Humbling Day

Https://youtu.be/-K2ewZkj-5s

That video (link wouldn't work) helped me the most with my backing. The way the guy breaks it down & the language he uses to explain the steps involved were huge for me.

The hardest thing for me as a rookie was to slow my brain down. It takes so much less effort to get the job done.

I totally identify. I can overthink just about anything lol. I've calmed down a lot but still have my days and it will compound problems until I pause for a minute and slow down and breathe. My diet plays a huge role too, reactive hypoglycemic. I have to have enough carbs and protein in. Mornings can be really rough.

Aren't those 28's harder to back anyway? (Like 1/2 your set, once you drop the rear trailer, right?)

Yes, they can be. They tend to get out of shape quickly.

Now backing a dolly? That is really fun.

I don’t think luck has anything to do with backing, it’s 100% a skills maneuver.

I would like to treat baking as a pure skill maneuver too, but taking luck out of this equasion I cannot understand those moments when I struggle one day, and easily do the trick on the other. When I drove local, I had to back my trailer every evening into the same hole, and still there was a difference between days!

That’s because you are human, but it’s not a matter of luck. I had to back 26’ box trucks about 15 times a day while working at G&K Services/Cintas. If I had a bad day at trying to back those trucks into seemingly impossibly tight spots, struggling or not struggling was not a matter of luck. It was always a matter of attention-to-detail, focus, and patience. I know that what you are backing is mechanically different from what I was backing, but it still requires attention-to-detail, focus, and patience. Andrey, please don’t let luck be a part of the equation. Your career and the safety of others shouldn’t be reliant, even a little bit, on luck. Save luck for Blackjack and the craps table.

Andrey, please don’t let luck be a part of the equation. Your career and the safety of others shouldn’t be reliant, even a little bit, on luck. Save luck for Blackjack and the craps table.

We may be a bit lost in definitions here. When I am talking about luck, I don't mean being sloppy - as seing a loose lug nut and hoping for "luck" to get away with it. Luck is a proof of devine sympathy, it is what people want to have when the say "god willing," for example. I understand what you are saying about safety, but regardless of our intentions, luck does play its role, and not only in trucking...

I agree with both sides. I've been very lucky a lot of times. I've had some situations that could have been horrendous if not for luck. But I don't want luck as one of my tools of the trade. Each time I was lucky meant something was overlooked, or not done correctly and the results could have been horrible. Those times cause me to go back and really apply myself. (After I get done beating up on myself for my mistake)

Andrey, please don’t let luck be a part of the equation. Your career and the safety of others shouldn’t be reliant, even a little bit, on luck. Save luck for Blackjack and the craps table.

We may be a bit lost in definitions here. When I am talking about luck, I don't mean being sloppy - as seing a loose lug nut and hoping for "luck" to get away with it. Luck is a proof of devine sympathy, it is what people want to have when the say "god willing," for example. I understand what you are saying about safety, but regardless of our intentions, luck does play its role, and not only in trucking...

Of course, nothing happens outside the will of God. Divine intervention is real.

I will say no matter how long you drive, backing will always be the one thing that will humble you at some point.

You will have days everything goes perfect, then you will have days nothing goes right. Nature of the business we are in. Every backing situation is it’s own. Treat it as such!!

I don’t think luck has anything to do with backing, it’s 100% a skills maneuver.

I would like to treat baking as a pure skill maneuver too, but taking luck out of this equasion I cannot understand those moments when I struggle one day, and easily do the trick on the other. When I drove local, I had to back my trailer every evening into the same hole, and still there was a difference between days!

I have to say, backing is 100% skill, no luck at all. Lucky is when you hit the right card on the river in poker. Lucky is when you have no control of the situation. Like say you fell asleep and ran off the road, you missed the head on with a concrete wall by 6 inches and ran to a safe stop in the grass instead...luck. Backing is 100% controlled by you with no variables that you are not completely in control of so it is impossible to interject luck into backing a trailer. 😉 Some days you do better than others but every single event is 100% within your control. Now you could say you got lucky that you didn't hit that truck beside you that you came within half an inch of because you didn't GOAL when you should have but again, it was completely in your control so being Lucky in that situation still doesn't equate to luck.

Aren't those 28's harder to back anyway? (Like 1/2 your set, once you drop the rear trailer, right?)

Yes, they can be. They tend to get out of shape quickly.

Now backing a dolly? That is really fun.

Yeah, Tom said the same thing; he did FX/LH years back. The teaming aspect lured him away. Sadly, he's a poor 'teacher/explainer' so . . . I still don't really know what backing a dolly means, but always eager to learn!

Isn't the dolly the pintle hook part of your set? Do you mean backing the whole set? He said, he'd had to do that like 3x ever and it's never the same twice, and you won't get very far, either.

Pix and/or mental visuals appreciated; tysm!

~ Anne ~