Tips' Backing up a "Long Truck " Trailer.

Well I was watching a Driver' (or Newb, Greenhorn-at backing ) and things came to mind.
How would you give advice to someone. ...who doesn't get the concept? And may feel Stupid, Stressed, under pressure or Why are all them folks Honking?
Get Her' (your rig) Jacked. ...Then..... "Follow it (your Trailer ) Around "

What does that mean "Follow it around ?"

Or say Plan B' Always keep the Trailer in your mirrors and go Back and Fourth'.

Do you remember your First time? Was it good? Were you Scrert?

Yair . . .

fixou12 I remember when I was kid an old hand told me to turn the bottom of the wheel the direction the trailer needed to go . . . pretty decent comment I have always thought.

On a similar note . . . I don't knwo in other places but over here with our ute's (pickups) I find the mirrors these past few years to be deceptive and you are closer than you think.

It could be just a function of diminishing ability due to age but I am not as confident as I used to be. No problem in a little Hino the other day with proper West Coasters so it may be just my eyes and senses not functioning properly with the little mirrors on the utes.

Cheers.

Good points Scrub. What some folks fail to recognize when backing is the comparison (ratio) of length Tractor to Trailer.
A Fifty foot Van trailer may be easier to back up than your 16 foot fishing boat.....by your Pick-up.

I remember my Pappy said. ...
"Most Drivers* that back um up....."Do Too much steering! "

You've got two pivot points:

1. The Tractor/Trailer interface. (5th Wheel/Goose/Pintle)
2. The tires on your trailer

The back of your trailer isn't where the license plate it, it's where the axle(s) are.

16' fishing boat is easy, try the two place snowmobile trailer or log splitter, not only are they very short, but you can't even see them until they are jacked lol. When you get good backing up one trailer, come to Michigan where we back up two trailers at a time, now that can be real fun.

I grew up on a farm backing up four wheel wagons. The front axle steers making it interesting. Put two wagons full of hay in tandem and try backing that around a corner and into a hay shed. Just to make it interesting, occasionally toss a 4wd tractor as the tow vehicle and try your luck. It all takes practice and some never quite get it.

fixou812 said:

I remember my Pappy said. ...
"Most Drivers* that back um up....."Do Too much steering! "

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That's me ha ha tend to over steer when backing then always correcting. Just take your time and follow the trailer

I can put a 20' skid trailer behind a 1 ton almost anywhere, replace that with a 10' trailer and I look like a idiot lol I would echo Scrub's comment about the steering wheel, once you comprehend that the front of the truck needs to go opposite where the trailer needs to go its pretty easy.

"Bigen" who has passed away, told me this one "you can't back up straight if your turning the wheel."

I learned to back a trailer on a farm tractor, the trailer was the back half of a Model A with a wooden box built on it. I turned around and watched what was happening. When I got my truck license I had to convert the looking part to the mirrors, but it didn't take long. The long trailers were a breeze to back compared to that short one I learned on.

The best way I can describe trailer backing is to point the trailer where you want it to go and then follow it. Repeat as necessary

New Ford pickups have automatic backup feature for trailers... what next!!

The first Big truck i learned to back up was a twin screw B Model MACK with air starter and no power steering.
Pulling about a 40 tanker for watering the haul roads for Dad to keep the dust down.

So i was watching this Driver attempting to back up a trailer. It was a Long wheelbase Conventional with a big sleeper.
He wasn't exactly a New' Driver just new to backing up Big trucks and this rig was also unfamiliar to him.
I gave him what advice i could while he was Up There. ...with me standing beside the truck in a rather small parking lot.
I know it's more difficult for a Newb (and stressful ) to back up a rig with a sleeper in between.
And this was no time or place or rig to practice with.
Then i had a thought.
What if he was on his hands free phone. .....Headphones and i stood back and told him which way to steer?

"Ok now Get it Jacked then. ....Follow it Around " This wasn't the lot for that.

I also learned on an old truck with no power steering. Growing up on a farm setting I was no stranger to backing all kinds of different things but that long old Peterbuilt cabover with no power steering was the one that I quickly learned a valuable lesson. That is, pulling ahead and staging your trailer correctly makes the backing part alot easier!! Just my $.02

I have done a lot of backing of all kinds of rigs over the years but those cussed articulated haul trucks test my patience.For some reason my mind considers them to be a regular trailer truck and I have to fight my hands doing the wrong thing and my mind interprets what the mirrors are telling me backwards I guess....I dunno...what a joke.LOL.
Now,I taught my ex wife to back the boat trailer while I waited in the boat and she was pretty slick at it......I don't know if she could do it sober however!!Ron G

I learned to back up in the woods turning around 40 ft log trailers behind a 1968 GMC 9500 series, yup, 6-71 Detroit. Landing were always small and we had to poke the trailer into a hole in the trees. A few years later I was backing a long wheelbase International shortwood hauler with a pup trailer 7 miles down a abandoned railroad grade in steep hilly country with no turn around, picking up railroad ties that had been windrowed to the edge. I got good at backing up in 4th on the axillary tranny at 20 MPH. The trailer fifth wheel would was locked when in reverse. I backed across a timber railroad bridge at the 4 mile mark that was 40 ft in the air. I often took a passenger along to crawl the truck ahead while I loaded with the tail mounted knuckleboom. They would get the cap scared out of them when the trail dissappeared when we hit the bridge and they had no idea it was coming. I picked up all seven miles of ties by backing in to a removed bridge and loading on the way out. Gained about 300 ft every load so the backing got slowly shorter. AH, the good old days.

A seven mile trip in reverse That helps make for a Fun day. ....Grabbing gears in Reverse is Very Stylish and functional!
My friends used to race in Reverse just to make things fair!

bam1968 said:

I quickly learned a valuable lesson. That is, pulling ahead and staging your trailer correctly makes the backing part alot easier!! Just my $.02

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Absolutely ! Good advice bam1968 .

Proper staging is important forward or backward with trucks & equipment .:thumbsup

Backing into a congested area is always a challenge . Factory , supermarket , school zone etc . Pay's to have one or two trusted "spotters" to help keep traffic & pedestrians out of harms way .

What the hell ..... Pick up a copy of "Hooper" & Sonny will show ya how to do it . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooper_(film)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJCnFgL6N24

I drove for a grocery chain here in the northeast for 20 years and agree with bam1968's statement 100%! Cocking the trailer a little to set yourself up to back in a tight spot is essential.

td25c's comment about having a spotter is also valid although you want to be sure he's good at it. A bad spotter is worse than being on your own, the driver is still responsible for the operation of the truck regardless. It reminded me of one backhaul location we had in Brooklyn, to me the worst place in the US to drive a truck. The guys in my yard had told me about the stop and advised me to watch the spotter and not my mirrors backing in to the dock. When I got to the location it was a coffee warehouse built to receive trucks of the 1920's, not the 45' trailers we ran and looked impossible to back into from the narrow street. As I pulled up a short older man in a long overcoat and British style cap came out to the street and warned me not to take my eyes off him and he'd get me back in the dark hole to the dock. As hard as it was to fight my instincts to watch the mirrors I watched my spotter and I'll be damned if he didn't get me in to the dock on the first shot! My tractor nearly had the street blocked when parked.