Backing Is Getting Better!!! Yay

Sounds impressive. I'm just happy I was able to back up straightt today.

Some days I can't do that either lol

I still sometimes say out loud.. "it's gotta go right so I gotta turn it left". When I don't say it. I'm proud afterwards cause I did it without thinking hahhaha

Straight line backing is pretty easy IF I am set up right. But I have a heck of a time setting one up and it usually turns into an offset. I just can't get my head around how to set it up properly!

I was God awful on Monday. I started in one lane, and ended up in another. Fortunately, it's a small school and I got a truck to myself for a few hours. They have found out that I don't leave the drivers seat until told to.

Started offset today, not good, but better than I was on Monday.

Congrats Rainy !!!

Just when I think I'm getting the hang of it, I end up in a tight spot, or something happens and it seems like I have to start from square one.

Practice makes perfect.

Chickie wrote:

Straight line backing is pretty easy IF I am set up right. But I have a heck of a time setting one up and it usually turns into an offset. I just can't get my head around how to set it up properly!

Yes Chickie as you pointed out, the set-up is perhaps more important than the backing maneuver. Once you figure it out, for every situation, backing becomes elementary. I am an above average backer, but when it comes to proper set-up, average becomes very good with very little adjustment required. I focus much more thought and attention on efficient set-up than on backing. Way more. So much so that for the tougher, really tight Walmart docks I deliver to, I have documented the best setup lines to take. I do that because I deliver to over 100 different stores and cannot rely on memory all the time because for some of these stores, the setup begins in the street before reaching the dock approach.

It's easier to demonstrate than it is to describe. Errol often prescribes to struggling students a daily dose of simulated backing with a diecast toy tractor and trailer. This "tool" is just as effective, possibly more so at learning the art of the set-up. Try it, because you now (unlike when in school) have many practical reasons to replicate real-world situations using the 1/53rd scale version of Teddy and his Wagon. Trust me it will help you to see what the "tail" does when the dog "wags" it this way or that. You'll get it. Recognizing it is half the battle and you already figured that part out.

That toy truck thing is a great learning tool. For setups, get a sheet of paper, using your root truck lay out and draw a row is issued trailers, with an empty slot. Now drive your toy along the row and see what it takes to make a good set up. (Some low humming, "rrr, rrr, rrr" helps for the reality.)

That toy truck thing is a great learning tool. For setups, get a sheet of paper, using your root truck lay out and draw a row is issued trailers, with an empty slot. Now drive your toy along the row and see what it takes to make a good set up. (Some low humming, "rrr, rrr, rrr" helps for the reality.)

We actually did this when I was in school. (Yes, I made the noises...)

It definitely helped me to understand how the truck and trailer interact together.

The hard part for me is being in the cab and knowing which direction to turn and when and how long to hold that position. It's just a practice makes perfect thing I know. It just frustrates me sometimes! I don't have a chance to practice setting up straight backs very often as I'm usually doing 45s or 90s.

ChickieMonster, the "rrr rrr" can only add to the realism. If you had some diesel fuel on your hands and you smelt it, you might have to go On Duty in your logbook!

The hard part for me is being in the cab and knowing which direction to turn and when and how long to hold that position.

It's so easy to get confused about the directions. Try a "One Inch Backup": get your steering wheel set to go the new direction, then purposely back up one inch while you watch the nose of the trailer. Which way did it move?

As for just how much to back up before you turn the wheel again, I'm working on that myself. I seem to get the trailer just right, but then the tractor is pointing wrong, and I have to adjust for that! I think the deal is to stop moving "too soon", then begin turning the wheel the other way.

Needless to say, my hubby is pretty proud...

I'm jealous hahaha. I brought my wife with me for two weeks and she never seemed to get how hard it was to back a tractor-trailer. Maybe I just made it look easy...

I was never very good at backing, but I was starting to feel better about it. Then today I got a dose of reality: I was dropping a trailer in a yard and was told to "snug it up" next to the trailer in the next spot. Facing the trailers, I was supposed to put it on the right end of a line of trailers, and there was lots of space to the right and no lines to guide me. Probably I should have just parked as normal and got it as close as I could and then worked it over, but I thought maybe I'd try blind siding it so I could see the trailer I was parking next to. Well, after 10 or 15 minutes of me trying to work it around and get it close, one of the yard guys comes over and says "just drop it, I'll fix it for you". I don't know if they were taking pity on me or were just tired of me being in the way,

When I first went solo, I struggled with backing.....a lot! One of the businesses I go to quite often, the dock workers would see me coming and gather around to watch. Me thinks they were taking bets for how long or how many pull ups it would take me to hit the dock, lol.

I took some real ribbing. I deserved it....I really sucked!! The good part of this, though, was that I had the presence of mind not to hit anything. After a few weeks I got much better. I still take my time, don't rush, and GOAL when necessary. You have to learn to laugh at yourself. Either that or you'll cry!!