Don’t put bag fulls of lock on at once, put it on gradually, Remember …you need to take as much as you put on… back off again. So.make it as easy for yourself as you can, then you don’t end up knackered. (The guys who learned on trucks with no pas learned this very quickly )
Get out as often as you deem neccessary to check.
Don’t worry about ■■■■ ups we all do em…I back into a tight as arse holes space between trailers every Sat lunchtime without fail, no probs, on my return to the yard when I’m on my own.
Today I got back earlier than usual the yard was half full of drivers, I backed in and you guessed it I just clipped the side of one of the trailers. to a chorus of cheers.
But I didn’t tell anybody I was on the phone to the wife with my other hand.
One of my drops is tight, proper 90 degree unit to trailer turn, I’m not exactly the most experienced of drivers so I watched other drivers, there start position, speed, angle etc, at first I used more diesel parking than I did getting there but with time I gained the confidence to do it with minimal fuss and shunts, it took time and practice, as said above take your time, even the most experienced drivers have an off night where they make mistakes ie oversteer, turn to soon or worst case too late and kiss the trailer next to them but at slow speed no harm done, take your time and if in doubt ask the blokes in the yard to keep an eye out on you if possible but remember it will get easier
Good days and bad days
There are days when you do a reverse get out and think “how did I get that into there” But then there are days when I have trouble getting it through a set of aircraft hanger doors!!
Usual rule of thumb is that you are going to get it really wrong in front of a crowd.
The best drivers still make mistakes and need to take a shunt to get it right!
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That is an outrageous slur, I never have to take a shunt when blindsiding onto a bay. There just never happens to be anybody around…
+1
The only time I ever take a shunt or 3 is when other drivers are about in order to protect their egos.
Slow your reverses right down and watch the pivot point (centre axle on a standard tri), load weight will also affect how quick you can get the kink out.
Lift your midlift axle on the unit to aid maneuvering.
It will come and you will still have the odd bad one, the moment you think you mastered it your about half way there.
Practice blindside reversing as this dark art will naturally improve your awareness of how much lock to take off and when.
And never watch the shunters at big distribution centres, you’ll feel like getting out the cab and calling a taxi, and cry, a lot.
Pearls of wisdom I’ve been taught: “90% of a successful reverse is completed in a forward gear”
If you can, do all the hard work in a forward gear, in other words get yourself as best lined up as possible (space allowing). The better you can position yourself initially the less work you’ll have once actually performing the reversing part of the manoeuvre.
“Let the trailer do the driving and use the unit to steer”
Sounds obvious (if not a little confusing) but if you remember that whilst reversing things do actually tend to go smoother. (hopefully someone can explain this a bit better than me)
“If you put it on you have to take it off, and some”
Already mentioned in above posts, every turn of the wheel you put on (say left) you have to take off (right) but if correction is needed then you need to take off more, before you know it you’re doing a fine impression of a firemans hose (I’m sure you’ve seen how a hose snakes under pressure). Line up as best as you can to the bay and put 1/2 a turn max on the steering wheel and then take it 1/2 a turn off, and then if you need to go 1/2 a turn the other way and then take that off again, small corrections like this are key.
“Watch the middle of the three (if it’s a tri-axle) as that’s the wheel you’re trying to guide along your reference line” If there are no painted lines then draw imaginary ones in your head, and also try and envisage where the trailer is going to go (what line it will take)
“There is only one driver you need to impress in a busy yard… You!” Nuff said.
I’m not saying what I was taught is the DSA standard approved training criteria, it’s just what other drivers told me and once I actually understood what they meant then things got a whole heap easier for me.
I concur with Reef. My main advice is don’t steer too much. That’s the most common fault I see amongst new drivers. Also the watch the middle axle advice. On a tri-axle it pivots around the middle of the middle axle, use this to your advantage.
Interestingly the shorter the trailers get the header they are to reverse!
I thought of one more- adjust your mirrors properly. So many drivers seem to think mirrors are for looking at the side of their truck. You should just have a thin sliver of your vehicle visible in the mirror. Even blindside reversing is far easier with properly adjusted mirrors
Watch what the drivers that get it right do, you’ll see that they don’t swing the unit around from side to side, but gently turn the unit to put the trailer where they want it and then just straighten up, notice where and how they position the lorry prior to starting the reverse. That’s the key, positioning, put it in the right place to start with, then with a little bit of steering you just push the trailer round the pivot point, which is the center axle of a triaxle and then just before it’s in a straight line, you wind off the steering to straighten the unit.
It’s really that simple, but it takes a while before it all clicks into place, at first everybody over steers and has the unit swinging from side to side and the trailer seems to have a mind of its own.
Glory Boy:
Not being funny but what bit don’t you get? I just saw your thread after I made one up and I wish I had read it first to be honest.
I don’t get what you mean. It’s all explained at the beginning of this thread.
I passed my test a few weeks ago and the reverse on the test is nothing like the yards I have been into so even though I can do the test reverse doing it in the real world is totally different.
Hope this clears it up for you
Thanks
)
to a chorus of cheers. 
