Cones Vs. Trailers

I really wish schools would invest in a couple of old trailers to teach backing maneuvers in between instead of cones. If you practice on cones too much it just handicapps you. I haven't found a cone at a shipper or truck stop yet!lol

Eh. Cones are perfect not only because they are inexpensive but they help you focus on the ground where your trailer tandems will be turning. And since theoretically the cone can extend straight up for a wall or trailer it wouldn't matter if you hit a cone or expensive trailer. I would agree that i wish they would let you back into actual docks. But i think cones are fine

Agreed!! it throws your visual off also. Took a test drive a couple of weeks ago, the school had a yard of cones. The teacher said turn at the cone up there, There Were 40 F'n cones up there! Even a 2x4 standing up would be helpful,

Agreed!! it throws your visual off also. Took a test drive a couple of weeks ago, the school had a yard of cones. The teacher said turn at the cone up there, There Were 40 F'n cones up there! Even a 2x4 standing up would be helpful,

Lol!!!! Exactly

I had to do a driving test before being hired at my current job. Part of tne test was backing a trailer into a spot in the yard. As I was driving around the yard he said pick any spot you want and commented on how empty the lot was. He was shocked when I drove passed all the empty spaces and chose one of tne few between two trailers.

May have been dumb on my part as hitting one wouldhave failed me. But I had more confidence doing that than trying to hit the wide open spaces.

But I will say if I owned a school students would e backing between cones

Woody

Not to mention, if you hit one of those junk trailers you now have a replacement instead of a training trailer.

I understand the reasoning behind the use of cones, but I totally get how backing between real trailers helps you get better. Totally get it. I hate those freaking cones. I trained on cones at my last company but also between 4-foot tall barricades. Then they tested me between two trailers. It wasn't the same. It just wasn't. I should have been trained between trailers before I was tested on them.

I hear ya'.

-mountain girl

... I had more confidence doing that than trying to hit the wide open spaces.

-Woody

Yeah, but Woody, you're a freak of nature. Just accept it.

-mountain girl

All I'm saying is, if you can learn to miss something as small as cones you can learn to miss anything. Plus you don't tear up equipment