I’ve been handed the task of going out with a complete novice of a driver until he’s deemed ready to go it alone, now he passed in April (class 1) but until today hasn’t driven anything bigger than his car, so my question to you teachers or newbies is there a magic formula to teaching someone to reverse that suddenly made it click ?
Obviously I’ve told him about taking all the room you can, line yourself up properly, getting out and having a look, take it slow etc .
I’m not going to sit next to him shouting out “left hand down a bit” etc.
Straight line reverse to be mastered first = move wheel towards whichever mirror the trailer starts to fill up AND it is still turning until both mirrors see the same amount of trailer
If it were me i’d find a quiet part of the yard far enough away that no matter how bad he is he can’t do any harm, set a parking bay up with cones, and let him loose to find his own favourite method while you keep an eye on him from outside the cab.
Though don’t you go picking up the cones, that’s his job.
Make him clean the windows and mirrors spotless before he starts, as any fool knows its half the battle if you can see clearly.
I bet a day spent dropping and picking up trailers and reversing in from all angles will see him well, if you have a manual lorry kicking about it would probably be an easier learn instead of having to balance throttle and movement with a pointless auto clutch.
I used to do similar with car transporter trainees, first day or two if needed we wouldn’t go out on the road at all just practice loading and unloading where no one apart from the trainer is going to be watching so under no pressure or having to worry about busy roads, plus without having to strap down they can get the basics under their belt faster.
With doing it all in house like this, the planner may not like it as there’s nothing getting delivered, but offset that cost with the much less stressful environment for the trainee and much less possibility of damage, one gate taken off at a delivery back door, and your lot have some tight back ends , will costy a bloody lot more than a day spent helping this lad get his act together.
Juddian:
If it were me i’d find a quiet part of the yard far enough away that no matter how bad he is he can’t do any harm, set a parking bay up with cones, and let him loose to find his own favourite method while you keep an eye on him from outside the cab.
Exactly what i did do and managed to stop him mounting any bananas
Juddian:
You must be well thought off there BB
Not sure about that but my Polish is slowly improving !!
If he’s been correctly trained he’ll already have mastered straight line reversing. I find, in this situation, it’s best to have a realistic reverse to perform. Talk through how it should be done but using q+a. eg, where do you think you should drive to before you start reversing? What obstacles are in the area that you need to memorise - bearing in mind you may well be blind for some of the time? IME easier to get that bit sorted before you get involved in it going wrong.
Actually i find this kind of refreshing, well done your lot BB.
Its something we’ve been discussing at work, a bit of old school mentoring as it were, where someone experienced and trusted to do the job competently (ie deliver the load properly keeping the customer happy and bring the whole vehicle back in one piece ) takes an unskilled new driver, or untrained if specialist type movements, and takes them on a sort of mature apprentice, leaving the depot trainer to do their sifting through the mire assessment work and initial training.
Got to be a bloody sight better than just chucking the keys at some poor sod and hoping
Juddian:
Actually i find this kind of refreshing, well done your lot BB.
Its something we’ve been discussing at work, a bit of old school mentoring as it were, where someone experienced and trusted to do the job competently (ie deliver the load properly keeping the customer happy and bring the whole vehicle back in one piece ) takes an unskilled new driver, or untrained if specialist type movements, and takes them on a sort of mature apprentice, leaving the depot trainer to do their sifting through the mire assessment work and initial training.
Got to be a bloody sight better than just chucking the keys at some poor sod and hoping
He used to work in the warehouse and is part of the “warehouse to wheels” gang. He passed in April but had to wait for an opening which came recently as we took 6 drivers on all of whom either worked for us in a different capacity or came in through the agency. I’m told to stick close to him until I think he’s ok then I believe he goes in front of the driver trainer for a quick final assessment and then he’s let loose as it were.
What does help I think is the fact that we are all employed by the same company whether it’s working on the shop floor or an Hgv driver or top manager.
I found the ‘pushing trailer out of mirror’ trick unhelpful. For me it was simply watching which way the bottom of the steering wheel goes which told me which way the trailer would go. Easy.
I had mentor drivers I went out with in my first few weeks. We did a combination of cone training (or pallets if we didn’t have cones available), doing deliveries and sweet-talking depots into letting us do a bit of training on their bays if they were quiet, and repetition of reverses with different setups in an off-site trailer overflow parking site a few miles away from the depot.
That was Culina, and I shall always be grateful to them for giving me the support when I needed it most.
Half the battle before you start is properly set mirrors, too many mirrors are set too high, in both main mirrors you need to be able to see only the top of the very back of the trailer at the top of the mirror, like this it should be possible to see the second steer or tractor mid lift wheels at the bottom of the mirror, set like this makes a world of difference to reversing and is a lot better on the road too.
Juddian:
Actually i find this kind of refreshing, well done your lot BB.
Its something we’ve been discussing at work, a bit of old school mentoring as it were, where someone experienced and trusted to do the job competently (ie deliver the load properly keeping the customer happy and bring the whole vehicle back in one piece ) takes an unskilled new driver, or untrained if specialist type movements, and takes them on a sort of mature apprentice, leaving the depot trainer to do their sifting through the mire assessment work and initial training.
Got to be a bloody sight better than just chucking the keys at some poor sod and hoping
He used to work in the warehouse and is part of the “warehouse to wheels” gang. He passed in April but had to wait for an opening which came recently as we took 6 drivers on all of whom either worked for us in a different capacity or came in through the agency. I’m told to stick close to him until I think he’s ok then I believe he goes in front of the driver trainer for a quick final assessment and then he’s let loose as it were.
What does help I think is the fact that we are all employed by the same company whether it’s working on the shop floor or an Hgv driver or top manager.
Needs to do a bit of yard shunting up the top end of your place
ORC:
I found the ‘pushing trailer out of mirror’ trick unhelpful. For me it was simply watching which way the bottom of the steering wheel goes which told me which way the trailer would go. Easy.
I had mentor drivers I went out with in my first few weeks. We did a combination of cone training (or pallets if we didn’t have cones available), doing deliveries and sweet-talking depots into letting us do a bit of training on their bays if they were quiet, and repetition of reverses with different setups in an off-site trailer overflow parking site a few miles away from the depot.
That was Culina, and I shall always be grateful to them for giving me the support when I needed it most.
Ah Culina my old firm, yes they were good at taking on newbies and that’s why I’ll always recommend someone giving it a go with them .
If he passed the test in April he’ll probably remember the principles of reversing an artic, now it’s just practice practice and more practice … just like we all learned
tachograph:
If he passed the test in April he’ll probably remember the principles of reversing an artic, now it’s just practice practice and more practice … just like we all learned
Well 2 days in and a very slight improvement but that’s it till Friday now as he’s following my shift pattern.
Anybody got any views on what’s best to do with regards to either reversing using mirrors only with windows shut or reversing like I do with window down, left arm on steering wheel, right arm on door sill and head hanging out the window ?
I doubt your lot would like him doing what i do, that is windows up drivers door held open with right mitt, there’s several reasons for this and i’ve only ever been challenged about it by one jobsworth who failed to see the irony when i pointed out all the damage to the rear of their fleet of DD’s from their own drivers who don’t look , hey ho.
I would suggest he opens window and sticks head out (he can open the bloody door and get a better view if the fancy takes him when he’s no longer in your charge), that way he can see all the tractor wheels and the direct face on results of his steering inputs not in a reversed form in a mirror, we all know it takes a lot of practice to do anything other than almost straight or blindside reverses in mirrors alone.
Another reason for head out window (and one of the reasons i’m leaning out the with door windows up for maximum sound reflection) is sound itself, should anyone call out or any untoward noise if summats wrong you want to be able to hear as well as possible when maneuvering, no bugger should ever be behind your lorry but people trip arse over and do silly things and i want to hear the poor sod who possibly by his own misadventure has put himself in harms way before a tragedy happens.
He’ll find what suits himself along the road in his own time, i bet among 100 of us long termers there’s not two us do things exactly the same way.
bald bloke:
I’ve been handed the task of going out with a complete novice of a driver until he’s deemed ready to go it alone, now he passed in April (class 1) but until today hasn’t driven anything bigger than his car, so my question to you teachers or newbies is there a magic formula to teaching someone to reverse that suddenly made it click ?
Obviously I’ve told him about taking all the room you can, line yourself up properly, getting out and having a look, take it slow etc .
I’m not going to sit next to him shouting out “left hand down a bit” etc.
Thanks in advance.
Something I wish I had been taught is how to reverse in to a bay from a 90degree angle. The test only teaches you to reverse around a couple of cones and isn’t at all helpful in a real world situation- RDCs or even just parking the thing when returning to the yard etc. I was lucky to find a TM that let me shunt his trailers about and another driver helped me with it. Which made life a million times easier for me, So what I would suggest is that you’re better making it realistic as possible than him ripping his arse end along the side of someones wagon when pulling out of a space, or when coming in from a tight angle, all because he’s only been shown how to line it up and reverse straight back.
This obviously may not apply to everyone,and he may have already been shown this but to me it was completely new even after being handed my class 1, which I think is ridiculous… just my two pence
For me it’s both windows open, listening for screams or crunches, look out of window if jackknifed, but get on both the mirrors asap.
I reckon you’re better off facing forward and turning your head to both sides to keep more of an allround lookout.
I wouldn’t say anyone else is wrong, just what works for me. As always if in doubt about clearances get out n look. The best to learn is by doing: let the trainee loose and stand back, blow a whistle or give a shout if there’s danger otherwise give them time and space to make their mistakes and learn from them.
Well slowly but surely he’s getting better but we are on our 11th day now, anyway all round driving also improving and he goes in front of driver trainer later in the week for his assessment to see if he’s allowed to be “let loose”.
, will costy a bloody lot more than a day spent helping this lad get his act together.
) takes an unskilled new driver, or untrained if specialist type movements, and takes them on a sort of mature apprentice, leaving the depot trainer to do their sifting through the mire assessment work and initial training.
