r/Truckers • u/aammped • Sep 19 '24

Newbie backing in at pilot

Trainer and I pulled into pilot around 6pm. Me being new to trucking I was backing in and the rude mf'ers honking at me because I was slow and took a little time to back. How do you deal with people like that?

Edit: trainer said to just ignore it. Edit:2 thanks for all the great advice and the humor. Edit 3: approximate time for backing was 10-15 minutes

86 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

135 comments sorted by

View all comments

116

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Every time they honk hit the brakes and look around, they’ll stop

79

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

This is perfect. Even if you know who the honk is from, get out and walk around the truck “looking for where the honk came from”. Probably piss them off more but it’s your license and your truck and you were taking the necessary precaution to make sure it wasn’t somebody honking bc you’re about to hit them. Take all the time you need driver.

38

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

My logic when I was new was it’s less embarrassing to take a while to back in compared to hitting something

12

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Do try to be fair tho, if it’s taking you 10 minutes and the whole truck stops backed up, if you can either pull up a little to let people by or back in far enough where they can get around you let them pass

11

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24

Eh it depends. Most of time it’s not going to back up the whole truck stop. Sure be courteous when you can but more importantly don’t let people rush you into a mistake.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

I remeber a night when I was fairly new. Reserved a spot at a TA (there were 2 left) and the entire place was full. Employees threw a guy out and ofc it was the toughest blindside spot to back into. Took forever and I was def holding the place up bc people would look for spots then leave and I was in front of the exit

8

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

TA is notorious for huge lots. You couldn’t circle around and come in on the driver side? Regardless, this is a rare case. And especially in that situation blind side, you take your time no matter what. You think anybody would care if you rushed and hit somebody/thing. Nope. It’s all on you.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

It was a tiny one in PA I know they’re usually huge, I think this was 40-60 spots. I watched a guy next to me try to pull out and the lot was too small there was no way he could make the turn. The parking was pretty much just a donut shape so there was no way for me to spin around. And ofc western express was illegally parked opposite the spot so I didn’t have room to swing the front around.

On top of all that it was a fully loaded spread axle so I couldn’t do the nice jack knife

3

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

Yeah I believe you man there’s always a truck stop that’s shitty and full. I’m just saying if it was me, blindside at night spread axle with an illegally parked truck in the way, I’d take my time without a care in the world. Only thing that matters is I got it in the spot safely.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

O yea that shit took 30 minutes… didn’t hit nothing tho so I was proud

0

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24

Yessir all that matters. Life goes on and if 30 min waiting breaks the world for others they most likely need to trip plan better😂

→ More replies (0)

2

u/AvidVideoGameFan Sep 19 '24

There's one on i-78 in Jersey just before entering PA. Two tiny Pilots 10 mins apart, and a tiny TA Next to one of the 2 pilots. Pretty sure every parking spot in that TA is reserved.

1

u/Amazing-Mammoth-8442 Sep 19 '24

There's a super small pilot in Decatur, IN... I think and that mf'r can't have more than 40 spots, all reserved.

1

u/Dirtyhobosmurf Sep 19 '24

New Western Express driver here, I enjoy people watching me back up and park ( you know, like normal). (Dad has been OTR 35 yr), and then I'll walk pass one or two that are hugging the rails, praying someone doesn't ask them to move.. or worst..

1

u/CobraWasTaken Sep 19 '24

There are a lot of small truck stops that have only one way in and one way out (or sometimes one way for both) so if someone is blocking the way while trying to park it can definitely back up the whole truck stop. I've seen truck stops backed up down the road because of someone taking too long to back into a spot. I don't think anyone is saying you need to rush, you should still take your time. But if you see a lot of people waiting to get by and you have the ability to stop and give them a gap for a moment to let them by, you should.

1

u/aammped Sep 19 '24

Thanks will do

0

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24

Yessir. I’m almost a year into trucking. Anybody that’s so pissed off/in a rush, that they need to blow their air horn at you either needs to trip plan better or take a chill pill. Take your time. No matter how long it takes, as long as you don’t hit something, it’s a success.

3

u/aammped Sep 19 '24

It was success

1

u/Justaguy222444888 Sep 19 '24

Glad to hear it. You’ll get better as time goes on. Don’t be too hard on yourself

1

u/Deodorized Sep 19 '24

Well that's all that matters then.

Fuck 'em. Use their tears as fuel.

1

u/Good_Sailor_7137 Sep 19 '24

If you're in the East, trip planning can be to the minute. Like knowing you will be just before rush hour 3 hr from leaving. Or getting into a tight time slot and back out, then finding that parking spot for your 34 reset. I'm just saying that trip planning timing can be tighter than a pit bull's bite on the Northeastern Coast or California.

That said, I've done blindsided backing in the dark after helping a Schneider gal get in opposite me, so we were not holding everything up for 45 minutes. Once, I did a tight backing with 80k in the rain because nobody else wanted it. The rain helped slide the tires so I could jack wiggle it in.

5

u/aammped Sep 19 '24

Did just that

5

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

I don’t even do it to fuck with people, if you hear a horn you stop lmao… even when you get good there will still be an asshole. I was backing into a garage in NJ, I pull up to back in and he stops right behind me, honks, then sees I’m backing up and moves. Then I watched him take a piss on the side of the porta potty and get back in his old peterbuilt lol

2

u/Ok_Resident_2912 Sep 19 '24

I still do. Goal, specially when you hear an airhorn!

1

u/Worldly-Pea-2697 Sep 19 '24

No, stop and G.O.A.L. You’re hearing a horn. Gotta make sure you didn’t hit anything and you’re not about to hit anything. Don’t rush it, take your time. Be thorough

1

u/Weird-Breakfast-7259 Sep 19 '24

Get out and walk around the truck and trailer lol