Harry Monk:
hingley12345:
Thanks guys 4 all your help do you think it’s worth me paying £360 for 4 hours reversing ?Definitely. I’ll meet you in my yard next Saturday.
I had the same problem and did get some good tips from the forum but ultimately getting better at reversing only comes with practice, it does get easier though, I have worked 75 shifts on Class 1 and I no longer worry about it… I do however still get it wrong, for instance I recently drove for a firm which had the 5th wheel set a lot further back, and I couldn’t get it to go where I wanted it to go for love nor money also on a recent occasion I had to wait whilst someone struggling to get onto a bay, (I would of helped but he was getting there!!) I was allocated the bay next to him and once he was docked and out of my way I thought I would show him how it is done, only for me to make a complete hash of it myself, and then to make matters worse it was only when I was on the bay that I realised that I had forgot to open the back doors! 
MickyB666:
I had the same problem and did get some good tips from the forum but ultimately getting better at reversing only comes with practice, it does get easier though, I have worked 75 shifts on Class 1 and I no longer worry about it… I do however still get it wrong, for instance I recently drove for a firm which had the 5th wheel set a lot further back, and I couldn’t get it to go where I wanted it to go for love nor money
Did this myself a few weeks back ha!
Also noticed I passed my C+E on the same fateful date as you last year and done an identical number of shifts, keep it real 
Victa1:
Ive been in it a year and just kind of got confidence to go backwards lol , this video might help you a tad -
youtu.be/_EkoMib4q4YPs . i work nights and do trailer swaps in truckstops so the situation is never the same each time and 9 out of 10 i have an audience of window lickers . Give me days onto same bays i would have same confidence as james bond on vodka stirred not shaken lol …
^^I would say that’s probably the best YouTube video I’ve seen, so far, on reversing. The explanation is pretty good but taking the time to put cameras to that they give a good view of what’s going on works really well too.
Cracking video!
MickM
I’ve been at it for 38 years… I can still get it horribly wrong sometimes… usually when there’s a few folk watching.
just take your time… the slower the vehicle is going, the more time you have to make adjustments… don’t be on and off the throttle and brakes…
Does your company have any shunting work you could do? I did a couple of days shunting, which is basically 2 days of reversing practise! I’m still not 100% at it because every reverse is different, especially blind side, but those 2 days gave me loads more confidence when I went back to normal deliveries. If there’s any shunting work it’s worth asking if you could do a day or even just a few hours at it.
The problem with the shunting idea is it only works somewhere that someone else is prepared or available to pick up the slack as from a newbie trying it as the same number of trailers have got to be shunted in a day. You also really want to be practising in a normal unit rather than a Terberg if possible.
Own Account Driver:
You also really want to be practising in a normal unit rather than a Terberg if possible.
Absolutely spot on. Reversing a Terberg bears little relation to backing a “normal” tractor unit. I do one week out of seven driving a Terberg and without fail the following Monday when I’m back out on the road I invariably make a pigs ear out of the first couple of reverses.
I’ve never driven a Terberg, but apart from the seat spinning around, surely the principle is the same is it not.
Or is that what you specifically mean and I have made myself look stupid
Its the all round visibility and shorter wheel base that makes Terbergs a doddle. Had a go in one and it reminded me of the old days where units where smaller and ■■■■ easy to reverse.
No power steering was never an issue as the amount of time you had to correct was unreal.
Older hands would be lost with todays long wheelbase midlift / multiaxle units. Thats without even considering the little buggers would need to sit on a cushion.
Remember it’s doesn’t matter how many shunts you have as long as you don’t damage anything and never be afraid to ask somebody to watch you in also try not to panick when reversing in front of an audience 
when in my thirties with 10 yrs under my belt I was asked to back an artic onto a bay as the driver could not do it,how embarrassing must that have been to ask someone younger than you to back his lorry in [the driver was a new pass around 50 yrs old]instead of extracting the urine I suggested he jackknife it in, the yard was big enough, he did and took two shunts to do it,he thanked me and he did not lose face in front of the other drivers,how many other drivers went to this yard in question,Mc gregor corys,hackbridge surrey,[no longer there]
Own Account Driver:
The problem with the shunting idea is it only works somewhere that someone else is prepared or available to pick up the slack as from a newbie trying it as the same number of trailers have got to be shunted in a day. You also really want to be practising in a normal unit rather than a Terberg if possible.
Yep I totally agree with all that.
Re the terberg I was shunting in a normal unit that my company has on a customer site. Re the speed of shifting trailers, yes there was another experienced shunted working with me who knew I was new so gave me a manageable work load and he did the rest! Obviously I was lucky there, not all companies will do this, but it’s worth an ask!
Nearest road lorry to Terberg capability i drove, were the daycab 3 series Scanias that we had on Kwik Save, Tesco had lots too, no they weren’t comfy and had no kudos for those who need that sort of thing, but a better urban tractor unit you’d struggle to find, short wheelbase and fantastic turning circle, quick easy manual 8 speed range change box, big windows all round and sensibly sized and sited mirrors, just brilliant for the job, you could get in anywhere with them, blind siding actually easier than your own side in some situations, made tight places something to look forward to not dread.
Allowing for trailer leg winding you could shunt as quickly and accurately with one of those little Scanny’s as the Tugs.
Notice the arsetronic box of doom and hell manoeuvering hasn’t been specified by Terberg for their Tugs…
robroy:
I’ve never driven a Terberg, but apart from the seat spinning around, surely the principle is the same is it not.
Or is that what you specifically mean and I have made myself look stupid
Seats don’t spin around in ours Rob, but to echo what others have said you have great visibility making blindsides a doddle, a really short wheelbase, very light and responsive steering helped by the knob on the wheel ( not the one holding it!), so you can correct the thing immediately. Jumping back in my Actros afterwards it feels big and ungainly to reverse.