Profile For James B.

Matt, Like the others said above, small moves and wait for a response. The trailer is never really lost, it is exactly where you put it! (That was not a dig at you, that was a slow down and think about it for a minute.)

If you are in reverse your foot should never never ever touch the throttle!!!! I once tied a guys boot to the seat so he could not touch the petal (huge flat lot where he did not need the brakes) and his backing improved 50%.

You can ride the brake while backing to slow the truck even more, just know that when you let off its going to speed up.

you may laugh but It works, find a cheap truck & trailer radio controlled toy and run it on vinyl or hard tile floor the seam lines are your curbs, watch and see how the trailer reacts to the turns of the cab both forward and backward.

This will give you an understanding of how the whole thing works, this is like no other truck you have ever driven, the pivot point is twice as far forward as a pickup and a boat.

Number 1 rule of backing "Never Push a Bad Position"! Pull up and fix it then start again.

In my experience pulling up two or three times farther then I needed to allowed me to make even smaller adjustments when backing into a tight building or dock made my life a whole lot easier.

When sight side backing I have stood on the fuel tank and watched the trailer as I was backing into a hard tight 90% dock, what ever it takes to get the job done without damage!

With 2,000,000 miles under my belt I still get out of the cab and walk back to look all the time! Forget the peer pressure, cool is when you can back into a spot no one else could! (Harvard medical College Boston, Houston Convention Center when vans are parked on the retaining wall. 100's of buildings in Brooklyn)

If you tell me what you mean by "lost" I can offer some more exact suggestions to help you.

I'm just east of Nashville, If your already on the road and passing through, I could give you some pointers.

Jimmy

I always came back to find damage anytime I left both or just the trailer.

- Put you hand on the bottom of steering wheel and turn the way you want the trailer to go -All new drivers over steer when backing! I used to ride on fuel tank steps and hold the wheel when teaching drivers to back up, by the time the black and blue healed on my arm from the vent window post they were all 100% better at backing!

Parallel - wish I could draw it for you, swing the truck into the hole as you are pulling up and stop with the truck/trailer straight to each other but at a angle to the cones(cars, trucks, whatever) (####) (####) \ \ then straight back (don't turn the wheel more than an quarter turn like the others said above) just before your in place turn the trailer just a little bit, bring the truck under it, then make any last small corrections pulling forward.

Hope this help you Jimmy

I had over 2 million miles in, then gave up my CDL, now need it back. Once you get it don't let it go, you will regret it.