Can truckers back anymore?

[Drew10]

The point was in the "titling" of the post, and then answering your own question at the end of the OP. HWD, you even said that when starting out you had difficulty backing. Do you not afford the same thoughts toward others starting out.
Your description of the roadway is even "worse", more detailed, than I imagined from your OP.
Regarding doing a u turn in a 50' entrance, which I never suggested, but others have. This didnt even cross my mind as a possible way of turning around. To much truck not enough real estate, and the addition of 60' area of gravel past the entrance (added in your post of greater detail) also eliminates going inside the work site to do the u turn.

So now my question would be.....What is the point of this thread.
-To show how poor our "newbie" drivers are being taught? As suggested by your title.
unlikely since you self admitted to having "difficulty backing" when you were new and starting out
or
-To show you good deed for the day by following the driver then coming to his rescue and bailing him out of a difficult situation?
If so. then kudos to you. But...Im having my doubts on this one as well, because your titling of the post indicates otherwise.

[Drew10]

Whether HWD should, or has a right to question the backing skills of other drivers is not my concern.

I didn't question his backing skills. I judge no one. He was frazzled, he verbally indicated he was nervous, and I offered to help. He accepted.

Simple as that.

HWD...You did question his backing skills. In the title of the thread.
"Can drivers back anymore?" and you did judge him by the company he drives for.

He indicated that he hadn't been driving long. It was a company truck belonging to a large OTR carrier.

This is indicating a lack of quality training by the Large OTR carriers. Particularly in the backing skills.

[Malaki86]

I'll tell ya what. I just witnessed a Swift driver backing into a *VERY* tight spot at the T/A I'm sitting in. There's a couple trucks parked where they shouldn't be, making it all that much harder. He got the truck into the spot on his first try. No pullups, no adjustments, nothing. He set up his truck correctly and put it in the spot like a pro.

[Roadhog]

That is probably one of our CAD Swifty's. 8)
You should say howdy...and find out if it's Matcat....or [ insert name here ]

[Double R]

I'll tell ya what. I just witnessed a Swift driver backing into a *VERY* tight spot at the T/A I'm sitting in. There's a couple trucks parked where they shouldn't be, making it all that much harder. He got the truck into the spot on his first try. No pullups, no adjustments, nothing. He set up his truck correctly and put it in the spot like a pro.

Must be at the T/A in Bloomsbury,NJ

[HWD]

-To show you good deed for the day by following the driver then coming to his rescue and bailing him out of a difficult situation?
If so. then kudos to you. But...Im having my doubts on this one as well, because your titling of the post indicates otherwise.

That was the point. The guy was having trouble and I helped him. When I needed help back in the day, nobody judged me...they helped me.

I figured I would return the favor.

The title of this thread was contra-indicated.

I guess the title is the reason I got so much guff...poorly worded and sarcastic. Judgemental. The title should have read different.

You win the prize!

[golfhobo]

Whether HWD should, or has a right to question the backing skills of other drivers is not my concern.

I didn't question his backing skills. I judge no one. He was frazzled, he verbally indicated he was nervous, and I offered to help. He accepted.

Simple as that.

HWD: I SAID it was of no concern to me. I didn't mean to IMPLY that you had, (although as Drew has pointed out, your thread title does just that... and obviously by saying I agreed with you, I guess I DID!)

OTHERS on this thread, IIRC, questioned whether you should be "down" on a new driver. I was only making an observation of how simple this maneuver should have been.

It's a shame that, in the process of singling out MY post, you didn't even answer the ONE question I had!

Blind side, or Sight side??

[HWD]

Blind side, or Sight side??

Blind side.

[golfhobo]

Blind side, or Sight side??

Blind side.

That's what I thought! This is hard for MANY drivers to do. And I'm not saying I'm very good at it either! But, I can do it when I HAVE to, especially with 50' of open area!

I think what you did for this driver is admirable. It IS nice to know that we ARE a fraternity of sorts, and that SOME will help others when they need it. I'm sure that driver is singing your praises even now!

I KNOW how good it made you feel to be able to help out, and mostly to be able to DO it! I guess, like the others, I was just wondering why you had to question the status of ALL new drivers? I would suppose it has always been the same. But, I never HAD that problem!

Believe me..... I have sat and shook my head more times than I can remember at those who couldn't back well! I'm convinced it is more a deficiency in "spatial awareness" than experience. I have done the same for MANY drivers! And, I KNOW you'll find this hard to believe, but..... I always tried to give them a LESSON in "spatial awareness" while doing it!

They don't TEST you for that when you go to get a CDL, or go through school. Perhaps, they SHOULD!

As I've said before, BACKING is the most important thing a new driver needs to learn! They should spend more time on it!

But they (the schools) don't! So, who is to blame? The guy who is trying to make a living, and is lost on a two lane road? Or the company that allowed him to BE there without the proper training?

Don't talk "professionalism" to me! :wink: You'd be preaching to the CHOIR!! If it were up to ME, nobody would get a CDL until they could back properly in ALL conditions! :shock:

LIke I said, HWD..... you did a GOOD thing! It made BOTH of you feel better! You PROVED you were a professional, and you helped the driver GET there! (and I don't mean to his destination!) It was a "Win - Win" situation!

If DRIVERS don't help drivers, who WILL? And who WINS..... and who LOSES?

I don't know why you are off the road right now, but have you considered (b]teaching? [/b] There's a school not too far from you in Conover. Maybe even one closer! Those roads up where you are - are a BEAR! But.... isn't it beautiful up there?!

[Orangetxguy]

I was making a delivery friday morning at Grace in Sulphur Louisiana. The operator for the plant unit, told me I could jack knife my truck around at a backward V intersection (">"), then back into the angled unload spot form the opposite side of the ">", into the unit's unload spot, which was angled to the right ( "/" ). The lane through the plant was only 11 feet wide, so blind-siding in was not an option.

The operator told me most guy's usually needed 10 or 11 tries to get in to where a 20 foot hose could reach.

I swung the truck around the corner of the ">" as he suggested...then backed onto the unload spot in one move, with my tractor clear of the road, and the trailer squared to the unload line, within reach of a 10 foot hose.


Operator said " Ok...you can do it in one move!!" after I set the brakes.

[Orangetxguy]

Drew10,

You critical analysis of my story was exceptional.

To be more specific, he was on a winding 2 lane road. drainage ditches on both sides, no shoulders. The construction entrance was gravel, about 50' wide, but the gravel ended less than 60' in and turned to red mushy mud due to our recent rains. On one side was a pile of 5' diameter culverts 20' long, on the other side a deep ditch and an old tree. The deep ditch and the old trees were on his blind side. He said he'd rather knock the pile of culverts over than to put the trailer off in the ditch past the lone tree. After talking about it, he decided he'd better let me try!

You people can still call it what you want. I could have headed up the road, not helped, and the poor dude could have continued up and put himself in a position from which he would NOT have been able to extract himself without the help of a large wrecker and local law enforcement. I decided that would have been too painful to watch so I stopped to help him. This is a road that NO trucks ever go on, except dump trucks driven by locals...since they are now building giant luxury golf course number seven for the county out there, there are now trucks going out there and the place they are supposed to be going ain't all that well marked. Anyhoo...

I too had problems starting out and I was grateful for the help I received. I remember a large distribution facility in north Florida where I couldn't get it backed to the dock door between two other trailers for the life of me. An older, more experienced driver helped me then...I will continue to "pay it forward" in the future, whenever the opportunity presents itself, whether I'm currently a truck driver or not; I just won't come on here and tell anybody about it. Sorry for wasting your time.

Given the "quality" of drivers out there today...I can belive the story.

I have tried to advise "rookies" backing into a bay or into a parking spot at a truckstop, only to have their "trainer" whom was sitting on his fat ass in the jump seat, tell me to ..."go away".

[jonekatz1]

I Read about A
Driver Today In Snoqualmie Wa, that needed to relieve Him self & he got the the Back Axles off the shoulder losing 98,000 lbs of Dredge Waste over the Embankment tying up traffic for about 5hrs,WA,State Troppers gave the 26 yr Old Driver a Citation for having his Wheels off the pavement & an order for his employer to clean up the Spill :idea:

[bentstrider]

Get Out And Look has helped me everytime.
With the railyards I pickup/deliver in, this means less banged up containers, and not having to be in there longer than I have to.

If any other drivers want to blow their horn and complain, I just shoot them the STFU stare and stay on task.