Spending this Saturday morning moving trailers around the lot. I have minor experience with small 10 or 12 foot trailers, but hardly any with semi trailers. Def need to log some time before taking CDL.
What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2021]
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First thing we did when I was at the driving school was straight line backing with a 45' trailer then worked into offset backing. Then we did parallel parking. I found the longer the trailer the easier it was backing. BTW, I suck at backing with a trailer.
Agreed. My buddy that's been training me usually has a 38 footer which trails and backs decent. I was docking 28 footers and they get off line in a hurry!
The argument of the bigger the easier is definitely true.
When I first started towing anything with a truck I was nervous as hell. We had one, two actually, of those little tug behind carts for the grden tractors. I never, never could back one up worth a crap. Within 8 feet it seemed like either trailer or tractor needed to wind up sideways.
Meanwhile, first time out with a 22 foor long bed with a truck on it, I'm backing it down a 500ft winding driveway that's only 9 feet wide at its widest point, mirrors only, no backing up or resetting.
Once you get the hang of it you'll feel like it's natural.
When I first started towing anything with a truck I was nervous as hell. We had one, two actually, of those little tug behind carts for the grden tractors. I never, never could back one up worth a crap. Within 8 feet it seemed like either trailer or tractor needed to wind up sideways.
Meanwhile, first time out with a 22 foor long bed with a truck on it, I'm backing it down a 500ft winding driveway that's only 9 feet wide at its widest point, mirrors only, no backing up or resetting.
Once you get the hang of it you'll feel like it's natural.
I've never backed a big rig with a trailer, but I have driven one loaded and bobtail. My dad used to be an over the road trucker. I still think fondly of somehow justifying one in my stable.
I learned on a 28 footer. The key for me was for the steering wheel to constantly be in motion and for the movement of the wheel to be fast. When I moved up to the 38 footer I hated it. It was so slow to turn.
Day cabs and sleeper cabs make a difference for you the driver when backing. I found day cabs to have more forgiveness when backing. The sleeper is longer and doesn't allow as much turn. But with sleepers you can use the back of the cab in your mirrors as a reference point on the trailer when backing.
It is absolutely true, that the longer the trailer, the easier to guide it when you back up. A short tractor with a long trailer will steer backwards more easily than a long tractor with a short trailer. If you are really good at math, or at shooting pool, you'll get the hang of backing really quick. It's the length ratio between the wheelbase of the tractor and wheelbase of the trailer that makes it easy or hard.
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