Tough Local Backing For A Newbie

How many times did you GOAL Rainy?

Twice. Once to make sure i could clear the yellow poles in front (notice someone else hit and bent them) and once to check my rear alignment with the door. Years ago I would have goaled every foot or so because I had no judgment of the turning. Now it is a piece of cake most times. Changing trucks is tricky and having to get used to the differences. This truck backs more like a manual than my last International. Much easier and no lurching. Slides in like a knife in butter

So this was my challenge yesterday I was at the RPM Warehouse in Edison NJ picking up coffee. Normally I load on the other side of the building but there was construction going on on that side so they sent me to the other side. The door was second to the end and there wasn't much room to pull up and get the trailer close to the slot. So I had to pull forward and down the back road and get as close to the Orange trailer then basically do a jack knife to get the trailer to kick right into the slot all the while making sure I didn't hit the gate or the curbs. Of course all the traffic is also coming in that way because the other entrance was closed do to the construction. One thing I learned is New Jersey drivers are not very courtious especially Dump truck drivers.

Rainy, what are your thoughts on the trailer tails. I notice prime has them as well. But they seem to have several different types. The ones we have can hold the doors anywhere from 4 to 8 inches off the sides of the trailer when fully opened. Do yours fold easier and on super tight docks are you going blind with them sticking out?

Prime has gone through a range of trailer tail types. They have been proven to increase fuel mileage, but they do require more attention by the driver.

Our older trailers have the manually open and close type that do cause the doors to sick out considerably. You must be very mindful of them when obstacles are anywhere near your open doors.

The last couple years we had a thinner profile self opening style. They cut down how far they would make your doors stick out, but we had other issues with them. They originally had no method of secure closure. A jolt while backing or a gust of wind could cause them to pop open on their own. Many customer dock doors were damaged by these tails opening back up during backing, after the driver had closed them. I ran into a couple customers that checked what type of tails my trailer had and refused to let trailers with that type of tail on their property. They have all been modified with a secure closure system and the self opening tabs were cut off.

Our latest trailers don't have tails anymore. Instead they have these curved tabs that stick out about 6" and are spring loaded so we don't have to worry about them while backing. Can open the trailer doors easily or even back right into a dock with doors shut and they will move out of the way by themselves.

Those seem really nice! I know about the fuel economy with tails and skirts but i also know the pitfalls with backing and them opening on a hard back braking. The ones that open automatically seem to be 50/50 on wether they open. Or when i see a prime truck they just choose to not open them. Trailer skirts get really annoying going up elevated docks. I had to play around with tandems several times to avoid dragging them on the ground bqcking uphill.

Rainy, that's the same place I went. I had to open the doors to the trailer and run the reefer on high air to get the tobacco stench out off the trailer. One of the more difficult spots to get into for sure.

Rainy, that's the same place I went. I had to open the doors to the trailer and run the reefer on high air to get the tobacco stench out off the trailer. One of the more difficult spots to get into for sure.

yes i was getting nauseous from the stench there.

was worse with the idiot day cans and cars everywhere lol

Mine from today. There isn’t quite enough room pulling in the direction of the yellow arrow to get your trailer straight, and the red line is a bunch of crates not shown in the picture I had to weave around to get my trailer lined up with the dock on the way back.

A couple of months ago, I would have been a nervous wreck when I saw this. Lol

On a side note, the blue gps dot is EXACTLY where I was standing. GPS has gotten extremely accurate in the past couple of years.