Blind side reverse.

Hi all, I know it is a stupid question but I can’t get it so maybe if someone explain it to me here I may be able to see the light [emoji16]

I just passed my class 1 so yesterday I had my first job, one drop to Amazon in Rugeley.

Took me bloody 5 minutes and 400 shunts to get it in, I was about to surrender and ask someone to do it for me.

Then when I finished the driver next to me nicely suggested I should have done a u furn and and reversed from the other side.

So it looks like I done it from blind side. I could not understand why is harder and exactly how I know it is the blind side or not.

Any easy explanation?

Appreciate

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Don’t beat yourself up mate - always look for the easiest option, and plan your attack !! Sometimes you cant avoid a blind side reverse, but like the chap next to you said, go by, spin it around and back it in on your good side - there aint any rules to say you cant do this !! And, of course as many will say, practice makes perfect !!

Bino10:
Hi all, I know it is a stupid question but I can’t get it so maybe if someone explain it to me here I may be able to see the light [emoji16]

I just passed my class 1 so yesterday I had my first job, one drop to Amazon in Rugeley.

Took me bloody 5 minutes and 400 shunts to get it in, I was about to surrender and ask someone to do it for me.

Then when I finished the driver next to me nicely suggested I should have done a u furn and and reversed from the other side.

So it looks like I done it from blind side. I could not understand why is harder and exactly how I know it is the blind side or not.

Any easy explanation?

Appreciate

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

The blind side is the opposite side to whichever side you’re sitting on, so if you’re in a RHD truck it’s the left, and reversing at right-angles on the left is called a blindside reverse.

Class 1 tuition should include instructions on how to do this. As it is, they don’t even teach you how to do a 90-degree reverse without having to shunt; people just pick this up by trial and error, while other drivers wait and toot their horns behind them.

Blind sides are always going to be harder than on own side, assuming equal room on both sides and the reverse being the same angle if approached from either direction.
Sometimes the blind side is easier, there might be a bit of a gap opposite that you can use to make it an oblique reverse on the blind side, where on the drivers side there is no such convenient maneuvering point, no two reverses are the same, each one should be judged on its merits.

The problem with blind siding is that unless the tractor has a back window to look down the ns of the trailer, rare now (stupid for vehicles that are going into tight spaces regularly not to be properly specced, but remember vehicles are designed and bought/rented/leased by people who never had a clue or have forgetten about using them at the sharp end), the entire reverse is going to be on the mirrors so everything will be in convex vision.

Before you do anything you must have mirrors set up correctly, the main mirrors are obvious, the top edge of the mirror the top of the back of the trailer should just be visible, this will give you large field of vision right down to the drive axle tyres…seeing where the tyres are on the ground is most important.
The wide angle mirror is not for spotting magpies in the trees, it is your blind spot mirror, it needs to be set as wide as possible and quite low, you should be able to see the second steer axle tyre and the ground beside it, generally if correctly set the top edge will only show about half way up the trailer…setting like this is also good for cyclist spotting etc.
This applies both sides of the vehicle.
The over the passenger door down mirror wants to be as far out as possible, you only need to see the edge of the vehicle, also set if slightly back so it overlaps the view from the wide angle mirror.
The front down mirror, you should be able to see about 6ft out from the whole front, and about the same up the nearside, again so it overlaps the door down mirror view.
OK?

Step one, windows and mirrors spotlessly clean, anything less and you are already losing.
Step two the line you take for a blind side reverse is the same as it would be on own side.
Step three as the trailer starts to approach the gap you will not have a clue where the OSR corner of the trailer is, so on the blind side you might be in and out of the cab several times to double check positioning.
Step 4 by now you will have lost sight of where you are going because the angle of tractor to trailer means you will have lost vision in the main mirrors, you will have vision still in the wide angle mirror but it will be too convex for accurate viewing, so you must move the main mirror out as the angle changes…not this takes a bit of thought, cos as the angle changes you tend to move the mirror the wrong way, don’t worry i still do that sometimes and i’ve been doing this what seems like forever :blush:
Step 4 as the trailer enters the gap, you will have to sraighten up, cos otherwise the trailer will continue on its curve, sending the NSR into the gap to the left and possibly the OSF into the gap to the right, so again you might be out and have look see where you are.
With a bit of luck now a slight shunt to correct any oversteers and you’ll be somewhere near straight.

Anyway, you only passed your test yesterday, it’ll take bloody months to perfect any of your maneuvers so don’t be hard on yourself :laughing: anywa some people can’t be arsed to practice or learn and they never get it.

What you do is practice all of this where you can’t do any damage, a lot of practice, so on your travels, go into a service area or lorry park every day or twice a day, select a marked bay out of harms way and practice all your maneuvers into that bay, both sides on mirrors head out the window, any way you like cos no two drivers do this the same and you need to find the method that suits you.
Marked bays are best, and this is why mirror settings are so important, because the position of your tyres in relation to the bay markings makes your reverses miles easier than trying to judge where you are otherwise.
Never use the easy drive in drive out parking bays, even when you’ve been doing this job years you still need regular practice, i choose a blind side regularly when suitable in order to keep my own eye in, use it or lose it applies here.

Take no bloody notice of any monkeys pointing and taking the ■■■■.
Never be afraid to ask for help, you’ll find most proper lorry drivers would be glad to watch the arse end for you, especially if its their lorry in the firing line :wink: .

Blind side is when you can’t see ■■■■ all but the side of your trailer in your nearside mirror.

I call trolling. How can you do instruction and a test and not work out it’s easier when you can look out the window !!

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If you’ve just passed I’d avoid them if possible until your comfortable with reversing on your preferred side. Things like spinning it round like the other driver said is often the best option there. Or if it’s off a road is there a roundabout down the road to spin round on to avoid a blind side?

In the same breath, once you are more comfortable with reversing then don’t always avoid blind side because you only get better the more you do it. Start with it for example if there is 3 or 4 spaces at a services next to each other, blind side in. But make sure you pick the space you intend to be in so you can see how far off or you end up then learn from there.

Use your mirror adjustment control to move the near side mirror as you go round.

DONT BE AFRAID TO GET OUT AND LOOK AS MANY TIMES AS YOUR NEED.

No point in guessing and taking out a £100k unit.

Blind side is always a pain but you only get more comfy by having a go. If any one is available ask them to watch for you.

Munchkin:
I call trolling. How can you do instruction and a test and not work out it’s easier when you can look out the window !!

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That’s harsh. It was his first day and was probably just relieved to have arrived.

On my first assessment after passing was asked to put it on the bay to my left and I started to line up blindside before he stopped me and said pull round to do it on good side. In the moment it never occurred to me to do that

What I meant was surely during driver training the OP must have sussed that reversing to your right was easier. If he did not then surely the instructor should have mentioned it.

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Munchkin:
What I meant was surely during driver training the OP must have sussed that reversing to your right was easier. If he did not then surely the instructor should have mentioned it.

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Tbh I didn’t really get blind side reversing until I tried it on my first week at the job. Never done it during training.
Also most forkies/warehouse guys don’t seem to get blind side reversing so often give you stick for taking longer then usual to get on the bay. I think its one of those thing you need to do to understand.

Munchkin:
What I meant was surely during driver training the OP must have sussed that reversing to your right was easier. If he did not then surely the instructor should have mentioned it.

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To be fair to the OP, his training probably never even touched on anything other than the practised manoeuvre for the test.
This would of course been in a truck with some kind of driver aids and poles to use to judge this.

Its very easy for people to judge when you have been doing it years, the poor chap was probably far from relaxed.
Everything comes with practise, no matter what it is.

Most drivers being honest will say it’s not easy even if they’ve been in the job 20 years. I still try and avoid it at all costs.

IMO it’s about confidence. If you’ve seen the gap and assessed you have plenty of room then take your time and don’t be afraid to ask someone to watch you back.

Similar- if you see a driver doing same jump out and ask him if he needs watching back

You went out on your own the day after passing your test? That’s pretty brave, or you have a harsh boss.

As far as any reverse goes, blindside or not, there’s nothing wrong with getting out and having a look. That’s a much better option than hitting something.
There isn’t a driver amongst us that hasn’t fluffed a reverse. Anyone who says different is lying.

Captain Caveman 76:
You went out on your own the day after passing your test? That’s pretty brave, or you have a harsh boss.

As far as any reverse goes, blindside or not, there’s nothing wrong with getting out and having a look. That’s a much better option than hitting something.
There isn’t a driver amongst us that hasn’t fluffed a reverse. Anyone who says different is lying.

Come on CC - there’s hundreds of immaculate time served drivers on here who’ve never c0cked up in the lives.

:wink:

Blue Day:

Captain Caveman 76:
You went out on your own the day after passing your test? That’s pretty brave, or you have a harsh boss.

As far as any reverse goes, blindside or not, there’s nothing wrong with getting out and having a look. That’s a much better option than hitting something.
There isn’t a driver amongst us that hasn’t fluffed a reverse. Anyone who says different is lying.

Come on CC - there’s hundreds of immaculate time served drivers on here who’ve never c0cked up in the lives.

:wink:

There’s also hundreds of liars. :laughing:

Try not to over think it, Makes it ten times harder
One day soon the penny Will drop, well for most people it does.

Captain Caveman 76:

Blue Day:

Captain Caveman 76:
You went out on your own the day after passing your test? That’s pretty brave, or you have a harsh boss.

As far as any reverse goes, blindside or not, there’s nothing wrong with getting out and having a look. That’s a much better option than hitting something.
There isn’t a driver amongst us that hasn’t fluffed a reverse. Anyone who says different is lying.

Come on CC - there’s hundreds of immaculate time served drivers on here who’ve never c0cked up in the lives.

:wink:

There’s also hundreds of liars. :laughing:

Tru story pal. Lol

kcrussell25:

Munchkin:
I call trolling. How can you do instruction and a test and not work out it’s easier when you can look out the window !!

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That’s harsh. It was his first day and was probably just relieved to have arrived.

On my first assessment after passing was asked to put it on the bay to my left and I started to line up blindside before he stopped me and said pull round to do it on good side. In the moment it never occurred to me to do that

To be fair on my first day out, no one told me about blind side and good side. For the reverse in the test you have to reverse to the left around the cone which is blind side. So my thinking was that because I’d already practised reversing a trailer to the left I’d be better off trying it that way. I know it sounds stupid now but I did exactly the same thing first time around.

Blue Day:
Most drivers being honest will say it’s not easy even if they’ve been in the job 20 years. I still try and avoid it at all costs.

IMO it’s about confidence. If you’ve seen the gap and assessed you have plenty of room then take your time and don’t be afraid to ask someone to watch you back.

Similar- if you see a driver doing same jump out and ask him if he needs watching back

You shouldn’t avoid an easy blind side reverse take it on for some practice that’s what I do whenever there’s a chance, ok I wouldn’t volunteer for a difficult one when it can be avoided but if you pull in to some services for example and there’s 2 free bays to the left have a pop at it the practice won’t do you any harm .

5 minutes and 400 Shunts is nothing.
You should see me with a reverse from the “right” side :laughing: