First things first. To all the full time and long time truckers out there; Total and utter respect!!
I am not one of those that ever thought truckers are dumb. I knew enough to know that it was not as easy as y’all generally make it look. I have also generally tried to accord them respect and consideration on the road; although I am sure that I have also probably been guilty of not doing the right thing every time.
But oh my God!! I was not fully aware of, nor prepared for, the appallingly low level of driving ability and lack of judgement shown by the majority of the ‘great unwashed’!! I suppose that, given the manoeuvreability of the modern car, I have learned to compensate almost automatically and to drive defensively, without a great deal of forethought.
So; I hereby offer a heartfelt apology to any and all lorry drivers that I may have aggravated in the past!! Mea culpa!
With all that said, I thought you might like a short diary of the days events. So; bear with me if you would.
Day 1 (Yesterday 29/08/08)
So excited about finally starting that I can’t get to sleep before 3:00 a.m. Finally nod off and am rudely awoken by the alarm at 5:00. My lesson is not due to start 'til 8:00 but it’s a 53 mile drive and I want to be awake in plenty of time for a shower and some coffee before I leave at 6:30. Shower done, coffee made and drunk, check watch - 05:25. ■■■■!! 2 more cups; check watch 05:45! Attempt to finish crossword from the day before; after five minutes the only words that come to mind are lorry, mirror, signal and manoeuvre! Give it up as a bad job, jump in the car and off I go (I hate to be late anyway, so probably a good thing).
Arrive at the training yard, check watch, 07:05. Oh well…Spend 45 mins peering at the lorries with nose through the chainlink fence. No I did not drool… well, not much anyway.
Instructor arrives at 07;50 and I meet up with my co-trainee. We sort out some paper work, cough up some dough and finally we are out and being shown the ‘preflight checks’. At last, real ‘lorry driver stuff’ !!
Magic words…“You’re first”. I’m in like a flash…door shut, seatbelts on, check mirror adjustment, handbrake on, neutral, range switch - down, ready to crank…“oh er, ummm…could I have the keys please?” Big grin from instructor and co-trainee.
Off we go, 1/2 mile up the road to the disused airfield for the reversing and stop manoeuvres. Brilliant use of mirrors, signals, swinging wide enough to miss all gate posts, no kerb strikes, mirrors, gear shifts, mirrors, range switch, mirrors, brakes, mirrors, speed control, mirrors, more mirrors. Gentle reminder from instructor - “it might be a good idea to look ahead, once in a while!” - Oh yeahhhh…
Anyway; all goes fantastically well during the manoeuvres bit. “Do it just like that on the day and no sweat. In fact, almost perfect!”, says Roger. My co-trainee, Michael also does very well, especially considering that he is young, only has a B licence and has never even been in anything bigger than his car! “Well done guys, lets head to town”, says Roger. Chest swelling; I can feel myself begin to adopt the ‘lorry drivers strut’ (which, thinking about it, is an awful lot like the ‘Pilot’s strut’ - only in comfortable clothes!).
So off to Norwich we head. Everything goes perfectly…for about 3 minutes…then, OH MY GOD!!
Where did that ******* car come from?.. What the **** is he doing?.. Move over you *******? …Speed limit sign? Where? I didn’t even see the lamppost!..Oooooh that ******** range switch!!! … What do you mean third exit? I’m sure you said first!!.. Since when did pedestrians become so suicidal??..etc, etc, etc!!
Obviously I am exaggerating slightly, but I kid you not, I felt like I needed three sets of eyes and four arms! What happened to pedestrians using “Look right, look left and look right again”■■ Now, it seems like they walk straight out and only look up if the screech from the tyres is loud enough for them to hear it over their damned I-Pods!! Good grief!
Cyclists - don’t even get me started! LOL
By the end of my second drive (we switch every hour or so) I was ready to quit and forget about it. Fortunately, Roger is a really, really good bloke and after a ‘■■■ and coffee break’ (3 ■■■■ if I’m being honest, LOL) along with a bit of a ‘pep talk’ and a reminder that “You must control the vehicle and situation. Don’t let it or them control you!”; we set off again. I have to say that things definitely improved.
By the time we arrive back at the yard, I am beginning to see a glimmer of hope.
Surprisingly to me; when we are handed our training sheets, I had been given 8’s for most things, one 6, a few 7’s and even one 9. I was told that I had done at least as well as would be expected from a ‘newbie’ and better than expected on some things! I was also told that I am my own harshest critic. To be honest, I already knew this. During my entire flying career, I never got less than 100% on any written test and I never failed a check ride; not once! I expect perfection from myself; which can often lead to disappointment. I just wish I could relax a bit!
Roger had told us that by the end of the day we would be very tired. Oh boy; was he ever right! I got home at about 6:30 p.m. ate dinner, had a shower and went straight to bed. I would love to tell y’all that I slept really well, but I really don’t know 'coz I was unconscious at the time!!
All in all, I actually enjoyed it, even if at the time it felt a bit like a ‘baptism by fire’.
In many ways, it reminds me of my early flying lessons; loads of new info coming at you thick and fast. The biggest single difference is that ‘up there’ you don’t normally have to worry about other traffic nearly as much and there are definitely no suicidal pedestrians!!
More about todays (Tuesday) training later; if y’all are interested. Let me know…
Cheers,
Simon
P.S. Apologies for rambling on and many thanks for reading this ‘short’ note’!!