First day on the new job tomorrow.........nervous or what?

It’s a shame this thread has tailed off, (I loved the adrian mole ref way back at the start, such a good comparison) I have really enjoyed reading it and it was good to see a noob “grow” and over come (with ease it would seem) everything that hangs over the head of all new drivers. Well maybe he can’t get wifi in his bunk and his love for the black top has taken over and he only stops to refuel, be it on coffee or diesel. All the best to you Si and thank you for this thread, It has been the best 2 hours of my day.

Well folks…Anybody around the Wisbech area tomorrow from 0730 should be on the lookout for an all white ERF 18 tonner with an equally white (and probably ‘white knuckled’) driver at the wheel. If you see someone with that ‘deer in the headlights’ look…It’ll probably be me! :open_mouth:

East Anglia will be a hazardous area for y’all for at least the next few weeks. Caution is advised… :open_mouth:

If anybody is interested and assuming I survive and am not too knackered or ‘shell shocked’ tomorrow evening, I thought I might write a short blog; covering my first day and then for the next few days…sorta like I did with my training…

Wadda ya think?

Tin hat at the ready…

Good Luck and write away.

jeezo

Blog please and I’m OK cos I’m a lot further away on the A47 :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

excellent idea mate. especially if it is as good as your training blog you did.

who you working for? where you off to?

good luck and fingers crossed your first day is as uneventful as mine was. then the fun begins!!!

take it easy and think about all the manouveres your going to do. dont want to dent it on your first day.

Not too sure where I will be tomorrow. May not even be sure when I get there! :open_mouth:

LOL

Company is Tim Youngs Transport Ltd.

If the truck is the one I think it is, it’s an ‘S plated’ ERF, so obviously not the newest toy in the store…probably a good thing methinks!

LOL

Good Luck ,

Take it easy , and if you start to panic ,
take 5mins and grab a coffee.

You will fly through it ,
but by the end of the day ,
it,ll feel like you did 12 rounds against Tyson.

People cant understand how draining ,
a new driving job is.

But at home time , you will be on cloud 9 ,
and want to do it all again.

Good luck pal. You will enjoy it, just try not to hit anything. :smiley:

mikewhi:
just try not to hit anything. :smiley:

If you do then I won’t hear it as it’s a westerly wind tomorrow :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Good Luck for the first day, I’m safe I’m either going Sheffield or London tomorrow.

good luck, glad you got the job.

Well…Home in one piece…result!! :smiley:

O7:30 Show time this morning. 20 min drive to the yard, so set the alarm for 05:15 in order to allow the consumption of one pot of finest ‘French Roast’ java!! Caffiene fueled reaction time to allow for ‘suicidal’ pedestrian avoidance manouevres, being the order of the day!

Showered and in bed by 11:00 p.m. Early for me! 00:15 lying there in the dark, still thinking about MSM, blind spot checks, forward planning and lane positioning…Oh yeah the ‘Range switch’…I will not mess up…I will not mess up…I will not…Oh well, you get the idea!! Bugger…must get to sle…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sit bolt upright in bed and reach for the alarm to check the time…04:45!! :open_mouth: .Try to get 40 more winks…hopeless.

04:55…up, dressed (in the dark) downstairs, coffee on! 04:58 first cup…thank God for ‘pause and serve’! :smiley:

Check my holdall bag…maps, pens,gloves, tacho discs, camera, notebook, licence, digicard etc. etc. etc…Coffeee time!

Re-check holdall…LOL

Hi-viz; where’s my friggin’ Hi-viz!! Oh yeah, it’s alread on the fleece I’m gonna wear. :blush:

Where’s SWMBO…if she makes me late I’ll…Check time…05:30 Oops!!

More coffee…

Re-check holdall!

Finally SWMBO appears…“What the hell do you think you are doing? It’s only 5:45 for Gawd’s sake!!”…

06:10 “Come on; let’s go…there might be an accident or something…or we might get a flat”…

06:35 arrive at the yard… :blush:

Hmmmm…can’t see the aforementioned ERF in the yard. Wonder what i’m gonna drive then.

07:25 still no sign of human habitation…Good grief; don’t these people believe in being on time or even a little early…

07:29 they’re here!! “Bye, baby. See you later.” And I’m in there.

In very short order my paperwork is sorted and I am introduced to my ‘Driver’s mate’ - Robert. Seems like a nice sort and not a real youngster (About 30ish, I reckon).

We are given our ‘lines’ for the day…just one pick up in Norwich…nice way to ‘ease into it’, thinks I…then I notice…500 tyres!! :open_mouth: All handball!!

I am tossed the keys and told ‘Wagon’s in the yard Take it easy today. No rush. When you get back, unload into the artic ‘curtainsider trailer’ out back and you’re done for the day. Here’s tomorrow’s paperwork (3 pickups), I’m off tomorrow. So see ya’ Thursday!" :open_mouth:

I wander, in a bit of a daze, to the yard to find the wagon. Turns out it’s an 07 plate MAN!! All lovely and shiny, sparkling in the early morning sun! Not a dent or scratch on it anywhere!! :open_mouth:

Unlocked, gear in the cab. Blimey; it’s spotless…and, and, and…it’s an Automatic!!..Wonder what that’s like…Oh well, no ‘range switch’ worries then! LOL

Insert digi-card…this ought to be fun, never used it!..‘Card error’…Bugger! Reset…insert digi-card…‘Card error’…■■■■…manual log then! Think for a second or two… Reset…turn digi-card over…insert…Result!! Blush!! Hrrrmph…

Crank it up and check air pressure and everything else I can possibly think of…outside…‘preflight walkaround’…all good. During this time, I am talking to Robert and letting him know that I am a ‘newbie’. Happen to say that, “As you know what’s going on, I would like you to help keep me straight… So don’t be afraid to call out if you notice anything…yadda, yada, yadda”…He laughs, “Well mate, I’ll do the best I can, but I only started yesterday myself!!” :open_mouth:

Finally we’re ready…Into ‘D’ and we’re off!..300 yards down the road to the safety supplies shop! We arrive safely…LOL

30 mins later we emerge with new hi-viz padded coats and water proof trousers…why?? It’s not even raining!!..Rigger boots and water proof gloves!..Blimey, I know this is England but…seems a bit of an ‘overkill’. Can’t be arsed to unwrap it now…so into the bunk it goes…and off we trot!

15 mins later we are clear of Wisbech traffic and onto the A-47. Already been cut up by 3 numpties and successfully anticipated one ‘suicide’ who crossed at the lights with no regard to the ‘red man’ or traffic FFS!!

A couple of miles up the road and I realise that my knees are no longer shaking and I can finally summon some saliva!! LOL I’m liking this…

By the time we negotiate the roadworks in Kings Lynn and reach Swaffham, I am having a ball!! I also desperately need to pee!!

We pull into Mickie D’s and I park up, very professionally I thought, in the line of trucks and coaches…LOL

One badly needed loo visit, pick up two large coffees and we head out…singing…“On the road again”…

We make ‘Suicide Gulch’ (Norwich) and although I am anticipating loads of ‘nightmares’ (ala my training there) we get to our destination with no dramas! Park up in the road outside and go ‘recce’ the situation. Good grief!! I’m gonna have to reverse about 300 feet down a potholed muddy driveway that is barely wider than the truck. ‘They’ say that in order to reach the spot I need to, they have to move a couple of cars and can I ‘bend it’ around so that we don’t completely block the driveway as there is a body shop back there too and, “They tend to get a bit arsey!!” I give a real good look and figure that I can just about do what they want. Robert says that he will be my ‘Banksman’!

I have now figured out why there are two ‘R’ settings on the selector switch and I ‘creep’ slowly back down the diveway. At least 6" on either side of my mirrors…except in a couple of places where it got real tight!..No sweat!! :open_mouth: LOL

I get into the yard and shunt it around to get the back end up against the panel fence. No real problem …except the lady in the trailer that serves as an office for the aforementioned body shop got that ‘Deer in the headlights’ look when I put the nose of the wagon about 6" from her window! Oh yeah…the ‘pit bull’ in there didn’t like it much either! Stood on the back of a couch barking and slavering all over the window!! Unsociable or what? LOL

Anyway, the guys from the tyre shop remove two fence panels and it’s time to load…Robert gets in the back and starts stacking and weaving as I chuck the tyres in to him. 100 or so tyres later and I now completely understand why they issued waterproofs!! LOL

1 hour and 15 very sweaty and very wet minutes later we have 500 tyres stacked on board and are full from floor to ceiling and headboard to tail lift!! Job’s a good 'un. Me; I look like a drowned rat!! LOL

We creep back out of the driveway having shunted around and ■■■■■■ the ‘pit bull’ off again and head for Wisbech. Major jam on the ring road…police cars and ambulances everywhere…we are diverted onto side roads. Robert has his Satnavprogrammed and it keeps trying to send us through housing estates. But, having done my training there, I ignore it and go through the village of Costessy and get back to the main drag no problem!

On to the 47 and away…

It’s now about 2:00pm and coffee is calling so…into Mickey D’s again. Robert asks if I mind if he eats something…I hadn’t given it any thought, as I don’t eat lunch, so I feel bad :open_mouth: …Mucho apologies to him but he says, No worries!" I remind him that I am not his boss and that he should eat whenever he wants and tell him, “Next time, smack me ‘upside the head’ to get my attention!!”

We arrive back at the yard, I back up to the trailer. We lower the tailift to make a bridge and Robert rolls the tyres into the trailer and I stack and weave 'em! As I am wet anyway, I still don’t unpack the waterproofs! But; I will definitely use 'em tomorrow!! LOL

An hour later we are done. Park the wagon, again very professionally…LOL…between the others. sort out the Tacho and paperwork.

5 pm, SWMBO picks me up and home we go!

9 hours 30mins total, 4:30 driving.

Biggest worry at the moment is that I am still not exactly sure what I am doing with the Digital Tacho…It a Siemens and I know there is some good info on them in this forum. So; off to read some more about it in a mo…

And then to bed… I am knackered!!! :open_mouth:

Overall…

I absolutely bloody loved it!!!

Can’t wait for tomorrow!! :smiley:

Thanks for putting up with the long, long post…I’m just so happy! :smiley:

Night all

spd0121:
Well…Home in one piece…result!! :smiley:

O7:30 Show time this morning. 20 min drive to the yard, so set the alarm for 05:15 in orer to allow the consumption of one pot of finest ‘French Roast’ java!! Caffiene fueled reaction time to allow for ‘suicidal’ pedestrian avoidance manouevres, being the order of the day!

Showered and in bed by 11:00 p.m. Early for me! 00:15 lying there in the dark, still thinking about MSM, blind spot checks, forward planning and lane positioning!! Bugger…must get to sle…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sit bolt upright in bed and reach for the alarm to check the time…04:45!! :open_mouth: .Try to get 40 more winks…hopeless.

04:55…up, dressed (in the dark) downstairs, coffee on! 04:58 first cup…thank God for ‘pause and serve’! :smiley:

Check my holdall bag…maps, pens,gloves, tacho discs, camera, notebook, licence, digicard etc. etc. etc…Coffeee time!

Re-check holdall…LOL

Hi-viz; where’s my friggin’ Hi-viz!! Oh yeah, it’s alread on the fleece I’m gonna wear. :blush:

Where’s SWMBO…if she makes me late I’ll…Check time…05:30 Oops!!

More coffee…

Re-check holdall!

Finally SWMBO appears…“What the hell do you think you are doing? It’s only 5:45 for Gawd’s sake!!”…

06:10 “Come on; let’s go…there might be an accident or something…or we might get a flat”…

06:35 arrive at the yard… :blush:

Hmmmm…can’t see the aforementioned ERF in the yard. Wonder what i’m gonna drive then.

07:25 still no sign of human habitation…Good grief; don’t these people believe in being on time or even a little early…

07:29 they’re here!! “Bye, baby. See you later.” And I’m in there.

In very short order my paperwork is sorted and I am introduce to my ‘Driver’s mate’ - Robert. Seems like a nice sort and not a real youngster (About 30ish, I reckon).

We are given our ‘lines’ for the day…just one pick up in Norwich…nice way to ‘ease into it’, thinks I…then I notice…500 tyres!! :open_mouth: All handball!!

I am tossed the keys and told ‘Wagon’s in the yard Take it easy today. No rush. When you get back, unload into the artic ‘curtainsider trailer’ out back and you’re done for the day. Here’s tomorrow’s paperwork (3 pickups), I’m off tomorrow. So see ya’ Thursday!" :open_mouth:

I wander, in a bit of a daze, to the yard to find the wagon. Turns out it’s an 07 plate MAN!! All lovely and shiny, sparkling in the early morning sun! Not a dent or scratch on it anywhere!! :open_mouth:

Posting now to avoid possible loss…back in a sec.

From one Coffe holic (though mine is Columbian) to another well done sounds like my first day 36 years ago keep on trucking buddy.
Rick

Ta mate!!

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Off to bed now…as I said, I am tired but happy!!

Theres not really much to explain about digi tachs, lot easier to use I think than manuals when it comes to reminding yourself to stop/start your big time, calculate driving time (Without Also calculated your weekly/fortnightly driving time down to the last minute etc…

Wonderful first day newbie blog :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

I’d second that fella, very enjoyable just like the training blog - well done!!!

Nicely done mate. And it seems you have half the techniques down pat already :smiley:
The most important tip for driving with a sat-nav, is to know when to ignore the thing, and you seem to have that one sorted.
It’s also nice to hear about people running round my old stomping ground of Norwish. Kepp up the good work. I may be down that neck of the world sometime. Any jobs going? :laughing:

Its like the diary of adrian mole and he just become a lorry driver :stuck_out_tongue: :laughing:
Good read though, nice to have a mate sometimes but I prefer being on my own now I like my own space and no one making my cab dirty lol.

Well done, may you have many more good day’s.