From looking at the picture that’s about as good as you could get it if there’s a car down the side of you, apart from dropping it in from overhead with a crane or helicopter you did a pretty decent job of getting it in.
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.
Nah, you don’t want to quit !, just give yourself half a chance ! , the reversing will get better with practice. Don’t forget it’s a busy time of year to deliver anywhere & this tends to push stress levels high .
Don’t get flustered or let anyone rush you, that’s when you won’t have full concentration & can easily get it wrong . The picture of your reverse looks alright, don’t look like a lot of room in there either. The festive season won’t be long until it’s over & that hopefully may lessen the intense pressure that surrounds the job now. If you get a chance practice anywhere you can eg. Pulling in the services for a break , don’t just pull in the easiest space , I instead try to reverse in a more awkward space. It will get better , it just takes a bit of practice, & don’t forget everyone has a bad day at sometime, even those who have been driving for years.
When I first started driving an A frame wagon and drag I didn’t have a clue, but I spent a couple of hours playing around in a truck park until I got the hang of it.
I had 12 or so years of driving artics to unlearn, so it wasn’t easy, but by the end of the day I was confident that I could put that thing anywhere.
It paid dividends too, my first job as a road tester for TRUCK mag was testing a new Scania model and all the other testers were keeping an eye on the new boy, sat in the corner was an A frame wagon and drag, so I made a beeline for it, I was the last one out, so the last one back and they were all watching me out of the corner of their eyes, I could’ve gone for a pull through ■■■■■■■■■■■■, but chose to back in to one instead. Now this could’ve seriously bitten me on the arse, but thankfully I nailed it in one perfect shot and it was all down to those couple of hours in that truck park.
So it is well worth the effort, maybe explain to your TM that you’re lacking confidence and would like to improve your skills, then ask to spend a Saturday morning in the yard just practicing reversing, once you get it right a few times you will gain confidence and that alone will dramatically improve your skills as you know you can do it.
Thank you very much for all well wishing and suggestions! Really makes me feel better. I will definitely take more reversing lessons as I feel incompetence and I hate it, as I feel like I am a hazard to others and obviously penny hasn’t dropped yet. It’s a horrible feeling when you are clueless how to handle a situation under pressure. Thanks again and Merry Xmas to all of you. Will let you know how I get on after extra reversing lessons. But if any of you come across any materials online about reversing strategies then please do let me know. Thanks guys!
Don’t worry about it man, I’m on the notion that if you park your car in an area where lorry’s are required to enter and move around then you best be prepared to accept any damage that might happen. I’ve had times where I’ve been blocked in because of idiot car drivers. Keep a cool head and you’ll be fine. From the pics, it looks like you made the best of a zb’y situation. If you keep doing reverses like that then you should be able to thread the needle no problem.
I’ve been doing supermarket deliveries like that for years now and if that were me I’d have got them to move those bales and if there are any cars in the way hampering your manoeuvre get them moved, even if it means the staff running around the other shops to find out who owns them, they’ll soon shift their backsides once you tell them that you’re not even going to attempt the delivery unless the cars are moved, stick at it, it does get easier
I share your pain, mate. I’m having difficulty with the artic reverse. The actual driving of the truck I am 100% fine with! the reverse I seem to ■■■■ up quite often, and when other, well experienced drivers are watching, it’s embarrassing!
Endgame:
I share your pain, mate. I’m having difficulty with the artic reverse. The actual driving of the truck I am 100% fine with! the reverse I seem to ■■■■ up quite often, and when other, well experienced drivers are watching, it’s embarrassing!
try to ignore who’s watching you and concentrate on the reverse, no matter how much advice you get on here the only way that you’ll perfect it is by practice and it WILL click in the end.
I know it’s not what you want to hear right now but when you get it you don’t even have to think which way to turn the wheel, your hands just do it
ZigZag:
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.
If you want to have a go yourself there’s 75% off Eurotruck Simulator at the moment.
KCLeblanc:
ZigZag:
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.If you want to have a go yourself there’s 75% off Eurotruck Simulator at the moment.
I think simming it on an LHD would confuse even more. I wouldn’t mind if it was RHD though.
I did like his videos, but he does show it on a quite wide access to bays, tough ones are the ones where cab is about to hit the wall on N/S 
romik:
KCLeblanc:
ZigZag:
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.If you want to have a go yourself there’s 75% off Eurotruck Simulator at the moment.
I think simming it on an LHD would confuse even more. I wouldn’t mind if it was RHD though.
I did like his videos, but he does show it on a quite wide access to bays, tough ones are the ones where cab is about to hit the wall on N/S
You can get RHD, all my wagons in that game are RHD.
For what the OP want there’s another game version by same maker called Trucks and Trailers where all you do is move and reverse trailers. I’ve been playing for a bit and its good at understanding how trailers react.
KCLeblanc:
ZigZag:
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.If you want to have a go yourself there’s 75% off Eurotruck Simulator at the moment.
That is a load of ■■■■■■■■!
Why jacknife into a gap you can back into in a straight line, they’re over complicating the issue to make themselves look clever.
That’s totally the wrong way to back into that loading dock.
The best advice I was given by somebody who used to post on T/Net was - to avoid it steer towards it 
Looking at that photo again (now that I’m sober 
) and I may be wrong here as I can’t see the bay in the photo but I suspect that you were trying too hard to get it lined up straight on the bay.
If that were me I’d have got those bales moved reversed through the gate, straightened up and come onto the bay on an angle and dropped the tail lift on top of the bay (if that makes sense)
Again I may be totally wrong here because I can’t see what you’re reversing into but it’s worth taking this advice anyway. Some bays you don’t stand a chance of getting it nice and straight on to. There have been shops that I’ve delivered to that are so tight that you can only get half the tail lift at an angle in to them.
So remember, get things moved and don’t try to hard to get it nice and straight on the bay, you don’t get any prizes for it 
Not a great representation, but gives idea of what it was like. Truck looks smaller against other objects like their yard, there was a lot less space as you can see on photo posted previously. Basically there was no physsical geometrical way to get cab straightened out due to parked cars, the owners weren’t there to move them.
romik:
Not a great representation, but gives idea of what it was like. Truck looks smaller against other objects like their yard, there was a lot less space as you can see on photo posted previously. Basically there was no physsical geometrical way to get cab straightened out due to parked cars, the owners weren’t there to move them.
I can see it better now, but that’s what I’m saying, if you go there again reverse in then when you get straight keep the unit in line with the trailer and reverse diagonally across the yard until you are on the bay so you will be at 45 degrees to it
Yes got it thanks. Hope I never go back though lol.
Got the simulation game, really cool for getting penny to drop. Will practice over weekend. Merry Xmas guys.
It will & does get easier with time & practice I know form experience it not alway easy
If you can find somewhere to practice then do so dont be afraid to ask