last night (or maybe it was two nights ago, days seem to blend together when you're on the road) i was delivering a load in las vegas. I had to make a right hand turn at this intersection. I was hugging the lines in the right turn lane to give me enough room... i go out as far as i can and start the turn. I'm trying to pay attention to not hitting the car that's going to be turning left so i'm not paying attention to my trailer.. big mistake. my trainer told me to stop. I had rolled up onto the curve and was about to take out a couple signs with my trailer.

it was an impossible right hand turn! so i had to back up in the intersection, thank god there were no cars behind me also waiting to turn right. then i just went straight through the red light in front of me, i ended up having to keep going till there was a decent spot to make a u turn.. which was quite a ways down the street.

Man that got me frustrated and flustered. How was i supposed to make that right hand turn? My trainer said he set me up wrong and that I should have been half in the right turn lane and half in the lane next to it so i was out far enough to make that turn.

how do you guys set yourself up for right hand turns in places that you've never been before and you have no idea what the turn looks like until you get to it?

 

It is called a button hook turn. When making a right turn onto a one lane street in a city you will usually have to do one especially if there is a center divider on that street.

If there is not a center divider you can go into the oncoming lane onto the street you are turning onto to have enough room. if there are cars there make THEM back up to give you room. This is the preferred way to make the right hand turn.

The button hook although commonly used is a more riskier manuver. As it will require you to swing left into the travel lane on the drivers side about one truck length before the turn, to give the trailer enough room to swing around the turn. If you allow the trailer to get too far away from the curb this will allow a car to get by you on the right and possibly hit them during the turn and you will be found to be at fault.

Rememeber that it is better to pass up your turn and then go find a safe place to turn around and come back and make a left turn.

Also remember that 3 lefts make a right turn.

 

Swing out and take as much room as you need to make the turn. If you see other vehicles in the road you're turning into, then it's usually best to stop (before making the turn) and put your flashers on and wait until the coast is clear. With experience, you'll learn to gauge how much road you need to gobble up from pissed-off 4-wheelers. Sometimes it's better to go past the turn, spin around somewhere like a shopping plaza, and then attack it from the left (easier said then done, especially if you don't know the area). As you approach the turn, look for warning signs such as busted curbs, scuff marks, tire tracks, bent poles/signs, etc.

When you're in the city, kick your tandems all the way forward. This will decrease your turn radius and allow you to make tighter turns. But be careful jockeying that trailer in tight places, cause that overhang can cause trouble.

 

forgot to mention two things, we had the tandems all the way to the back so it would be legal... it was a very heavy load. so that didn't help, and there was a center divider on the street i was turning onto.

great advice on the buttonhook turn and going past the turn and turning around and making a left.. which is what i ended up doing. thanks for the advice, i still get worried about the 4 wheelers, i never realized they were so unpredictable till i started driving a truck....

now i just gotta put this buttonhook into practice and i'll be set.

 

That is something that a lot of people have problems with when just starting out, learning to exagerrate your turn. You'll get the hang of it.

Now just thank your lucky stars that you have a trainer that actually spends time in the passenger seat, rather than the bunk, while you are driving. Otherwise instead of hearing him yell "Stop" you would have heard him say "What was that?" as you took out those couple of signs and woke him from his nap...

 

I was taught to never do this. You should never direct traffic in any way. Wait until the cars clear the light. I worked in EMS for four years and when running lights and sirens we were still not allowed to direct traffic with hand signals. We would just sit on a car who refused to yield with air horns and sirens going or oppose traffic to get around them.

 

It is a big difference between a meat wagon and a 70 foot semi.
Plus you have to remember the rules of the road.....the biggest vehicle wins !!!!!

Especially in places like the Bronx, Brooklyn and Philly. I am sure others will have a list of their favorite places to go.

 

What you desribed sounds more like a jughandle, not a buttonhook. A buttonhook is when you pull farther out in your same driving lane and use some of the oncoming lane, or part of the second driving lane, of the street your turning on to. A jughandle is when you go out into the oncoming lane before you start your turn. What you desribed is not recommended, but I'm sure many do it. Please correct me if I have this wrong because it's in the permit study guide for the test.

 

Or sometimes the best way to make a right is to make three lefts...

 

Yep, them right turns can be a pain. Fort Lauderdale has some real lulu's.
In some areas they are pushing out the corners to make more parallel parking for cars so your approach is very limited.

I put a barricade out of its misery when I was down there at one of these construction sites.