Backing/Docking Killing Me

It should look like a dog leg.

{A man is only as good as his word.}

 

first off,relax take your time,you are probably afraid of hitting the truck next to you,some places are a pain. turn the CB off so you cant hear other driver's complaining,relax,don't over steer,you will get it,your still new and worried your gunna mess up.

 

Dude! You think it should be a cake walk after only a week? You are just nervous because you are on your own now & are only psyching yourself out. Try to turn the nerves off when you back. So what if you have to pull up 2 or 20 times to get in? Do you think the drivers who put it in there smoothly as you say started off that way? Please! Practice in the truck stops backing where there isn't much around you every time you fuel or stop to go to the bathroom. Just stop stressing about it before you give yourself a heart attack!

 

When you get a chance...print this out, and review every now and then....should help!

Use the steering wheel to your advantage! Everybody teaches "steer the opposite direction"...bad thinking, poor instruction!

Your visual part of your brain is already doing a "reversal" with all the information coming in through the eye...it has to reverse the image to be processed. So when you try to think "opposite" you actually are stressing yourself a bit more. Here is the trick I taught all my students for 15 years:

The top of the steering wheel turns the direction you want going forward, the bottom of the steering wheel turns the direction you want to turn going backwards.

The set up is the most important part of backing into a dock or parking location. Let's learn what I call the "Banana Profile":
1. With the units in a straight configuration, drive across the front of the location until the space between the tractor and trailer is at the midpoint of your location.
2. As you cross this midpoint, turn right to a 45 degree angle away from the point. Drive straight (45 degrees from the location) until the tandems are at the midpoint of the location. (You must be watching your driver’s side mirror) As the tandems attain the midpoint turn the wheel left (again) to put a bend in the tractor/trailer until you have achieved the "Banana Profile". (The tractor/trailer has the same shape as a banana.) Now straighten up and continue until you have clearance of the driver’s side rear corner of the trailer and the location the trailer will be backing into.
3. At this point, you should be able to smoothly "track" right into the "hole". Just visualize the line and adjust the turn aspect (declining) as you enter the hole and straighten up as you go.

LET THE TRAILER DO THE WORK...ADJUST TO THE TRAILER, DON'T FORCE THE TURN MOVEMENT BY OVER STEERING. The longer the trailer, the more time it will take to show its movement. Don't get anxious, be patient, and let the trailer make some movement, then you correct the tractor to the movement of the trailer.

1. When backing, place your hand palm down on the center bottom of the steering wheel.
2. Use the bottom as your guide for the direction you want the back of the trailer to move.
3. Having your hand, palm down, gripping the wheel will prevent you (with the natural limits of movement) from over-steering. DO NOT LET GO OF THE WHEEL!
4. Grip the window post (the separation bar between the wing window and the door window) with your left hand, and again, DON'T LET GO. This "anchor" stops you from moving around in your seat...every time you move it changes the visual perspective in your mirrors...SIT STILL!
5. A tractor/trailer combination will NEVER back in a straight line...you need to "add" and "subtract" turn movement constantly. A little adjustment either way will keep the units straight and where you want to go.
6. If there is no "guide line" painted on the surface, visualize the straight line you want to line the driver’s side (sight side) of the trailer then the tractor onto.
7. When you start backing, pay attention to the tandems (trailer wheels)...these are your first and primary points of lining up the unit. As soon as the tandems have gone into the box, begin reducing the turn aspect of the tractor (bring the nose around to the "square line" with the trailer. Now change your focus to the midpoint of the trailer...just before the midpoint gets to the "line", get the tractor square with the trailer so there is no turn occurring...you have achieved the aspect of straight line backing once the tractor is square with the trailer and the midpoint of the trailer is in the box.
8. Keep in mind there are 3 "pivot points" to a tractor/trailer combination.
8a. Tandems are the rear pivot.
8b. King pin (drive wheels) is the center pivot.
8c. Steer tires are the forward pivot.
To move the tractor trailer either direction (right or left) you must accomplish an "S" configuration/movement with the tractor/trailer. Which direction you need to move the units is the direction you begin the movement. (This is for forward adjustments...if you have not centered the units in the dock.) To move it will require 3 steering movements...make sure the movement is sufficient (far enough forward in distance) to achieve the moving distance required (right or left). Just imagine you are driving on an "S" painted on the ground and follow it COMPLETELY.

 

One of our instructors used this phrase "Turn toward your trouble." So if the rear of the trailer is headed left and you need it to go right, you turn the wheel counter clockwise (or to the left). For whatever ####eyed reason, that clicked it for me.

 

Always remember....the direction you want the trailer to move is the direction the BOTTOM of the steering wheel is turned...(for reverse, or backing)! Top part of my instruction sheet.

 

Good point. And a very nice breackdown of all the steps. But once you start understanding the following, those steps just become obvious and you can change them depending on the need.

The FACT is you dont steer trailer with steer wheels, stop thinking like a car driver. You steer the trailer with your DRIVE wheels, and those are attached to a tractor, so you move entire cab to left or right in order to steer the trailer.

Moving steering wheel has no direct effect on the trailer, you only steer the tractor. Whatever way the combination is bent (jacked) is the way the trailer is being steered. Whatever side of the trailer you see more is the side it will keep turning to while backing.

But if all those things are already intuitive to you, you just need more and more practice to get used to a particular tractor, its mirrows, the trailer and the tandems position.
Same here too. lol

 

Even after driving 4 years, I still have good backing days where everything goes (nearly) perfectly, and bad backing days when I just have a heck of time. I don't sweat it though. Do pull ups. Make corrections. Heck a few times I've just started over. Take your time, get out and look, be patient.

Nobody will care how many times you have to pull up or get out and look.
They will care if you hit their truck or trailer.

 

90% of backing is in the set up. If get your set up right everything else will come together. Take your time and even if you have to get out and look 20 times DO IT!