Advice On Making Tight Right Turns

You've gotten great advice already. I was say for starters, just relax. Time is on your side and so is the fact that you're super huge so everyone will see you.

Take your time. As you approach the intersection go super slow and stay back from the intersection far enough that you have plenty of room left to swing real wide. You want to wait for traffic to give you an opportunity to go. If you have to stop for a moment and put your 4-ways on while you wait for traffic to clear then do so. No big deal.

Once you have a chance then just use all the room available. Use more than you think you may need. Just watch your mirrors at all times and be aware of all of the traffic around you.

Once you start the the maneuver you really have to take control of the road. It only lasts 30 seconds. No one is going to die of a heart attack if they have to wait for you to make a turn. Use all the room you need to make it easily and safely. Once you're out of the way people can do what they want for the rest of their lives. So don't be shy about making them wait a second. Don't worry about what they think. No one gets up in the morning and asks you to approve their plans for the day, so they're not too worried about what you think of them either. That's what gets people nervous. They don't want to hold anyone up or make them mad. You have to put that completely out of your mind and do whatever you have to do to get the job done safely. If that means someone has to wait a minute then so be it. They're adults. They need to be able to handle 30 seconds of inconvenience.

Be patient. Wait for traffic to clear as much as possible and then take control of the intersection and do whatever you need to do to get through there safely. If someone has to wait or they have to back up to get out of your way then that's how it goes. Don't sweat it. You'll make people have to back up out of your way 100 times in your career. That's life. Sometimes you have to wait for others, sometimes they have to wait for you. It's nothing to get worked up about.

It's going to go just fine. Don't sweat it.

As Brett said:

“Once you have a chance then just use all the room available. Use more than you think you may need. Just watch your mirrors at all times and be aware of all of the traffic around you.

Once you start the the maneuver you really have to take control of the road. It only lasts 30 seconds. No one is going to die of a heart attack if they have to wait for you to make a turn. Use all the room you need to make it easily and safely.”

And once you take control you own that intersection. It is up to everyone else to get out of your way. If they won’t, put on the flashers and wait. Eventually they will move. If they don’t, call the local police and explain the situation, and that you need assistance.

I was just told by my instructor here that on a 2 lane, turning to a 2 lane, you are legally allowed all 4 lanes.

In CDL school, I did exactly that right in front of a cop. All he did was back up to give me even more room.

Great advice, from the legal point of view, Right turns are too be made as close as practable to the right edge. And sometimes that means the left side of the road is what is practable. one other thing I will mention is for either right or left turns. You may have to pass the point of the turn and then back back under the trailer. Then make your turn. This will give your trailer more room. It only takes an extra few seconds but can be very handy for those really tight turns

Great advice, from the legal point of view, Right turns are too be made as close as practable to the right edge. And sometimes that means the left side of the road is what is practable. one other thing I will mention is for either right or left turns. You may have to pass the point of the turn and then back back under the trailer. Then make your turn. This will give your trailer more room. It only takes an extra few seconds but can be very handy for those really tight turns

That is awesome. I would never have thought of that.

A good technique, but be careful doing so though. Jackknife it too far and you'll crunch your fairings, or worse.

Great advice, from the legal point of view, Right turns are too be made as close as practable to the right edge. And sometimes that means the left side of the road is what is practable. one other thing I will mention is for either right or left turns. You may have to pass the point of the turn and then back back under the trailer. Then make your turn. This will give your trailer more room. It only takes an extra few seconds but can be very handy for those really tight turns

I've done this a few times, just got to watch your fins and make sure people didn't move up close behind you.

And sliding your tandems all the way forward helps to but got to remember the trailer swing.

Jamie suggests:

And sliding your tandems all the way forward helps to but got to remember the trailer swing.

True on the swing. Even so not a big fan of this suggestion. There are many states with KingPin laws and overhang length laws that prohibit running in the 1 hole (like MD, CT & NJ).

In addition I’ve only been under a few loads that required this setting for legal balance. Too much weight behind the tandems make for a very poor ride quality. Further I’ve never seen a public road that required the tandems set in the first hole to negotiate a right turn.

Chalk this up to experience. A year from now, this becomes a very different discussion.