I think its my eyes or something, something to do with perspective. If i am reversing between white lines then thats no problem as i just run the trailer wheels down the white line and job done. If however the gap distance between the white lines is wider than the lorry and you need to park say in the middle with a foot to spare either side i always tend to leave it slightly at an angle!!! In my mirrors i can see that the gap is uniform (equal distance) along the entire length of the trailer but when i get out to unhook its always slightly at an angle with the rear wheels a good 6 inch further away from the white line than the front. I think its to do with the perspective in the mirrors and the length of the trailer, ie when reversing between the lines it should look like the wheels at the rear are actually tighter to the line than they are at the front because the focalpoint is further away ?!?
Also, when reversing upto a fence and no reference points i still cannot get it to be 100% square on
Is it just me ? or am i just crap
Anyone else suffer from this, its so frustrating!!! And before anyone says, i have been to Specsavers!!!
Ha ha I do the same matey go to drop trailer off get in nice and straight down the marker lines jump out of unit and think who’s just moved them lines they was straight when I last looked in mirror and I think you right it’s the mirror maybe time to stick our head out of window and see if we get any better.
megaspacedout:
Also, when reversing upto a fence and no reference points i still cannot get it to be 100% square on
Is it just me ? or am i just crap
Anyone else suffer from this, its so frustrating!!! And before anyone says, i have been to Specsavers!!!
What you’re doing is actually natural. You do it so that it looks parallel to the line or fence or whatever. I bet that every time, the rear is further away than the front? However to be “straight” you need to part so that the gap is wider at the front and narrower at the back.
When you look down a straight road, as it goes off into the distance, the sides seem to slope in, they’re not in a straight line. Its the same thing.
Like conor above has said, it’s perspective that causing you to think it’s straight. That, and the fact that most mirrors have a convex shape so you can see more of your periphery.
The only way to solve it is to literally look out of your window and judge it by eye. But it’s never easy unless you start to adjust for the visual error. Oh, and despite one or two super truckers on here telling you different, you’re never going to get it 100% right, so don’t worry about it. You only need to worry if you drive for a Formula 1 racing team, and you’ll have five or six blokes “helping” you to do it then!
EastAnglianTrucker:
Like conor above has said, it’s perspective that causing you to think it’s straight. That, and the fact that most mirrors have a convex shape so you can see more of your periphery.
The only way to solve it is to literally look out of your window and judge it by eye. But it’s never easy unless you start to adjust for the visual error. Oh, and despite one or two super truckers on here telling you different, you’re never going to get it 100% right, so don’t worry about it. You only need to worry if you drive for a Formula 1 racing team, and you’ll have five or six blokes “helping” you to do it then!
It’s not just Formula 1 race teams and the worse thing to get is 5 or 6 bloke trying to help you, especially if they aren’t truck drivers, it’s a recipe for disaster.
What we used to do was stick in as close as we thought was right (no point keep messing about as it doesn’t matter how straight it looked it was never right)
Then the man who job is it to the get the paddock parked comes along and decides that you are a few cm’s to far forward or back and that the cab needs to be a few cm’s to far to the left, or right. He then guides you to where he wants you to be.
But I agree with the OP when you look at the lines in your mirror all seems to be okay, the only way round it is to compensate for the distortion in the mirror.
Some mirrors can really throw things. When I worked at DBC we had tons of Iveco Cargos as a spare driver I used to drive them all but one of them had a weird mirror, it’d never go on the bay properly if you lined it up with your mirrors.
I would say it is your mirrors that are not set properly.
If you check them regularly when you are driving through a tight street, and look at what you are seeing, you need to replicate that view when going backwards onto a bay. I find mirrors are easier than hanging out of the window, especially somewhere tight like a ferry
The very last artic I drove was an old 83 Merc. When I first got it I had the same problem, didn’t take long to realise the mirrors were too far out away from the cab. Adjusting the arms so they were shorter got rid of nearly all the problem, I could then see more or less straight along the trailer. The drawback was that you lose sight of the trailer wheels sooner when you bend it. Like others have said though, you have to compensate for the perspective.
i could reverse a scania to within an inch of where it needed to be but the crap mirror set up on my MAN means i have to hang out the window when going backwards to ensure its straight
