rubbish:
I’m still terrible. Any advise? Should the cab always be straight with the trailer before reversing onto a dock with limited space infront or on a near side reverse have the cab and trailer at a banana angle. Should I always be close to the docks as possible or further away, omg so many questions
Right mate,weve all been where you are right now,theres a few things you can do to help,trying to describe how to reverse on here wont really help you as each reverse is different…i hate to see other drivers laughing at other drivers as they struggle,if im passing a truck whos struggling to get on a bay ill stop and watch his blind side and try and help him…
If you can try and get a few shunters shifts,the only thing thats really gonna help you is practice,this is gonna sound daft but buy a small toy truck and move it round the floor, looking at the angle, position of unit etc…
You need to calm down,dont panic and think about where you want your truck to be before you start your reverse, as said before the hard bit is done before you select reverse…picture it in your mind where you need to have your truck before you start your manover,its only practice pal,its not a dark art,pm me if your struggling and ill try and help you…
Ever tried a truck driver simulator? Dont know if itll help you but doesnt hurt to try it. By the way Im new to class1 and I`ve learned to keep cool and take your time usually sorts it out. scaniadrivergame.com/en/
PaulNowak:
I’ve not tried it, before anyone comments (on tapatalk) but I can pretty much vouch that there won’t be a “head out of the drivers window”'view
Its surprisingly detailed and you can look around the cab including head out of the window. If yourre a real geek like me you can set up steering wheel and pretend to be a real trucker.
I’m still at my first trucking job, which is a C+E job for a supermarket, lots of manoeuvring in tight spaces with cars all round. Hwen I started I made a few mistakes reversing and never thought I would get the hang of it. For some reason the company persevered with me, sent me with other drivers to help me get the reversing right and didn’t put me under any pressure. In the end after a couple of bumps a was about to jack it in and spent some more money on additional reversing training and things have gone so much better since. Even the most experienced drivers will struggle occasionally.
Tips I have learnt:
Get your start position correct - get that right and your almost there.
Don’t push a bad position start the whole manoeuvre again - again comes back to the start point.
Go slow and don’t be scared to get out and look - more than once if necessary, if you have any doubt stop and get out and look.
Turn the radio off and have windows open even when raining - You will hear someone shout a warning or at the very least here a crunch early on and save yourself completely wrecking a vehicle.
Use the electric mirrors where necessary to get a better view.
Before starting reversing look around at everything in your vicinity that you could hit during the manoeuvre and if when reversing you feel you are getting to close get out and check.
Blindsides aren’t as scary as you think
Don’t be afraid to ask for help - but tell them exactly what you want them to do.
If taking a shunt rember what you have been told during training, make sure it’s a good one and use the space available.
