backing up

[heavyhaulerss]

am i the only one here who has trouble backing up bobtail ?lol. i drive lots of miles & back in a lot of places. i use a slick disk so i dont unhook often. but sometimes i'll need to do some work to truck or trailer. one day last month while trying to back in bay to get tires put on tractor... i had a hard time backing. looking out my cabover truck window. i kept looking back but was manuvering as if my trailer was attached. but it was not the guys at the shop got a laugh watching me zig-zag across the parking lot. strange backing up looking at something thats not there & backing as if it were. this is not the first time this happened to me. i guess my mind is programmed to always see my trailer when backing..

[coastie]

All I can suggest you Need to figure out how to watch your tandoms and your target (Such as the Shop Bay Doors) at the same time. That will help from zig zaging.

I never looked out the doors or window, just used my mirrows so I could see both...

[9200IH]

Ya once in a while I catch myself turning the wheel like I had a trailer on and going the opposite way that I wanted to. Makes you look around to see who seen you do it.LOL

[Morraco]

I've seen a few trucks with video cameras bolted to the rear; the drivers watching a monitor in their cabs while backing up.

These gadgets are useful on the road too. I'm thinking about installing a few myself, covering the blind spots around my unwieldy truck.

[Nomad_]

I do catch myself looking out the back window when I use the day cab. It does work a lot better when I use the mirrors. It does take some concentration not to react like I already have a trailer hooked already -- especially in the day cab, as I tend to have less concentration.

[silvan]

am i the only one here who has trouble backing up bobtail ?lol

Nope. My old job, I either pulled the same trailer for months at a stretch, or someone else did the hookups 99% or more of the time. I rarely had to drop and hook, and when I did, I looked like a fricking idiot. I'd go the right way, almost there, oh so close, and then start backing my trailer again, and wind up a foot off and cockeyed.

What's more funny, after getting laid off from that job, I went and poured concrete for a couple of weeks. I had never driven a straight truck, other than a U-Haul. I kept trying to back the trailer all day, every day, and I drove the people trying to steer me completely nuts by doing the exact opposite of what they wanted. That kind of cemented the idea that I was not ready for ready mix by any stretch, although I didn't abandon that job over the backing. (Concrete work is just a love it or hate it thing, and there's no question where I fall on that line.)

It's just a question of practice though. Now I'm dropping and hooking three times a day, and after a week of this, you'd never realize how much trouble I was having on Monday. The people at my new stops have stopped coming out to the parking lot to see the amusing spectacle, and it's business as usual.

They'll never let me forget the time I forgot to open the damn doors before backing in though. What do you mean open the doors? I get paid to drop, not to open doors. It's dropped ain't it?

(I pulled roll-ups for a long time.)

[landstartammy]

You are DEFENITELY not the only one that has backing up problems!! I have the same problem when I backed up. But the worst one was:

I had just switched from an old FLD Freightliner into a Century and the first time I had to back up was at a cooler in Salinas, CA. I pulled up and had at least 300 feet to back up to the docks. My Austrailian Shepard (Sydny) was in the jump seat looking in the mirror as I started to back up. Well, the difference between the two trucks caused me to do that wonderful zig-zag and that darn dog looked over her shoulder at me, back in the mirror, back at me, hung her head in shame and slunk off to the bunk. When your backing is embarrassing to a dog you are having a bad day!!!

[Nomad_]

You are DEFENITELY not the only one that has backing up problems!! I have the same problem when I backed up. But the worst one was:

I had just switched from an old FLD Freightliner into a Century and the first time I had to back up was at a cooler in Salinas, CA. I pulled up and had at least 300 feet to back up to the docks. My Austrailian Shepard (Sydny) was in the jump seat looking in the mirror as I started to back up. Well, the difference between the two trucks caused me to do that wonderful zig-zag and that darn dog looked over her shoulder at me, back in the mirror, back at me, hung her head in shame and slunk off to the bunk. When your backing is embarrassing to a dog you are having a bad day!!!

LOL.. I have two border collies that herd everything. Hence, I can just visualize your Aussie Sheepdog's "working eye" going bonkers.