Jerks At Truck Stops

I agree with the lot here. One of the first things my mother taught me when I was first learning to drive a car. Never let anyone dictate how you drive. Words I have lived by when I am driving to this day some 18 years later. I know I will probably get to exprince this first hand fairly soon. So i am looking forward to this

I'm not very good at backing. I'm in training and I haven't backed nearly as much as I wish I would have yet. While I'm happy with my ability as far as all of the other aspects of driving a truck, the backing is below average at best.

So I'm at a TA today, a really tight and small one, trying to back into a truck stop hole for the third time I've ever tried to do that and I'm really struggling. My trainer is stressing me out by trying to over-instruct me instead of letting me feel it out, there's trucks waiting to get by as I'm blocking the aisle, there's guys sitting in their cabs laughing at me... all of the normal things that add to the stress level in that situation.

But then I notice something more. There's a guy in a Trans Am truck directly in front of me recording me on his phone while laughing. I am now mad as a snake. I finally do get into the hole and I get out of my truck and go over to his and lose my mind.

I know that wasn't the right reaction and actually a very dangerous one and if I took five minutes to cool down I probably would have reacted differently.

Video taping someone who is clearly new to backing as they struggle trying to back though? Seriously? You have to be quite an inconsiderate jerkoff to do that. But it's not just that guy, it's all of the other guys sitting there laughing at me too. Watching someone who is new to something go through the very frustrating struggles as they try to learn is apparently entertainment. I wonder what could be so wrong in someone's life that another person's demise makes them happy.

Enough ranting, but for anyone who likes to laugh at new drivers while they're practicing, just remember they're trying their best, you're not helping, and you're probably bringing bad karma your way.

Speaking as someone who has been laughed at, ridiculed, mocked, and criticized most of my life, let me just point out that we all are entering a fraternity of brothers and sisters that has very low entrance requirements but once we get in, we have to pay our dues. Not just to the companies that don't pay us as wel as the experienced guys, but to the brothers themselves who are bound to see us in a nostalgic and funny way, remembering their early days. I think it is fair to expect a little hazing. It really helps to develop an attitude that can look at your troubles from another perspective. Don't take yourself so seriously. You will last a lot longer and be happier if you can see the humor in your own foibles. Thicken up your skin, suck it up and learn some humility. It's hard not to be prideful but, face it, you barely know your ass from a 10-oz steak at this point. You are funny to watch sometimes! Laugh along with them. I think the dramatic bow suggested by somebody else here would have given that guy's video an nice finishing touch. You might have even ended up a little famous! Best wishes and good luck to you. It only gets easier from here!

Backing the truck is one of the hardest things for the rookies. My trainer used to tell me that he thought he could teach a monkey to drive a truck down the interstate , but it takes a talented human being to back the truck in to a tight spot. I watched a rookie last night in Florence, KY having a heck of a time getting his truck into a wide open spot - four open spots together, and he was still having trouble getting it in there where he wanted it, even with his trainer outside showing him which way to turn the wheel.

I agree with you guys about sometimes it is just better for the trainer to leave you alone and let you figure it out - that way the lesson starts to take shape in your mind and muscles so that you actually realize what is happening to the trailer as you do certain things at the wheel. We've all heard that saying that boys will be boys - and well, I guess truck drivers will be truck drivers - many of them are cruel to new drivers, but you just have to get past it and try to be a more helpful driver once you've gotten the hang of things.

I'll tell you another thing about backing - few ever master it. Once you've gotten really good at it, you will humble yourself one night without being able to get the crazy trailer to do anything like what you are wanting it to do.

Brett wrote a comical article about backing one time where he referred to it as Clown Soup For The Soul.

You are going to make dumb looking mistakes for years and years to come every now and then, and someone is always going to be watching when you do so you got to make the best of it. I still look dumb backing sometimes and that is after a year of practice backing into places ten times a day sometimes.

At a receiver one time the gate guard told me to back up to the parking lot until he was ready to let me in. I was still in training so what should have been a simple maneuver I instead had to get out and contemplate for a few minutes before trying. During that time the guard gets out and starts throwing his hands up in frustration at me with a wtf look on his face. I just went and explained to him I was still new and if he did not want to lose his fence around the parking lot he was going to have to wait.

He started laughing and said Okay No Problem Then. Afterwards though when I was finally heading for the dock unload all the yard workers were gathered around to watch the show. It took me a couple tries but I finally got it pretty good and they all started clapping.

If you show them you can keep cool while they are laughing then they will give you a lot of respect as a rookie. If you lose it then that is just going to encourage them to laugh even more.

My trainer is stressing me out by trying to over-instruct me instead of letting me feel it out...

I had this same issue when I first started out. My trainer realized that I did better when he let me feel it out for myself.

Yep, same here.

Dude, it has been said already, but, I will add that every single trucker you see had to learn backing. Some may have been naturals at it and even then they will have a bad day and for whatever reason, can`t back worth a s**t. Don`t sweat it and definitely don`t let yourself get flustered and try to rush into a spot (I did once... Once and it did not end well).

You are going to make dumb looking mistakes for years and years to come every now and then, and someone is always going to be watching when you do so you got to make the best of it. I still look dumb backing sometimes and that is after a year of practice backing into places ten times a day sometimes.

At a receiver one time the gate guard told me to back up to the parking lot until he was ready to let me in. I was still in training so what should have been a simple maneuver I instead had to get out and contemplate for a few minutes before trying. During that time the guard gets out and starts throwing his hands up in frustration at me with a wtf look on his face. I just went and explained to him I was still new and if he did not want to lose his fence around the parking lot he was going to have to wait.

He started laughing and said Okay No Problem Then. Afterwards though when I was finally heading for the dock unload all the yard workers were gathered around to watch the show. It took me a couple tries but I finally got it pretty good and they all started clapping.

If you show them you can keep cool while they are laughing then they will give you a lot of respect as a rookie. If you lose it then that is just going to encourage them to laugh even more.

Great story..and I agree. If you don't learn to laugh at yourself a little you're in for a loooong ride. Hey...we all gotta start somewhere. Soak it all up and shoot for the best.

This quote seems to fit human personality (and this thread) well:

If I got a paper cut, that’s a tragedy. If you fell down an open manhole and died, that's comedy. - Mel Brooks

Man I wish I had a solution for the piles of garbage truckers that laugh at things like this. I have a short fuse and most definitely would have done the same thing you did and confront the guy videoing. I know it's the wrong thing to do but no way would I let that go. I hate that side of me and struggle all the time trying to change it. I can't turn on my cb because of the ignorant crap truckers say about Prime trucks. Every day it seems some ignorant fool has some derogatory thing to say about Prime trucks.

Unfortunately I don't have any constructive advice on how to handle these fools in a dignified way. But if you learn some please pass it along.

I see EXPERIENCED drivers, owner operators, you name it, look like idiots trying to back ALL THE TIME. It's NOT just the new drivers!

Experienced drivers will tell you, "You'll sometimes nail the spots you think are trouble, then struggle spotting a trailer that seems easy."

My best advice is to get out and look if things aren't going the way they feel they should when you're inside the truck. A lot of times getting out and getting the big picture makes it a lot easier and alleviates the over-steering and over-correcting. Wow, all I have to do is keep the wheels straight and I'm right in there! Whereas, from inside it seems like you got to crank all the way from the space, all the way toward the space... does it ever end?

The key thing to remember is that ANY driver after running out his or her clock, fighting fatigue, trying not to pee their pants, and steaming over the jerk that just cut them off, can find difficulty backing if they don't learn to rise above the emotions and execute.

Roadmaster schools have outlawed taking any video's while training recently, due to one person, taking video of a student having problems backing while he laughed his A** off, (with all intent of placing it on youtube). There is now a suit against said A**, and he has caused anyone trying to capture a pre-trip inspection or whatever helps them learn, logging was a big one, to loose out.