any advise on wagon and drag 
jjust failed my test on one reversing 
easy things to go forward but to me-nightmare to reverse
after i messed up the reverse my nerves got a better of me,told the examiner didnt want to continue
all last nite all i thought of was a steering wheel and a trailor in my mirror 
Hi Stu
Personally i think wagon and drags are easier to reverse than an artic
(prepares to be shot down in flames)
As generally the drag is shorter than the trailer and i find it is quicker to react to your steering input, having said that a tractor unit is shorter than a trailer 
Any way, i have to do some reversing at work when we are servicing them and the reverse is quite a tight one and find it more comfortable using a wagon and drag than an artic,
The best advice i can give you is take you time, i have seen too many people reversing at speed during my work and they just make a right mess and end up starting again,
Ask your instructor to have a lesson just on reversing and it will come to you, then you will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about, take time to look how much the back of the trailer moves when you turn the steering, remember small steering makes a lot of movement when its at the back so don’t oversteer when reversing, as you will get into a turn which means taking a shunt to straighten yourself out
Practice , practice, practice, Do not give you keep at it and like i say it will come to you in time 
sorry to hear that matey 
i dont really have a huge amount of experience with them, i prefer an artic its half the work 
only real thing to remember when reversing is not to oversteer, if the trailer comes into the mirrors and you dont want it there just steer towards it and it will disappear ( in principle )
so it is lerft hand down to send it right, and right hand down to send it left.
just take your time and dont stress too much, it will happen next time.
best of luck and stick with it.
people say practice makes perfect, no it doesnt it only makes you better!!!
salut
chris
thanks for your advice
thats what im doing oversteering,gets me 
got a retest on the 20th this time positive attiude,its just cost me £238 
stu:
any advise on wagon and drag
jjust failed my test on one reversing
easy things to go forward but to me-nightmare to reverse
after i messed up the reverse my nerves got a better of me,told the examiner didnt want to continue
all last nite all i thought of was a steering wheel and a trailor in my mirror
dave51 is ur man drives them allday long with his nine drops 
stu:
any advise on wagon and drag
jjust failed my test on one reversing
easy things to go forward but to me-nightmare to reverse
after i messed up the reverse my nerves got a better of me,told the examiner didnt want to continue
all last nite all i thought of was a steering wheel and a trailor in my mirror
If you’ve more than about a foot of trailer headboard in your mirror, you’ve gone too far.
Small turns on the steering wheel and give the trailer time to react to them. It’s not instantaneous.
caveman:
so it is lerft hand down to send it right, and right hand down to send it left.
Sorry Chris, but that is the rule for an artic, unless of course he is talking about a centre axle ‘caravan’. The rule for a traditional drawbar trailer is left to go left etc.
Best advice is correct little and often with the steering wheel, and I find it a help to deliberately throw it off from side to side, rather than trying to keep dead straight. My front wheel tracks in the dust look like a snake!
If it gets away from you stop and have a little shunt forward. And I mean little, a couple of yards is often enough before trying again. Don’t give up and go right back to square one.
I found it useful in the early days to think of the trailer as a rigid vehicle with myself sitting above the steering axle, but that might not work for everybody.
If it’s a caravan that you’re driving, then that just an artic - with a very long unit
Caveman is correct lefthand down to send it right and vice a versa, unless you are learmning on a A frame and nobody takes their test in one of them.
Over steering is a common problem, you see it going to one side in the mirror so you spin the wheel to correct it, then it starts going the other way, so you spin the wheel again and it just gets worse.
Don’t worry about failling a test it took me four attempts at my class one. That was on a W&D. Does get pricey though.
There are some on here who say if you can’t pass your test in three you shouldn’t be driving. Ignore them they’re just looking for summat else to moan about.
Spardo:
Sorry Chris, but that is the rule for an artic, unless of course he is talking about a centre axle ‘caravan’. The rule for a traditional drawbar trailer is left to go left etc.
I would have thought its most likely a close coupled trailer, ( or caravan if you like) surely nobody would be daft enough to train newbies using an A-frame trailer 
Spardo:
If it gets away from you stop and have a little shunt forward. And I mean little, a couple of yards is often enough before trying again.
My understanding of this was that the advice was needed regarding the test. That being the case I would advise against taking a little shunt as the examiner will expect any shunts used to be making progress in the overall aim of getting the combination into the garage.
If you are going to use a shunt (or even two) make sure that it its worth it i.e. make progress!!!
When I was regularly driver training (last job) the golden rule for manouevring was ‘drive slow - steer quick’. Little and often also works.
nerves is always the problem!!
on my training days i did the reverse 1st time everytime, but when it came to test day i cocked it up everytime so i just said bugger it if it happens it happens, if it doesnt the gaffer is paying for it!!!
as it happens i needed to take a shunt and after it went straight in, as sweet as…
nearly spat the examiner through the windscreen on the emergency stop though, the brakes on my bulk tipper were just a tad lively and the abs worked on the whole outfit so he was impressed. ( it helped i had a working outfit, not a driving school wagon)
after that it was plane sailing, and i passed 1st time with only a couple of minors on the sheet, my instructor was dead chuffed as it wasnt tony the usual examiner ( who is a blinding bloke, makes you feel dead confidant from the off. he puts the clipboard up on the dash and chats the whole way, doesnt give you orders just says " left or right if you fancy it mate" a top bloke, as to paul my examiner who does it all by the book and sits there putting the fear of god up you!!!) said i must have had a blinding drive, and yes 1 of the minors was that shunt i took on the reverse 
( i did my test at ipswich test center both classes 1 and 2 )
you get 3 shunts but if you take you time you should only need 1 or 2, it isnt a race just take your time and if you feel you need more practise before hand just tell your instructor and practise practise practise…
all of us old hands have off days or “cant reverse, wont reverse days” and other days the trailor will go where ever pointed and it will be 1st time everytime and even blindsides will go 1st time.
if anyone on here tells you that they always get the reverse right everytime they are a bull[zb], we all have off days.
just find something that relaxes you when in a time of stress and just think about it, next time i am sure you will sail through.
as for people saying that “over 3 attemps you should be working at mcdonalds and not driving a truck” just tell em to stick it where the exhaust fumes vent!!! lol
or if in doubt just use the force luke…
salut
chris
ps i just assumed you would be training with a caravan not an a frame, did i assume right■■?
Et tu brute? L.
dave51 is ur man drives them allday long with his nine drops
[/quote]
i think his is also an a frame, poxy things they are!!! 
Well, I stand corrected, missed the bit about the test. Having never taken a test I was talking about driving in the real world and also about traditional A-frames. To my mind as I said a caravan is an artic, just a longer unit and shorter trailer.
Denis F:
surely nobody would be daft enough to train newbies using an A-frame trailer
those things are man made pure evil
Stu you’ve got pm
scanny77:
Denis F:
surely nobody would be daft enough to train newbies using an A-frame trailerthose things are man made pure evil
No they are not 
It’s just lack of skills, just like me reversing an artic It’s bloody hard job as I must think before turning the wheel.
more like lack of patience. i tried a couple of times and gave up. i only drove them for a month though. agency, night rate and a truck from Andover to Saltash and back loading for the next mornings deliveries to the local Spar shops by someone else. its a hard life sometimes
Kyrbo:
scanny77:
Denis F:
surely nobody would be daft enough to train newbies using an A-frame trailerthose things are man made pure evil
No they are not
Absolutely agree Kyrbo. I also agree that people should be trained on stuff they need to drive. It would be criminal not to train newbies on A-frames if that is what they would have to drive. In my opinion it should be a seperate category altogether, the technique is so different, it is not difficult just needs learning, that’s all. However, just as there are some people who will never have the skills required for an artic, there are others who should leave A-frames well alone.
As I said before, caravans are artics (single pivot points ie semi-trailers, without a leg to stand on they fall down, just like you and me ) and shouldn’t be referred to as ‘drags’. Which is what got me into trouble earlier in this thread
Spardo:
people should be trained on stuff they need to drive.
you know that and so does everyone else here David. every professional driver should both be aware of this and respect it however, you try telling the boss that
last year i applied for a class 2 job with Exel. the first week was fine but next thing i know, im down to drive an artic. i put the stoppers on that one only to be told that i am useless as a class 2 driver if i have a class 1 licence. i think my thoughts were something like, thanks very much you ■■■■■■. in the end i relented but i blankly refused to take an artic out without training.
the other thing was trying to explain my interpretation between a class 1 driver and class 1 licence holder. you guys (including me now) are class 1 drivers but i was a licence holder ie you lot drove them, i didnt although i could legally. try getting them to understand that one
legal to and capable of are not the same thing
Spardo:
people should be trained on stuff they need to drive. … In my opinion it should be a seperate category altogether, the technique is so different,
Agreed.
Spardo:
Which is what got me into trouble earlier in this thread