norb:
Juddian ,Now i have a thought on this ,could it be a bit like snooker ,some people through no fault of their own are no good at angles ■■
I had another thought Norb, is the OP finding M on his presumably automatic box, with ZF Arsetronic/Traxon, make sure to push the gearswitch over to the furthest point, with Scanias select the lowest gear then keep pressing the gearlever down un til you find Rm or similar come up on the dash, haven’t a blooody clue what you do with Volvos Ivecos (other than pray) or Mercs.
In M for maneuver mode the way the vehicle moves is restricted to help maneuvering as much as possible.
Also remember what we spoke about earlier re transfering the weight from the mid lift axle (if you have one on a typical left ■■■■■■) to the drive axle when loaded, and if the ground is slippery and/or you are reversing up an incline if the vehicle senses wheelspin it will cut power and apply the clutch, to stop this happening leading to multiple clutch destroying re-starts turn off TC or ASR, this will allow a wheel to spin without the vehicle cutting power or applying the clutch on you…i had exactly this scenario last week at my favourite drop, wet road blind side jack knife uphill into an even steeper gateway, don’t transfer the air or switch off TC/ASR and you ain’t getting in at all when its wet.
Traxton is a better box.but i get your point …Foreigners are not fans of midlifts they like their 2 axle jobbies…Obviously i only do road tests so do not get to enjoy the types of reversing you do ,and that is where we lose out ,as if there is an issue we find it hard to replicate it at times …Though customers most of the time can’t or won’t tell us what the problem is lol
norb:
Juddian ,Now i have a thought on this ,could it be a bit like snooker ,some people through no fault of their own are no good at angles ■■
I had another thought Norb, is the OP finding M on his presumably automatic box, with ZF Arsetronic/Traxon, make sure to push the gearswitch over to the furthest point, with Scanias select the lowest gear then keep pressing the gearlever down un til you find Rm or similar come up on the dash, haven’t a blooody clue what you do with Volvos Ivecos (other than pray) or Mercs.
In M for maneuver mode the way the vehicle moves is restricted to help maneuvering as much as possible.
Also remember what we spoke about earlier re transfering the weight from the mid lift axle (if you have one on a typical left ■■■■■■) to the drive axle when loaded, and if the ground is slippery and/or you are reversing up an incline if the vehicle senses wheelspin it will cut power and apply the clutch, to stop this happening leading to multiple clutch destroying re-starts turn off TC or ASR, this will allow a wheel to spin without the vehicle cutting power or applying the clutch on you…i had exactly this scenario last week at my favourite drop, wet road blind side jack knife uphill into an even steeper gateway, don’t transfer the air or switch off TC/ASR and you ain’t getting in at all when its wet.
Traxton is a better box.but i get your point …Foreigners are not fans of midlifts they like their 2 axle jobbies…Obviously i only do road tests so do not get to enjoy the types of reversing you do ,and that is where we lose out ,as if there is an issue we find it hard to replicate it at times …Though customers most of the time can’t or won’t tell us what the problem is lol
That’s why i like to speak to the chap actually fixing the motor, if i can’t i leave a proper explanatory note with full symptoms, you can’t expect a mechanic to guess what’s wrong, at least give the bloke a fighting chance by providing as much information as possible, you’d think by now most drivers would have sussed this for crying out loud.
Give no info them moan when said mechanic’s crystal ball didn’t reveal all
wanderingstar:
I passed four years ago but have only been driving part-time or on and off so probably about two years full-time equivalent. However, I STILL can’t reverse a trailer. I thought it would take me a few months at most. It hasn’t helped that I’ve moved from the UK to a LHD country so that’s thrown me off somewhat but still… Last night I had to park between two trailers coming in at an angle and was totally lost. Another driver came over to help and more than once he was telling me I was turning the wheel the wrong way! I told him I’d only just passed in order to cope with the shame. Are there some people that just never get it? Or can it really take this long? I’m watching endless YouTube videos on backing up with a trailer but I still just can’t get it. I feel like whatever part of your brain helps you reverse a trailer is just missing in my head! I can drive forward absolutely fine. It’s just the reversing… I’m almost 50 with no career and the only other work I could get would be working in a factory which I really don’t want to do so I really want to make this work if I can…
I’ve started driving artics 3 months ago and my skills are about as bad now as they were at the start. My confidence has increased as in I do everything a bit quicker but that’s about it. I believe being on rigids for a year and a half I aquired some bad habits I can’t seem to be able to shake off. On the other hand I don’t get much practice doing only 1 or 2 proper, semi-proper reverses per day, the rest is straight reverses. In your case switching from rhd ti lhd and now rhd again, if i understand correctly.
There is no difference at all reversing a rhd to a left ■■■■■■, same principle, different arm out of window.
Haven’t read full thread, just skimmed it, but o/p should book an afternoon with a HGV driving school, job will be sorted in an afternoon.
As for me,.I can reverse a trailer rhd or lhd drive on a sixpence (and so I should length of time I’ve done it, so nothing clever in that…however ,
My upper arm is ■■■■ painful as my tendons are knackered, so there are times when I look like a ■■■■ amateur lately .
I know how to do it, know the technique, but sometimes can not get lock off or on fast enough.
That is my excuse anyway.
Sounds silly but the thing that made things click for me was pretend you’re pushing a wheel barrow, the trailer is the barrow and the unit is you, if you want to turn left in a wheel barrow you push the right hand side and so on. Also I used to over steer waaaayyyyy too much. As soon as I envisioned the wheel barrow and did small adjustments it clicked for me, I still make a complete hash of things from time to time though
Also if I went into a LHD whilst still learning properly I think my arse would have fallen out.
The reverse on the test needs to be scrapped and they need to bring in a 90 degree good side and blind side onto a simulated bay, all the “half turn here until you see this part of the trailer then 2 turns the other way until you see that part of the trailer” teaches you nothing.
Only been on class 1 since just before this virus crap started and find I can get in really tight doors/gates etc quite easily but have taken longer to get to grips with getting on a bay, definitely a case of perseverance and a bit of confidence in yourself.
robroy:
There is no difference at all reversing a rhd to a left ■■■■■■, same principle, different arm out of window.
Haven’t read full thread, just skimmed it, but o/p should book an afternoon with a HGV driving school, job will be sorted in an afternoon.
As for me,.I can reverse a trailer rhd or lhd drive on a sixpence (and so I should length of time I’ve done it, so nothing clever in that…however ,
My upper arm is [zb] painful as my tendons are knackered, so there are times when I look like a [zb] amateur lately .
I know how to do it, know the technique, but sometimes can not get lock off or on fast enough.
That is my excuse anyway. [emoji38]
I’d pretty agree there.
So long as you really ‘understand’ what you’re doing with the steering wheel, you should get it.
Being taught about markers and counting turns of the wheel may get you through a test, but it isn’t really teaching what’s what.
I do understand that anyone paying for a course wants results quickly etc, so I’m not just slagging off driving schools here.
Different people get to see things by different means (I’ve never heard the wheelbarrow one before, but if it works, great)
I found watching other drivers helpful: not how many turns of the wheel they made, more the general ‘shape’ of the manoeuvre.
Watching from the outside gave an idea of what I was trying to do, rather than getting caught up in the details of it. May help others but not all.
But, with practise most of us get competent, even if not “backwards Gods” like RobRoy.
^^^^^^^^^^…And there lies the problem with lots of things in this job, mainly quality and calibre of who is behind the wheel of a truck.
They teach you to pass a test not teach you to drive.
System needs reviewed, it has got worse since trucks became as easy to drive as a car, …you get those who once would have been filtered out, getting through the net.
I ain’t referring to the o/p btw, he sounds like he just needs a bit of tuition and practice, I’m referring to those who should not be let within 100 yds of 44 tonnes, but have managed to blag a licence.
robroy:
^^^^^^^^^^…And there lies the problem with lots of things in this job, mainly quality and calibre of who is behind the wheel of a truck.
They teach you to pass a test not teach you to drive.
System needs reviewed, it has got worse since trucks became as easy to drive as a car, …you get those who once would have been filtered out, getting through the net.
I ain’t referring to the o/p btw, he sounds like he just needs a bit of tuition and practice, I’m referring to those who should not be let within 100 yds of 44 tonnes, but have managed to blag a licence.
You speak a lot of sense (most of the time ) I was thinking about the LHD thing and although never driven a LHD wagon have driven and reversed a LHD car and trailer which I managed no bother. So not really sure why that is a problem with some.
Anyway here we go again robbie boy…you are quite correct by saying they teach you to pass a test nowadays however it ain’t always been like that. It’s all about time and money.
A lot of instructors teach the reverse by markers and number of turns of the steering wheel at certain points. Fine to get through a test but after that most are ■■■■■■■
I never taught using these methods for that exact reason. If I was training someone that mastered the reverse quickly then I would give them far more complex reverses and take them on more tight spaces on the road but when you had someone that struggled (sometimes with both) you were extremely limited for time. There were occasions where I did not enter them for test as they were not up to standard. An awful lot are put in for test when they are not ready and sometimes they fluke it. In my early days of training we did have to time to make them proper drivers (if they were capable.lol. but in latter years it was not ever possible.
But you are quite correct the system needs to be far strickter to weed out the hopeless cases and lets get more traffic cops on the roads to nick the numb brains.
Thanks for all the additional tips. I will try them out this week! I have some training booked in for a couple of weeks time too so we’ll see if that helps things…
drop, wet road blind side jack knife uphill into an even steeper gateway, don’t transfer the air or switch off TC/ASR and you ain’t getting in at all when its wet.
(and so I should length of time I’ve done it, so nothing clever in that…however 
.