Any Advice On Backing In To Tight Spots

Practice in open spaces. Look for landmarks to decide when to turn your wheel and practice with your tandems in different positions.

In addition to what’s already been suggested...

You need to practice away from the circus and it’s clowns.

Practice, hundreds of repetitions is the only way to conquer the learning curve. Look for opportunities to back...where it has less impact on the self proclaimed experts.

6 months from now... you will look back on this knowing you are way beyond it...

Yes!! Pack rat rob and everyone else I know told me to slide m tandems back to ca legal after I passed guard shack line up to the hole and slide em back again and it’s the only way I do it now you’ll get pull ups goals and you’ll get it man

I'll put in my 2 cents in case anything helps. I apologize in advance if you know this stuff already. Anyway, if this is a shipper or receiver and they tell you to slide your tandems all the way back, don't do it until you've got it going in to the space. I look at guiding the trailer tandems along an imaginary line. If the space is narrow, then they have to go around an imaginary "corner" that is somewhere in front of the near-side truck. If you're coming in too close to the driver's side, then turn left before you pull up, but straighten out the wheels before you start to back again. If you're going too far past, try to pull up straight (the direction the trailer is angled), or if you can't you may have to set up again. And don't let the trailer go past the point where it's aligned with the space.

Anyway, people gave you good advice above. Yeah, it's hard, it takes time unfortunately.

A couple other ideas for you.

After you're parked stay up front and watch how others set up and how the make adjustments.

Occasionally you'll be able to follow the tire tracks into a tight spot. Still make sure you G.O.A.L and not blindly rely on others tracks. Sometimes it'll be tracks in the snow or even tire marks if its a busy dock/parking lot.

If you have your tandems all the way forward be mindful of how much the back end hangs over. You'll get it Zach, just give it some time. Don't beat yourself up over it.

I’m by far the worst and slowest backer out here, and I’ve been at it over two years. There are little tricks that make it easier. Pull up to your door look to your right what is directly in front of your door that’s your land mark. Now look how the others drivers are parked directly on the line so many inches away are there any tire markings u can guide by. Then do your setup I’m a light weight so I only pull up one and a half trucks then turn out, but if it’s tight do not get to close to stuff on your right, give yourself some room. I can’t do a set up and back directly in, I do what I call the wiggle, turn the wheel a little left a little right that trailer will wiggle right in there. And if you’re still all wacky then pull directly toward that land mark and straight back it in. I don’t get much back lash from other drivers, cause I’m a woman. But at small places I can guarantee u I’ll get the hardest dock, by the concrete wall, the steps and the lumper will stand and watch if I’m gonna get it in. I just wiggle my way in. And if you’ll think about wiggling while u are backing, will take a lot of stress out of the situation!!!

My trainer told me something that I found to be true. “I can’t teach you how to back. I can give you tips and practice, the rest is up to you” I was confused at first but realized he was right. Until you figure out what your trailer is gonna do it is going to be a pain.

The only advise I can give is to take your time, and try to relax. Do your best to get in a schedule where you can shut down early. Remember to try not to oversteer and do a lot of endless chasing. Each setup can be different, but setup is key and eventually you will figure it out.

Pay attention to what your trailer is doing when you pull out. And try to break down and reverse the process.

DONT GIVE UP!

Don’t know if I can explain it bu I stay about 4 feet away from the front of everyone docked make sure I got my drives in the middle of my hole then with out movie ng make a hard right turn the wheels all the way right pull forward until I’m a littl more than straight north south stop then hard left until I’m straight east west stop crank wheel 1 half turn then revers 4 to 6 feet goal see if I’m headed in to my space then get back under it ?? I tried my best lol to give an idea bro

As most of you probably know backing is something I have been struggling with. If its just trailers and I have room to pull up then I am fine but when I have no pull up room room, the spot is tight and I have 2 noses sticking out next to me and a ****ed off truckers flashing there high beams at my face, blowing horns,flipping me the bird, and cutting in to my blimd spots real fast to get around me its a whole other story. My trainer only let me back twice and that was because I wouldn't shut up about asking him to let me practice backing, he usually didn't let students back. When I went back to the terminal I told the DM and safety guy I didn't feel ready because of my lack of backing skills and there resposne was "you will get it in time" and that was that they refused to let me go out with another trainer since I had already passed my upgrade test. I've tried watching every YouTube video I could find and watching other truckers back as well as practicing on my 30 minute break with easy spots but none of that seems to work and I'm scared to death of hitting something and being fired and black balled on my DAC report for having an accident. I'm sure I'm on bonehead truckers already, I've definitely had drivers get a kick of watching me struggle getting it in the hole, and I'm pretty sure I've been filmed more then once

Https://youtu.be/DO4P2gGjXus This guy is very educational and breaks it down quite well. Lots of different videos and scenarios

Zach, just take your time. Backing is hard enough already, so doing it under stress or trying to make it faster will never help. There always be people standing and laughing, let them be, who cares? People past their 40s or 50s are usually immune to such stresses, and one day you'll be there too. Until then you can simply relax, try to calm your mind and ignore all the clowns watching you. You can even get yourself a DILLIGAF patch, it really helps! :-)

Ignore everyone. Who cares what they think?

Drive your tandems , not the entire trailer. If there is snow or other tracks, get your tandems on them and follow them in.

When setting up, leave half the room between the line of trucks at the dock and whatever is in front for maneuvering. Otherwise you will run out of space up front.

If you need to move over a few inches, use the snake maneuver. Go one direction until your tandems move over, roughly where you need them, then the other direction to get the trailer where you need it, then back to get the truck in front of the trailer

Watch what other drivers do.

Practice practice practice

GOAL any time you are not positive you are clear.

Never apologize for taking too long. Do what you have to do to avoid hitting someone else.