How many new truck drivers will be experience problems backing up. Whether in heavy traffic or tight alleyways, backing up can be the most difficult part of the journey. The backing maneuvers can be tough. Training gets your prepared to deal with this, but many will have anxiety when faced with trying to squeeze their truck on a road that has less desirable conditions. At Richmond Auto Transport, we have a lot of experienced drivers who’ll tell you how to back up safely!

Backing Maneuvers

CDL schools will effectively teach a driver in training how to properly back in, but that won’t stop mistakes from happening. Truckers drive long distances for long amounts of time. Being alert is key and will decrease any accidents.

Straight Back Maneuver: The easiest maneuver of the bunch. All a driver must do is pull forward, straighten out and reverse into the spot. This maneuver has the least amounts of accidents attached to it.

Parallel Parking: This one is tough for a lot of drivers. Whether you are driving a regular automobile or hauling a massive load, parallel parking can be difficult.

Alley Dock Maneuver: The most challenging way to back up for truck drivers. In order to do this, a driver must pull forward and then back into a 90 degree left or right angle. Like the offset maneuver, there is a specific set of guidelines that a driver must follow. Often these maneuvers come with backing into a spot that has a narrow window of error for example; an alleyway or driveway.

Offest Backing Maneuver: Drivers must pull straight forward, then back into the lane on the right or the left. This might seem like a simple maneuver, but imagine there is heavy traffic on the road and there is a specific set of boundaries that a driver must adhere to that make the process difficult.

Helpful Backing Maneuver Tricks

The courses that you are trained on will be set in a specific way. On your test, there will be a set series of cones that you must adhere to. That is simply to see if you can follow the basic instructions that most truck drivers follow. All boundaries are set to the same location and the purpose is to get students to pass. Once they pass, they will quickly see how hard it is to perform in the real world.

If you can accomplish a maneuver without any issue, take note of how you did it. Doing things the right way can often help a driver to continue that rate of success. If you make a minor error, take note of that too. Understanding how to do things the right way and the wrong way will help condition you to become a well-versed and structured truck driver.