2022 Newbies

[driveress]

I only know it's a P410 because I took a photo of it and that's what it's got on the front - I am so not a petrol head, although I will inevitably begin to gain some knowledge.
So yes, steering axels probably, meaning that when you steer, both front axels move in the direction you steer, right? Does that mean there is only one drive axel, the front one?
As you can tell, I have no real idea what I'm talking about

"My" truck is a 64 plate and I have looked up that that means it's 2014/15 - almost 8 years old. It's done over 475,000 miles. One thing I noticed from the video is that the tyres on mine are more tractor like, they are enormous and have huge treads.
I saw some newer Scania's when I got back to the yard so I will check out what they are on Monday.

Yes, I did pop my card into slot 2 and out again, just for practice

[stu675]

the 2 front Axels steer and the 2 rear axels drive. You won't need to know any of that to drive it, it'll just work.
Good luck with the gearbox

[Star down under.]

If you're doing site work, Driveress, it would be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the power divider and crosslocks. Don't forget to disengage both on hard surfaces.

[driveress]

Thanks Star down under. I observed how to engage/disengage and operate the power divider the other day (and made notes) but I don’t know what you mean by crosslocks, however, a group of us are going out together tomorrow so I won’t be on my own and will have someone with me to train me and make sure I get the sequences right.

[Star down under.]

Crosslocks lock the axles from left to right, there may be one for each diff, one only or none. I think Scania have one on each drive axle.
With two crosslocks and the power divider engaged, you'll have little if any steering, on a slippery surface.

[Goff118]

Hey Papaya
Hope you enjoyed your first two days training. Best of luck for Friday.

Nice to meet you Roadkill_Badger. Hope you have some success with job hunting soon.

So here’s an update from me. I posted elsewhere on the forum about my struggles passing Cat C and my eventual success. I’m still on a high. The achievement and the career change mean so much to me, passing was more than just passing if you know what I mean.

I should have been van driving for ages but, wondering when I would ever pass my Cat C, and armed with a nice sparkly new CV (I’ve been self employed so never needed one), I CV bombed agencies asking for van work while I’m waiting to pass my Cat C on the Monday. Signed up with 2 on the Tuesday, one of them offered me van work the following week. I asked if they could arrange for me to spend a day with a driver just for unpaid work experience, which they did. That was the Thursday. I had an awesome day as a passenger, driving around Cornwall in a Class 2 delivering pallets. I learned so much and met my first trucking buddy. On the Friday I passed my test.

After the bank holiday weekend I worked Tue-Sat delivering plumbing supplies around South and East Devon in a 3.5t van. Then I did a day collecting books from charity shops in Plymouth, then I did a day collecting plant and tools for a plant hire company, again in a 3.5t van. I have learned loads and I don’t know whether I have been lucky but all other drivers and most of the people I have delivered to have been so nice and helpful and patient. One of the things I learned is that I don’t really have the physique for moving 800kg of wine, or 10 radiators, on a manual pallet truck. I’m not afraid of hard work but I am aware of my limitations, and I don’t want to be that person who lets go of a pallet of wine. I think I forgot to mention that on agency no one has the time to train you on anything for any meaningful length of time.

I’ve also been getting my kit bag together and I am especially loving my thermos tumbler so I can sip tea all day. I have also become a morning person as my shortest commute is 45 mins (only downside so far for me) and the starts have been anything from 0600 to 0800.

So then the agency started talking about getting me onto a Class 2 job, they mentioned skips, and then tippers. Then they came back with an offer of tipper work all next week. I asked if I could go out with a tipper driver for the day again, unpaid, which I did on Thursday. Again, had another awesome day out, another driving buddy met. We shifted 18.5t of topsoil from a building site to a football pitch extension 8 times, up and down the A30.

So, I have my first gig in an HGV since passing my test two weeks ago, on Monday! I’ll be driving a Scania P410. It’s 32t gross weight, 4 axles and the front two are both drive axles. It’s quite punchy. I learned in an auto and this has a 4 over 4 so I’ll be spending the weekend watching videos on how to operate 4 over 4 gearboxes and Stoneridge tachos. I haven’t had to use my digi card yet.

My impressions of tipping are that it’s great for small framed girls like me as there is minimal load interaction. It’s also great for newbies as you only have to find two places in one day and you can build your confidence and nail the same stretch of road by the end of the day. There’s a bit of common sense, responsibility and concentration required to operate the hydrolics, so that’s good. You will also reverse multiple times a day. It’s also mostly driving. I think I’m going to love it! I’m definitely going to be Devon’s slowest tipper driver though, so I’ll be easy to spot.

I’ve also booked my C+E driver training for September.

I’ll come back and let you know how next week goes.

I hope everyone else reading this thread is getting on well and whatever you are doing next week, have a good one.

Well done on getting your foot in a few doors so quickly after passing your test. Good luck and keep us updated!

[Roadkill_Badger]

Hey Papaya
Hope you enjoyed your first two days training. Best of luck for Friday.

Nice to meet you Roadkill_Badger. Hope you have some success with job hunting soon.

So here’s an update from me. I posted elsewhere on the forum about my struggles passing Cat C and my eventual success. I’m still on a high. The achievement and the career change mean so much to me, passing was more than just passing if you know what I mean.

I should have been van driving for ages but, wondering when I would ever pass my Cat C, and armed with a nice sparkly new CV (I’ve been self employed so never needed one), I CV bombed agencies asking for van work while I’m waiting to pass my Cat C on the Monday. Signed up with 2 on the Tuesday, one of them offered me van work the following week. I asked if they could arrange for me to spend a day with a driver just for unpaid work experience, which they did. That was the Thursday. I had an awesome day as a passenger, driving around Cornwall in a Class 2 delivering pallets. I learned so much and met my first trucking buddy. On the Friday I passed my test.

After the bank holiday weekend I worked Tue-Sat delivering plumbing supplies around South and East Devon in a 3.5t van. Then I did a day collecting books from charity shops in Plymouth, then I did a day collecting plant and tools for a plant hire company, again in a 3.5t van. I have learned loads and I don’t know whether I have been lucky but all other drivers and most of the people I have delivered to have been so nice and helpful and patient. One of the things I learned is that I don’t really have the physique for moving 800kg of wine, or 10 radiators, on a manual pallet truck. I’m not afraid of hard work but I am aware of my limitations, and I don’t want to be that person who lets go of a pallet of wine. I think I forgot to mention that on agency no one has the time to train you on anything for any meaningful length of time.

I’ve also been getting my kit bag together and I am especially loving my thermos tumbler so I can sip tea all day. I have also become a morning person as my shortest commute is 45 mins (only downside so far for me) and the starts have been anything from 0600 to 0800.

So then the agency started talking about getting me onto a Class 2 job, they mentioned skips, and then tippers. Then they came back with an offer of tipper work all next week. I asked if I could go out with a tipper driver for the day again, unpaid, which I did on Thursday. Again, had another awesome day out, another driving buddy met. We shifted 18.5t of topsoil from a building site to a football pitch extension 8 times, up and down the A30.

So, I have my first gig in an HGV since passing my test two weeks ago, on Monday! I’ll be driving a Scania P410. It’s 32t gross weight, 4 axles and the front two are both drive axles. It’s quite punchy. I learned in an auto and this has a 4 over 4 so I’ll be spending the weekend watching videos on how to operate 4 over 4 gearboxes and Stoneridge tachos. I haven’t had to use my digi card yet.

My impressions of tipping are that it’s great for small framed girls like me as there is minimal load interaction. It’s also great for newbies as you only have to find two places in one day and you can build your confidence and nail the same stretch of road by the end of the day. There’s a bit of common sense, responsibility and concentration required to operate the hydrolics, so that’s good. You will also reverse multiple times a day. It’s also mostly driving. I think I’m going to love it! I’m definitely going to be Devon’s slowest tipper driver though, so I’ll be easy to spot.

I’ve also booked my C+E driver training for September.

I’ll come back and let you know how next week goes.

I hope everyone else reading this thread is getting on well and whatever you are doing next week, have a good one.

Nice to meet you too I’m going to start my first class 1 job on friday this week. After few attempts with different comapnies and assesments I’ve been offered a contract with Stobart. It’s not where I wanted to work, but I decided to take it and get some experience in driving. Plus- they didn’t ask me to come to the assesment and didn’t fail me saying „your reversing is not up to out standards.” like few comapnies did even though they advertised the positions as „no experience neccessary”. My minimal experience is not a problem, and I will get some training too.

Hope you will have good start driving tippers and you won’t be pulling any 800kg pallets anymore.

Happy to hear that you booked your class 1 test! Fingers crossed.

[driveress]

Good luck for Friday Roadkill_Badger. Hope it goes well for you.

All in all I can report that my first two days in a class 2 were a success. I had a little smile to myself as I left the yard - I'm actually doing this - and then I had to change gear and turn onto an actual road which wiped the smile off my face. Getting used to the 4 over 4 box, plus driving a huge loaded hunk of metal, plus coping with the loading and tipping sequences (I had my notebook out), and the fact that the lads I was tipping with (there were 6 of us) were so fast, was a huge challenge. I just let them get on with it and went at my own pace, which was fine by them.

Part of the route was on a hilly, windy A then B road with bridges (over and under), temporary traffic lights, overhanging trees and bushes (thank god my left mirror had a kind of metal guard behind it), narrow in places, so plenty to keep me busy. Then it got interesting as the tip was in the middle of nowhere. For the second part of the route I was driving down single track roads with grass growing up the middle and ditches either side and pot holes galore Plus walkers, cyclists, a lady with a buggy, and a car driver who made me stop on a very steep hill because he hadn't left enough room for me to pass, so he had to reverse some more. I just about managed to pull away in 1st, loaded - tense moment - then I remembered about crawler gear.

By day 2 I was bossing the gears and I even managed to get up to the speed limit :lol. Plus I did one more run than I did on day 1. Everyone was so nice, friendly, understanding and patient. When we were on our break on day 2, I almost welled up when one of the drivers told me how well they all thought I was doing. I of course thought the opposite, so that was very feel-good. Happy days.

How's everyone else who has just started working getting on?

[Stuart1]

Good luck for Friday Roadkill_Badger. Hope it goes well for you.

All in all I can report that my first two days in a class 2 were a success. I had a little smile to myself as I left the yard - I'm actually doing this - and then I had to change gear and turn onto an actual road which wiped the smile off my face. Getting used to the 4 over 4 box, plus driving a huge loaded hunk of metal, plus coping with the loading and tipping sequences (I had my notebook out), and the fact that the lads I was tipping with (there were 6 of us) were so fast, was a huge challenge. I just let them get on with it and went at my own pace, which was fine by them.

Part of the route was on a hilly, windy A then B road with bridges (over and under), temporary traffic lights, overhanging trees and bushes (thank god my left mirror had a kind of metal guard behind it), narrow in places, so plenty to keep me busy. Then it got interesting as the tip was in the middle of nowhere. For the second part of the route I was driving down single track roads with grass growing up the middle and ditches either side and pot holes galore Plus walkers, cyclists, a lady with a buggy, and a car driver who made me stop on a very steep hill because he hadn't left enough room for me to pass, so he had to reverse some more. I just about managed to pull away in 1st, loaded - tense moment - then I remembered about crawler gear.

By day 2 I was bossing the gears and I even managed to get up to the speed limit :lol. Plus I did one more run than I did on day 1. Everyone was so nice, friendly, understanding and patient. When we were on our break on day 2, I almost welled up when one of the drivers told me how well they all thought I was doing. I of course thought the opposite, so that was very feel-good. Happy days.

How's everyone else who has just started working getting on?

Congratulations on your first couple of days, so good to hear its going so well for you. Are you staying on tippers this week? I found manual not to bad when training, you soon get used to it. I wish I could say I am at the same stage as you but I've been so busy at work, not had time to start the ball rolling.

[Papaya]

I posted in this thread back on page 1 in January. From this Thursday 12/05 I start my 26 hours in class 1 until my final test next Friday 20/05.

Ex driving instructor, straight to class 1, passed every module first time up to now, whatever my result next Friday, I'll try document everything (should I remember too) for other newbies in this thread/forum.

Location will be Hinckley start point, Leicester test location with J Coates.

So I did indeed pass! 4 minors, couple for hesitancy and 1 for missing a follow through mirror check after passing a group of teenagers. My examiner was mostly concerned with me just getting on with it. Nervous beforehand but to my surprise during the test, wasn't nervous at all.

I do highly recommend "J Coates" for anyone based around the Midlands. Anywhere between Northampton and Nottingham they mostly cover.

I'll be looking for jobs in the next few weeks whilst I await my licence and CPC to return. I'll keep you all updated on my experience regarding that.

I must say, it's been a pleasure lurking these forums for years and re reading my past posts regarding my journey. I really do appreciate the effort and advice by everyone here.

[stu675]

Congratulations!!! Great news. If you handed your license in to your examiner, you can expect it to be returned in the next post.

[Goff118]

So yesterday, after what felt like the best shift I had so far, on a one-drop trip to Barnstaple, I got an infringement for going over 6 hours of working time before taking a break!

Stupid mistake that I'll certainly not be making again in a hurry!

[driveress]

Congratulations Papaya, that's great news. I expect ROG will be along with some fireworks for you before too long Let us know what you end up doing.

Goff118 - How annoying to get an infringement. You passed very close to me yesterday on the A361 - I get all excited when I know other TNUK users have passed nearby Did you go to one of the Tescos in Barnstaple and back?

V quick update - I was supposed to be on the tippers all week last week but I got cancelled (I'm agency) because the building company couldn't pay up for the muckaway work. When it starts up again, the client said they will have me back though. I had Wednesday and Friday to myself and on Thursday I did a nice little van run delivering craft cider around Somerset and E Devon. The weather was great with beautiful views between Frome and Cheddar. I've got work penciled in for Thursday and Friday this week but things can change fast on agency so we'll see how this week pans out.

Hope everyone has a good week.

[Goff118]

Congratulations Papaya, that's great news. I expect ROG will be along with some fireworks for you before too long Let us know what you end up doing.

Goff118 - How annoying to get an infringement. You passed very close to me yesterday on the A361 - I get all excited when I know other TNUK users have passed nearby Did you go to one of the Tescos in Barnstaple and back?

V quick update - I was supposed to be on the tippers all week last week but I got cancelled (I'm agency) because the building company couldn't pay up for the muckaway work. When it starts up again, the client said they will have me back though. I had Wednesday and Friday to myself and on Thursday I did a nice little van run delivering craft cider around Somerset and E Devon. The weather was great with beautiful views between Frome and Cheddar. I've got work penciled in for Thursday and Friday this week but things can change fast on agency so we'll see how this week pans out.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Yes, the Tesco Extra near the train station in Barnstaple. It is a lovely part of the world down there

The day went so well too, so the infringement was very annoying! Will definitely learn from that mistake.

Let us know how the week goes, best of luck!

[stu675]

@Goff118 seeing as you've still not driven with a tacho since your infringement, is it one that could be resolved with a manual entry? Adding 15 mins break then one minute other work to the end of your shift. That would cover the last six hrs of your shift.

[Goff118]

@Goff118 seeing as you've still not driven with a tacho since your infringement, is it one that could be resolved with a manual entry? Adding 15 mins break then one minute other work to the end of your shift. That would cover the last six hrs of your shift.

Unfortunately not. I didn't record a break in the first 6 hours of the shift (stupid mistake).

[ROG]

Congratulations Papaya, that's great news. I expect ROG will be along with some fireworks for you before too long

pass ce.png (158.18 KiB) Viewed 123 times

PASSING FIREWORKS.gif (26.07 KiB) Viewed 123 times

[Jockforster]

Firstly Driveress....well done! I wanted to put on my first post and couldnt see how to do it lol
Went for my medical in November 2021, passed theory in January 2022, CPC in Feb 2022 and lessons and passed CatC in March 2022. Working via agencies doing class2 multidrop and loving it!!! Should have done it years ago. Plan to do Class1 after a year or so.

My question to the floor is what map is best to show bridge heights, weight restrictions etc? And if you know how I can post this as a topic so I get info from the auld hands that would be great

[Goff118]

Firstly Driveress....well done! I wanted to put on my first post and couldnt see how to do it lol
Went for my medical in November 2021, passed theory in January 2022, CPC in Feb 2022 and lessons and passed CatC in March 2022. Working via agencies doing class2 multidrop and loving it!!! Should have done it years ago. Plan to do Class1 after a year or so.

My question to the floor is what map is best to show bridge heights, weight restrictions etc? And if you know how I can post this as a topic so I get info from the auld hands that would be great

Congratulations on the pass and good to hear you are enjoying the class 2 work!

After my recent encounter with a non-signposted bridge near the A38 in Clutton, I bought the Philip's Trucker's Road Atlas of Britain. The bridge I encountered isn't actually marked on the map though, so it wouldn't have helped me at the time, but I do now keep it in my bag as a just in case.

[Franglais]

Firstly Driveress....well done! I wanted to put on my first post and couldnt see how to do it lol
Went for my medical in November 2021, passed theory in January 2022, CPC in Feb 2022 and lessons and passed CatC in March 2022. Working via agencies doing class2 multidrop and loving it!!! Should have done it years ago. Plan to do Class1 after a year or so.

My question to the floor is what map is best to show bridge heights, weight restrictions etc? And if you know how I can post this as a topic so I get info from the auld hands that would be great

Well done, and hope it keeps getting better for you.

Some of us ole farts do come on this section to tell those who`ll listen of " `ow it wus in t`good ole days"...

SatNav /Maps /Google /etc is often covered, so try a bit of a search on older threads first maybe?
Whatever you choose don`t trust your shiny new licence to a bit of kit or a map. Always keep a close eye on restrictions yourself.

Personally I tend to plan routes on an old paper map, then use satnav for the last couple of miles.
Even then, I will look at where the SatNav is suggesting as a route, and if it seems strange I`ll try to work out why.
Turning on a satnav and just following it`s directions blindly is a recipe for disaster.

[driveress]

Firstly Driveress....well done! I wanted to put on my first post and couldnt see how to do it lol
Went for my medical in November 2021, passed theory in January 2022, CPC in Feb 2022 and lessons and passed CatC in March 2022. Working via agencies doing class2 multidrop and loving it!!! Should have done it years ago. Plan to do Class1 after a year or so.

My question to the floor is what map is best to show bridge heights, weight restrictions etc? And if you know how I can post this as a topic so I get info from the auld hands that would be great

Thanks Jockforster Well done to you too and glad you are enjoying it. I did everything about a month behind you

What Franglais and Goff118 said re bridge heights and planning. I also found this low-bridge map, I think maybe on here somewhere, which might help:

https://www.truckingjobs.co.uk/2018/10/ ... .html?m=1f

Definitely do a search first as the topic of bridges and restrictions and how sat navs deal with them comes up a lot but if you want to post your own thread, open up whichever forum you want to post in, click new topic at the top, and away you go.

[Robert Harg]

Hi,

My first post on here after finding the site at the start of the week while bored at work while I wait for my final test. this will be a bit long winded but I'll try and make it readable

So I've worked in warehouses and offices all my life and every time I saw a truck go by id wonder where it was going and what it must of felt like to have some sort of freedom on the daily. Mind you I was walking to work or using public transport for all these years.

So 2020 rolls around just before lockdown one month before I passed my driving test first time around, got myself a car and freedom I thought until I realised I was inventing reasons to go for a drive just to get out and explore.

Lockdown happens and I began to work from home for a living which zapped the fun of working in a office all together so I began to look for other jobs out there, driving jobs. most requiring more than a year or 2 of driving experience so I continued to work from home while looking into financing training of CLASS 1 myself when I got my lucky break, my stepdad who drives for HUNTAPAC a relatively small family owned fresh food company which is tucked away in a village in between Southport and Preston tells me they are looking for apprentice drivers for the first time.

So I apply, within a couple of days I've got an interview. interview went great expect with this all being the first time the company have done something like this it takes a long time for a decision 3 months almost but I got the gig. brilliant... wont be long now until am training and driving... So i send of for my provisional to be updated and my tacho card end of September, tacho comes back in days the provisional doesn't get done for 2 months which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as could now go straight to class one.

So November comes around Huntapac decide to out source the training to RED ROSE Bolton, which is fine for me its local expect I've got to wait until 24th December for a assessment drive on class two?? which goes really well and in the mean time I wait to complete theory and hazard perception in January.. passed first time Brilliant I thought now things can really start to move forward.

At this point Huntapac are starting to question why I am doing a class 2 when they only operate class 1s and with the new rules I could go straight to class one, so that is finally sorted and I go for a assessment drive in a class one with Red Rose and Pat my instructor and assessor for the day. that goes brilliantly and come March id have a 2 half Saturdays and one full week of lessons which would lead to my 3A Test Wednesday morning and 3B test on the Friday April 1st at Bredbury.

My lessons started simple on a Saturday afternoon in a quiet industrial estate just getting used to the size of the vehicle as i was coming straight from a small Corsa with just over 2 years of car driving experience. but it clicked really quickly and we was out on the open roads of Bolton within the hour all my lessons where 4.5 hours of which about an of each lesson was focused on the reverse and coupling. the first two lessons i did the reversing ok but nothing special then come Monday morning something clicked and it all came together really well.
My lessons where progressing really well my instructor was happy and my head was getting BIG.

Wednesday morning Test day for 3A at the end of my lessons. so we go for a drive and i am driving like, well an IDIOT! so much so that the instructor has me pull over step out the cab and stretch my legs.
Pat my instructor was brilliant to be fair to him told me how it was and what was needed didn't sugar coat anything. we hoped back in the cab and the rest of the lesson was brilliant.

Back to the yard and ready for the 3A test after a couple of practices which went the same as they all had since Monday straight in no shunts perfect space either side and stopping distance, well test comes along and the nerves got me. Was inches from passing the yellow lines on the offside and required a shunt but it went in and after that the un couple and re couple went fine. so 3A passed...

That's everything passed first time on to Friday and 3B test. we drive down to Bredbury for test and while am slightly nervous am also quietly confident.
The drive goes well despite some unexpected roadworks which led to the test being 15/20minutes longer than expected and my instructor back at the test centre starting to worry to say the least I pass with a few minors. YES!

so next up CPC which because of the confusion between Huntapac and Red rose is being done after ive done Modules 3A/B, Case study test comes up and that's passed 1st time with little to no studying other than a couple hours the day before hand all that is left for me is Module 4 which is on Monday and i can finally drive for a living 10 months after attending the interview 7 months after being accepted for the job.

What stage are you at and how are you getting on?
Waiting on module 4 test date Monday 30th May.

Where are you located and where are you doing your training?
Southport/Preston, Red Rose handling training

Why do you want to be an HGV driver?
Freedom of the road

What kind of work do you want?
Bulking/Trunking along with some Fridge work is what i will be doing not sure on what shift pattern yet.

[driveress]

Congratulations on your C+E pass Robert Harg and great that you have work lined up. It's been a long wait but you are so nearly there, you will be driving professionally in no time. Good luck for Monday - you can't break your run of 1st time passes now Let us know how you get on.