Hi,
So after a year of driving class 1 I wanted to put a few tips on the table that I’ve learned along the way. Other people told me that you will get to a point where it just clicks and you wonder why couldn’t you see what to do sooner. I think I’m pretty much at that point now.
Some might say, “he’s only be doing it a year, what does he know?”. I say that yes that’s fair enough, but on the other hand all my mistakes and all the tips that I’ve learned are still fresh in my mind to pass on.
The first point is the set up when going forwards. Get that right then you can make your life easy or make it difficult. Make it so you can go back as straight as possible.
What I struggled with the most though for longest was reversing into a tight space such as a single space between 2 trailers or revering into a building that was only slightly wider than the trailer and having to do this without having the space to get that straight when going forwards. I found this so difficult and found myself going in at an angle and nearly catching something on my near side. I knew I had been told to get the trailer straight with whatever your going into before going in rather than putting it in at angle. When trying to do this however I found myself turning it too early and ending up with the trailer too far over to the off side. Took me ages to realise what to do.
The thing that I worked out that had sort of confused me for so long was that I’d been told time and time again, just put a little bit of lock on because the more you put on the more you’ve got to take off. When going into a tight space I found this was always putting me in at that angle which you see so many newbies doing.
One day at the depot I was asked to reverse a trailer into the workshop building. Each door is only a few inches wider than the trailer, so you’ve got to get it right and you’ve got to get it straight, and there’s not enough forward space so you have to pretty much go round 90 degrees to get in. I was making such a mess of it, I was at an angle and nearly taking the workshop wall out and the boss saw more me and shouted at me, “why are you trying to do that without asking someone to watch your back?!”. So I got one of the lads in the workshop to watch. I was already at a horrible angle and I was trying to correct it rather than start again (something you also see newbies do). My trailer was too far over to off side so would have hit the wall, and was at an angle, and I was trying to put right lock on to try and get it further over to the near side. The lad said you won’t do it like it that. He told me I need to go all the way back out, then put the end of the trailer further past than what you think before starting to turn. Then he said put loads of lock on, and almost jack knife it to spin the trailer on the spot, but then when it gets about halfway round the turn then quickly put opposite lock on to get straight. This way when the unit had come round I was straight with the entrance and only had to put small amounts of lock on to make small adjustments to where the trailer was going.
Ever since then, I’ve applied what he told me to this type of reverse which I was struggling with for so long. Go a little bit further past than what your instinct is telling you, then bang on loads of lock until the trailer starts spinning on the spot, then about half way round the turn really quickly take it all off. Then it’s just small adjustments to correct it. For me, it seems to work every time. Also you want to start with your trailer as far away in front of what your going into as possible. This will give you more leeway to correct it once you’ve swung it round. If you start with your trailer too close then you still risk going in at that dreaded angle. So I’m not saying the advice about only put a little on is wrong. It’s not wrong, it’s right. What I’m saying is you need a fair bit of lock to initially turn the trailer, then once that’s done you only need a little bit at a time to make small corrections.
I’ve found that if your reversing into something that is the opposite way round such as you’ve got a nice wide gateway but the space forward is really tight, then I’ve found its best to keep tight to the kerb on the side where the gate is, and then put on a little lock on at a time, because if you put too much on then you won’t be able to take it off quick enough as the unit will be over the other side of the road either about the swing into a wall or go up the kerb there.
So there you go, please don’t shoot me down on this, it’s just what I’ve picked up over the last year and what I’ve found is working for me every time. If you’ve got another method, don’t tell me mine is wrong, please post it and I won’t tell you yours is wrong either!
Hope this helps anyone brand new who’s struggling with reversing!
