Glad to see your having fun reversing I have all this fun still to come when I eventually stop being a ■■■■■ and put my class 1 licence to good use. I do love the excuse my back doors are jammed though, that made me chuckle for quite a while 
ash 001:
… … I have all this fun still to come when I eventually stop being a ■■■■■ and put my class 1 licence to good use
Get yourself on Class 1 - apart from the 1 to 4 reverses per shift, its a piece of peace 
I had a brand new driver with me the other week to show him the ropes and paperwork etc. It was his first time in an artic since passing his test and he was just the same as you (and the rest of us at one time or another), he couldn’t get it anywhere near the bay. Anyway, I was sat on a bay 2 weeks later as he arrived and was amazed to see him back it on the bay next to me with just one little shunt.
As all the others have said - it’s just practice.
When I started the thing that helped me get the angles correct in my head was to imagine that when I was reversing the truck I was actually pushing a (very big) pallet truck on to the bay. Mind you that only really helps if you have used pallet trucks before
muckles:
JS8576:
Just wondered if it would be worth doing training as a shunter or would it probably cost more than doing some extra reverse training.Why don’t shunters become LGV drivers? Or do they?
I think a lot of shunters are ex drivers who either can’t, loss of licence for medical reasons or don’t want to drive trucks on the road.
I know it seems like you’ve never get the hang of reversing, but it does come with practice, but it also will take time, just keep driving and keep learning, whenever you get a chance practice, reverse in at services, have an extra go when you park your truck.
Our shunter spent 35 years on the road. Now has the only steady job in the place, start at 8, leaves at 6. He’s a almost endless well of stories and infomation too.
Reversing in the rain at night can be an eye opener
Tell me about it. You have to blindside it into our yard, in the dark with the rain and the spot lights…nightmare
Get on youtube and watch some of the decent drives revering,watch them over & over again.Then afore ye go to kip visualize yourself doing it properly,upon waking do the same visualization technique and keep on doing it through out the day.
Not while you’re cloggin it round the M25 though 
MickyB666:
ash 001:
… … I have all this fun still to come when I eventually stop being a ■■■■■ and put my class 1 licence to good useGet yourself on Class 1 - apart from the 1 to 4 reverses per shift, its a piece of peace
I will od mate only been on class 2 3 months but looking to move already
I’ve been class 1 since January and I’ve found I’m far better at blind siding than at good side reversing! 
Desperate:
I’ve been class 1 since January and I’ve found I’m far better at blind siding than at good side reversing!
Lucky sod
Just wondered if someone can go into some more detail about this blindside business because surely whichever way you reverse you are blind down one whole length of the trailer depending of course on the position of the cab.
Well if you are reversing with the trailer bending out to the left, you can’t see anything apart from what you can make out in your near side mirror. Reversing with the trailer bending to the right and you can stick your head out of the windows and see exactly what’s going on (admittedly you can’t see the left side but you can see more reversing to the right) It’s the left reverse that’s the blind side reverse.
I took a wrong turn on my 1st trip out, had to do blindside reverse another trucker (greek) who was parked came over and directed me in, even in broken English he was a star
It would never be an English person helping you out he would just watch and do nothing! sadly its the society we live in now 
ash 001:
It would never be an English person helping you out he would just watch and do nothing! sadly its the society we live in now
While I agree there is a certain type of driver who is happy to pretend to have not noticed the predicament you’re in there are also plenty of English or even British drivers would help another driver out, I’m one of them and the bloke I work with wouldn’t see another driver struggle. In fact in my time years of driving all round Europe I’ve rarely met another driver of any nationality who wouldn’t give another driver a bit of a hand if asked and often without asking.
Yes vey true just depends who is around and if they are nice, shame not everyone is as helpful as they could be though
Loads of great advice given. As ORC said snails pace, we all over steer to start with, you will naturally improve that with time but the slower you go the easier it is to correct.
Practice makes perfect, and each time could teach you something new.
Forget about the audience, most of them aren’t even watching, honest!
Don’t be shy of asking for help, but please, don’t ever ask someone else to do it for you as one driver did to me; it was his first day, but as I pointed out to him it was only my thirtieth day. I did it for him, but he didn’t learn anything that day!
Don’t worry about how long it takes, my second day I was sent to a particularly awkward yard, took me about 20 shunts, and I was red faced and sweating like a glass blower when I finally got it but by golly was I chuffed!
500 shunts is better than 1 bump
PaulNowak:
500 shunts is better than 1 bump
Yea but, by the four hundred & ninety ninth you feel like a Bump !
Ah, so pleased I’m not a complete moron. In fact, this week I’ve had some right pain in the back side reverses but managed to pull them off. It’s definitely starting to click now. Thanks for all your great advice guys 