Evening all, I’m really struggling with reversing onto bays, anyone got any tips please
3 words
Practice practice practice
Take as much room as you possibly can,try to do it on your good side.
And take your time there’s no need to rush,if it takes you 2 or 20 shunts as long as you don’t do any damage then everything is good.
If your new to it,it will get easier trust me.
blue estate:
3 words
Practice practice practice
On my 5th night tonight some of the stores are so tight lol
Ok a few bits that’s have helped me,
When driving to line up have a look around for hazard etc and make a plan of how you want to back in and where you need to be to start with.
Line up the rear of the trailer with the bay, it’s easier to move the front around to get it straight than the rear.
Try smaller movements, you see a lot of new drivers swinging the cab from side to side, small inputs will achieve more.
Don’t be afraid to take a shunt, but make good use of it, again you see new drivers take loads of little shunts when they could have achieved a better position with one decent shunt.
Don’t worry about who is watching you, it’ll put you off, and remember we were all new drivers once and probably struggled as much as you are now.
blue estate:
3 words
Practice practice practice
Also 3 other words:
Little and often
Grabbing big handfuls of steering wheel will over do it, whereas moving the wheel in smaller increments more often will give you time to decide if need to add a little more or less
Honestly just take it very slow, this’ll give you time to think about where the trailer wheels are going and give you ample time to judge what steering input you need. If you try doing it in one continuous quick motion you’ll just lose control of the trailer and mess up. Shunt forward as many times as you need if the trailer is going off course.
Don’t underestimate the power of having the steering wheels straight when you already have bend in the trailer. What I mean by this is I used to always have the steering wheels left or right, but when the trailer already has some angle in it then having the steering wheels straight will push the trailer in that direction. It goes something like this…“bit of steering input, straighten the wheel, bit more steering input, straighten the wheel etc etc” and the trailer will slowly bend round where you want it
When you can see the same amount of the side of the trailer in both your mirrors, this means you are straight and the trailer will back-up in a straight line.
If you’re like me, then you need to straighten the cab up sooner than you think…I’ve had it loads when the trailer was perfectly in line with the loading bay line markings but the cab was still at an angle.
andy2514:
Evening all, I’m really struggling with reversing onto bays, anyone got any tips please
Here’s a tip: it’ll never get much easier! 
I always envy a shunter who can start at 90 degrees across the bays, put his foot to the floor going backwards, and still get it in in one smooth movement!
Which part is it you actually struggle with though or what tends to go wrong?
You want to try avoid going in at too much of an angle. Try and make the trailer square if you can before it passes anything on either side of it. So if your going onto bay 2, and bay 1 and 3 have trucks or trailers on, you want to try and have the trailer square and your unit not at much of an angle to the trailer just before your trailer passes both those trucks. This avoids risk of the tail catching anything on the side you can’t see, and it also means your nearly straight so you only have to make small corrections as you back down onto the bay. Come in at an angle then by the time your straight you might not have room to make corrections before hitting the bay, which yes you just keep taking shunts until you are lined up…but getting straight as soon as possible makes your life easier.
This and like someone said alrewdy, always try and go on your good side and not blind side. If it means screwing it round and facing the wrong way in a one way system. I’m not saying avoid blindside forever because sometimes you have to and if you always avoid you will have had no practise for that time you have to and have no choice. But for now you want to get comfortable at reversing good side before that, so if st all possible do it your good side.
Rjan:
andy2514:
Evening all, I’m really struggling with reversing onto bays, anyone got any tips pleaseHere’s a tip: it’ll never get much easier!
I always envy a shunter who can start at 90 degrees across the bays, put his foot to the floor going backwards, and still get it in in one smooth movement!
Which part is it you actually struggle with though or what tends to go wrong?
To be fair though, those shunters are more manoeuvrable, you can make corrections much quicker to save a total balls up, visibility is better all round, and the shunters are going onto bays they go onto 100s of times a day every day of the week so they know exactly where to start putting lock on and exactly where to take it off without really thinking. Put them in a normal 6 wheel unit and into a yard they don’t know I bet they would need as many shunts as anyone else.
andy2514:
blue estate:
3 words
Practice practice practiceOn my 5th night tonight some of the stores are so tight lol
Who do you pull for pal?
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find a spot
crack, concrete line, even tyre tracks that’ll give you point to aim at
blue estate:
3 words
Practice practice practice
3 better words. Keep her lit
SouthEastCashew:
blue estate:
3 words
Practice practice practice3 better words. Keep her lit
on a Friday
I’m the same - and am slowly improving. My problem… I over-focus on the drivers side line/banana. Sounds daft. But I’ll have a fraction of an inch on the driver’s side line and loads of room on the other side. I focus on my side so much that it’s silly.
I might be talking garbage here - and it goes against everything that has been said. But I find jackknifing it in is much easier than a slow arc. So I take it back til my trailer is near the bay. Then full lock. Get it off well before you straighten up and then just massage it in nice and easy. If you over do it or mess up nice long shunt forward and just before you stop position unit so you can see good side of the trailer.
I’m sure the more advanced guys will have better methods. But it works for me most of the time. I also get out and check if it’s tight sometimes many many times. I am slowly getting better - in fact I now refuse to take class 2 shifts via agency as it screws up my class 1 reversing.
Blindsides are something else. I took around 15 mins to do my last one. And had to get out around 10 times. But I didn’t crash and it was something I was actually proud about. I now know I can do it. Getting good will come with time.
sammym:
I’m the same - and am slowly improving. My problem… I over-focus on the drivers side line/banana. Sounds daft. But I’ll have a fraction of an inch on the driver’s side line and loads of room on the other side. I focus on my side so much that it’s silly.I might be talking garbage here - and it goes against everything that has been said. But I find jackknifing it in is much easier than a slow arc. So I take it back til my trailer is near the bay. Then full lock. Get it off well before you straighten up and then just massage it in nice and easy. If you over do it or mess up nice long shunt forward and just before you stop position unit so you can see good side of the trailer.
I’m sure the more advanced guys will have better methods. But it works for me most of the time. I also get out and check if it’s tight sometimes many many times. I am slowly getting better - in fact I now refuse to take class 2 shifts via agency as it screws up my class 1 reversing.
Blindsides are something else. I took around 15 mins to do my last one. And had to get out around 10 times. But I didn’t crash and it was something I was actually proud about. I now know I can do it. Getting good will come with time.
Get ya head out the window to get a good line then once you’ve taken the majority of your lock off you can then use ya mirror to judge the rest. Also don’t be afraid to move the trailer at a decent speed!
SouthEastCashew:
sammym:
I’m the same - and am slowly improving. My problem… I over-focus on the drivers side line/banana. Sounds daft. But I’ll have a fraction of an inch on the driver’s side line and loads of room on the other side. I focus on my side so much that it’s silly.I might be talking garbage here - and it goes against everything that has been said. But I find jackknifing it in is much easier than a slow arc. So I take it back til my trailer is near the bay. Then full lock. Get it off well before you straighten up and then just massage it in nice and easy. If you over do it or mess up nice long shunt forward and just before you stop position unit so you can see good side of the trailer.
I’m sure the more advanced guys will have better methods. But it works for me most of the time. I also get out and check if it’s tight sometimes many many times. I am slowly getting better - in fact I now refuse to take class 2 shifts via agency as it screws up my class 1 reversing.
Blindsides are something else. I took around 15 mins to do my last one. And had to get out around 10 times. But I didn’t crash and it was something I was actually proud about. I now know I can do it. Getting good will come with time.
Get ya head out the window to get a good line then once you’ve taken the majority of your lock off you can then use ya mirror to judge the rest. Also don’t be afraid to move the trailer at a decent speed!
Humiliating confession time…
I’m not capable of reversing at a decent speed yet because when I first start I need to think about it. I have to say “I want to go that way so I need to turn the steering wheel this way” I also like to have a look at my wheels so I know where they are pointing… I’m not very good and am honest enough to admit that. But I’m doing my best.
My problem was with doing class 1 and 2 at the same time. My head had to keep thinking which way to turn the wheel. So I’ve quit class 2 until I feel 100% confident reversing an artic.
sammym:
SouthEastCashew:
sammym:
I’m the same - and am slowly improving. My problem… I over-focus on the drivers side line/banana. Sounds daft. But I’ll have a fraction of an inch on the driver’s side line and loads of room on the other side. I focus on my side so much that it’s silly.I might be talking garbage here - and it goes against everything that has been said. But I find jackknifing it in is much easier than a slow arc. So I take it back til my trailer is near the bay. Then full lock. Get it off well before you straighten up and then just massage it in nice and easy. If you over do it or mess up nice long shunt forward and just before you stop position unit so you can see good side of the trailer.
I’m sure the more advanced guys will have better methods. But it works for me most of the time. I also get out and check if it’s tight sometimes many many times. I am slowly getting better - in fact I now refuse to take class 2 shifts via agency as it screws up my class 1 reversing.
Blindsides are something else. I took around 15 mins to do my last one. And had to get out around 10 times. But I didn’t crash and it was something I was actually proud about. I now know I can do it. Getting good will come with time.
Get ya head out the window to get a good line then once you’ve taken the majority of your lock off you can then use ya mirror to judge the rest. Also don’t be afraid to move the trailer at a decent speed!
Humiliating confession time…
I’m not capable of reversing at a decent speed yet because when I first start I need to think about it. I have to say “I want to go that way so I need to turn the steering wheel this way” I also like to have a look at my wheels so I know where they are pointing… I’m not very good and am honest enough to admit that. But I’m doing my best.
My problem was with doing class 1 and 2 at the same time. My head had to keep thinking which way to turn the wheel. So I’ve quit class 2 until I feel 100% confident reversing an artic.
You will get there in the end m8 it takes time to perfect it!! It’s all about setting yourself up in a good position & the rest will come naturally. When you say you like to look at your wheels as to where they are pointing are you on about ya unit or the trailer■■?
SouthEastCashew:
sammym:
SouthEastCashew:
sammym:
I’m the same - and am slowly improving. My problem… I over-focus on the drivers side line/banana. Sounds daft. But I’ll have a fraction of an inch on the driver’s side line and loads of room on the other side. I focus on my side so much that it’s silly.I might be talking garbage here - and it goes against everything that has been said. But I find jackknifing it in is much easier than a slow arc. So I take it back til my trailer is near the bay. Then full lock. Get it off well before you straighten up and then just massage it in nice and easy. If you over do it or mess up nice long shunt forward and just before you stop position unit so you can see good side of the trailer.
I’m sure the more advanced guys will have better methods. But it works for me most of the time. I also get out and check if it’s tight sometimes many many times. I am slowly getting better - in fact I now refuse to take class 2 shifts via agency as it screws up my class 1 reversing.
Blindsides are something else. I took around 15 mins to do my last one. And had to get out around 10 times. But I didn’t crash and it was something I was actually proud about. I now know I can do it. Getting good will come with time.
Get ya head out the window to get a good line then once you’ve taken the majority of your lock off you can then use ya mirror to judge the rest. Also don’t be afraid to move the trailer at a decent speed!
Humiliating confession time…
I’m not capable of reversing at a decent speed yet because when I first start I need to think about it. I have to say “I want to go that way so I need to turn the steering wheel this way” I also like to have a look at my wheels so I know where they are pointing… I’m not very good and am honest enough to admit that. But I’m doing my best.
My problem was with doing class 1 and 2 at the same time. My head had to keep thinking which way to turn the wheel. So I’ve quit class 2 until I feel 100% confident reversing an artic.
You will get there in the end m8 it takes time to perfect it!! It’s all about setting yourself up in a good position & the rest will come naturally. When you say you like to look at your wheels as to where they are pointing are you on about ya unit or the trailer■■?
Both. I am always looking at my back wheels to see where it will go. I’ve only driven tri axles so focus on the middle one. But I like to get my head down and see the unit wheels as well. I have felt I’ve taken off all the lock before and looked down and seen there is still some. Also as a baby artic driver. I like to know my wheels are straight before I start tiny movements to level it all up for bananas on bays.
I passed my test in February mate and I’m getting used to reversing more and more. It will come with practice. I was rubbish when I first started but I’ve been with my current employer for 5 months now and I’m much better. Don’t get me wrong, I still make a complete idiot of myself but it’s getting less and less common now.
Practice will make perfect [emoji106]
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