Well I have finally started my first week driving an artic, it’s not the job driving a Magnum that I mentioned in a previous post, I didn’t feel that was the right wagon to learn the ropes in. I am driving a Daf 85 CF, which I’m finding very easy to get on with (going forward!). Let’s just say I’m having one or two problems with the reversing, It’s so frustrating , the main problem I am having is getting myself lined up before I start to reverse. I cannot seem to get in a position where I am fairly straight before going backwards, most of the other drivers I watch hardly have to put any lock on to get the trailer in, whereas I nearly have to jack knife the unit to get in. One other question, when you go to pick a trailer up and you know it is to high for the unit, do you reverse under a bit and then lift the suspension, or do you lift the suspension before you go under.
Re the suspension, get lined up straight and watch in your mirrors until the mud-guards are about it disappear under the edge of the trailer. If you can see that the mud-guards aren’t going to make contact with the leading edge of the trailer then reverse back a bit more [I can’t tell you how far exactly - it’s one of those things that comes with experience] and then either jump out and look how high the pin is or reach down the side of your seat for the suspension controls and start lifting the drive axle up as you reverse slowly. Watch/feel for the trailer lifting and - obviously ensuring you haven’t missed the pin - keep reversing gently until you hear the coupling engage.
Be aware that some trailers have long pins (ie. the trailer comes nearly touches the back of the cab when coupled) and some have short pins (opposite of above). It’s very easy to miss the pin on both so it’s best as a newbie to get out and look to make sure.
The general idea with coupling and uncoupling is to [coupling]
not have the mud-guards make contact with the trailer.
professionals don’t use the trailer ramps on the back of unit as they get scratched and covered in grease if you do use them.
leave the grease on the fifth wheel plate and not move it on to the leading edge of the trailer which gets your air lines and your clothes [zb] up with grease.
With point no.3 that’s the reason why you lower your suspension before going under a trailer then, once you’re a few inches away from the pin, lift the suspension until the unit makes contact with the underside of the trailer and then reverse back that final couple of inches for the pin to engage.
Uncoupling is just the reverse really. Once you’ve pulled the pin, get back in the cab, drop the suspension as far as it will go and then pull out gently thus ensuring you bring away most of the grease on your fifth wheel before you started and not catching your drive axle mudguards and damaging them.
Simple
Reversing only comes with experience. Even then I see old hands that have been at it all their life who can’t reverse onto a bay without 15 shunts. You don’t need to get straight before reversing on a bay or into a space. Personally, I like to get at 45 degrees to the area I want to reverse into, on my good side (as opposed to blind side) and then just give it a tiny amount of opposite lock to curl it in gently. I find reversing in a straight line both tedious and boring and somehow, much harder
Do some practicing at an empty area of an MSA. Practice makes perfect and the relatively tight bays at such places as Hartshead Moor eastbound are perfect. Good luck.
I’ve been driving nearly 15 years now and agree with Rob K. Some days you can reverse onto a bay first time, on others you can take several shunts. My biggest problem, when reversing, is taking the lock off too late and having to pull forward to straighten up - still can’t get it quite right !
Another tip, once coupled, is to raise the unit’s suspension fully and lift the trailer’s landing legs off the ground. When you give the trailer a quick tug (to make sure its coupled) it doesn’t damage the legs; its also far easier to wind up the legs if they’re slightly off the ground. The 5 seconds it takes to give the trailer a tug will save hours of the brown stuff if you lose your trailer on the road. Surprisingly, there are some that don’t do it !
When I first started driving, one of the old hands I worked with said that it was a waste of time giving the trailer a tug if you heard the click; he lost his trailer going around a bend a week later - he got a twelve month ban and a huge fine for his negligence !
Finally, I use the skids on the back of the unit because thats what they’re there for. Its like saying, “Professional drivers don’t touch the steering wheel because it’ll get grimy fingerprints all over it !”
To save getting grease on the leading edge of the trailer, drop your unit suspension before reversing under the trailer. As the unit mudwings dissapear under the trailer, stop, lift the suspension and watch the front of the trailer. You can see the front of the trailer start to lift. Then push under till the fifth wheel locks on the king pin.
Dropping a trailer, before winding the legs down lift the rear suspension, not all the way up, to about 3/4. That will give you enough room when hitching up, to lift the trailer legs off the deck. Go through the normal procedure to drop the trailer, when you pull the unit out drop the unit susp to save getting grease onto or damaging the mudwings.
Ramps were fitted to the old steel sprung units because the suspension was compressed by the weight of the trailer. You couldn’t wind the legs down enough to take all the weight off the unit, so the ramps stopped the front of the trailer catching on the wings or chassis. On an air sprung unit, the ramps only need to be used if a trailer has been dropped by a unit which is a lot lower than yours, so your unit cannot be dropped low enough to get under a trailer without using the ramps (IMO ).
I spent the day in the yard today with the bloke who does the shunting, and my reversing seemed to come on leaps-and-bounds, I can actually get the trailer in the vicinity of where it wants to be. I’m out on my own again tomorrow, only local stuff tho, I think they want to keep an eye on me for a bit.
Nothing wrong in that Paul. Would you give a newbie £100,000 (ish) worth of kit plus load and not see how they (ie you) got on■■?
Some companies do, some don’t. They seem to be willing to give you a bit of training (ie shunting) and keeping a general eye on you. That, to me, points to a company which cares( ), don’t let them keep you on local work for too long tho’. You will start to feel restricted and your work mates will start thinking about favourites etc.
They do seem like a good company. As for local work, the TM said he will keep me local for next week and then I can do more distance stuff and nights out. My reversing as got a lot better in just one week, and every time I get in the wagon I feel more confident. The only thing I don’t like is loading at the DFDS terminal, you have to wait in a queue, then drive down the yard when one of the loaders calls you forward, you then have to reverse into the loading area in front of all the dockers and other drivers, real pressure stuff. But its amazing how much you can learn in just one week.
You can guarantee, if there is nobody around to see, a real awkward [zb] of a reverse goes in smooth . When there are witnesses, the simplest of reverses goes all to [zb] .
Its one of the basic rules of driving .
I agree with most of whats been said, Reversing comes with practice, I find small movment of the wheel better at controling the reverse that a big swing. I also find tight spots easier than a yard with loads of space.
I always drop the suspension when going under trailers and when coming out as once the weight is off the unit the rear suspension lift right up which can catch parts of the trailer and is not recommended by the manufacturers as it can damage the suspension. The only other thing is to follow a system when coupling and uncoupling its easy to get distracted and forget to do something and CHECK the Unit Park BRAKE is on before attaching the airlines.
One thing I am having problems with is, when I have reversed a trailer into a parking area, I cannot seem to pull the kingpin out, it takes a lot of tugging and wiggling to free it.
When this happens, apply the trailer brake, you should have already as the kingpin should be the last thing you do.
Then
Get back in the unit, and just let the brake off this will give the unit a jolt, then put it back on and try the kingpin again, but, if not, get in the unit, and slap it in reverse, then hold it on the biting point, brake back on, should be able to pull it then.
, the main problem I am having is getting myself lined up before I start to reverse. I cannot seem to get in a position where I am fairly straight before going backwards, most of the other drivers I watch hardly have to put any lock on to get the trailer in, whereas I nearly have to jack knife the unit to get in. One other question, when you go to pick a trailer up and you know it is to high for the unit, do you reverse under a bit and then lift the suspension, or do you lift the suspension before you go under. 
).
. When there are witnesses, the simplest of reverses goes all to [zb] 