Having an off day

I was watching this guy while sat on a bay the other night. He was trying to reverse his combination back onto the bay. Now, I’ve seen and and exchanged pleasantries with this guy several times, and normally he is an expert at getting the trailer on in just one or two shunts. However, that night he just couldn’t get the angle right and it took about twelve shunts in all, including completely driving around the yard again to get a better angle. I guess he was just having an ‘off’ day?

I have to say I certainly wouldn’t fancy driving these things. It’s hard enough for me with a normal trailer. I wonder if they get paid extra?

I would be surprised if they get paid anymore.I drove normal 'wagon and drags when i lived in Holland and when i moved up here it seemed the norm that you just hop into a 25mtr outfit.Theoretically if the ‘‘long’’ outfits can carry more then the boss gets a bit more so you will benefit in the long run[up here anyway].

hutpik:
I would be surprised if they get paid anymore.I drove normal 'wagon and drags when i lived in Holland and when i moved up here it seemed the norm that you just hop into a 25mtr outfit.Theoretically if the ‘‘long’’ outfits can carry more then the boss gets a bit more so you will benefit in the long run[up here anyway].

I see DPD running with a prime mover and two trailers sometimes. Even worse.

I would hope they get some extra dosh for that

Why would they get more as it’s becoming more the ‘‘norm’’ now in Europé as eveything revolves around economics so in the future you will see more and more,and it will be the case of ‘‘have you got a ‘extra long’ class on you’re license’’,if not don’t apply.And,don’t forget there will always be those who drive them for the ‘‘status’’,or EE’s who just want a job.

12 shunts isn’t ideal but not a total disaster :smiley:

where is this picture taken? I’ve never seen that combo of truck/trailer before

Is this similar to the 60t set up in Scandinavia?

I guess its practice like anything else but I had a go with one of these bastids years ago and just couldn’t ‘get it’. :laughing:
From that day on, I thought **** that ****.

hutpik:
Why would they get more as it’s becoming more the ‘‘norm’’ now in Europé as eveything revolves around economics so in the future you will see more and more,and it will be the case of ‘‘have you got a ‘extra long’ class on you’re license’’,if not don’t apply.And,don’t forget there will always be those who drive them for the ‘‘status’’,or EE’s who just want a job.

Well, if these start becoming the norm, then those who want the ‘Let Op Extra Lang’ status are welcome to them. I wouldn’t even know which way to turn the steering wheel to get it onto a bay, lol.

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daffyd:
12 shunts isn’t ideal but not a total disaster :smiley:

where is this picture taken? I’ve never seen that combo of truck/trailer before

I was in Breda, Netherlands.

citycat:

daffyd:
12 shunts isn’t ideal but not a total disaster :smiley:

where is this picture taken? I’ve never seen that combo of truck/trailer before

I was in Breda, Netherlands.

Thought you must have been.
The DPD motor would have been over length in the U.K IIRC.

Hi all.
PM,thats the same sort of combi we have all over Scandinavia[exceptNorway].Just the amount of axles and distance betwwen them varies the total weight.
City cat.It’s no different to having a normal combinatie,just need a bit more room.Ok,in Holland and most of mainland Europé you will have more problems just due to the volume of traffic generally.Up here the distances are greater between towns with much less traffic.which in turn influences the economics of longer vehicles.If i drive from my house[in the middle of nowhere]to Gällivare [90kms]i might meet up to 50 vehicles,in Holland you meet that in a km.

I know that feeling used to reverse the b train into a bay when hauling" fines" into our bumpy yard …no one there and in she went 1st or 2nd shunt,old boss is on the loader waiting to put on the belt …ffs stevie wonder could have done better :blush:

Drivers do get paid more to drive the 25.25m trucks.
They also need to have a LZV certificate to drive one.

I thought those Days were gone,like 1972 when i got paid 10 bob more on BRS for having a 2 axle trailer rather than a single.
I fail to see why they should be paid more,we didn’t get more when it went up from 12mtrs to 13.5mtrs for trlrs,or if you drove a normal wagon and drag as opposed to an artic.
Up here the hgv license is given for 25mtrs.Soon that will be the standard throughout Europé purely for economical reasons.

Geoffo:
Drivers do get paid more to drive the 25.25m trucks.
They also need to have a LZV certificate to drive one.

Purely out of curiosity - how do you get that LZV certificate? Do you had to have had your “standard” certification for so long? What’s the test like?

hutpik:
I thought those Days were gone,like 1972 when i got paid 10 bob more on BRS for having a 2 axle trailer rather than a single.
I fail to see why they should be paid more,we didn’t get more when it went up from 12mtrs to 13.5mtrs for trlrs

The idea is (or was) that you are carrying a greater load and therefore doing more valuable work. So if the lengths of trailers double, you ought to be paid double (or even more, considering that the fixed costs may be the same) for carrying twice as much as before (as opposed to the bosses or customers taking all the surplus, and un-paid reductions in hours or mass redundancies ensuing).

One company I worked for, 1980`s, paid an extra £5 per day if I pulled an “A” frame draw bar trailer instead of just the Class 3 prime mover rigid.

bullitt:
One company I worked for, 1980`s, paid an extra £5 per day if I pulled an “A” frame draw bar trailer instead of just the Class 3 prime mover rigid.

just as you say Bullitt …when I started I was on contract as plant operator /hgv3 driver ie 4wheeler driver ,if I drove a 6 wheeler class2 paid more but only for the hrs on it ,when I drove the lowloader as spare driver I received Mechanics rate !.but on night work it was all at 6 wheeler rate even if I drove the transit crew van
never did figure that out. :laughing:

So that means then that if your boss says you drive a rigid for a week instead of an artic you will be prepared to take a lower wage,Idon’t Think so.If your employer has a variety of vehicles and you are employed to drive Everything then the Money should be the same whatever you drive.You don’t expect more Money if you go from a Renault to a Scania do you.

I see the DPD bloke sometimes at a place in Vianen near Utrecht, which only has two bays suitable for artics. If one bay is occupied when he gets there, he has to reverse his trailer onto the other bay, and then unhook the trailer and park the prime mover out of the way as he’s blocking the service road. If the other bay is still occupied when the trailer has been unloaded, he then has to hook the prime mover back up, move the trailer and park that out of the way, and then unhook again to put the prime mover onto the bay, having made sure first of all that one of the trucks in the waiting line doesn’t nick his spot. Then, he has to hook back up to the trailer again before he’s finally on his way.

It all seems a big faff if you’re on the same money as a regular artic, especially if it’s night time and chucking down with rain.

With my shift, I’m having to start about fifteen minutes earlier now because at my first pick up, one of these DPD double rigs arrives about the same time, and if I don’t get in front of him, I’ll be waiting at least 40 minutes before I get on the bay and it puts me behind for the rest of the night. If I get round the corner and see he’s there already, it’s time to curse !