Hi guys.
Been a truck driver 3 weeks and so far loving it. However it does have its challenges which I’m slowly overcoming. One of my biggest problems is still getting used to the reversing.
I just want to know how long it took everyone to master getting it onto the bay. Also if you have any tips to help me improve. Generally I can do it in 5 shunts, sometimes better, sometimes a few more.
Numerous threads on here about reversing fella.
Get searching!
It won’t take you long, one day it will all just click without thinking about it.
Take as many shunts as you need, sometimes I need 5 shunts and that’s after 32 years of driving 
Remember this little rhyme, Don’t be a ****, take a shunt 
Doesn’t matter if it takes you 15 shunts, so long as it goes in and you don’t hit anything you’re winning.
Carry on mate, practice awkward reverses (incl blind sides) any time you get the chance and it’ll come in time…oh and do it the way that suits you, mirrors, head out the window or open the door and look out (my method for own side, but H&S gestapo might have a moan at you if you’re in jobsworth land), there is no right or wrong way to reverse as such so find what works for you.
You can’t be anywhere near as bad as I was! Took me about 8 months but I only drove artics for 2 days a week so probably would have got the hang of it quicker if full time.
As it says above, one day it’ll just click, it happened to me when I learned to watch the trailer wheels and use the unit to push them in the right direction.
It’s fine too take 15 shunts , no it’s not , if one of our foreign friends took that many shunts it would be plastered all over here , 15 I think I would hand the keys in too be honest , if your new then maybe a couple , one too straighten it up , if you’ve been driving years then you should be in 1 , 15 shunts dear me
Best bit of advice I ever had was to watch the middle axle of the trailer, as that’s the pivot point. If you’ve got your head out the window and getting close to something (a trailer, for example, on your side), once that middle axle is past it, you’e safe to get the lock on and turn it in.
I very rarely get a trailer on a bay in one go, but usually PLAN to do one shunt; I get it in nearly the right position, then pull forward a good 10 metres, and reverse, initially looking in my mirrors to get the tubular guide rails, then when I’m satisfied it’s roughly lined up, I stick my head out the window and make adjustments to maintain the line of the trailer.
Here’s a little tip you may or may not have figured out yet… If you’ve left it a bit late, so you’ve got the trailer nearly touching the bay, but your unit is still kinked over, just lock the wheel hard over and pull forward to straighten up, but snake it slightly over before straightening up again, and most times you’ll find this will leave you in a nice position to reverse straight back on 
p.s. similar technique works when you’ve locked it round too hard, and the trailer starts turning past where you want it before you’ll have a chance to correct it. In this situation, straighten the wheels and drive the unit straight forward (at whatever angle you happen to be at) for 3-4 metres, then resume with the hard lock in reverse to straighten up, you’ll find that this small manoevre will have saved you a good 20-30 degrees and you’ll probably end up straightening up in the nice, lined up positon you want.
Everyone misjudges it from time to time, whether it be initial starting position, too much/too little lock or whatever, that’s normal. More than half the battle is knowing the little tricks to help you RECOVER from that. If I’m tired or whatever, sometimes I just can’t be arsed perfecting the starting position etc, and just go for it, safe in the knowledge that I know how to correct it if it starts going wrong. That’s the lightbulb moment 
happyhebridean436:
Hi guys.Been a truck driver 3 weeks and so far loving it. However it does have its challenges which I’m slowly overcoming. One of my biggest problems is still getting used to the reversing.
I just want to know how long it took everyone to master getting it onto the bay. Also if you have any tips to help me improve. Generally I can do it in 5 shunts, sometimes better, sometimes a few more.
First time out no tuition 50 minutes,and after 40 plus years still had the odd off day where it took more than it should,and had the guys seeing me,taking the p—
Never stop learning fella,time and patience
I’ve been driving them for 2 weeks now. Got my first pig of a reverse tomorrow. It’s tight in a rigid, so who knows how I get on in an artic. Was given the option of doing multi drop in a rigid or the job I chose. So took the one that’ll give me practice.
As EagerB says, put in a search, as I can’t be arsed to give out the advice that I have on similar posts.
Only one thing for it…PRACTICE.
robroy:
As EagerB says, put in a search, as I can’t be arsed to give out the advice that I have on similar posts.
Only one thing for it…PRACTICE.
There is my thread on this page still.
4 months, it was a very long shift! 
After the thousandth shunt, I gave up counting! 
12 months almost to the day and that was before power steering,I can still feel the pain now but how many shunts well some days I can put it in the
most impossible place first time others depending on the mood 20/30 40 shunts.Most beginners oversteer, turn the wheel far more than required and
hanging out the door to watch well that’s what mirrors are for.Just relax and watch others having a good day reversing,you’ll soon pick it up,main rule
If your not sure get out and look.
I was on agency when I started driving artics and one of my first jobs was a few months shunting in a unit in a poxy small yard where you had to put trailers so close together you couldn’t get a ■■■ packet between them. That few months set me up for the rest of my life. At Howdens on their driver training scheme they’re now doing they get the new drivers to do shunting for a while as well before they’re let out on the road on their own. Good job too because at the Runcorn factory site someone who has never driven a truck was tasked with marking out the parking bays in the trailer park so they’re all a blind side reverse barring a few. There’s a massive turning area at one end so there really was no need.
dozy:
It’s fine too take 15 shunts , no it’s not , if one of our foreign friends took that many shunts it would be plastered all over here , 15 I think I would hand the keys in too be honest , if your new then maybe a couple , one too straighten it up , if you’ve been driving years then you should be in 1 , 15 shunts dear me
I tend to agree 15 is a bit high, 5 ok for first few times then 2 then 1 is about average should take about 3 to 6 months on a variety of bays to get the hang of it.
Starting position is the key to start with although overtime this will come natural after more time starting position becomes slightly less important (but still key to a simple reverse).
But we are all different even total naturals like me can have an off day.
In the end theres no shame in making a lash up of it (unless you hit a building or other large stationery object ) just remember your 8 danger points, take your time take as many shunts as you need and over time it gets easier. Dont get too complacent though or youl find mr cockup is never far away.
In answer to your question 40 plus years and still Learning.Everday is different,somedays it goes perfect,others you think i should retire and watch paint dry
Talking of reversing on loading bays, i think that the Stop24 place off the M20 can be more challenging when in hours of darkness when the place is rammed with EE waiting for T forms ect
I’ve only ever really needed 2 or 3 shunts to get myself right. OK, maybe 4 or 5 once when I was having a moment! 
So dozy mate, I think Juddian was basically just making the point that the OP shouldn’t stress, and set themselves a max target number of shunts. Just to take as many as needed to get it right, as that’s better than pushing your luck and hitting something trying to keep the numbers down. But what does it matter if a greener than grass newbie needs 15 shunts to get it on a bay when they first start? It’s got to be whether they still need 15 shunts a few weeks or months later that really has to matter. Besides, the boss isn’t interested in you being the best and most efficient shunter in the fleet, they are only really interested in you being the safest!
No one will care if you take 5, 10, 20’shunts. What they will care about is if the truck comes back on a wrecker, or you demolish half the warehouse, cos you were too proud to get out and have a look 