It Gets Better

Topic 15501 | Page 1

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Gladhand's Comment
member avatar

Short day of driving. Drove from colby KS to Bennet, CO. Deliver tomorrow morning in Thorton, CO and then home bound I hope. Anyways when I got to the Love's here I already knew it would be kind of full, drove around and found me a spot to back into. As I start backing in, another driver walks over to help, but as he comes over he sees I already have it down and just gives me a thumbs up haha. Such a great feeling to see improvement. The first time I came here was on my first week and I was too scared to back so I nosed in. Ever since then I promised myself I would never nose in. It gets easier as time goes on! I remember being on the pad in the academy wondering how the heck backing was even possible! It's things like these that give me a boost when I am feeling down!

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

Errol V.'s Comment
member avatar

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

Practice doesn't really make perfect, but it sure makes it a lot easier!

G-Town's Comment
member avatar

Good for you! Repetition is the name of the game, get enough of 'em and yesterday's nightmare quickly fades away.

DSTURBD's Comment
member avatar

Pretty soon, you'll be sayin', "Okay, where do ya want it? And give me a challenge, none of this easy stuff!!" LOL

DSTURBD

Rob S.'s Comment
member avatar

Well done! I always pat myself on the back when I can back in without pull ups. I know that no one's keeping score but it still feels good. Last week, as I was backing into a dock from across the street I noticed that two men were watching me from the loading dock. I backed in without pulling forward and stopped 20 feet short to open the doors and slide the tandems. When I was doing these things they said I did a good job of backing in. Their entertainment was watching drivers back in and pull up.

Tandems:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Tandem:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

ChickieMonster's Comment
member avatar

I agree completely Devan! I find myself successfully backing into spots at truck stops that 3 months ago I never would have attempted. I don't nose in anymore unless I'm just completely exhausted and don't want to mess with it. But I've seen so much improvement that it gives me confidence to keep pushing on!

Errol V.'s Comment
member avatar

Last spring, just over 12 months so, IT clicked for me. No more formulas like "when you see the landing gear", or "turn right till you're 90° then turn left 90°".

I just look to the back, eyeball where the tandems will go, and start backing. It's a great feeling, isn't it, Devan?

Tandems:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Tandem:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Trucker Kearsey 's Comment
member avatar

Happy dance happy dance.

It sounds ridiculous but the slightest improvement goes a long way. I just had an incident at a customer where a jerk swung around quickly and almost hit me while I slowly backed. We had to back up onto these tire ramps that lift the trailer to the bay door. I went slow.. GOAL to check both sides and make sure I was even.

A yard dog congratulated me saying I was perfect then pointed to the jerk whose one tire was hanging off the ramp. The yard dog tried to get him to.move and the driver refused. His whole trailer leaned toward mine because of it.

All I kept thinking was the message to dispatch "I was docked and a trailer rolled onto me. I swear it wasn't my fault" hahhah yard dog told me he got the guy banned from the shipper.

So awesome when we do well hahah

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Pianoman's Comment
member avatar

Happy dance happy dance.

It sounds ridiculous but the slightest improvement goes a long way. I just had an incident at a customer where a jerk swung around quickly and almost hit me while I slowly backed. We had to back up onto these tire ramps that lift the trailer to the bay door. I went slow.. GOAL to check both sides and make sure I was even.

A yard dog congratulated me saying I was perfect then pointed to the jerk whose one tire was hanging off the ramp. The yard dog tried to get him to.move and the driver refused. His whole trailer leaned toward mine because of it.

All I kept thinking was the message to dispatch "I was docked and a trailer rolled onto me. I swear it wasn't my fault" hahhah yard dog told me he got the guy banned from the shipper.

So awesome when we do well hahah

Wow haha. Good for you doing it right

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
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