Alley Dock In Action

Here's the tight alley dock I had to do today. It's s lot like the "horror story" an instructor told us about.

The black area is a warehouse. My truck comes from the left, along the side (bottom edge) of the warehouse. I'm supposed to back into the spot where the left blue trailer is, next to the blue dot.

The only extra space I have is the small square of asphalt the other side of the alley road, good for pulling up. I'm backing right next to a wall, so there's no grace on the right side.

Yes, after a bit I get it in.

There's even instructions on how to get out. (You can't simply turn right, there's a warehouse there!)

Great job!

My most difficult back was similar except there were buildings in three directions and i had to back down the entire alley then 90 around another truck which was blocking all view into an indoors flatbed dock with about 6 inches space on each side. I've said before to look for previous truck damage as an indicator, you should have seen this thing. The wall in front of the spot where you swing around was mauled so badly the inside of the aluminum siding wall was exposed. The poles protecting the backing spot were completely banged up and leaning over from people bumping them too hard. The doorway which was unprotected for some reason was just as horrid as the opposing wall, it looked like people dragged their rails through it on a daily basis making jagged cutouts nearly a foot deep into the wall at trailer level. When you see a nightmare like that, just assume you're going to need to take a breather and get ready for a bull ride.

The "worst" I've seen was in road training. Fortunately (possibly for both of us) it was on my mentor's shift.

Back 90° driver side into the driveway. Immediately start a 90° left (blind side) around a yellow post + fire hydrant and next to another trailer on the right of the slot.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/AygT6Et.png[/img]

Hopefully this image works, I'm about as good with computers as I am at drawing. Obviously my drawing is not perfectly to scale, but this is where you deliver graphics packaging to Pepsi in Denver. They send you around the back of the building and there are 3 dock doors that are tight to each other (have to open doors before backing down ramp). It's a blind side alley dock, and it's a nasty one. Next to dock 3 is a yellow rail where I drew a squiggly line, so you can't hit that either.

I had to hit dock 3, there was a 53' foot trailer with a sleeper/conventional truck attached in dock 2, and dock 1 was open. The blue stuff is stacked pallets which the day I was there were all over the place. They even had them sitting in the middle of the lot (why?) which made it difficult to get turned around just to set up for the back, and which had to be avoided while trying to back.

I was cracking up laughing when I got out of my truck and was scoping things out, and I motioned at the guy in the docked truck to honk at me if I got too close. About the second time I got out and looked he jumped out and spotted me in. I didn't feel so bad when a yard dog came to drop a trailer in dock 1 and even he was having a hell of a time getting the trailer in (multiple pull ups).

When you are first getting started these are no doubt stressful backs and can cause some anxiety, but really once you've been at it for a bit you enjoy a challenge now and then. Really the only ones I don't care for too much now are really busy docks where people are flying around while you are trying to set up and back, which can be frustrating.

Second attempt...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/AygT6Et.png[/img]

Hopefully this image works, I'm about as good with computers as I am at drawing. Obviously my drawing is not perfectly to scale, but this is where you deliver graphics packaging to Pepsi in Denver. They send you around the back of the building and there are 3 dock doors that are tight to each other (have to open doors before backing down ramp). It's a blind side alley dock, and it's a nasty one. Next to dock 3 is a yellow rail where I drew a squiggly line, so you can't hit that either.

I had to hit dock 3, there was a 53' foot trailer with a sleeper/conventional truck attached in dock 2, and dock 1 was open. The blue stuff is stacked pallets which the day I was there were all over the place. They even had them sitting in the middle of the lot (why?) which made it difficult to get turned around just to set up for the back, and which had to be avoided while trying to back.

I was cracking up laughing when I got out of my truck and was scoping things out, and I motioned at the guy in the docked truck to honk at me if I got too close. About the second time I got out and looked he jumped out and spotted me in. I didn't feel so bad when a yard dog came to drop a trailer in dock 1 and even he was having a hell of a time getting the trailer in (multiple pull ups).

When you are first getting started these are no doubt stressful backs and can cause some anxiety, but really once you've been at it for a bit you enjoy a challenge now and then. Really the only ones I don't care for too much now are really busy docks where people are flying around while you are trying to set up and back, which can be frustrating.

Here's a hint I use for nearly any dock situation. If you need to, get out and look before you even get near the assigned spot.

Stand in the target parking area, look straight out and look for something lining up with both left and right sides of where your trailer needs to be. (Don't forget those joint lines in the concrete!)

Power poles, yellow posts, bushes. When you're backing up, looking out the front of your cab you'll see landmarks that will help you visualize where your tail end might be. (This is not a substitute for getting out to look at your trailer, but it takes some of the guesswork out!)

I haven't done this stuff in the real world and I don't want to sound like I'm super awesome... cause I know I'm not, but the one you posted in your first post doesn't look all that bad, you even have a good amount of pull up room. Some of the ally docks they showed us in school in videos from the 70s looked easily 10x worse than what you did... but I wasn't there so I didn't see what you had to deal with.

good job.

Well since the DOT examiners here don't require an alley dock, I've never done one lol, but we do have to parallel park so I'm sure that with plenty of headscratching and maybe a few tears I could get in a tight spot. Lol. I'm sure I'll have my chance soon enough.

I haven't done this stuff in the real world and I don't want to sound like I'm super awesome... cause I know I'm not, but the one you posted in your first post doesn't look all that bad, you even have a good amount of pull up room. Some of the ally docks they showed us in school in videos from the 70s looked easily 10x worse than what you did... but I wasn't there so I didn't see what you had to deal with.

good job.

So.... You haven't had the honor to make an alley dock, yet it "doesn't look all that bad"?

First, I didn't claim to be super awesome myself. This particular one is fairly straight forward, and as I said in my first post, it is similar to one our instructors "scared" us with. I posted an example from real life, that's all.

A weakness you have, Phox, is to judge others when you yourself have little real experience in the same thing you're judging.

I've been solo for nearly one year. I know more now about operating a truck than I did when I passed my CDL. Please wait till you at least get some road experience before you begin passing judgement.

Wow outstanding I hope to be that good someday

steve j