the S E Rykoff warehouse, in SouthCentral LA, and had to back into a center stall, off of Alameda St., at 8 in the morning. All the BBR's were sitting in their trucks lined up along the dock, and were just a hollering on the CB, to tell the "Provisioners" driver, that he damn well better not scratch "Their" paint! None of them recognized me, and they all knew I was new to "Provisioners", and fully expected me to blindside into the only empty stall, off of the street. All of them were shocked, when I drove up the block, whipped a U-turn, and came back down the street across the front of their rigs...and against the flow of traffic. I spotted to back in, hit the hole on the first swing...then pulled out straight, to open the doors. Shocked them boy's I did!


Oh yeah...I was soooo lucky to get it done on the first attempt...but what did they know!!!

[rvrjr7]

ive had days like that myself. i tried and struggled to back into a parking spot friday night in a truck stop took quite a few pull ups to get straight. but it also didnt help having a spread axle trailer without a working dump valve

[Blind Driver]

Since we are talking about backing:

The hardest backs I ever had to do was to hit the middle dock of a 20+ dock warehouse when I am the only truck there, no lines painted on the ground, and 40 acres of lot in front of the building. :shock:

x eleventiegazilllion

especially at night

[TruckerChris]

Turn him in for not being able to back up? Mind your own business, he will learn eventually through trial and error...