Being a yard man really gives you great experience sure a day cab or more so sleeper truck takes more practice but it gives u the fundamentals to be your best 👍
Practice makes improvement. To avoid unintentionally dropping a trailer or container, ALWAYS make sure your fifth-wheel locks into place around the kingpin of the unit you're about to pull before driving off. If in doubt, simply give the unit you're connected to a little pull before releasing the trailer brakes. The yard driver in the video backed up in a timely manner and didn't hit either of the two units on either side. He did just fine. No employer would ever fire him based on the skill and good judgment he's demonstrating in this video footage. As you become more proficient, you'll naturally get faster. Don't rush the learning curve.
This is exactly how I dealt with a similarly crowded lot in the yard. 53s on either side and limited space; pulling far forward more than usual is the tactic ;)
Most yard drivers, including myself, are in the job to get off the road, the pay is better, I only work 9 hours a day, I have the weekends off. OTR can suck it, lol.
@@pureskillz15 i know this is old but you guys are all looking at the wrong places lol i got my cdl a local in chicago intermodal work and pull in 300-500 a day for now as a company driver. theres alot of money to be made out there just gotta find a good company. and i never started OTR
Loved the job when i did it for three years . Putting 50 trls in a yard designed for thirty. It has made me a better truck driver because i dont spend all day getting into tight spots.
I agree with your statement, but I will say this.....I was a hostler driver for the railroad in Hutchins, TX for two years, and I was averaging about 75-80 containers every shift. Of course, the hostler trucks are easy to drive and are very maneuverable, especially with a suicide knob, but backin up trailers is everybodies kryptonite til they get it down. It doesn’t matter what truck your drivin, learnin how to back up trailers is a pain in the butt for nearly everybody, and it’s even more frustrating when you try to teach somebody how to back up a trailer. I’ve trained many drivers for the pacific railroad, includin my brother, and it gets nerve wreckin haha. The amount of trailers even the most experienced OTR or Local drivers do in two weeks, I did in just 2-3 hours. Yes, I had a hostler truck which makes it way easier, but there ain’t nobody in the world that has perfected the proper techniques and has mastered the concept of haulin and backin up trailers like a hostler driver. 12 hour shifts, constantly on the run, hustlin your butt off to keep up with the crews and cranes, dodgin and weavin in and out of all the other hostler drivers plus otr drivers on the yard, haulin and backin is like a sixth sense haha! I’ll be honest, you put me in a big rig, I’d be lost haha. Can’t drive standard, and of course I’d have to learn to get the feel of it, but once I’ve mastered the truck.........shoot!!
I use to cover for the yard dog when he was out. This yard was tight. Not enough space for a road tractor unless they were very good and determined. I would have the drop and hook drivers drop their trailer while I went and fetched their load. The regular yard dog would bitch at me for spoiling the road drivers. I got lots of extra cash from the drivers that knew how tight the yard was and were grateful for my service. Now the policy at the yard is to drop and have the yard dog get your load. Damage to trucks and trailers dropped to near zero.
Yeah, so many companies have yard jockeys park trailers too close without considering regular OTR truckers in 20 foot sleepers who don't spend all day learning to back to perfection with a terminal tractors short wheel base. Some of the yards I've been to I can't find any undamaged empties cuz they pack em to close.
A yard I used to work at had a portion for 8’ wide containers. When other spots ran out, I had no choice but to put 8’6” wide trailers in those spots. I hated to do it because street drivers couldn’t get at the landing gear. The asshole kids I had to work with would put a 20’ all the way back to the rail, so the street driver couldn’t fit to get it.
He’s pretty good I’m actually going for my yard tractor cert n about 2 weeks, I definitely gotta get it I have been a longshoreman for 11yrs now it’s time to Cadillac tha rest of my yrs!!😎
Those hostlers are designed for backing up in tight spaces and have great turning radius's. We out back all the drayman at my work and there always stunned. This guy is good though
I came here only to write that it’s a yard dog, my goodness.....people has already mentioned it in so many comments. So now you guys know, it’s a yard dog, designed especially to park trailer in tight holes. No big deal, or surprise. It will be surprising if you see a yard dog pulling heavily loaded trailer at 70 miles per hour for 9000 miles at 6% up/down hill.
Worked at Amazon through Black Friday/Christmas peak. This is more the norm than the exception. In our yard it was tighter than this, and the slots were at 45 degree angles... In the opposite direction.
Would you mind sharing your expertise and knowledge with the rest of us ? I've been a yard dog for 2 days and would love to learn from your experience. I need to know how to do a proper setup and where the marks are. I've not found any info on how to back in a switcher truck yet . Not at all like a big truck with a sleeper. thank you.
Katmandu2 Plan ahead. Standard s-turns for nearly every move you can't back into straight. Always be mindful of where your trailer will be 2 seconds from now. Don't let having an audience get into your head. If you're unsure whether or not you'll make contact, assume that you will and take every precaution not to. Just a few tips, off the top of my head.
This is a re-post to someone I made who asked a similar question. "Practice makes improvement. To avoid unintentionally dropping a trailer or container, ALWAYS make sure your fifth-wheel locks into place around the kingpin of the unit you're about to pull before driving off. If in doubt, simply give the unit you're connected to a little pull before releasing the trailer brakes. The yard driver in the video backed up in a timely manner and didn't hit either of the two units on either side. He did just fine. No employer would ever fire him based on the skill and good judgment he's demonstrating in this video footage. As you become more proficient, you'll naturally get faster. Don't rush the learning curve."
Yard jockies can out back almost any over the road trucker, in a stretched out Pete or a hustler. Their only job is backing into holes all day long. Yes, the tool they use makes it easier but they could do it just fine in any truck
Yup those are facts. I'm a hostlier for US FOODS. I learned how to back up easy with any trailer , I also know how to back up with any truck with 2 axles
As a yard jockey for Bush Beans in Tennessee, each driver averages about 50 moves in an 8 hr period. Repetition makes you fast and good! It’s pretty physical. Getting in and out constantly to open/close doors, it was unexpected when I started! Lol! But I still would rather do that than be out as an OTR driver. It’s nice being home every night for a change
@@deesplash7087 it’s a yard jockey job. It’s Monday through Friday with an occasional Saturday if Bush Beans is working on a Saturday. 8 hrs a day. I work 9 to 5 as an overlapping driver. Day driver is 7 to 3. Evening driver is 3 to 11. Overnight driver is 11 to 7. So quality time at home for sure
@@theoneandonlyboatcaptain7574 As a local pedal load driver with a twin-screw tractor and 45 foot 13'6 trailers I have seen for many years road drivers that couldn't back-up even if they had a football field of space to maneuver in......Slide that chassis tandem all the way to the rear and do it......
What is the point of your post? By the way, "twin-screw" refers to a boat having two screw propellers. It doesn't refer to trucks. Also, unless you're at the scales and need to shift the weight of the trailer forward or back of the rear axle to be legal, why would you want to slide the tandems all the way to the rear to back up a trailer? Answer: you wouldn't. It's not going to help you back up, especially if you don't have much room. The less space you have to back up the more forward you want your tandems to be. Concerning the backing skills of cross-country drivers, remember that they spend most of their time going forward not backward, which explains why they might get rusty at backing up, that plus poor cab visibility. That's expected. It's no big deal.
Being a spotter will actually help you learn to back better. No matter the tractor you have. All that's different is the pivot point. I out my truck in tight spaces all the time just for the practice! And I've driven em all.
Those yard tractor are used for a reason…very maneuverable not to say this yard jockey couldn’t do it with another tractor but not with the setup he used here…a regular tractor wouldn’t have cleared the front trailers.
When i tested for my CDL-A , the Trooper said i would never get it in one shot with no pull ups ...I did it in one shot and the Trooper was like , "You deserve this CDL" This is very easy for me personally. 5 years later , I now bump docks all day long. Easy peasy
That's a yard-dog. They're specifically built for the sole purpose of moving and parking trailers in a yard. I mean, it's still cool, but it's not exactly the most impressive thing, since those jockeys are built for sharp turning in tight spaces without the risk of jack-knifing.
I went from great space at a Walmart DC to no space with no lanes painted at my next place thinking WTF then I realized it was built in 40's before there was bigger trucks n trailers probably more room too back then. I had to relearn my setup and no one can get it in in one try its frustrating playing YO-YO trying to get it to fit
OMG backing up a blue whale into a packed can of sardines, water no oil! ain't happening because there is a ton of space. You want a prime example of tight parking, here it is. Berth 127 in Los Angeles Harbor KSC terminal. Those who worked there fondly remember the dinosaur MTC UTRs. Hey one more little thing, Blind Side parking in one move was my MO. My boys and me were the BlindSide Utr Krips. H8fl has spoken....
Lol wow, that's the entire purpose of the job. Golf cart sized 5th wheel that cuts almost zero turn. Tractor with side mirrors and clutch, and that 45 would have to be a 90
Honestly this isnt that small of a backing area and it looks very well ordered for a dirt lot. Any yard dog worth their salt should get that on the first go.
I did all my moves one try I always got in trouble for supposedly working to fast they tried to say I didn’t pre-trip which I did it’s just it didn’t take me 10 try’s like everyone else lol 😂
Oh come on, give us a break. It's a terminal tractor with a rear window. Try it with a 20' sleeper and see how easy it is. Yard jockeys in small yards like that just make life more difficult for most truckers by parking containers and dry vans too darn close thinking that cuz they can do it so should you but don't often consider that their rigs are shorter plus they got the rear window to look out.
Lol I have done this in a sleeper truck and he's in a jockey wagon that's like being impressed that a semi truck can pull 80,000 lbs isn't that what it's built for lol
that yard isn't that tight i worked in a over capacitated trucking yard we triple stacked 20's double stacked 53's had to learn to do alot of blindsiding . Honestly my most favorite job ever
I'm not trying to take his skills away from him or anything, but if he was driving a peterbuilt or freightliner Cascadia- it would be a much longer video.
For God's sakes it's a yard truck they are made strictly for backing up those trucks are the easiest trucks in the world to back up. I work for a company that makes driverless electric yard trucks......we do that without a driver in the truck
Its not hard one , i have done this job in very limited spaces in front & from blind sides. One learns it when perform as a shunter, there is no other way to learn tight backings.
