[randy569]

Hadn't really thought about it like that, Stimp. But, it makes perfect sense. Thanks.

Randy

[mowman]

Are they teaching you visual trailer cues - such as how much of your landing gear you should see in your mirror when you cut the other way?

You'll never use it once you get out on the road, but I found it to be a great way to develop the feel for the turn.

My instructors hated me for "over-analyzing" everything, but that's what worked for me. If you have a perfect setup, the rules you're given will apply. The setup never will be perfect, so you'll have to understand how to adjust your turns.

Just go slow and be aware of what the trailer is doing. Going slow gives you time to adjust.

I finally "got it" when I realized the whole point of the exercise was to steer the tandems. I grew up on a lake so I was able to draw a parallel to driving a rowboat with an outboard.

[Crackaces]

I hope this is helpful to understand why backing is soooo hard ..

When we back our 4 wheeler we can turn the wheel to a certain point and keep a turn pretty stable. Any articulating vehicle is dynamically unstable while backing. As we turn the wheel to cut to a certain angle .. the trailer moves backwards at a changing rate and the angle of the turn changes at a changing rate. Initially the trailer moves backwards more than the angle changes then at a 45, the angle changes more rapidly. We as humans are just not geared to understand multiple things all changing at once.

So, I would suggest just keeping the wheel turned 1 1/2 turns and see what happens rather than crank the wheel stop to stop. This suggestion keeps the rate of change under reasonable control. When we just turn the wheel to the stop .. yes we get an instant reaction but .. now the angle is increasing rapidly and our attempt at correct requires a turn to the other stop.

The other problem is that any angle you cut in must be chased out. So cutting the trailer to perfect alignment with the dock means it will be less than perfect when you chase it out. You have to think about getting the trailer half way there on the cut and then case the rest out.

I find that when I do a pullup .. I get 1/2 the angle out while pulling up and then I chase the rest of the angle out while backing.

Something that I realized as a newbie ... the position of the tandems are critical while backing.

Let us take Smufit-Stone in Corona California. The Tandmes must be all the way back when you dock. Does that mean you want to do this right away ?? you will not make it into the dock if you do. There are large paper rolls restricting your maneuver to the front and the dock is offset deep with paper rolls and products lining both sides. You will be unable to aggressively get the trailer rearward enough to pivot the tractor. So the only way to back here is to have the tandems completely forward so you can maximize the trailer going rearward so you have room to pivot. Then .. you need to slide the tandems once you are in position.

At the Main Purina dog food plant in Denver, there is all kinds of room to front but the trailers are parked with about an inch between doors. One mistake and you are ripping off somebodies door if not your own. Moving the tandems rearward means lots of movement to the front results in little movement rearwards. The trailer simply pivots around the tandems until the tractor and trailer are straight and then the movement goes backwards. Piece of cake. Have the tandems forward and now small movements cause big swings in the rear of the trailer .. catching a door ..

Just a thought ...

[Griff]

Originally Posted by mikey4069

Anyone been to the caves in KC or Joplin Mo ?

Been in all of them in the Kc area. I've seen so many trucks come out missing fenders mirrors etc. those walls are deceiving

[uglymutt]

Don,t feel bad about backing, after reading these posts I can now believe why I see only 1 out of 10 drivers can back up... backing is hard for most folks, even drivers with years behind them have trouble , I sit and watch them back up to a wide open painted line spacious dock in broad daylight and about 1 to 10 can just pull up and back right in, the rest are there and it looks like a training session, so don,t feel bad just pratice pratice pratice, it would help if you had a good teacher, that is the key to success here.... I had a good teacher who explained in detail what to look at and when to turn and how much to turn... get a new teacher, sounds like your teacher is just cashing a paycheck....