The Fabulous Egress

Definition of egress

e·gress  n. 

1. The act of coming or going out; emergence.

2. The right to leave or go out.

3. A path or opening for going out; an exit.

There's a simple rule most trailer pullers learn early: never pull into any place if you can't see your way out. That lesson was solidly reinforced on my recent trip across America.

My trailering buddy is a good driver, but lacks extensive experience pulling a big trailer. Consequently the two things he's not good at are backing up the rig and choosing a route through a crowded space.

Truck stops are generally good places to stop because they're built with this idea in mind - there's plenty of space to pull straight through. But if you pull into a regular gas station, you might find that there's not room to pull straight out again. This is especially true if you have to circle around a building. You never know what they've got parked around back, and the very worst thing is to have to back your trailer out around a corner.

Remember that you have to account for height, width, and a certain amount of swing for any turns you may have to make. The world is full of trailers with a nasty gash from a rain gutter or other piece of a building when the driver cut it too close.

Sometimes you get lucky and you can see the whole path from the driver's seat of your tow rig, but sometimes the best solution is just to park safely and get out and walk around the back of a building or just around a corner to make sure there's plenty of space to get your rig out again.

One final note - be mindful of gas pumps when you pull in. It's easy to turn the rig so that the truck is lined up nicely at the pump, but the trailer is too tight to make the lane and you'll have to end up backing out anyway!