Today was my first day. We only did a couple laps around the yard and straight line backing. Once you get the concept and know what you are doing its kinda easy. My biggest promblem was this was the first time I driven a stick (and I still don't have it all downpack and we wasn't really shifting just N to 1 or R) and alot of my attention was on that. In the end I murdered 1 cone while on my first or second attempt on straight line and side swiped one while doing laps (which my instructor didn't catch, he was too busy sH!!ing his pants because this was my first time driving a stick).

 

Well day 4. We did cross backing today. I did both blind and sight side one time each. It's a large class, about 20 of us and 2 trucks. I'm still at the bottom of the class but I'm not letting it get me down. The guys on my team are real supportive.

 

20 student........and "TWO".....trucks......................that's insane....!!!!

we had no more than three per truck and that was hardly enough...............BOL 2 ya..............

 

20... Way too many man.... Here's some tips I found for you.

Backing Tips

1.) Watch others as they back. You'll almost learn more from watching than from doing.

2.) Easy on the clutch. When you first let it out, it will sort of "surge" the truck back. The truck will then mellow out and go nice and slow. Unless you really need to stop and get your bearings, try to back with the clutch all the way out. It'll save a lot of wear and tear on your leg, not to mention wear & tear on the clutch itself. When a clutch gets hot, it tends to get "jumpy" and that makes it that much harder.

3.) If you have ANY doubt about where something is (or isn't) behind you, Get Out and Look. Make that a habit right now.

4.) You will learn nothing if you don't try.

5.) Roll your window down.

6.) Make sure your mirrors are adjusted correctly and that they are CLEAN. If they're not adjusted right, you won't back very well. Period. If they're dirty, you're just making it harder on yourself because light on dirt creates glare and makes it tough to see.

7.) Turn the AM/FM and/or CB radio off. You need to be able to concentrate.

8.) Finally, be patient with yourself. This is NOT a skill that a person learns overnight! In fact, many drivers spend YEARS developing and fine-tuning their backing skills. It's a learning process that never ends.

9.) People will often watch you back. Try not to let that make you nervous.

10.) Back at idle speed -- don't use the throttle.

11.) If you are at the shipper's/receiver's dock and are woken up and told to back into a spot, give yourself just a minute before you put it in gear and go. You may even want to get out of the truck for a second and get awakened. When you've been snoozing and all of the sudden you're awakened, it's hard to get all powers of concentration back to the real world.

http://www.newbiedriver.com/articles.../Backing.htm#D