I’ve joked before, maybe here, that driving a semi-truck is a game of miles and inches. Driving miles and maneuvering into places with inches of clearance.
Here’s a reply I couldn’t help but post on Facebook after a guy posted what he called was a challenging dock. I thought I’d share here. It was long and narrow, but it was in a closed yard with lots and lots of pull-up space in front of it.
Backing a semi-truck and trailer can be challenging under the best circumstances.
Try Sugar Foods in Commerce, Calif.
Take your OTR cab and turn off Slauson onto a busy Zambrano. Stop in the street blocking traffic and open your trailer doors. Pray no one pulls up behind you as you wait for the light to turn green.
Back against the direction of travel and across the four lane divided road during your green light, trying to line up in the correct open dock. Stop along the way, blocking traffic. Get out of the truck and fold *both* door mirrors in, because the truck won’t otherwise fit. Finish backing in, truly blinded. (And, there’s a busy L.A. County Fire Station nearby there too.)
Once parked, there isn’t any room between the other trucks to open your cab doors. They call when it’s time to leave. Then guess when Zambrano might have a green light. Pull out onto one of the busy streets to close your doors.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/64rFQBTwAwWfXTpF8?g_st=ic
One of many places like this in So. Calif.
