The safety guy at the Houston yard made us do a blind pick with no spotter, and it was the best training I've had
Everyone on my crew gripes about the annual refresher, but last month at our yard outside Houston they set up a blind pick with the load hidden behind a trailer and no spotter talking us in. Took me 3 tries to land it clean, and it showed me exactly how much I lean on hand signals instead of reading the load and my own boom angle. Any of you had a trainer push back on the "just follow the spotter" habit?
Two years ago I would have told you blind picks with no spotter are just an accident waiting to happen. Then our yard in Beaumont did something similar, load tucked behind a conex box, and I stalled out twice before I got it. What got me was the boom flex I never notice when someone's waving me in. Now I do one or two blind picks a month on my own just to stay sharp.