A Little Backing Tip For The DMV Testing.

When I tested for my license it was in a large paved lot, like most are.

I had to do 3 backing maneuvers....

1. Straight backing where I had to back up straight until my front bumper passed the first cone. Learn where your front bumper is. 2. Offset backing. On this one I had to back up until my front bumper passed the second cone.

These were pretty easy as they are determining your depth perception on all of these maneuvers.

3. The third backing test was the alley dock. Probably the most difficult of the three but still no issue. With this one I had to stop the back of the trailer in a 3' box.

Here is a little trick that came to me when I was doing the pre trip inspection.... Use the sun!

Yep, I was standing at the back of the trailer and noticed where the shadow was on the ground in relation to the back of the trailer. It happened to be about 1 foot behind the back of the trailer. Well I used that to my advantage and had no issue with stopping in that 3' box.

The last thing I will advise is don't get frustrated and don't be afraid to use your pullups. They would rather see you reposition your truck and trailer than hit something.

Ha, when I took my test in Texas the only backing I had to do was parallel parking on an old dirt road. Did not even have to be perfect. As long as you manged to move the thing a couple feet to the side you passed the test.

It must be different in every state because up here in alley dock we had to put the DOT bar within a foot of the dock line all the way across. Also you mentioned don't be afraid to use you pull ups or resets, I would say the same for GOAL. You could goal once per attempt and it was huge in making sure I got to that one foot

The testing is indeed different in each state. In fact, it can be a little different from facility to facility within each state.

If at anytime in GA your butt leaves the seat it counts as a GOAL. Your'e allowed one on straight line and 2 on any other maneuvers. For some reason, an extra GOAL is an automatic failure. IMO, we shouldn't be penalizing candidates for doing something that is essential for safety. Look at any company's preventable accident reports and "struck stationary object" will be ever. I can't think of any instance where getting off one's rear wouldn't prevent one.

Uh, what is a "GOAL" besides a soccer ball in the netting and an obnoxious broadcaster saying, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL" that lasts a full minute and ****ing me off?? Some kind of trucker's lingo, I guess . . .

Stephen E. Birch

Hey, automatic editing feature for swear words . . . how cool is that??

Uh, what is a "GOAL" besides a soccer ball in the netting and an obnoxious broadcaster saying, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL" that lasts a full minute and ****ing me off?? Some kind of trucker's lingo, I guess . . .

Stephen E. Birch

Hey, automatic editing feature for swear words . . . how cool is that??

Get Out And Look.

Never back into a parking spot or a dock unless you know for sure it's clear. I know sounds like common sense but you would be surprised at the amount of accidents do to backing into things.

Just passed my Utah test. All I can say is f everything about blindside parallel. I got straight and offset perfect, ended up with 11pts on parallel. Incredibly pointless maneuver that I'll never use, according to everyone I've talked to, but it still almost cost me my CDL.

Just passed my Utah test. All I can say is f everything about blindside parallel. I got straight and offset perfect, ended up with 11pts on parallel. Incredibly pointless maneuver that I'll never use, according to everyone I've talked to, but it still almost cost me my CDL.

Gratz on passing. Gary I think you are missing the point on the parallel parking park of the skills test. The tester are not looking for perfection on a skills test hence the points your allowed. What the testers are looking for is control of the truck and trailer. The tester has to know for a fact that you have the ability to keep control of the truck and trailer at all times even during what you think of as a meaningless maneuver.

Non drivers think that trucks are all big moves when it comes to controlling a truck while moving. That's far from the truth. Weather driver forwards or backwards it's all about micro managing the truck progress. Make big moves and that is where over steering or over correcting comes into play. Makes smaller moves and you have more control over the truck.

That is the purpose of the point systems testers have. Each point gives you an extra chance to still prove you can still do it. So what if it took you 11 chances to do it. You still did it which tells the tester you have the skill to maneuver the truck safely but just need practice to improve your NEWLY learned driving skills.

So take a deep breath and relax cause the hard part is coming up once you get with your first company and start to put those skills to use everyday in real life.

Before you say I have no idea what you really went through....just remember we all were new at one point and did that same test you did and all had that same feeling.... OMG I was so close to failing that it makes you almost physical sick.

Be glad that's all you had to do. Back when I first tested in Arkansas they did not have parallel parking on the test. We had to do a Reverse Serpentine through 3 cones and put our front bumper in a one foot wide box next to the last cone. Much like the 3 foot box for backing except smaller.

Same thing was tested. Complete control over the vehicles at all times. Though I dare say a reverse serpentine was alot harder.

Just passed my Utah test. All I can say is f everything about blindside parallel. I got straight and offset perfect, ended up with 11pts on parallel. Incredibly pointless maneuver that I'll never use, according to everyone I've talked to, but it still almost cost me my CDL.

Yeah, I was told the same thing by several drivers about never having to use the parallel parking maneuver. In one sense, it is probably true, if you are thinking about parking a big rig parallel between two other rigs (as is the case with a car). Nevertheless, in the 1 plus year that I have been driving, I have used that same maneuver a least a couple of times in order to move the rig over one way or the other when there was not enough room to do an adequate serpentine maneuver. So, don't be too quick to down play the value of knowing how to parallel park a big rig.

Congrats and all the best to you in your driving career!