Favorite Technique For The Alley Dock Backing And Parallel Parking

I think i have got these things down in principle but any advice would be appreciated

Ya know Studpuppy, there is just no hard and fast rules or easy formulas when it comes to backing maneuvers. I gave you some tips and pointers the other day on the blind side parallel maneuver, but that's just the way I do it. I bet if you asked ten different drivers you'd get ten different answers. These things are not academic, but rather they are, for me, sort of like eye/hand coordination skills. Those types of skills either come naturally or are developed over time through repetition. The brain begins to get a grip on how the trailer responds to your efforts at the steering wheel, and the repetitious act of doing this thing over and over starts to trigger the correct cognitive and muscular responses.

There are so many variables in the various scenarios, like the speed the truck is rolling, how quickly you respond to the progress of the trailer, whether you are on an incline or flat surface, where your tandems are set at, whether you have split axles or tandems, or if you have a dump valve for one axle, how the weight is distributed on the trailer, the length of the trailer, how much room you have for the proper set-up, whether or not you are feeling pressured by another driver at the truck stop waiting on you to hurry up and get it in the hole - I'm barely scratching the surface here, but I hope you see what I'm getting at.

Hopefully some of the other folks will tell you what works for them, but if several of them jump in here you will see what I mean about differing ideas about how these things are done. These are things that are learned by doing, not by reading. Don't get me wrong, I love to read up and study about things when I want to learn about something, but that old saying about "this is where the rubber meets the road" really does apply here. StarCar has a backing method that she uses that a lot of the other folks in here like, but I can't seem to make it work for me no matter how hard I try. That's what I'm talking about, you really have got to develop your own ways of doing some of this stuff. Now it never hurts to get some tips, and I hope some others will share with you what helps them, but in the end you are going to develop your own way of accomplishing all those backing maneuvers.

Here's my tips.

Parallel parking. Put the cone around the middle of your last trailer axle. Turn the wheel sharp to the right. As sharp as possible. Stop when you see the landing year furthest from you. Now then the wheel sharp to the left all the way and hold it all the way to the left. Go slow hold it all the way to the left until you're perfectly straight.

When you're perfectly straight. Pull up just a little. I mean like, 1 foot. Make sure you pull up straight. Now again, put the wheel all the way to the left and keep going all the way to the left slowly. You need to be watching the butt of the trailer and the front of the trailer above the drive axles area. When you see the front of the trailer cross the cones and the back of the trailer within the cones then you know you're in. I pull up 1 foot to avoid getting too far to the back and crushing the cones.

For alley dock. A lot of it is all about how you do the set up. As you cross the cones make a sharp right then a sharp left. You should be slanted with the butt of the trailer facing the destination. Watch the trailer tires! Back up and get those tires about half a foot close to the left cone. As you begin to cross the left cone do a pull up. This will make it so that the butt of your trailer is a few feet away from the destination and it'll regain your control over the trailer. Now back up and slowly bend your trailer to the destination. You should either have it in there by now or if not do another pull up and straighten yourself out completely against the dock. Then just back it in.

Like my friend old school said. Everyone has different techniques and this is what passed me.

Yes I can't wait to get on the practice range and test the various techniques I have been collecting from different drivers. My computer is in the shop but i will reply in a few days I am getting ready to test out in less than a month so I think I got this part and i can already ace the pre-trip and pass the road test thanks again for the advice

Here's my tips.

Parallel parking. Put the cone around the middle of your last trailer axle. Turn the wheel sharp to the right. As sharp as possible. Stop when you see the landing year furthest from you. Now then the wheel sharp to the left all the way and hold it all the way to the left. Go slow hold it all the way to the left until you're perfectly straight.

When you're perfectly straight. Pull up just a little. I mean like, 1 foot. Make sure you pull up straight. Now again, put the wheel all the way to the left and keep going all the way to the left slowly. You need to be watching the butt of the trailer and the front of the trailer above the drive axles area. When you see the front of the trailer cross the cones and the back of the trailer within the cones then you know you're in. I pull up 1 foot to avoid getting too far to the back and crushing the cones.

For alley dock. A lot of it is all about how you do the set up. As you cross the cones make a sharp right then a sharp left. You should be slanted with the butt of the trailer facing the destination. Watch the trailer tires! Back up and get those tires about half a foot close to the left cone. As you begin to cross the left cone do a pull up. This will make it so that the butt of your trailer is a few feet away from the destination and it'll regain your control over the trailer. Now back up and slowly bend your trailer to the destination. You should either have it in there by now or if not do another pull up and straighten yourself out completely against the dock. Then just back it in.

Like my friend old school said. Everyone has different techniques and this is what passed me.