Compensating for loose steering?
 

I am right on the verge of my CDL, passed everything but the backing and drive tests.
The trucks I trained on had relatively tight steering. I got to drive the test truck before the test and its steering was very loose, but I could compensate for that when driving down the road. When it came to the backing tests I had trouble compensating. Just the straight back and offset ate up the points that would have let me pass the 90, which I am not great at.
I didnt think to test the wheel with the engine off so I don't know if its alignment or play. The truck will not be repaired or adjusted before my next test on tuesday morning.
If I fail this test it will cost all my money to try again and then I'll likely be restricted to automatics.

Are there any tactics that would help in compensating for very loose steering in backing?

Thanks

if it's that loose, you should fail the truck on the pretrip, tell the examiner it's not safe to drive

Exactly!! Spot on.