Newly passed class 1 jobs ( reverse help )

tgf1961:

trevHCS:
Reversing is probably the biggest tripup you’ll find with a thing that bends

Once you’ve mastered reversing your headaches are by by no means over. As an artic driver …

  1. you are the number one target for VOSA
  2. you are the number one target for illegal immigrants
  3. you are the number one target for thieves and hijackers
  4. everyone gets in your way - even rigid drivers most of whom ought to know better
  5. too many places are “tight” - even newly built lorry parks. you may have been advised to avoid blind side reserving wherever possible. The thing is, out Polish and Romanian friends have been taught the same and you will often find that a LHD vehicle (and also many RHD ones) will be parked in your maneuvering space. You’ll then end up taking your statutory breaks in some unsatisfactory places like the motorway entry slip road
  6. your vehicle breaks down more often - more tyres to blow, more air and electrical lines to fail
  7. you are (mostly) expected to night out on a regular basis if not most nights of the week. Even the most primitive laybys (no barrier between the lay by and th road - you feel every passing vehicle jolt the cab) are full leaving to ever more desperate measure to find a place to stop.

All this for mostly not much more hourly rate than rigid.

I say this with regret as a class 1 licence holder for 30 years, but I’m still on rigid. All those years ago, I would have jumped at any chance to use my licence to the full, but now, there are too many causes of stress. It’s dog eat dog out there.

See the only 2 on here that have any cause for concern is 3 and 4 and actually number 3 don’t really come into it as for tyres the main problem is drivers not checking them regularly and failing to check correct pressures.
Admittedly I’ve had 2 go in th3 last 2 years almost a month apart.
1 was due to picking up a bolt on the front nearside unit
The other was a tyre fault a total delamination of the front nearside on the trailer. None were down to poor maintenance or checks