What was your first load after passing your class 1
mmm,from the days ya started on machines then i jumped to class2 ,and first load on an artic was ( ford D 2 speed axle wi a low loader knock out 4 in line) a jcb ,dumfries to stranraer ,then a grass cutter ford tractor and a smacked up ford van back.
jimmy.
A double decker for a trunki was a little nervous
First class one load was with a DROPS and drag. 2 boxes at 32 tonnes the pair in Paderborn.
First civvy load was a bulk tipper full of maize side loaded off a forager over a hedge.
First thing I towed as a civvy was a broken down bin lorry on the back of an underlift Volvo wrecker.
HI, worked for J Moran, on contract to Barratt Steel loading at 6am, 45ft beams, bright steel, round bar, plate steel, multi drops, trying to load it so you could get it of in order, and you have heard so many tales of steel coming through the back of the cab, its impossible to lash everything down, but the arse stops nipping after a few loads.
Les.
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Passed my test at Kirkham Monday 12pm drove back to work. showed boss the pass paper,told to go to Swinden quarry in a B series ERF( RHD 511X) and load a Don Burr tipping trailer for Cardiff. but take trailer back to yard!!! Spent the rest of the week shunting trailers into Burnley Paper loading reels of paper,tipping pulp etc etc. Second week given keys to E Series ERF (E35 ANE) ■■■■■■■ E10 with Eaton Twinsplitter, loading salt from Winsford, Sand of Southport Beach( Rainfords ?) MORE REELS AND PULP!!! Glass, Worked for Barnes and Tippings Clitheroe.
what is this driving test of which you speak ? passed the car test on friday , monday morning the boss sent me out on a 4 wheeler . start of a long and slippery slope .
2 tonnes overweight with frozen peas going to Rome. Had to reverse on the ferry as well!
A 23t ship’s engine block casting to Mirrlees diesels in Hazel Grove which was over 32t limit at the time but classed as an indivisible load.
I was glad to get there without incident !
No idea it’s so long ago, I can’t remember. Never took a test except the plain ordinary driving test (no HGV’s in those days) just learned the job as I went along with plenty good advice from the older fellas.
I do remember my first foray with an 8 wheeler. Fred Chappell, Batley, 8 wheel Atky tipper that had been fitted with a 9.6 AEC, it had been loaded with coal from Acton Hall colliery at Featherstone and it was for Hedleys, Trafford Park. The driver was unwell, Fred said “Brian, off you go with that”…“nay Fred” says I, “i’ve only ever driven a 4 wheel Commer, I can’t take that”. Fred said “well now’s your chance to learn, get yerself off with it”.
VERY happy days. 
My first load after passing my Class 1 was 20 tonnes of Massey Ferguson front axles from Lincoln to Coventry, all handball on and off
Hey, Will never forget, delivering,customs and loading in different places at Paris.
So up and off the Phériphérique several times.
With an F89. Luckely with an nightheater in december,becauce it had done trips over Europe and the boss had driven it new.
Cheers Eric,
It was only 11 years ago ,but it was either fetching a fire engine from longside airfield above Aberdeen or 3-5inch stone to Birmingham followed by scrap to Liverpool then salt to stafford .
rigsby:
what is this driving test of which you speak ? passed the car test on friday , monday morning the boss sent me out on a 4 wheeler . start of a long and slippery slope .
I suspect a few of us on this site went down the same route. As soon as you reached the age of 21 you were entrusted with a 4-wheeler, BMC, 5.1 engine, 4-speed box, 2-speed axle, firstly on local work, then more longer journeys. Next came a stint on a Bedford S-type and after a while changed my job to do regular UK-wide trips with an AEC Mercury artic.
As I recall, the first job I did was collecting blackcurrants from fruit farms in the area for the Ribena factory.
After passing my class 1 in a D series Ford I got put in one like this and sent to Immingham to load Cyanide!! Talk about brown trousers! Fortunately the ship hadn’t yet offloaded so I picked up Styrene instead - well before health and safety and ADR regs etc.
It was also the first time I’d seen a range change as well!
tiptop495:
Hey, Will never forget, delivering,customs and loading in different places at Paris.
So up and off the Phériphérique several times.
With an F89. Luckely with an nightheater in december,becauce it had done trips over Europe and the boss had driven it new.Cheers Eric,
Whoa, 
Scary, yon Peri is not for the faint hearted. Best avoided whenever possible.
Retired Old ■■■■:
rigsby:
what is this driving test of which you speak ? passed the car test on friday , monday morning the boss sent me out on a 4 wheeler . start of a long and slippery slope .I suspect a few of us on this site went down the same route. As soon as you reached the age of 21 you were entrusted with a 4-wheeler, BMC, 5.1 engine, 4-speed box, 2-speed axle, firstly on local work, then more longer journeys. Next came a stint on a Bedford S-type and after a while changed my job to do regular UK-wide trips with an AEC Mercury.
As I recall, the first job I did was collecting blackcurrants from fruit farms in the area for the Ribena factory.
I started driving a 7.5 ton D Series Ford about 6 months after passing my car test, I seem to remember it was only 4 or might have been 5 speed, that was without any training (“here’s the keys Son, get on with it”)
1st load on an Artic would have been about 24 pallets of Dairy (milk/orange juice/yogurt) on a Reefer being pulled by an Iveco.
My Brother in Law was an OD & used to collect out of Luton Cold Store on a Friday night & deliver it to various Sainsburys RDC’s on a Sunday. He taught me to drive Class 1 in his wagon & I did his weekend work for about a year after I passed.
Money was Crap but the experience was invaluable !
Well like a lot of us oldies I only sat one test in a Standard 8 car, passed first time, Drove an Austin 3 way loader for Tudor Crisps in Newcastle, the to Baxters Road Services on Newcastle Quayside, The first thing I drove was an old Scammell Mechanical Horse pulling stuff off the docks, Quite an experience I might tell you, Then I was a shunter for a short time driving old 8 wheeler Ex BRS Thornycrofts, Atkis, Albions, Vulcans, Then I got a Bedford A Type on distance work , & I enjoyed every minute of it ,Plus I worked with some of the best blokes I could have wished for, Mind you I learnt the hard way, But the proper way, Happy long gone days, Regards Larry.