First Day Tommorrow to snowy glasgow

hi I’m new to the forum passed class C couple of weeks ago my first job tomorrow afternoon is a run to glasgow I’m a bit worried about the weather its a night out as well anyone got any tips or advice

thanks

Matt84R:
hi I’m new to the forum passed class C couple of weeks ago my first job tomorrow afternoon is a run to glasgow I’m a bit worried about the weather its a night out as well anyone got any tips or advice

thanks

Take it slow. Nearly all the roads you are going to go on will be gritted. Yards/industrial estates might not be but unless it’s really bad don’t worry. If it’s really bad and you don’t think it’s safe park up and call the office - tell them you are parked up, don’t ask.

Reversing… get out and clean your mirrors if they are covered in salt and crap. Take loads of time. Don’t be embarrassed. I can say with great authority that spending 10 mins reversing and looking a bit daft, is both quicker and less embarrassing than crashing and having to fill in the paperwork.

Most important thing is to take a flask.

Make sure you take a decent sleeping bag and that the night heater works

thanks for the advice specially the reversing bit makes sense rather look silly that crash

Keep your washer bottle topped up. You lose visibility quickly when it empties.
Double check night heater.
Bag of old t shirts/rags and window spray for mirrors
Some clothes, sleeping bag

Snowy/ice covered roads:-

Don’t use cruise

Avoid the strong retarder on surface covered in snow and ice. Gently slow down instead allowing gearbox to work slowly through gears.

Don’t follow lights of vehicles in front

Take it steady

Large braking distances

Roads may be clear of snow and ice but bridges or areas shaded by trees can be very icy.

Avoid braking during a corner with unit and trailer at an angle - gently lose all necessary speed before the turn to allow steady speed when cornering

If real stuck you have diff locks (remember to turn off aftwards)

When thinking of pulling over, say on a lay-by, think about getting going again- surface condition, is it on a hill etc. Especially if overnighting and snow is forecast in that area.

Have a brief read up of winter driving techniques if you’ve still the lgv training material

Gets really bad, pull over, toss the keys into a hedge and find a pub. Good luck :laughing:

Matt84R:
hi I’m new to the forum passed class C couple of weeks ago my first job tomorrow afternoon is a run to glasgow I’m a bit worried about the weather its a night out as well anyone got any tips or advice

thanks

Good luck mate, don’t envy you on that first drive in this weather but great to see all the advice heading your way :smiley:

As said about the night heater,jump in the truck start her up before doing your checks then put the night heater on full,serves 2 purposes checks it works and its a toasty cab to start the day.
Also a phone charger map,flask,spare clothes,grub,enough data on your phone sounds silly but no good with no Internet use when your parked (Dipper Dave can recommend suitable viewing lol).
Take your time and don’t rush your there when your there its all new so everything is a learning curve,if your unsure where to go or where to get into anywhere park up and have a wander,easier to turn you round than a truck.
Once your done and back everything else will seem that much better than a first day up to snowy Glasgow and good luck.

Jeff.

thank some great advice here really appreciate it but i got to the place and 1 minute after walking through the door glasgow phoned and cancelled so straight back home

Matt84R:
thank some great advice here really appreciate it but i got to the place and 1 minute after walking through the door glasgow phoned and cancelled so straight back home

Hope you got paid for 8 hours as you turned up and got cancelled.

No i didnt :frowning:

Where u running from dude?

They should have forked out for 8 given how it went down, you can be sure that the agency is getting paid

Have you got more work lined up? This crappy weather looks like it’s going to be here for a while :frowning:

jbaz73:
Where u running from dude?

They should have forked out for 8 given how it went down, you can be sure that the agency is getting paid

Have you got more work lined up? This crappy weather looks like it’s going to be here for a while :frowning:

Yup. Cancelled my test because of it. Gutted.

Went from Nottingham to Mansfield i didn’t realise i should get paid

I accepted 2 more jobs on the Wednesday for today both got cancelled

i am working tomorrow up near Alfreton early start delivering to newsagents i think weather worse up there than notts

kinda just want to get my first day over with stressing me out a bit

sorry about your test marsbars bet your the same getting mentally prepared then you gotta wait all over again

Matt84R:
Went from Nottingham to Mansfield i didn’t realise i should get paid

I accepted 2 more jobs on the Wednesday for today both got cancelled

i am working tomorrow up near Alfreton early start delivering to newsagents i think weather worse up there than notts

kinda just want to get my first day over with stressing me out a bit

sorry about your test marsbars bet your the same getting mentally prepared then you gotta wait all over again

Which agency? I work for one in Nottingham. And if I turn up on site and it’s cancelled I get 8 hours. But with agencies you need to push them sometimes… Today I had to threaten court action to get paid properly. But after that it’s all sorted. Sometimes customers of the agency (not you) can be tight and the agency don’t like losing out - but that’s not your problem.

marsbars:

jbaz73:
Where u running from dude?

They should have forked out for 8 given how it went down, you can be sure that the agency is getting paid

Have you got more work lined up? This crappy weather looks like it’s going to be here for a while :frowning:

Yup. Cancelled my test because of it. Gutted.

What happens in the case of say class 1 lessons this week and test Friday seeing as snowed off wed/thur assume test cancelled tomorrow

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What happens in the case of say class 1 lessons this week and test Friday seeing as snowed off wed/thur assume test cancelled tomorrow

Only your trainer can answer that.

We do our level best to mitigate the effects of snow - but we cant make it go away .

Naturally everyone wants their test to take place next week and, whilst some may be lucky, we have to work with the available examiner supply. And that’s not endless.

We make every effort to get it right but it’s incredibly difficult as the weather changes so quickly. The last time we had serious snow we had to re-schedule 74 tests. Some of those were 2 or 3 times for the same candidate. One person was uppity with us but everyone else realised the lengths we were going to in order to provide the service. But, as said, we cant make the snow go away and we cant “magic” more examiners out of mid-air.

And we wont mention the financial losses to us!!

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

Matt84R:
No i didnt :frowning:

Get back on to the agency they and the client knew the weather was going ■■■■ up,not your fault it got cancelled you did our bit by getting there,they owe you 8 hours pay.

Daytrunker:

Matt84R:
No i didnt :frowning:

Get back on to the agency they and the client knew the weather was going ■■■■ up,not your fault it got cancelled you did our bit by getting there,they owe you 8 hours pay.

i did i got paid for 8 hours

I remember my first job and snowy storm in Greece, I had to drive in the mountains, and no one cared that time about the weather. It was in early 90-s, I was young and unexperienced, but I made it! Was the scariest drive of my life, now it’s kind of a funny story though :smiley:. I have couple of friends living in Greece, they say that year it was one of the highest snow level in Greek history. Now they barely see snow there, both of my friends bought houses in Athens few years ago and live mainly there only occasionally travelling to England to visit kids. Quite a good retirement scenario I guess :slight_smile: