evening all.
Well ive just started my first class1 job. Managed to pass an assesment drive to get here!
The work i do is all RDC stuff so backing onto bays all day. Im after some advice on reversing, i passed on a wagon and drag 3 years ago so all this artic stuff is new to me! Im fine out on the road but im struggling with the reversing. I did 3 bay loads today, first 2 i managed pretty well, only a shunt or 2 but it felt pretty good. But the third turned into a nightmare, it was fairly tight anyway and i had 2 wagons waiting to get passed me which piled the pressure on and as a result i made a bit of a hash of it.
I think my problem is that if im reversing and the trailer looks to be swinging too far past where i want it, i tend to overcompensate by throwing the opposite lock on, which in turn throws the unit too far over the over way and i end up snaking it all over and by the time ive backed up to the bay im at a ridiculous angle.
I know nobody can tell me what im doing wrong without seeing it but some general advice on bay reversing would be much appreciated so i can try not to look a complete idiot next time theres a cabin full of drivers watching me! 
Hi. I’ll try to help. Firstly, forget the fact you learned on w+d as you’ve already said you did a couple with no problem. The troubles will come when you feel pressured by other drivers. To defuse that, you could always ask one of them to watch you. That achieves several things eg makes them feel worthwhile, you get on the bay without hitting anything, they don’t mind the small (and it is small) delay.
Another common error is simply not allowing enough room. Take as much room as you can find and keep the bend as small as possible.
Take your time especially if there’s no-one to watch you and always be prepared to stop and get out and look. There’s nothing clever in reversing quickly into another truck or a wall!
Above all, be patient with yourself. It takes some drivers months of practice to actually master reversing. It took me 2 years having done a text book reverse on test. A visiting driver in our yard the other day commented that he felt he’d forgotten everything he’d learned about reversing during the last 32 years!! We all have a bad day.
Hope this helps, Pete 
Thanks for that Peter.
After reading what you said i think the part that sticks out to me is “keep the bend as small as possible” which now youve said it is something i tend not to do.
The times ive messed it up ive come in at a harsh angle and tried to swing the unit round to rectify it and thats when i end up in trouble.
I will have a go at keeping the bent to a minimum and see how i get on. Its frustrating as other than that im absolutley loving my job, finally driving an artic after years of watching with jealousy!!
Thanks for the advice Peter, much appreciated. I will let you know how i get on
Alternatively find a school that will offer 4 hours reversing practice in an artic. I know there are a few that offer it at the usual daily rate. It may be all you need to kick the logic in and give you that boost of confidence you need.
It is the one thing that I am fearing most about my Class 1 training and test… Not just will I get the manoeuvre sussed but will it click to the point that no matter what angle I come in at I can master the logic of how to correct it.
Well I’ve frustrated myself today. Messed up 2 fairly straightforward reverses. Then did 2 near perfect blindsides! Typical!
Is there a driving school in around london that trains for backing on bays ?
My advice would be to simply forget the other drivers are there. If they are decent guys, they will spot your perhaps a bit new and stay patient or help. If they don’t and start tooting at you then that gives you the entitlement to go as slow as you wish.
Words I remember are to ‘let the trailer swing in’
Only try to use a lock once on a reverse to get your initial angle then tiny little movements should be enough to get it where you want it.
Speed is the key, go dead, dead slow. Small turns and watch the back trailer wheels at all times, occasionally checking your n/s mirror.
Go slow, ignore others and let the trailer do the work!
i posted on here with the same prob an after 3 weeks im startin to c an improvment i myself have developed a balls to it attitude i dont care how long it takes me as long as i get it in safe i know in time speed will come 
other bits of advice i have been given n i found helpfull was whatever u put on u need to take off twice as fast n i always sayin this to myself when reversin helps slow feet fast hands
It will come to you in time pal… I’m just about picking it up
2-3 shunts is nothing! It took me six goes on my 3rd solo drive to back a empty trailor into empty space at immingham docks 
but know i get it in with just one shunt sometimes i get it in first time
Little story from t’old fella that’ll make you all feel better - I hope. Many years ago, when God was a lad and granny was a boy, I was delivering in London’s East End. The warehouse was located in such a way that it demanded a blind side reverse. I was in the queue one evening and the truck ahead of me pulled forward to a reasonable position, had a go at it, shunted, had a go at it, shunted, had a go at it and so on and so forth till the gentleman behind me decided to test his air horns.
Having decided that this action probably wasn’t going to help, I walked over to the struggling dri
ver and asked if he needed any help. He was, he told me, 21 and had passed his test 3 days before. So he asked me if I’d put the truck on the bay for him. So I puffed out my chest and promptly put it straight on the bay.
Shortly afterwards, my bay became clear. Yes, dear reader you’ve probably guessed it, I recall about 4 shunts to get mine on!
On another occasion I was at the BRS depot at Basingstoke and was asked to put the truck on bay whatever. There were about 4 other trucks in the yard which had maybe 25 bays and enough space to hold several football matches. I went for the bay and missed, and again, and again. On one shunt I actually manged to get the draught excluder bracket caught under the under-run bar!
The moral of the story is never give up, it imporoves with practice and you will continue to have days when it just doesn’t want to happen!
Good luck to all on test this week, Pete
Backing up is always tough even with years of experience. The smallest things can throw the trailer out of whack. The key is to take it slow and give yourself plenty of room with less of a bend if possible.
i remember years ago when i first started , i managed to mess up a perfectly straight forward reverse that was just a straight line backwards , my trouble was because ther was a hump on the tarmac that was throwing me out off line and i couldnt get the trailer wheels to run along the painted line . it didnt help that the motor was a lefty but shouldnt have been a problem . it was bassets in sheffield as i remember and it was the very last bay . it happens to us all at some point but try not to worry you’ll just make it worse .
Its strange, as sometimes I have been to RDC’s and put a trailer on a bay probaly 1st time when its been tight then on other ocassions with enough room for many football pitches I take about 5 or 6 shunts!!.
Also frustrating when other driver blast their horns when trying to back on a bay, as said in previous replies would be good if they got out and helped.
A driver in a RDC one night gave up, and had the shunter back his trailer on the bay, it was a tight bay and he had previously hit his unit and did not want that to happen again.
At a large cold store where I was doing some agency driving, shunters always took the p___ when drivers had problems reversing, then one of them pulled a trailer off a bay with the brakes on… only when I shouted he stopped, shows no one is perfect.
thanks for the replies. some interesting stories
Been at it a couple of weeks now and certainly seen an improvement in my reversing. still not quite where i want to be but it will come with practice i guess.
i took a wagon n drag to wincanton middlewich last night,no one on the the bay next to me and i must have took 5 shunts…oh well never mind
i went to morrisons at stockton last week, its pretty tight in there, especially when its full of waiting wagons, and just my luck i get given the end bay which required a blindside reverse 
then there was a driver sat in the wagon on the bay next to mine which didnt help! Managed it with 3 shunts, seem to often be better at blindsides than the strighforward ones
Don’t worry about it mate we all get days when everything goes right and other times when that reverse onto a bay that you’ve done 100 times before goes embarecling wrong. Anyone who tells you they dont is a bleedin liar.
anyone ever been to procters and gamble in skem it aint a great reverse in there if u get bay 20
cant remember the bay number, but I used to do a regular saturday night run up to tescos rdc at snodland, always got the last bay at the back of the building right where tescos parked all their units on the corner, now that was a tight reverse. just so happened it was my first ever reverse onto a bay and I managed it in one , never managed it in one again though as I recall. 
lee27:
thanks for the replies. some interesting stories
Been at it a couple of weeks now and certainly seen an improvement in my reversing. still not quite where i want to be but it will come with practice i guess.
Hi Lee. I spent 55 years on road haulage and i am now retired,But my advice to you is take easy and stick with it. You will get there in the long run,try reversing onto some bays that are not being used if you have the time. Practice makes perfect or so they say. Having said that i have made a real hash of reversing at times and i was supposed to be a proffesional driver. So stay with it and enjoy your driving career. Good luck and stay safe. (Alan).