Ey up Guys & Gals.
Me been abit new to the artics I just wondered how You good Folk tackle the old blindside reverse.
I drop and pick up from car dealerships and a few require Me to do this.
On one I drive in the road,reverse out,pull forward then reverse in on the drivers side.Does anyone else do that?.
Saying all that though,I have been using the wide angle n/s mirror,but doing that makes Me shunt forward a few times.
And why is it,when doing this,the cars waiting for Me,I aint bothered,but when its another truck,I feel abit of a ■■■ if I have to shunt a few times…enjoying it though,happy days…
Avoided what at all possible for me.
If you’ve got a rear window in the cab, that makes it soo much easier, but experience, you kinda figure out where to start your manoeuvre and then you know you want to be 90 degrees, so keep the lock on until the trailer is almost straight to any street furniture you can see etc etc…
I always avoid doing so when at all possible. I’ll sometimes do as you say and drive past a place, spin around and then reverse in on my good side but more often, due to planning where I’m going before hand on google maps, earth and street view, I’ll know what I’m up against before I get there so often manage to arrive pointing in the right direction to back in on my good side.
Yeh its a funny one.In My case one of My pickups is a dealer We goto lots, its a proper blindsider.
When I’m empty I can carry on around a bend and reverse up a wide side road on My good side,but when I have cars on top I can’t due to a realy low tree.So I just drive in,reverse out,and reverse back in again.Done this so many time now I’ve got used to it.But if the road was a busy one,I couldnt do that.
I think we are all of the same opinion,dosn’t matter how long you’ve been at the job,you only do a blind side as a last resort,if you can do a Uee and approach from the other direction,that’s the way to do it.
But inevitably at sometime in every truckers life,you have to do the “Dreaded blind side reverse”,(In STL speak),when there is no alternative.
I must just mention,the angle facility on the big n/s mirror on the new Actros does help when doing a blind side.
I remember one time on tv a driver had a mirror all the way along his ns sun visor. When pulled down he reckoned it showed all of the trailer no matter how bad the angle on the blind side reverse.
Practice is the only way.
Every chance you get where theres room for a play practice that manoeuver, or anything else that causes trouble, call in at the servcies when its quiet or a lorry park, select a marked bay where theres no danger of getting it wrong and do the business, time and time again until you perfect it, do this every single day at least 3 or 4 times and within weeks you’ll be placing the vehicle precisely.
Things that help…make sure your windows and mirrors are spotlessly clean at all times, make sure (if you have one) the electric adjustable mirror on the NS pivots well on the horizontal plane, then as you increase the turn angle you can operate the NS main mirror to keep track of it (the wide angle mirror gives too distant a view unless you’ve the vision of The Terminator), it takes a bit of getting used to as when you start to straighten up again you’ll be bringing the mirror back in again but i end up trying to push it further out for some weird reason.
With that lorry of yours (artic with peak) i preferred to blind side reverse in where possible, that way you can keep a closer eye on the peak on possible danger spots at the front easier, far too easy to whack a post/building/traffic light opposite with the peak when reversing in.
Thing is if you do all this daily it might seems silly to some but pays you back in droves when that impossible to get into blind sider you just waltz it in leaving gaping mouths all around…men envy you, women offer you their bodies… 
Surprised no one has mentioned that adjusting the N/S mirror outwards helps a bit to a certain degree too 
What everyone else has said - try and avoid it where you can…
I drive a unit with windows all around so blindsiding, where the risk assesment says so is a piece of ■■■■ 
You’ll also find, when you do a blindside reverse absolutely spot on no one is around to see it, but when you ■■■■ it up everyone’s out 
As above…if i’m in a yard with loads of space I’ll ■■■■ a blind side reverse up (good side one as well usually), especially if someone is watching. Yet in quarries, woods or deserted industrial estates, no bother. Well maybe one shunt…
happysack:
As above…if i’m in a yard with loads of space I’ll ■■■■ a blind side reverse up (good side one as well usually), especially if someone is watching. Yet in quarries, woods or deserted industrial estates, no bother. Well maybe one shunt…
Or wide open spaces on the good side, but getting a trailer into a space tighter than a ducks arse it’ll go in no bother
DAF95XF:
happysack:
As above…if i’m in a yard with loads of space I’ll ■■■■ a blind side reverse up (good side one as well usually), especially if someone is watching. Yet in quarries, woods or deserted industrial estates, no bother. Well maybe one shunt…Or wide open spaces on the good side, but getting a trailer into a space tighter than a ducks arse it’ll go in no bother
Your’e beginning to sound like Mrs. Brown…no bother! lol
Blind side reversing is one of those things made much easier by a day cab.
Take a close-coupled full sized tractor at 3am in the pouring rain, and then try to blind side it in the last slot in a row of trailers you can’t get a ■■■ paper in between as it is - Now that’s the mark of someone who couldn’t sidestep it, by approaching from the other side. 
Getting the whole rig lined up right first makes a world of difference, get out and have a look too, anyone that does this is in my eyes more professional even a few times in the middle of a reverse does no harm at all…
Practice is the only thing. As others have said if its easy to spin round and come in on the good side do that.
A back or n/s window does help but if its not there not a lot you can do. The truest thing is if there’s no one there and you have an inch either side its dark and raining you will put it in first time.
If its clear and bright and you have a few people there you will need a shunt even if you was backing on to a football pitch
As times goes on you will be able to judge where the back of the trailer is just by looking at the neck of the trailer.
I just look at the neck of the trailer in my o/s mirror and when the suzies start to show I start bringing it back off obviously depending on how tight it is.
I think you should stop driving in, reversing out and then reversing in on your good side. Try to minimise the amount of manoeuvres you are doing.
No one will care how many shunts you have to make on your blind side.
when I was practicing the blind side reverse for the test the instructor told me to start turning the trailer in and as soon as you see the offside leg on the trailer come into view in the nearside mirror it was time to turn the wheels to full opposite lock and wait until the cab straightened up with the trailer and that was it, then it was just a matter of keeping the unit and trailer going back straight until you were told to stop. it worked like a charm when I was doing the test but I haven’t had a chance to try it since because ive mostly been driving rigids.
Get out and move you n/s mirror arm out a bit and then use the leccy mirror controls to move it out more, I find the leccy mirrors dont twist far enough when the mirror arm is in its normal position so I just move it out a few inches first.
24 yrs driving HGV1 and i still hate blindsiding i go out of my way to avoid it unless i really have no choice,but having said that when i can do it well it does make me feel good for the rest of the day
FarnboroughBoy11:
I think you should stop driving in, reversing out and then reversing in on your good side. Try to minimise the amount of manoeuvres you are doing.
No one will care how many shunts you have to make on your blind side.
I don’t really agree. I really think a blindside is an absolute last resort (provided getting it on the good side can be done safely), this isn’t because of any issue with reversing skill or wanting to make my life easy. My reason is that absolutely no-one but other artic drivers understands the issues with blindsiding and the extremely limited visibility.
Once you’re got a n/s mirror of trailer curtain you’re sort of out of control of the operation. If a pedestrian or cyclist has fallen under the trailer you’ve got the least possibility of any time driving an artic to notice, even on the notorious traffic light left turn you will, if your mirrors are adjusted correctly, have a chance of spotting them in the kerb mirror.
When I have to, and often when I’m using the good side, I will shunt forward, not because I need to but because it gives me a much better picture of what’s going on behind particularly anywhere there’s likely to be pedestrians.
"Own Account Driver:
I really think a blindside is an absolute last resort (provided getting it on the good side can be done safely), this isn’t because of any issue with reversing skill or wanting to make my life easy. My reason is that absolutely no-one but other artic drivers understands the issues with blindsiding and the extremely limited visibility.Once you’re got a n/s mirror of trailer curtain you’re sort of out of control of the operation.
My feeling exactly.
If you can’t see the back of the trailer then there’s a certain degree of guess work involved (no matter how much experience you’ve got) and that can lead to problems.