For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a new delivery/collection on my run in Holland. A bathroom fittings place on a trading estate. It’s a real bugger to reverse into. 90 degree reverse off a narrowish road onto two loading bays down a slope. Luckily for me, the road is quite quiet so not really holding anyone up. One of the bays is already occupied by the trailer I’m swapping onto so you have to avoid hitting it. Also, trying to avoid catching a concrete wall with a railing on top with the trailer wheels whilst trying to avoid hitting a tree and lampost with the unit as you swing round. I almost have to jack knife it in then shunt back and forth to straighten up. Hard enough in daylight, going to be fun in the winter months when it’s dark and raining.
The place is normally closed when I get there so I have nobody to act as banksmen and just have to get on with it. It’s the sort of reverse I couldn’t have contemplated doing when I first started on artics, but now I have a couple of years in, I can ‘just’ manage it. I’d certainly have problems trying to blindside it in, or if I was in a right hand drive truck.
It got me to thinking. Have any of you ever got to a delivery/collection, and failed to get it onto a bay or into a yard due to lack of experience, confidence, ability, or the street furniture or vegetation around you? Have you ever driven long distance into Europe and found it nearly impossible to get onto a bay because of your rhd unit? And no one around to help you back it in?
The ‘old uns’ on here will be scoffing, and saying “When you were in yer nappies lad, I had to reverse a Scammell into a tight yard in the dark with no power steering, a dodgy clutch, it were raining buckets, and I had to look into mirrors vibrating on the door frame, the size of me tea mug”. So, this question is aimed more at the novices on here or people who had a difficult reverse in the first two years. Of course, everyone will say just get out and look no matter how many times you have to do it. But still, have you ever had to give up in the end and failed to ‘get it in’?
My particular reverse. Photo taken from the pavement opposite so that’s how tight it is. The bent railing testifies to someone getting their angle wrong in the past.
The hardest bit is trying not to clout the other trailer.
There was one which we’ve lost now (shame…) which was in a tiny trading estate in Nuneaton where you used to have to 180 degree it through a gate but at least you were going forwards which then just left the parked cars to contend with…
Then they closed up the exit gate so you had to then reverse into it going 180 degrees through the gate.
There’s another one which we still have where it sounds almost exactly like the place you’ve described and a place where we take the Irish freight to where the bays are stupidly tight. They were all empty the other day and I messed it up spectacularly though
without seeing the rest of the space in front of theirs bays it’s hard to say
Doesn’t look too bad tbh!
As for failing at a delivery point - no not yet!
Been a few that have been ■■■■ awful but doable.
That’s the key - have other been in, if so then do your best
Only time I’ve “failed” is when I’ve turned up to a delivery point and physically there wasn’t room to manoeuvre the unit to get trailer in, went inside and asked about it , turns out artics aren’t allowed to deliver as they get stuck lol - our lot as usual ignored the warning that’s sent with every order about extremely limited access so no artics !
To the OP. In one word. Nope. I mean if there is enough space you take your time and do what you need to get it in.
TBH I see some drivers trying to reverse and I feel embarrassed for them. They position themselves incorrectly in the first place, oversteer , take a shunt which does no good what so ever and look like they have never reversed a trailer in their life. Maybe I was spoilt having plenty practice before I took my HGV but have never really had a problem, err well with A frame drawbars to start with but like anything with practice it came good.
Sorry maybe I am not seeing what I should but that pic of that bay does not look to be tight or a particular problem■■?
jakethesnake:
To the OP. In one word. Nope. I mean if there is enough space you take your time and do what you need to get it in.
TBH I see some drivers trying to reverse and I feel embarrassed for them. They position themselves incorrectly in the first place, oversteer , take a shunt which does no good what so ever and look like they have never reversed a trailer in their life. Maybe I was spoilt having plenty practice before I took my HGV but have never really had a problem, err well with A frame drawbars to start with but like anything with practice it came good.
Sorry maybe I am not seeing what I should but that pic of that bay does not look to be tight or a particular problem■■?
Aah well, maybe it’s just me then. As I say, I’m only two years in so what may seem a tight one for me, is probably not a problem for the more experienced lads.
jakethesnake:
To the OP. In one word. Nope. I mean if there is enough space you take your time and do what you need to get it in.
TBH I see some drivers trying to reverse and I feel embarrassed for them. They position themselves incorrectly in the first place, oversteer , take a shunt which does no good what so ever and look like they have never reversed a trailer in their life. Maybe I was spoilt having plenty practice before I took my HGV but have never really had a problem, err well with A frame drawbars to start with but like anything with practice it came good.
Sorry maybe I am not seeing what I should but that pic of that bay does not look to be tight or a particular problem■■?
Aah well, maybe it’s just me then. As I say, I’m only two years in so what may seem a tight one for me, is probably not a problem for the more experienced lads.
Show me a driver who’s never fluffed a reverse and I’ll show you a liar. Every ■■■■ up you make is experience, that’s the only reason I know so much!!
Never failed but made a serious pillock of myself more than once.
To the OP, all I do is known drops and collections (supermarket delivery) more you go to places the more you will work out the little landmarks. Silly little things like my front corner needs to be lined up with the 2nd fence post from the left, middle trailer wheel has to start on that crack in the concrete, when it hits the crack next to it I need to put full opposite lock on etc.
We do a collection from Kolak in Park Royal, Bay 1 is the tightest PITA, inches off the wall with the nearside rear corner, ■■■ paper between the offside corner and the unit on bay 2 and ■■■ paper between nearside front corner of unit and another wall. Took me a while to get on first time but I know I can do it now and know where I need to start and turn so it gets easier.
By the time winter rolls round you’ll be swinging it in there by feel with your eyes closed
Yes in answer to the original op a couple of times early on in the artic days (after a year of rigids).
One very similar to that - tried reversing from both directions but there was a fence where the photographer is and just couldn’t reverse for toffee. Ended up getting it tipped via a forklift.
Another around the same time opposite the office. Was close but had a wall to avoid and a can parked awkwardly to prevent straight backing up. Luckily they sent another driver and rest of the day was fine.
Forgot one until someone mentioned Park Royal. Failed at Greencore there delivering between sites and nice Polish driver helped me out. Seems its known to be tight due to skips, but agency told them I gad 6 months experience…more like a few days.
One I remember took me half an hour to get on a bay was ultra tight as they dumped pallets, bins opposite, plus theres not enough forward room. If its busy, not enough room to spin and blindside in, not that it would be much easier. All drivers from our place hate it for same reason.
Plenty of times it took ages but usually when theres tons of room which seems to make it harder. Just missing by a couple of inches each time and not realising its better to go forward the “wrong way” for such moves.
Of course if someone is watching or making childish comments it makes it much harder. Sometimes warehouse staff, sometimes not.
It’s not just new or inexperienced drivers that fluff it. I’ve been at this job long enough to put a trailer where I want it to go withing an inch or so, even with things like rear overhangs and wide loads. But part of that experience is being able to correctly assess a situation and say from the get go that it isnt going to happen so not going to attempt it. And not giving a %£&! about some sperm doner on a forklift saying they had jewsons in here last week, and he didnt struggle (its a ■■■■ sight bigger than a jewsons roller skate)
But that said, I do occasionally have an off day when the ■■■■ thing just doesnt want to co operate and I might as well have not bothered leaving a nice warm woman to come to work in the first place.
The really annoying thing though is when you do a textbook perfect reverse of a really difficult blindside between difficult obstacles without getting stuck or taking loads of shunts,and no one is around to see.
Just like peeing your pants in a dark suit. You get a nice warm feeling, but no one notices
yup frequently when I first came over and getting the “not so good runs”.ie a huge grocery concern whos yards were built for 48ftrs not 53ftrs and “highway units …the screw was the shunters would always make sure 2 doors would not be open at the same time ,and I learned the hard way you cant put a 53ftr with a kw unit into a single dock space without cutting a hole in the fence to give the unit room.!!. SOOO it was wave to a shunter (who would be sitting in usually a yrd across from the main yrd) he would come across give him $10 drop trailer and you wander into depot with paperwork,pay the” Lumpers"and go back to your truck to wait till the shunter brought back your trailer .no receipts but the company knew all about it. I used to watch guys refuse to pay and in the end had to payup as it was impossible to back in and even if you did catch them out with two spaces empty …you had no kin chance o getting out or worse you blocked the yard with the unit.The shunters jobs were next to impossible to get as the money made was tax free just remembered the other little screw the shunters for this bunch was to bring unaccompanied loaded trailers out and near drop them on there knees or in an inland sea …$10 sir I lift up bring over (say with tea wallah accent).BOCs
Try small supermarkets e.g Co-op Budgens etc with artics if you want to get a sweat on. Not so bad now days with short rear steer trailers but 10-15 years ago it was one size fits all (40 footers)
no1dieselman:
You could always drop your trailer on the road, pull the other one out and park it. Back in original trailer into a double empty bay. Easy peasy
Thanks for the advice. Three weeks in, I’m beginning to get the trailer in ok, though it still seems tight (to me).
However, the hedge on the opposite side of the road has taken a battering in the first two weeks as I’ve tried to get the right angle for the reverse, and trying to avoid the tree and the lamp post.
After just 5 weeks driving class 1 tippers, (no previous lorry driving experience), I can happily say NO. I know its early days, Im still learning and making lots of mistakes, but Im trying my best to learn from them. I have to say that the reversing excercise that I did for my test was a piece of ■■■■ . In the real world of trucking however, I have to say its been harder than I thought it would be. Got into a pickle this morning when I turned up the wrong road on a farm estate. Found myself in a small yard surrounded by stables and residencies. Only had one option to turn around, by reversing into a tight lane. 7.00 in the morning too so trying not to rev too much and wake everyone up…no pressure. Thankfully got it out, but I dread the day when I do get major stuck. You’ll hear from me when I do lol.
just remembered the other little screw the shunters for this bunch was to bring unaccompanied loaded trailers out and near drop them on there knees or in an inland sea …$10 sir I lift up bring over (say with tea wallah accent).BOCs
