there was a site where you could practice backing using your computer keyboard. I saw the link to it on here, but cant find it now. maybe someone else knows of one.

I would like to find a reference book for all the mechanical stuff - airbrakes and so forth

 

When the truckstops are empty practice backing in. There no book or website that's going to teach you better than real life .

 

very true who wants to waste all there time filling out paper work and then explaining to the safety Dept. that you did not get out and G.O.A.L besides after all that crap you could be 3 to 4 hrs.down the road.

Also btw.Pull-Ups are free took a little bit of time to get used to that saying from a very good Instructor but he was right they are free take all the time and space you need to complete that back.who cares if they talk smack bout ya on the C.B.

 

J. J. Keller
Amazon.com

 

Practice and confidence is all you need.... just to to a T/S and find a hole between 2 really nice customized long nosed petes and back in and pull out and do it again and again... if you pratice next to a couple of company trucks youo really don,t care if you hit them or not so the nicer trucks will build yer skill up and yer confidence at the same time, I tried backing in next to swift and I really don,t care if I hit them or not and its not fun no more, especially when they can,t park strait makes you back in crooked too, hehehehehehehehe, really pratice helps

 

Setting up is definitely 95% of it. I still have quite a few times where I just totally butcher the setup and have to do a pull up or two. I blame part of it on me pulling different size trailers all week plus a straight truck.

Just don't rush it. Even if other people are watching, so what if they are watching? So what if they are talking about you? You aren't filling out accident reports. Also, everyone thinks people are watching them, when in reality those guys standing by the dock smoking watching you back up are probably just looking at you cause you are there, and they are probably thinking about something totally unrelated to you.

I think most of the decent drivers out there that aren't "super truckers" don't care how many times it takes as long as you do it safely anyway. I know I've watched a number of guys back up next to me at a truck stop and do multiple pull ups but give plenty of room and it doesn't bother me at all. They are making sure they don't hit me. Then I've had other guys where I watch them back up next to someone and I cringe because I can almost hear the crunch in my brain, just narrowly missing them.

I know it feels good to be 100% on and nail it right on the first try every try, and you'll have days where everything just clicks like that, and days it won't. Your company doesn't care how you bump the dock as long as that's all your bumping, just keep that in mind when you get frustrated.

 

ops: :roll: yesterday i did a perfect 90 degree blindside back into a tight door way dock. alas, gosh darnit i took 3 trys to back bobtail into large space. when i got out someone asked me first day in truck? I said yes, was lieing because i didn't want to admit to driving 1 1/2 years safe driving. i have only driven a big truck in last 18 months, bobtail only to hook up trailer. backing without the trailer as reference points i didn't know where i was without getting out and looking. GOAL. was embarassing.

 

I know what you're talking about with the bobtail. The way the mirrors are on the truck are designed to be pulling a trailer. Just watch the way the wheels are going in reference to where you want them to go, not so much like a car where you're just watching where the rear is going.

Blindsiding is something I avoid like the plague. Luckily I don't have to do it at all on the routes I have. Have had to do it a few times in a day cab but that's easy since you can cheat :-)

 

Good replies, I promised to chime in and try to contribute:

Here goes:

First for Chopper,

I will be honest, sometimes it feels easier to back up with a trailer than it does bobtailing and backing under the trailer. I have not been to any busy yards except papermills. If I did I would shut off the CB's to block out the hecklers. If I was doing OTR it's not like you are going to see most of these people again anyway. I don't lose sleep over that kind of stuff.


BACKING TIP

The best tip that I learned after trying to "wing it" and self teach for months:


- After making a sweep of the yard, with your trailer pointing straight behind you, crawl your tractor approx 15+ feet away from pass already docked trailers.

- When you arrive at your targeted bay/dock bring the middle of your drivers side window to the middle of the targeted dock/bay.

- Then look through the passenger window and draw an imaginery line that hones in on a particular object (Vehicle, Tree, building structure, etc.. in the distance).

- Then continue your crawl until your driver's side mirror aligns with the end (farside) of the next trailer (or similar distance if there is no trailer).


-Then hard turn your steering wheel completelty (in this case to the right) until your driver's side mirror reaches that imaginary line you developed earlier. Now counter-steer and aim the center of your hood toward the object in the distance that you selected earlier.

- If done correctly, you should be dead on with the bay/dock, or close enough as to not have to do any blind manuvers.

- Now you need to pick out the lines to the bay/dock or whatever landmarks (roof, bay pading, indents from previous tire marks, etc...) and do your thing -- BACK UP!


I realize there are a lot of variables that can preclude one from using this approach, but it seems to be available 70 percent or more of the time for me. Again, I do dedicated routes, so I can repeat these steps. Also I have, virtually apply this strategy to other locatations that I drive by. Even in tight situations this approach gets me closer than the days when I was just winging it without a strategy. I do a lot less GOALING now and only because it is SAFE.


Disclaimer there are still those situations where you have no other options but to wing it. But in reasonably sized yards, I go with this approach.

My two cents.

 

Here are a few things to always keep in mind- they really can make a difference-

1- if space out on front of the dock is tight- start backing from about the middle of the space- for example, say you want to back off a narrow street into a dock, start about in the middle of the street. Do not try to hug the curb and then spin the trailer 90 deg in front of the dock- that seldom works, you need too much room out front for that.

2- Keep your curves gentle- and the angle between your tractor and trailer as small as possible. Remember that past 30 deg or so, you bought it. You won't be able to follow that out in time to avoid a pull-up.

3- As you start back study the path you want your trailer to take and get the tractor/trailer angle that looks right to you. Now lose half that angle and you'll be about right. Keep the angle small.

4- Very important- when you first notice that things aren't going the way you want- STOP. Figure out what's wrong, usually one of 3 things. They are:

A- Trailer wheels not in front of the dock.
B- Angle of the trailer vs the space is wrong.
C- Angle between the tractor and trailer is wrong.

So here you are. Now the single most important thing now is that you know how to make a good pull up. Figure out what is wrong and fix it with AS SHORT A PULL UP AS POSSIBLE. By now your trailer might be close to the dock, certainly it's closer than it was a minute ago, don't lose the "good stuff"! Think about how to fix A,B, or C and then do it in as short a space as possible. For example, if you have too much angle between the tractor and trailer, cut your wheels all the way in whatever direction needed and then pull slowly ahead until that angle is just right. By using a full wheel cut, you make a compact pull up and don't lose those parts of your position you want to keep.

By making big pullups, or even pulling out altogether and starting all over, you'll never get it in there until you get good enough to get it on one shot! The little pullups let you jiggle it in- finnesse it in, even if you're not real good yet.

ALWAYS remember to keep the angle between the tractor and trailer SMALL. That's the only way you'll have any ability to control the direction of the trailer and still be able to get rid of the jack when the time comes. I'm kind of intent on this point- this might shock you- take your rig and put a small angle in it. visually note where the trailer is, then follow it out until the rig is straight. Note how far the trailer is from where you started. Now do that test again but start with the rig jacked 90 deg. Some wheelbases spin the trailer more than 270 deg from where it was before the units come straight with other. And there's no way you'll be able to control the rearward path of the trailer if you're pushing it from the side like that, and once you got it, YOU CAN'T GET RID IF IT!

So there you are. Small angles, short pull ups, use your available space- and I forgot, find and use referance points as targets along the path. Good luck.