Any Suggestions On Backing A Trailer For A Non Visual Learner?

Hi everyone, still plugging away at school but having a difficult time backing. The instructor is a great guy and says I am doing ok, but he explains how to back drawing diagrams and using visual terms and I am an auditory learner. I really want to get this down because I know that no matter how well I can drive, I cannot get my CDL without the backing part. Thanks so much in advance for any suggestions!

Hi Jolie, I'm learning backing from You Tube just now, there are some really good videos from instructors on there that show you and explain to you how it's done. Of course this info is only useful if you can access the internet whilst in our truck. If not then make sure he understands your ways of learning. I have been lucky enough to have spent the last month around trucks and doing a number of manoeuvres before I attend school on Monday. The backing part will just click for you but I can relate with the frustration of not getting it quickly.

Good luck

Hi everyone, still plugging away at school but having a difficult time backing. The instructor is a great guy and says I am doing ok, but he explains how to back drawing diagrams and using visual terms and I am an auditory learner. I really want to get this down because I know that no matter how well I can drive, I cannot get my CDL without the backing part. Thanks so much in advance for any suggestions!

Hi Jolie, I'm learning backing from You Tube just now, there are some really good videos from instructors on there that show you and explain to you how it's done. Of course this info is only useful if you can access the internet whilst in our truck. If not then make sure he understands your ways of learning. I have been lucky enough to have spent the last month around trucks and doing a number of manoeuvres before I attend school on Monday. The backing part will just click for you but I can relate with the frustration of not getting it quickly.

Good luck

Thanks Gary, I did look on You Tube and found one from a SWIFT instructor that I think may help on the offset. I really like my instructor, but when we both have different learning styles and he explains how he learns best, it doesn't help me a whole lot. Anywho, I am going to try what the video said for the offset and see how it works. I really think if I could just have some time alone I would figure it out, but I understand why the liability to the school would be too high to let me do that, Best of luck to you in school!

First if the instructor says you're doing ok then you probably are. Take every chance you can get to practice backing. Ask the instructor for additional practice time, maybe come in early or stay late. Pay attention when others are backing, you can learn a lot from others mistakes. But in the end all you lack is practice.

Phil

I had to make a rule I would mutter to myself, just to get the back of the trailer to go where I wanted. I had never backed anything up in my life !! I was the last one in my class for a week on backing, but I ended up being 2nd.

I ended up with "Turn to the Problem" ( for Straight Backing ) This didn't work for me on the first day, as I didn't know what the "problem" was - too much trailer in one mirror or no trailer in the other !! lol ..

The "problem" is - too much trailer in one mirror. So then, "Turn to the Problem", is the term I said a thousand times. Turn the top of the steering wheel to the problem . ( I also tried turning the bottom of the steering in the direction you want the trailer to go, but this conflicted with the instructors rules, so I abandoned it ) It is best to work everything from the Top of the Steering wheel. IMHO .....

This is a cheating way of simply knowing right is left and left is right, which is the ultimate concept you need to grasp. Because when you are half jack-knifed in the alley dock, that is the only rule that will save you.

The "walking" of the trailer into the hole on the alley dock is all feel. There is no rule that will work every time because the setup is always a bit different.

The offset had some good rules - Tennessee was just the Right side offset, so ...

1 turn to the left. Stop when the middle cone just gets covered by the trailer in the convex mirror. Turn all the way back right. Straighten up the trailer . A good set up shows both cones in the target lane. Two turns back to the left to get the movement into the lane started, then you start your "walking" vision.

It will come.... Repetitions are the key to the mastery of any subject.

And on test day, you must keep your wits about you. Because the odds of a good setup move against you under pressure. So use those free pull ups!! Then only use pull ups to accrue penalty points. NEVER hit cones or encroach into the "walls" .... Pull ups = 1 point , Cones / Encroachment = 2 ... simple math. If you crash past the "dock" it is auto fail.

If you are at a shipper / receiver, pull ups cost you nothing, hitting something may cost you everything.

Good Luck !!

The "problem" is - too much trailer in one mirror. So then, "Turn to the Problem", is the term I said a thousand times. Turn the top of the steering wheel to the problem . ( I also tried turning the bottom of the steering in the direction you want the trailer to go, but this conflicted with the instructors rules, so I abandoned it ) It is best to work everything from the Top of the Steering wheel. IMHO .....

My instructor uses the turn the bottom of the steering wheel the way you want the trailer to go but that MAJORLY messes with my mind!!!! I like the turn toward the problem better.

This is a cheating way of simply knowing right is left and left is right, which is the ultimate concept you need to grasp. Because when you are half jack-knifed in the alley dock, that is the only rule that will save you.

The "walking" of the trailer into the hole on the alley dock is all feel. There is no rule that will work every time because the setup is always a bit different.

I had the perfect set up today for the alley dock and just cannot seem to put it in the hole!!!!

The offset had some good rules - Tennessee was just the Right side offset, so ...

1 turn to the left. Stop when the middle cone just gets covered by the trailer in the convex mirror. Turn all the way back right. Straighten up the trailer . A good set up shows both cones in the target lane. Two turns back to the left to get the movement into the lane started, then you start your "walking" vision.

It will come.... Repetitions are the key to the mastery of any subject.

I really wish we had more time to practice. We get to try twice a day and I just need more time. I really wish they would just let me go out to the range by myself for an hour or so because I think in time I could figure it out. However, for safety reason I know that isn't going to happen. Oh well, tomorrow is another day! AJ, you have been so encouraging and I really appreciate it!!!!!

Jolie, just keep at it. You know, at the risk of sounding sexist, I'm going to say that I have noticed that it just seems like most women learn backing different than men do. I've witnessed this lots of times. I don't really understand this phenomenon, but then who am I to explain the many wonders of women. Jolie, I am a husband, a father of three wonderful daughters, I have two female dogs, two female donkeys, lots of hens, and at one time lots of cows to take care of. I know all about females!

Keep plugging away at this - it's going to click for you one day. It probably won't have anything to do with your instructor, it will just happen. I saw a lady that was given some extra time at the truck driving academy that I attended, that just couldn't get it. One day the owner of the school decided to sen her out with the shop mechanic in the truck to see if he could help her. It just so happened that however he explained it to her it just magically formulated something in her understanding and she started backing like a pro from that day forward.

If you can get to the point where you can just pass the test you will be okay. When you are out with a trainer and while you are running solo your first year you can develop that backing skill as you get the opportunities. Hang in there - you can do this!

I had posted a big ol' reply then deleted it. I guess the basic thing I wanted to get across was this... when doing the offset, if it looks like you're not going in right, just stop and pull up straight then straight back it in there. That's what I did. You're not going to fail a test doing that, and it's better than hitting a boundary.

The way we were taught is to have the corner of the trailer slightly angled into the space about 6-ft away. Turn it all the way toward the space until you see 3/4ths of your landing gear split in your convex mirror. Stop. Turn it all the way away from the space, and start backing. It should straighten up with the space. Again, if it doesn't work, just pull up straight in front of the space and back it in.

Every truck is different. After getting a new truck after a year and a half in a different one I often feel like a student again, trying to figure out what will work best. Sounds like you have a good grasp on the basics, which is what you will use in real life. A specific system only works in a specific truck in a specific circumstance. Hopefully you test in the same truck or type of truck you practice in.

Good stuff mentioned in here .... :)

I was having a heck of a time with 90-degree alley backing. I had numerous guys explaining it to me, I stood outside the trucks and watched guys cranking the wheel back & forth, but I just couldn't get it! Then one day, an instructor backed it in while I sat in the passenger seat. I watched how smooth and relaxed he was, all mellow, easy does it. And walla! It just clicked for me. Once I stopped fighting the wheel, I was able to get it. After that, it was a matter of practice, practice, practice.