Bit of advice please.
Coming up to my first year on the road un artics, asked for advice a couple of times on here and it’s guided me along no end so big thank you so far.
I started on boxes and if course my first issue was reversing in my opinion I was useless lol but took heed of all advice thrown at me, put that with practice and I’m well on my way.
I don’t fear where I’m sent anymore and if anything enjoy the challenge of the unknown
I don’t think anything clicked as such I just stopped caring what others thought and learnt a little from every reverse (good or bad) I’ve certainly learnt more with the just take your time and get on with it approach but also not getting to big for my boots bringing myself down a peg when needed and also not letting a bad reverse knock me to much.
Anyway I mainly pull deckers now, i know some drivers won’t entertain them but it’s more or less where I started so has become natural to me and again fell I’ve found the right level of confidence. By this I believe over confident can be just as dangerous as under confident, find your level and stick to it, never done me any harm…
Anyway evaluating my first year I’ve learnt alot and come a long way at times thinking this ain’t for me etc im unless but perseverance, the right attitude and never to arrogant to learn has got me comfortable enough to enjoy the job. Of course I’ve had my bloopers lol some funny like my diversion posted on here but not hit or damaged the truck or anything else, one bit of damage if I’m honest is I ripped the electrical lead spinning at a tight drop, I got billed 25quid for that, didn’t agree with that but paid it and moved on. If that’s all its cost me to get my first start and the only harm done un 12 months then pay it and move on was my thoughts.
Anyway back to reversing, im at a comfortable level now to tackle the awkward ones rather then panic and shy away.
Some challenges have been Alan Morris Deeside, NFT Daventry and Dunelm Dhl Leicester but managed them.
Where I am struggling now tho is when I reverse onto a bay in my mirrors it looks to be square but when I get out and look this isn’t the case, I’ve tried all sorts to tweak the final position but I’m not grasping something■■? Don’t get me wrong it’s not a huge margin it’s just something I’d like to correct if you have any pointers I can take on board I’d appreciate it.
Sorry for such a long winded post but I guess it’s a mini diary of my first year.
Thanks for taking the time to read and stay safe out there
TBH, I never worried too much about being square on to the bay.
As long as you are not obstructing bays on either side and as long as the loaders can get in and out safely, where’ the problem?
sometimes it goes square, sometimes it doesn’t, not life or death
As long as its on the bay & safe, no problem. You can try too often to get it perfect, I used to but I’m over that. As I was told years ago. Sometimes you eat the bear, sometime the bear eats you.
Keep striving for perfection and if it isn’t quite perfect it should still be pretty good, whereas if you aim for just ok it will sometimes fall short and end up like Doris parking over 2 spaces in Asda!
Put my twopence in…you ‘might’ just be turning the steering wheel a bit too often,great fault many have,just try tiny little movements of the steering wheel but you’ll
get there in the end,enjoy.
Looking at bay marking lines in the mirror will not make you square. As you look at them theres an optical illusion where the back will look closer to the paint and a ‘bigger’ gap at the front of the truck. A bit like this \ / as others have said, look out the window not the mirrors and concentrate on just one side of the truck to line up on. Don’t try and do both (some marking lines aren’t always painted straight and square)
^^^^^^^^^ What all the above have said. Been driving class one for 24 years and sometimes not straight, look out your window. and let it “glide in” 5 turns left 3 turns right 4 turns left 6 turns right all end up in the same place if you just let it glide in in the original possition… Try it you will see what i mean. And as was stated above, if the ramp goes on the back and the other drivers can get on or off the bay next to you, you are fine. Its no competition.
Cheers everyone great advice as usual, managed to put it into practice today, usually put the head out the window to start off then mirror it in to place but ending the reverse the same way has made things easier
Im sure il be back with other how too Qs down the line or just to update you with the mistakes so you can take the p!55
Like forgetting to open the window before placing head out of it like today
Always check that they can get the ramp onto the trailer (ie- centred, some bays can be just the right size with not a lot of adjustment, & as level as possible using the suspension) before you walk the 5 miles (exaggeration ) from bay 159 to the traffic office.
I did just that, the other day & it looked ok, even pulled forwards 2 inches & when I handed my keys in, one of the buffers was just stopping the ramp from lifting
& make sure you are on the right bay ! Like when I was supposed to be on Bay 65 but I was on Bay 64 at a Tesco’s (wasn’t thinking ) they even made me move it across one bay
On a lot of bays you can use a few “cheats” to get you straight; a lot are concrete pads and as such have joins in them, these invariably come out at 90 degrees from the wall you’re backing up to and are much better than lines painted by Stevie Wonder after a night on the waccy baccy. As has been mentioned before mirrors tend not to be optically perfect so can give a misleading impression.
Not really applicable to trucks but when I was teaching my kids to drive and they were struggling to reverse straight in car parks I’d tell them to take note of the bay straight in front of them, look at the painted lines and use them to get square in the bay they were using. Doesn’t make a lot of sense reading that back, but I know what I mean.
Well done, getting it square will come in time and by the time it does you’ll have another vehicle type and have to start adjusting again…
For what its worth i find reversing far easier to open the door and lean out, you see far more of the trailer than looking out the window unless you’ve got a giraffe’s neck.
I’m a bit annoyed for you that you got stuffed for 25 knicker for a bloody suzi lead, hardly your fault that the vehicle had some protrusion that caused the lead to get tangled whilst on a tight turn…remember that when the time comes for favours etc.
Head out of the window works for me. My eyes ain’t what they used to be but they tend to be better than a mirror, particularly a wet mirror.
Not too keen on the Open Door method. My old chap used to do it that way all the time. Until his wet fingers slipped off the door handle and he took a dive.
) from bay 159 to the traffic office.
