Slowly But Surely

Well finally got into Truckers school got my cdl permit to drive passing three tests and now I'm in the yard backing up a rig. I'm finding it hard to keep that rig straight though it looks so dang easy. I've already parrarell parked and off set parked and backed up once or twice all the way back between the lines but sometimes it's a complete cluster star out there and I'm all jammed up - I get discouraged a bit but remain positive. Anyone find backing up tricky? Is it just repetition and practice ?

Anyone find backing up tricky?

Alexander, welcome to the forum!

You literally had me chuckling with that question! Backing a truck is discussed often in here, and the reason is that it is tricky. When you said this, you accidentally answered your own questions without even realizing it...

but sometimes it's a complete cluster star out there and I'm all jammed up

You are making the same mistake that almost all newbies make when backing - you are over steering. Try making smaller adjustments at the wheel, and let the truck roll about eight feet before trying to adjust again. It takes that much distance just for the trailer to react to what you are doing at the wheel. Most folks think that trailer should be reacting quicker so they just keep on turning the wheel in hopes that the trailer will respond more quickly. The end result is that you get yourself all pretzeled up in no time at all. Any time you see a professional backing a truck you will notice that it appears they are barely turning the wheel at all. When you watch a rookie driver they are giving it all they've got at the steering wheel and not getting good results either.

A while back, Brett wrote a Comical Article About Backing a big rig. You should check it out, it just may help you laugh at yourself a little bit.