Hi all first post on here so here goes ,Passed my class 1 almost 18 months ago have no experience driving either class 1 or 2 ,being doing odd handyman jobs for the last while ,fed up with a lot of work some weeks and then a drought other weeks .
Anyway I applied online for a job Class 1 whether I should apply for class 2 jobs first and build up experience is up for anyone to debate ,so a guy from an agency rings and tells me job there if I want at Arla foods Aylesbury £12 and that hourly rate will be going up ,I asked would I be on PAYE he said working under an umbrella company ,I would have questioned it more if I knew what exactly it was ,I let him know that I had no experience and asked would there be an assessment he said no assessment get the keys and away you go, and he went on to say everyone has a first day and described his etc ,he said I would be shown all about operating the tank etc and paperwork ,I didn’t give him an answer basically he left it to me to decide and just ring him up to put the wheels in motion for driving for Arla.
Just seems strange that when Arla advertise for driving jobs an assessment is needed ,any opinions please ■■? Thanks
Just give it a go I’d say, see what happens, I had my first day a few months ago, was really daunting but as soon as you get a bit of confidence it gets a bit easier. Just don’t do anything dangerous is and take your time is what all the old timers told me. I’d avoid umbrella companies though if you can. Hear nothing but bad things.
Cheers Jake for your opinion ,ya daunting is the word ,rattlin in me boots 
haven’t decided what to do yet .Am I right in saying that driving a milk tanker is exempt from Tacho drivers hours rules ? Passed my test in a 4 over 4 manual ,never driven an automatic so that’s another thing to learn .
A milk tanker is not likely to be exempt from tacho regs, some agricultural trucks and emergency services and recovery services are exempt from tacho regs as a broad assumption.
So driving a commercial tanker which will be for profit won’t be exempt.
Any place that is willing to let a newly passed driver without experience with 100K+ of equipment is a little worry, I would certainly expect an assessment at the least and you will need training on how to use the tanker. I would expect to be taken out for a few days with a co-driver for a job like that. Even experienced drivers with no tanker knowledge would need some help in using the tank controls etc. Yes I doubt it is rocket science but there will be stuff you need to know.
Being a milk tanker also means you could be delivered to some places out in the middle of nowhere, so could include dodgy little farms to find and tight lanes and access, not to say it is not doable but likely would not be the easiest job to get some experience on to start with.
Give it a shot though and make sure they know at Arla your new have no experience of driving or tankers, show willingness to learn and it may just work out to be a good shout.
As for the umbrella situation say you will take it but only PAYE as you’re not interested in Umbrella schemes, not worth the aggro for the little extra they offer to pay not to mention the clampdown by HRMC on these schemes.
I have actually quite facied doing tanker work for foodstuffs, petrol forget it too volatile in a bad accident, but foodstuffs I reckon it would be quite a decent job.
Rambler42:
Hi all first post on here so here goes ,Passed my class 1 almost 18 months ago have no experience driving either class 1 or 2 ,being doing odd handyman jobs for the last while ,fed up with a lot of work some weeks and then a drought other weeks .
Anyway I applied online for a job Class 1 whether I should apply for class 2 jobs first and build up experience is up for anyone to debate ,so a guy from an agency rings and tells me job there if I want at Arla foods Aylesbury £12 and that hourly rate will be going up ,I asked would I be on PAYE he said working under an umbrella company ,I would have questioned it more if I knew what exactly it was ,I let him know that I had no experience and asked would there be an assessment he said no assessment get the keys and away you go, and he went on to say everyone has a first day and described his etc ,he said I would be shown all about operating the tank etc and paperwork ,I didn’t give him an answer basically he left it to me to decide and just ring him up to put the wheels in motion for driving for Arla.
Just seems strange that when Arla advertise for driving jobs an assessment is needed ,any opinions please ■■? Thanks
The same thing happened to me, although I had two years experience. Waitrose are known for the hoops you have to jump through to become a ‘partner’ but when I was working down there on the agency I was given the keys and sent on my way.
With regards to deciding what to do, you must grasp every opportunity when you’re a new driver. If they have decided that a new driver doesn’t need an assessment then so be it. you’ve been honest with them so ask as many questions as you need before you set out, and if it all goes ■■■■ up it’s a days driving experience at the very least.
If you sit at home worrying about taking jobs you’ll never get out on the road
I’ve had my class 2 for 17 years, so plenty of experience in that. I’ve had my class 1 a couple of years, but zero experience in that. I was offered a job working at a company in Swadlincote doing class 1 this week, so I have a grand total of 2 days experience. I’m not dishing out advice, I don’t have the experience for that, more a sort of 'what to expect '.
I started on night shift on Tuesday night, they put me with a guy who was supposed to train me, don’t get me wrong, he is a really nice guy and an experienced driver, unfortunately he is Romanian and really really struggles with English, I mean struggles to the point communication is near impossible. He drove the curtainsider to Walsall (curtainsiders are a new bit for me too, but I managed to blag it), where we opened to tip and I found out we had just transported 39t of bottled water without a single strap. Anyway, it was my turn to drive Walsall to stobarts at bardon. I was a bit dodgy to begin with, but I settled into it and when I released my death grip on the wheel it was just like driving a big rigid, no major problems.
At bardoni had to back onto a bay between two trailers. This is where the problem began. My reversing was a problem to say the least. And the language barrier only compounded the problem. 45 minutes and a lot of frustration later it was on the bay. Then we had to drop the trailer and pick up a box. I remembered black and swapping trailers was not too much of an issue. So off we go to nestle at tutbury, I like driving the night shift, you have the road to yourself, and considering how much of it I was using, that’s a good thing. But I will admit my driving was fairly confident and good.
We got to tutbury and had to put it on a bay between bananas guides. Over an hour later and a lot of stress for all concerned I got it on. It was at this point that I pointed out he was supposed to be teaching me the paperwork as I would have no idea of how to go on with it by myself, his English is much better than my Romanian but sadly not good enough to explain what I needed to know. I decided to forget about the paperwork for now and sort that out somehow later. So we swap trailers and drive back to bardon. Many problems reversing on the bay again and we picked up another trailer for hamsall. The drive to hamsall was uneventful, I’m getting quite used to the wagon by now. We get there and the shunter tells me to park up between 2 trailers, after a lot of swearing under my breath, the other guy decided that given my track record with reversing and considering that there was a lot of traffic coming and going, he was going to park it up. To my relief that’s what happened. So we picked up a full trailer and drove back to the yard, but he insisted the load didn’t need straps, I disagreed but because he was more experienced, I went along with it.
Yesterday: got to the yard for 7 and I was informed that we were going to Walsall and I wouldn’t be driving there because we had a full load of unstrapped water, so he drove to Walsall and we were tipped in no time. Then it was my turn to drive to hamsall. I had to reverse onto a bay and believe it or not I had actually got worse overnight. Long story short I got it on the bay eventually and we were loaded with a full load of cat food double stacked. It was at this point I asked if we were going to strap the load as it seemed dodgy at best and it was giving me paranoia about vosa and even shedding the load through the curtains but I was informed that we were not going to be strapping it at all, it will be fine. So one long, paranoid trip back from brum, we got back to the yard and parked up. He didn’t feel like waiting for me to park up, so he parked it and that was that for the night.
I’ve come to the decision that at this present moment in time artic driving is not for me. I didn’t enjoy the experience and driving with unsecured loads is stupidity at best and down right dangerous at worst. Maybe we couldn’t have put ratchet straps on with it being double stacked to the roof, but we could have at least used the internals. I feel I would be happier sticking with driving rigids for the time being, I know the job and what I am doing with a rigid, maybe I will choose to try the artics again at some time in the future, but if I’m honest the whole experience has left me with a sour taste. You are only about a pound an hour better off for driving class 1, and is it truly worth all the stress and the potential big fine for driving with an unsecured load? And I guess what people say about class 1 not having the handball that class 2 has is true, but trust me the truth is you work just as hard. It’s knackering doing trailer swaps, dragging a curtain that’s twice the size of an 18t curtain and is usually half seized and the runners are bent. Then you have about 6 billion buckles to do up. The whole experience has been a harsh wake up call, I can’t wait to get back to a rigid, you can keep the artics. Maybe as time passes I will want to try again, but I think that will be a few years down the track.
And another thing I’ve found that the training school doesn’t prepare you for real life is; changing trailers. The training school has moderate weight in the trailer which is well maintained. It’s a harsh wake up call when you meet your first fully laden trailer that the legs are bowed and the gears are half seized.
jbaz73:
I’ve had my class 2 for 17 years, so plenty of experience in that. I’ve had my class 1 a couple of years, but zero experience in that. I was offered a job working at a company in Swadlincote doing class 1 this week, so I have a grand total of 2 days experience. I’m not dishing out advice, I don’t have the experience for that, more a sort of 'what to expect '.I started on night shift on Tuesday night, they put me with a guy who was supposed to train me, don’t get me wrong, he is a really nice guy and an experienced driver, unfortunately he is Romanian and really really struggles with English, I mean struggles to the point communication is near impossible. He drove the curtainsider to Walsall (curtainsiders are a new bit for me too, but I managed to blag it), where we opened to tip and I found out we had just transported 39t of bottled water without a single strap. Anyway, it was my turn to drive Walsall to stobarts at bardon. I was a bit dodgy to begin with, but I settled into it and when I released my death grip on the wheel it was just like driving a big rigid, no major problems.
At bardoni had to back onto a bay between two trailers. This is where the problem began. My reversing was a problem to say the least. And the language barrier only compounded the problem. 45 minutes and a lot of frustration later it was on the bay. Then we had to drop the trailer and pick up a box. I remembered black and swapping trailers was not too much of an issue. So off we go to nestle at tutbury, I like driving the night shift, you have the road to yourself, and considering how much of it I was using, that’s a good thing. But I will admit my driving was fairly confident and good.
We got to tutbury and had to put it on a bay between bananas guides. Over an hour later and a lot of stress for all concerned I got it on. It was at this point that I pointed out he was supposed to be teaching me the paperwork as I would have no idea of how to go on with it by myself, his English is much better than my Romanian but sadly not good enough to explain what I needed to know. I decided to forget about the paperwork for now and sort that out somehow later. So we swap trailers and drive back to bardon. Many problems reversing on the bay again and we picked up another trailer for hamsall. The drive to hamsall was uneventful, I’m getting quite used to the wagon by now. We get there and the shunter tells me to park up between 2 trailers, after a lot of swearing under my breath, the other guy decided that given my track record with reversing and considering that there was a lot of traffic coming and going, he was going to park it up. To my relief that’s what happened. So we picked up a full trailer and drove back to the yard, but he insisted the load didn’t need straps, I disagreed but because he was more experienced, I went along with it.
Yesterday: got to the yard for 7 and I was informed that we were going to Walsall and I wouldn’t be driving there because we had a full load of unstrapped water, so he drove to Walsall and we were tipped in no time. Then it was my turn to drive to hamsall. I had to reverse onto a bay and believe it or not I had actually got worse overnight. Long story short I got it on the bay eventually and we were loaded with a full load of cat food double stacked. It was at this point I asked if we were going to strap the load as it seemed dodgy at best and it was giving me paranoia about vosa and even shedding the load through the curtains but I was informed that we were not going to be strapping it at all, it will be fine. So one long, paranoid trip back from brum, we got back to the yard and parked up. He didn’t feel like waiting for me to park up, so he parked it and that was that for the night.
I’ve come to the decision that at this present moment in time artic driving is not for me. I didn’t enjoy the experience and driving with unsecured loads is stupidity at best and down right dangerous at worst. Maybe we couldn’t have put ratchet straps on with it being double stacked to the roof, but we could have at least used the internals. I feel I would be happier sticking with driving rigids for the time being, I know the job and what I am doing with a rigid, maybe I will choose to try the artics again at some time in the future, but if I’m honest the whole experience has left me with a sour taste. You are only about a pound an hour better off for driving class 1, and is it truly worth all the stress and the potential big fine for driving with an unsecured load? And I guess what people say about class 1 not having the handball that class 2 has is true, but trust me the truth is you work just as hard. It’s knackering doing trailer swaps, dragging a curtain that’s twice the size of an 18t curtain and is usually half seized and the runners are bent. Then you have about 6 billion buckles to do up. The whole experience has been a harsh wake up call, I can’t wait to get back to a rigid, you can keep the artics. Maybe as time passes I will want to try again, but I think that will be a few years down the track.
Doesn’t read to me like the problem is driving an artic but the cow boy you were given to train you. Feel like if you’d been given someone who speaks English and who took your concerns over unsecured loads seriously then you’d have written about a much more positive experience.
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jbaz73:
I’ve had my class 2 for 17 years, so plenty of experience in that. I’ve had my class 1 a couple of years, but zero experience in that. I was offered a job working at a company in Swadlincote doing class 1 this week, so I have a grand total of 2 days experience. I’m not dishing out advice, I don’t have the experience for that, more a sort of 'what to expect '.I started on night shift on Tuesday night, they put me with a guy who was supposed to train me, don’t get me wrong, he is a really nice guy and an experienced driver, unfortunately he is Romanian and really really struggles with English, I mean struggles to the point communication is near impossible. He drove the curtainsider to Walsall (curtainsiders are a new bit for me too, but I managed to blag it), where we opened to tip and I found out we had just transported 39t of bottled water without a single strap. Anyway, it was my turn to drive Walsall to stobarts at bardon. I was a bit dodgy to begin with, but I settled into it and when I released my death grip on the wheel it was just like driving a big rigid, no major problems.
At bardoni had to back onto a bay between two trailers. This is where the problem began. My reversing was a problem to say the least. And the language barrier only compounded the problem. 45 minutes and a lot of frustration later it was on the bay. Then we had to drop the trailer and pick up a box. I remembered black and swapping trailers was not too much of an issue. So off we go to nestle at tutbury, I like driving the night shift, you have the road to yourself, and considering how much of it I was using, that’s a good thing. But I will admit my driving was fairly confident and good.
We got to tutbury and had to put it on a bay between bananas guides. Over an hour later and a lot of stress for all concerned I got it on. It was at this point that I pointed out he was supposed to be teaching me the paperwork as I would have no idea of how to go on with it by myself, his English is much better than my Romanian but sadly not good enough to explain what I needed to know. I decided to forget about the paperwork for now and sort that out somehow later. So we swap trailers and drive back to bardon. Many problems reversing on the bay again and we picked up another trailer for hamsall. The drive to hamsall was uneventful, I’m getting quite used to the wagon by now. We get there and the shunter tells me to park up between 2 trailers, after a lot of swearing under my breath, the other guy decided that given my track record with reversing and considering that there was a lot of traffic coming and going, he was going to park it up. To my relief that’s what happened. So we picked up a full trailer and drove back to the yard, but he insisted the load didn’t need straps, I disagreed but because he was more experienced, I went along with it.
Yesterday: got to the yard for 7 and I was informed that we were going to Walsall and I wouldn’t be driving there because we had a full load of unstrapped water, so he drove to Walsall and we were tipped in no time. Then it was my turn to drive to hamsall. I had to reverse onto a bay and believe it or not I had actually got worse overnight. Long story short I got it on the bay eventually and we were loaded with a full load of cat food double stacked. It was at this point I asked if we were going to strap the load as it seemed dodgy at best and it was giving me paranoia about vosa and even shedding the load through the curtains but I was informed that we were not going to be strapping it at all, it will be fine. So one long, paranoid trip back from brum, we got back to the yard and parked up. He didn’t feel like waiting for me to park up, so he parked it and that was that for the night.
I’ve come to the decision that at this present moment in time artic driving is not for me. I didn’t enjoy the experience and driving with unsecured loads is stupidity at best and down right dangerous at worst. Maybe we couldn’t have put ratchet straps on with it being double stacked to the roof, but we could have at least used the internals. I feel I would be happier sticking with driving rigids for the time being, I know the job and what I am doing with a rigid, maybe I will choose to try the artics again at some time in the future, but if I’m honest the whole experience has left me with a sour taste. You are only about a pound an hour better off for driving class 1, and is it truly worth all the stress and the potential big fine for driving with an unsecured load? And I guess what people say about class 1 not having the handball that class 2 has is true, but trust me the truth is you work just as hard. It’s knackering doing trailer swaps, dragging a curtain that’s twice the size of an 18t curtain and is usually half seized and the runners are bent. Then you have about 6 billion buckles to do up. The whole experience has been a harsh wake up call, I can’t wait to get back to a rigid, you can keep the artics. Maybe as time passes I will want to try again, but I think that will be a few years down the track.
I’d say you had a bad experience. Once you get behind the wheel yourself then it gets better as you can do things at your own pace and in the way you want. Everyone has their rhythm and if you want to strap then load then you bloody well can!
jbaz73:
I’ve had my class 2 for 17 years, so plenty of experience in that. I’ve had my class 1 a couple of years, but zero experience in that. I was offered a job working at a company in Swadlincote doing class 1 this week, so I have a grand total of 2 days experience. I’m not dishing out advice, I don’t have the experience for that, more a sort of 'what to expect '.I started on night shift on Tuesday night, they put me with a guy who was supposed to train me, don’t get me wrong, he is a really nice guy and an experienced driver, unfortunately he is Romanian and really really struggles with English, I mean struggles to the point communication is near impossible. He drove the curtainsider to Walsall (curtainsiders are a new bit for me too, but I managed to blag it), where we opened to tip and I found out we had just transported 39t of bottled water without a single strap. Anyway, it was my turn to drive Walsall to stobarts at bardon. I was a bit dodgy to begin with, but I settled into it and when I released my death grip on the wheel it was just like driving a big rigid, no major problems.
At bardoni had to back onto a bay between two trailers. This is where the problem began. My reversing was a problem to say the least. And the language barrier only compounded the problem. 45 minutes and a lot of frustration later it was on the bay. Then we had to drop the trailer and pick up a box. I remembered black and swapping trailers was not too much of an issue. So off we go to nestle at tutbury, I like driving the night shift, you have the road to yourself, and considering how much of it I was using, that’s a good thing. But I will admit my driving was fairly confident and good.
We got to tutbury and had to put it on a bay between bananas guides. Over an hour later and a lot of stress for all concerned I got it on. It was at this point that I pointed out he was supposed to be teaching me the paperwork as I would have no idea of how to go on with it by myself, his English is much better than my Romanian but sadly not good enough to explain what I needed to know. I decided to forget about the paperwork for now and sort that out somehow later. So we swap trailers and drive back to bardon. Many problems reversing on the bay again and we picked up another trailer for hamsall. The drive to hamsall was uneventful, I’m getting quite used to the wagon by now. We get there and the shunter tells me to park up between 2 trailers, after a lot of swearing under my breath, the other guy decided that given my track record with reversing and considering that there was a lot of traffic coming and going, he was going to park it up. To my relief that’s what happened. So we picked up a full trailer and drove back to the yard, but he insisted the load didn’t need straps, I disagreed but because he was more experienced, I went along with it.
Yesterday: got to the yard for 7 and I was informed that we were going to Walsall and I wouldn’t be driving there because we had a full load of unstrapped water, so he drove to Walsall and we were tipped in no time. Then it was my turn to drive to hamsall. I had to reverse onto a bay and believe it or not I had actually got worse overnight. Long story short I got it on the bay eventually and we were loaded with a full load of cat food double stacked. It was at this point I asked if we were going to strap the load as it seemed dodgy at best and it was giving me paranoia about vosa and even shedding the load through the curtains but I was informed that we were not going to be strapping it at all, it will be fine. So one long, paranoid trip back from brum, we got back to the yard and parked up. He didn’t feel like waiting for me to park up, so he parked it and that was that for the night.
I’ve come to the decision that at this present moment in time artic driving is not for me. I didn’t enjoy the experience and driving with unsecured loads is stupidity at best and down right dangerous at worst. Maybe we couldn’t have put ratchet straps on with it being double stacked to the roof, but we could have at least used the internals. I feel I would be happier sticking with driving rigids for the time being, I know the job and what I am doing with a rigid, maybe I will choose to try the artics again at some time in the future, but if I’m honest the whole experience has left me with a sour taste. You are only about a pound an hour better off for driving class 1, and is it truly worth all the stress and the potential big fine for driving with an unsecured load? And I guess what people say about class 1 not having the handball that class 2 has is true, but trust me the truth is you work just as hard. It’s knackering doing trailer swaps, dragging a curtain that’s twice the size of an 18t curtain and is usually half seized and the runners are bent. Then you have about 6 billion buckles to do up. The whole experience has been a harsh wake up call, I can’t wait to get back to a rigid, you can keep the artics. Maybe as time passes I will want to try again, but I think that will be a few years down the track.
If you’d been given proper training like I’ve been given at Samworths you’d not look back at a rigid again. I too was at a cowboy outfit but left and got trained to a better standard in all my weak areas as a new pass like reversing.
Personally I’d go find a decent company who’ll give you the training you need.
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Arla is a good and reputable firm, at guess, you may be sent from a milk/cream factory to another factory.
Take a loaded tank to unload it, or drop it there, to take back a loaded tanker.
Live loads need to be CIP cleaned.
This is a hot water and chemical wash inside the tanker, there are plastic tubes on the tanker, this is where the CIP paperwork is kept .
Paperwork must be signed.
Watch out for imploding tankers, this is a write off for a tanker, it is caused by vent taps in the wrong position, when the tanker is being sucked out.
If you do farm bulk collection, the farm tank will need to sampled, samples go back to the laboratory, to check for added water in the milk, which is fraud.
Antibiotics are checked, drugs used for Mastitis , infection in the cows teats and udders.
Arla have fridge trailers, for cage delivery of all types of chilled products to supermarkets and Rdc .
Collection of 80 or more empty cages, is no fun at 3 am, in the rain, because the previous driver couldn’t be bothered .
Rambler42:
Hi all first post on here so here goes ,Passed my class 1 almost 18 months ago have no experience driving either class 1 or 2 ,being doing odd handyman jobs for the last while ,fed up with a lot of work some weeks and then a drought other weeks .
Anyway I applied online for a job Class 1 whether I should apply for class 2 jobs first and build up experience is up for anyone to debate ,so a guy from an agency rings and tells me job there if I want at Arla foods Aylesbury £12 and that hourly rate will be going up ,I asked would I be on PAYE he said working under an umbrella company ,I would have questioned it more if I knew what exactly it was ,I let him know that I had no experience and asked would there be an assessment he said no assessment get the keys and away you go, and he went on to say everyone has a first day and described his etc ,he said I would be shown all about operating the tank etc and paperwork ,I didn’t give him an answer basically he left it to me to decide and just ring him up to put the wheels in motion for driving for Arla.
Just seems strange that when Arla advertise for driving jobs an assessment is needed ,any opinions please ■■? Thanks
Have you made a decision yet ?
One of my very first jobs driving an Artic was through a small agency. They sent me to a large firm with the instructions that under no circumstances was I to let them know I had only just passed my test, not ideal but worked out ok in the end. It was catch 22 back then, you couldn’t get a job with no experience so had to take your chances and hope for the best. I think it is a bit better these days as quite a few firms will take you on with no experience, especially larger firms who struggle to get bums on seats.
I would be surprised if a company as big as Arla don’t assess temp drivers before letting them loose though
Thanks for all the advice and experiences Guys ,Havent made a decision yet ,what I have done is contacted ARLA recruitment HR directly and asked them their policy on unexperienced drivers and explained situation ,they are to respond and let me know ,whether they do or not I don’t believe in chancing and winging it or to show up and told oh you have no experience that is a different story ,prefer to know where I stand ,as for me too much responsibility to be expected form an unexperienced driver ,I just put myself in their shoes would I let an unexperienced driver out without an assessment or mentoring for a bit at the least ,no I wouldn’t ,everyone has their own opinions on the matter that’s just mine .Way I see it without sounding cavalier about it is they either want a driver without experience or they don’t .Keep safe out there everyone .
Rambler42:
Thanks for all the advice and experiences Guys ,Havent made a decision yet ,what I have done is contacted ARLA recruitment HR directly and asked them their policy on unexperienced drivers and explained situation ,they are to respond and let me know ,whether they do or not I don’t believe in chancing and winging it or to show up and told oh you have no experience that is a different story ,prefer to know where I stand ,as for me too much responsibility to be expected form an unexperienced driver ,I just put myself in their shoes would I let an unexperienced driver out without an assessment or mentoring for a bit at the least ,no I wouldn’t ,everyone has their own opinions on the matter that’s just mine .Way I see it without sounding cavalier about it is they either want a driver without experience or they don’t .Keep safe out there everyone .
Could you just ring the depot and ask to talk to a Transport Manager, quicker and easier, and they’ll be more likely to give you a shot direct if you are proactive.
If you are thrown in at the deep end with the keys thrown at you , to get on with it, my advice is to chat to the regular drivers.
They will help you out with delivery routes .
Hi the farm collection vehicles are expemt from tacho rules as I currently do the job and use a log book.
The job your on about trunking the milk to daires you have to use the tacho card.
The job is straight forward things to check on the tank their should be a cabinet in which two taps sit one is a inlet for cleaning the tank once u have off loaded the milk the other is the in and out let for the milk just check they are closed and the caps are on and their is also a sample line with two taps make sure they are closed then close the cabinet doors and the company should have a seal to seal them shut. the company I work for have different colours with different meanings like yellow means the tank is clean and ready to be loaded, blue fully loaded and red part loaded.
The next thing to look for on the tank is a vent their is usally a pipe with a handle on be for moving the trailer make sure this is closed then once a the place you are tipping and on the point to tip open the valve to allow the tank to vent.
The next thing you should check is the lid is shut properly are company allow use to do this companies like muller don’t allow it as they put a plate on the ladder so you cant climb up it.
Its an easy job it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to unload about 28500 litres depend on how quick the dairies pump it off at. the unloading process get onto the point open the vent again open the seal on the cabinet at the back undo one end of the sample line and open the tap and allow it to flow out for about 10 - 20 seconds then get a sample the dairy should provide you with a sample pot. the hand the sample pot back to them they will sample it then give you the thumbs up to connect a line to the milk in and outlet tap and then open the tap and allow the milk to flow out.
once unloaded you have to cip the tank which is the process of cleaning it if not sure ask another driver or ask the dairy staff.
Also forgot to meantion their should be a sheet for the trailer to say when it was last washed it should be washed every 24 hours or before another load goes on it. I have heard of people getting sea sick from the way in which the milk sloshes the back of the tank jolting the cab and also be careful when taking corners as the this is a load which moves.
if its farm collections the job is quite straight forward once you get your head around how the pumping system on the back of the tank works their are so many different systems the company I work for have three different ones all work in different ways.
a few farms can be tight but made easier by rear steer on the trailer.
the first thing to do once at the tank is to check the temperature is below 5 degrees and then put the 2 minute stirrer on. get the pipe from the back of the wagon and hook it onto the outlet on the tank.
then take a milk sample whether their be a sample outlet on the tank or climbing up the ladder on a tank and opening the lid and getting a sample ladle and put this into a sample pot and then closing the lid again and then getting a label to put on the sample put so the milk testing lab know which farm it has come from as the farm is payed depending on the results of that sample.
then go put the info in to the pump system on the back of the truck so have gps so wont need to do this as it should know which farm its at before pressing start open the outlet tank on the tank then start the pump.
once the tank is empty take the hose off put the tanks either a pipe which connects to the wash system or a cap on the tank outlet then put the tank on wash and leave the bit of paper which says how much you have collected.
So how did it go?
Give it a go one of the best driving jobs you get about 6 hours in to
yourself on nights.
The only advice I can give is to ask advice from the drivers and workers in the factory they are usually of a good sort and will go out here way too help. Certain depots have good canteens decent coffee and you can wait until in your cab in some places
Bottom line was they wanted experienced Tanker drivers not inexperienced newbies 
so the search continues
Rambler42:
Bottom line was they wanted experienced Tanker drivers not inexperienced newbies
And like most firms they are not willing to train newbies which could be why some are saying there is a driver shortage but what they mean is a shortage of readily trained drivers for that particular position