Passed C+E test last week and struggling with reversing. If someone could post some tips for me I would be really grateful, maybe some hand drawn pictures. Biggest problem is reversing and getting it in straight, always at an angle.
Practice is the only way to get better
See if a local company that has a yard shunter will allow you to join the regular shunter driver for free for a shift even if its using a Terberg and not a regular unit
To reverse in a straight line put one hand at 12 o’clock position on the wheel, sit on your other hand. Start going backwards while constantly checking both mirrors, if the trailer starts to appear more in one mirror move the hand on the wheel toward that mirror to push it back out of view. Don’t move it much and wait for the reaction after you move your hand before moving it more. Keep doing this and you’ll reverse in a straight line.
I doubt that will be possible in today’s H&S obsessed society.
The best advice I can give you is to forget about the unit, it’s the trailer you need to get in the hole, the unit will follow that.
Positioning is by far the most important part of any reverse, ideally you want to be as straight as possible, the art is to get it going in a straight line towards the hole you’re backing in to, once the trailer is in the hole all you then need to do is get it in a straight line.
To help with that you need to know that a trailer pivots around its center axle on a tri axle and in the middle of the two axles if a tandem, once that is past the line or obstacle it’s time to straighten it up.
You will oversteer so that you are going from lock to lock, don’t worry we all did that until one day, when it all just clicked and went well.
Good luck and remember, we all started from where you are, some days it looks as if we’re still there, but we’ve been around long enough not to care anymore, whereas you will be embarrassed by it 
Thanks a lot guys. Don’t know why, but I get so stressed every morning anticipating where I will be sent and not knowing how I will manage to get it in there…
And yet you manage it and go home each night, just chill, it’ll be much easier to do if you don’t stress too much.
After failing my last 4 assessments recently on the reverse i found this helpful, although it’s a left ■■■■■■ its a nice step by step tutorial.
I was at breaking point today. Poundworld in Swindon. Town centre, reversing through traffic/shoppers, through gates angular reverse, then hard lock to get back to turn 90 degrees and no way to straighten out cab as cars parked in yard (not staff’s), but tail lift cable too short to to connect, ■■■■!!! 2.5 hours it took me. I just want to quit now.
Were you taught the principals (underpinning knowledge) on training or just how to pass the test perhaps by using bits of the set up as markers ■■?
Just to pass
romik:
Just to pass
In that case you really need to go to a decent trainer who can teach you properly - half a day should do it
Definitely. Who is good near Huddersfield?
romik:
I was at breaking point today. Poundworld in Swindon. Town centre, reversing through traffic/shoppers, through gates angular reverse, then hard lock to get back to turn 90 degrees and no way to straighten out cab as cars parked in yard (not staff’s), but tail lift cable too short to to connect, [zb]!!! 2.5 hours it took me. I just want to quit now.
If you got it in without hitting anything you did your job regardless of how long it took.
romik:
I just want to quit now.
This issue is temporary, quitting lasts forever.
Stick with it, we’ve all been there
Its not about quitting Romik. But i do know how you feel. I deliver for tesco . It is the same. When i get back to the depot i try to find the ■■■■■■■■■ place to put the trailer. Independent of 100 shunters and 1000 drivers looking how i do it looolz. Slowly i am starting to get this. Was just the 1st week on arctic. Many more to come. If you do it wrong do it again and think every step where the fault was. I do it that way and every time i slightly improve my reverse. But past 2 days i drove a scania. Manual. I find it very hard to reverse it correctly dont know why but is the tipe of truck that i cant get used to… i feel like i cant see the trailer well in the mirrors. But i think is just me 
.
Keep pushing u’ll get there.
Keep it up mate, you managed the Poundworld drop so if you go back there again it’ll be easier, just as every single reverse will be as time goes by.
As said already, we’ve all been where you are and our first really awkward reverses are etched into our otherwise fading memories, your present nightmare will amuse you in years to come too.
If you can see Volvo’s bonnet sticking out, another 4 cars next to it, I had no idea how to straighten the cab as it would ram the parked cars. Bloke at Poundworld said regular drivers do it fine, but how does one connect tail lift cable with tiled cab, it’s still a mystery.
When on shop deliveries obtain a second Anderson lead, or whatever lead connects the tail lift, that way you can park at any angle and still reach.
On one particular shop back door it was down a really steep ramp, the only way to level the trailer was to actually drop the thing on its knees, hence second Anderson lead to reach…those who didn’t do this (most) faced the real prospect of being swept off the trailer by several roller cages, sod that.
What you’ve done in the pic looks fine to me, i bet they’ve had trailers in twice as long as yours and 20ft high 
…same old story at delivery points since the wheel was invented, take no notice of 'em, none of them could do it.
romik:
Don’t know why, but I get so stressed every morning anticipating where I will be sent and not knowing how I will manage to get it in there…
Simple answer - fear of the unknown.
I spent my early weeks and months of Class 1 driving being largely terrified. Terrified of navigation, terrified of getting myself trapped somewhere without being able to turn around, and terrified of the manoeuvring at my destination.
Remember, your employer is sending you to places where artics have been before, so it must be possible to get in there. All you have to do is work out how. Common sense usually does the trick, asking how other drivers have done it before is another option if you’re stuck. If you’re somewhere with other trucks then most drivers will be more than happy to help you out - they’ve all been there and most are probably brimming over with sympathy for your plight.
As you do each run for the first time you a) discover where it is, and b) know what to expect when you get there the next time. That means life will gradually become easier and less traumatic for you.
If you don’t hit anything then it’s a good reverse, basically. No prizes for getting in without a shunt, no time limit, just take it steady. Get out and look as many times as you need, ask for help with spotting obstacles if required, use all the space available.
You are currently going through the worst part of the learning process, the steepest point in the learning curve. You’ve come this far, don’t quit now. Soon it will start becoming easier.
There are plenty of threads with advice and tips on reversing, have a look around and spend some time reading.
Here’s another one for you - if you find the advice about pushing the trailer out of your mirrors a bit awkward, try a different method instead. For example, I just concentrate on which direction the bottom of the steering wheel is going, as that tells me which way I am sending the back of the trailer. In time, though, you won’t even need to think about it, it just becomes instinctive. And even if it doesn’t, just steer a bit, reverse slowly and see what happens - you’ll soon discover if you’ve steered the right way and by working slowly you have plenty of time to correct.
I will add one proviso here that applies to all of us.
This type of manoeuver is a bugger, and from where those cars are parked it wasn’t going to be a doddle getting the R Send into that spot even if you’d been doing the job 30 years.
Part of the problem all drivers face in close manoeuvers is if they have an average (which translates as useless) auto box, the problem with auto boxes is that the clutch is to all intents and purposes an on/off switch, and as much use as a chocolate teapot for this type of close stuff…and i point the finger straight at ZF ASTronic as being by far the worse of a very poor bunch, though Mercs not far behind…the only one thats reasonably good is Volvos, which is apparently used in Reno’s too.
I see you’ve got an Axor, well with the manual box (hated and despised by most) that lorry comes into its own on close work.
On tickover alone, seeing as the engine has terrific lugging power, you can feather that clutch in order to have the lorry moving at infinitely slow speed with you, the driver, in complete control without even touching the throttle.
I bet your lorry is an auto in which case you haven’t got the same minute control essential for close work like this, once the clutch engages it moves faster than you want in exactly those circumstances, ending up in a series of short jumps instead of a smooth creep.