Im now at the point where Im applying for every job going and to prepare myself a did a refresher with PSTT. My instructor was amazing and understood I`d already passed my class 1 but that I needed to build up some confidence going into driving asessments for jobs.
I did alot of revesing into parking bays at a truck stop and also at a motorway services mainly along side one other parked lorry. I can only imagine how awkward it must be at night, peeing it down with rain and you have to reverse into the last remaining space between two parked hgv`s.
I`m both excited and petrified at the thought.
The experience was so valuable though. While training you learn to pass a test and thats it. I think it would be a good idea to ask your training provider to do some real world reversing even just 40mins out of the whole training time would be something.
I have personally used the “test reverse” once and that is reversing into our other yard from the opposite industrial estate, reason was to load up a trailer ontop of another trailer which was burnt out (that was fun…)
I’m pretty lucky and due to the nature of my work I drive a STGO cat 2 de-mountable low loader, I have only had my class 1 for a few months now and I have learnt to reverse into all kinds of places with that thing (it’s long enough to fit a unit and standard tri axle trailer on it) and tbh I haven’t found it massively hard in the real world. I just don’t let anyone rush me and just get on with my own thing as I often have to block an entire road to reverse it.
I`ll definitely be taking my time with reversing and I wont give a toss how many shunts or times I get out to have a look. And I wont be afraid to ask for help either.
I went to my first big distribution center on Monday and obviously had to reverse into a loading bay. I must have got out 3 or 4 times to check i was ok and being surrounded by other drivers, felt quite conscious about it.
Enemy:
I went to my first big distribution center on Monday and obviously had to reverse into a loading bay. I must have got out 3 or 4 times to check i was ok and being surrounded by other drivers, felt quite conscious about it.
There would be a lot more people watching if you hit something. You’re there to do a job, [zb] the people watching if they aren’t going to help.
When I first passed mine I was doing store deliveries and using some 27ft trailers, the stores were tighter than my wallet in my pocket (being a Scots man an all) but found I got into them just by taking my time. The problems started when I got back to the depot where I had all that space to reverse onto loading docks and usually with a little bit audience…like above… I do nights now… [emoji12] [emoji6]
Glad you’re feeling more confident about reversing after some extra training Dave!
It’s probably a good idea for all Newbies, as it’s probably the most scary part, or it was for me…
However as already said many many times before, taking your time and checking constantly is the real key, as this doesn’t stop once you start to ge the hang of it. That’s when things go wrong!
I’d suggest 2 things happen as you get more experience, firstly your reversing does improve as expected, but possibly more importantly you care less about what others might think by stopping, hopping out and checking.
Reversing as a whole is 99% practice with a few tips along the way.
Setup so you’ve got as easy a reverse as possible.
Watch the trailer wheels for the line, and not the arse of the trailer.
Moonpigdan:
I`ll definitely be taking my time with reversing and I wont give a toss how many shunts or times I get out to have a look. And I wont be afraid to ask for help either.
Sounds like your sorted,10 shunts is better than trying to reverse into somewhere in 1 and hitting something just ask Dozy lol.
It’s got nought to do with lack of confidence, it’s lack of ability. It’ll come mate. Most of it is getting your start position right. If you get your start point wrong rather than trying to correct it as you back in abort and start again. Don’t fall into the trap of concentrating too much on where the back of your trailer is going, it’s where the trailer wheels are going you need to watch. Always take the easiest option - a double space blindside is easier than a single good side - just get it in somewhere in the middle then all you’re left with is an easy wiggle about to get it between the lines.
Setup so you’ve got as easy a reverse as possible.
Watch the trailer wheels for the line, and not the arse of the trailer.
Take a wider arc than you probably think.
Thanks for the tips Mr Beezle. Setup was the main tip from my instructor also and I suppose knowing the best approach will come with experience.
One thing I did find bleeding hard was to be smooth reversing in an auto. The delay between pressing the pedal and moving made it hard to get things smooth.
I did the exact same reversing at the same places in a manual wag and drag and it was so much more controllable. Pros and cons of an auto I guess…
Well all the best mate, as it’s all about practice at the end of the day.
The more you do it, the more things will click, and hopefully not crunch!
Setup is definitely the most important though, and definitely if it means you can avoid a blind side.
Using as much space as available is also good advice for a Newbie, and you won’t get a prize for minimizing your shunt lengths either…
As for the Auto, was it a MAN?
I ask as there can be a world of difference when it comes to reverse.
In a MAN I’d always use the crawler/tortoise reverse…
Moonpigdan:
One thing I did find bleeding hard was to be smooth reversing in an auto. The delay between pressing the pedal and moving made it hard to get things smooth.Dave
Sounds like a MAN truck - the auto gearboxes in those can be very jumpy!
Unfortunately there is no ‘magic bullet’ for good reversing it comes with practice and experience, however the forum does contain some good tips and idea’s which might help things along. If you have a scroll through this thread you will find it has a splattering of good tips viewtopic.php?f=5&t=130741&start=30
Best tip is to take your time and not worry about what anyone else might be thinking!
Well all the best mate, as it’s all about practice at the end of the day.
The more you do it, the more things will click, and hopefully not crunch!
Setup is definitely the most important though, and definitely if it means you can avoid a blind side.
Using as much space as available is also good advice for a Newbie, and you won’t get a prize for minimizing your shunt lengths either…
As for the Auto, was it a MAN?
I ask as there can be a world of difference when it comes to reverse.
In a MAN I’d always use the crawler/tortoise reverse…
+1. Great advice.
I would only add that we run both MAN and Iveco and all are perfectly well mannered in crawler. The problem that can arise is the almost instinctive reaction to the vehicle starting to move - and that is to release the gas. Then of course we have to re-apply the gas to make it go again. This is the equivalent to jumping on and off the clutch with a manual. “Auto” trucks have a clutch which is effectively operated by the gas pedal and this is why the vehicle will leap about and appear lively if the gas pedal isn’t treated in a similar way to a clutch pedal.
In the same way that the reversing accuracy will improve considerably with practice, so will vehicle control.
Peter Smythe:
I would only add that we run both MAN and Iveco and all are perfectly well mannered in crawler. The problem that can arise is the almost instinctive reaction to the vehicle starting to move - and that is to release the gas. Then of course we have to re-apply the gas to make it go again. This is the equivalent to jumping on and off the clutch with a manual. “Auto” trucks have a clutch which is effectively operated by the gas pedal and this is why the vehicle will leap about and appear lively if the gas pedal isn’t treated in a similar way to a clutch pedal.
Hands up Pete. I definitely did what you described. Once the trailer was getting close to another trailer my instinct was to let off the gas (in more ways than one ) and re apply which resulted in a ungraceful twerk.
Something to remember for the future.
