Think of the lines you would take if moving forward and turning from the side street then put it in reverse in your mind. the trailer follows a different arc than the prime mover. Dog trailers with short draw bars are a curse.
Man I wish I could master this. I passed my test and did some agency work and my reverse is terrible. It's dangerous almost. They teach you to do a certain reverse in the UK to pass the test but they give you no real life reversing experience. We are taught a little reversing routine and pass our test and we are on the road. I've decided that truck driving with a trailer is not for me as I lack the real life skills and believe due to this lack of skill and ability I'm a danger to property and people. Feel I wasted over £2000 training for this. I guess it's not for everyone.
Hey, I went thru the same experience in the UK. After two years' full-time driving I still can't reverse an artic, however it does slowly get better. So long as you keep applying the handbrake and getting out to look and just move a metre at a time, in theory you should never hit anything. A driver said to me you can take 100 attempts at it, so long as you get it on the bay and haven't hit anything, you have done your job. My only tip is if you ask someone to bank you and they don't seem to know what they are doing, stop following their instructions. The only time I hit anything reversing was by following bad directions.
Mr Ian Watson luv ur work at explaining all the truck/trailer techniques. My mate's that taught me, drummed in lines on the road, ground, estimating space/surroundings & keeping my big ol head in the tug, when reversing!!!
You raise a good point. According to the law where this video was filmed, when you reverse you must have reverse lights on... hazards and reverse beepers are optional.
I thought I was doing alright my first day on the job until I had to reverse a full curtain side trailer into a sloped driveway In the middle of a slight s bend road with cars parked either side. It sucks coz you once you have to turn so much the mirrors become useless and without a spotter it becomes guess work.
Depends on the rules of the country/state/province. Where I am filming - when reversing the reverse light are on... this tells people you are reversing. Hazard lights are for hazards (i.e. break downs).
Ian thanks your efforts in your vid and useful info in 18 speed r r some driver say that “THE” truck “likes” double clutch while using splitters and moving the gear stick out and in,is that fact it or is it their habit ?
Each vehicle is unique.... you need to get familiar with your specific gearbox and make a few errors... learn form your mistakes. The RR gearboxes will tell you with a GRIIIIINNNNDD if you are wrong... they give instant feedback.
