Hi Guys
This is my first post,so be gentle 
Firstly i`d like to say I took great help from all the little tips others posted to other newbies prior to taking my Class 1,i like to think it helped me pass 2 months agoâŚso a big thankyou for all your posts⌠
I am lucky to know of a guy who owns an agency & from the word go he threw me straight in at the deep end & got me Class 1 work with some very patient hauliers,ie,Langdons,Chilterns,Daniels in Peterborough,but to be honest i was beginning to think âTruckingâ wasnt for me,i dont know why it was something i couldnt put my finger on,but then he rung me to ask if i could get to Bretts Haulage in a hurry,i did & loved it,something felt right,the mud flowing over my boots in the yard trying to hook up a trailer in the dark,the filthy curtains,night shifts,poking about tiny âBâ roads in the country trying to find the tucked away drops in a farm yard at 2amâŚi love it all
âŚNow,this is where i need some advise guys
My agency is trying to pursuade me to do a permanent Docks job Fridays & Sundays going from Alconbury to Felixtowe Docks or Tilbury Docks twice a night on a 5pm startâŚfor some reason i have got it in my head its going to be horrible,he begs to differ & says it is good when i get used to it & will give me good experienceâŚ
My question isâŚi know im female but am i being a big girls blouse at thinking the Docks are horrible 
Congrats on getting yourself into the groove.
My mate used to do that Alcon/Felix job, its a lot of driving and he found it very tiring though easy enough work wise, i used to do double runs elsewhere at night and i too found it horrible, no worse in theory than a single long run of equal length but youâre coming to the last knockings of your first run and then sod me youâve got to go and do it all again, not too bad on balmy summer evenings, but hell when the ice is forming the snow falling the winds blowing you off your feet and its peeing down with rain or you canât see 50 yards in a pea soup fog that second run is daunting.
Maybe you found your niche in the type of varied work Bretts do, if you find something you enjoy and the money is acceptable stick with it would be my advice.
Remember Friday and Sunday evenings on the road can be hellâŚall the lemmings are either going away for the weekend or returning from.
Docks are fine. Worst part about them is finding where you need to be once youâre on them, especially Felixstowe, but if its a regular run then once youâve done it a few times itâll be no problem.
Docks are nothing like you see in the 70âs films.
I donât know what Felixstowe or Tilbury are like, but I often go to Harwich to collect or drop ferry trailers, and I love it. It may be because I spent many hours here with my Dad when he drove, or maybe just because Iâm still fairly new and enthusiastic, but I prefer the dock stuff to the industrial estate stuff.
I donât think thereâs anything to be scared of to be honest, once youâve got your head around how they operate, theyâre quite interesting places.
Gary
docks are ok, they can be daunting at first, but if you get stuck most people will see you right.
as already stated the 2 a night may get on your nerves pretty quick though. all well and good if the roads are clear, and the docks are not on a go slow, but if it were the other way around, an average nights work could soon turn into a long night.
Thankyou very much for your advice guys,it has given me food
Thankyou Juddian,i do love my work at Bretts,my boss has a different way of thinking than me,im happy to stay there but he thinks as im a new driver i should get as much experience in different things as possible,my fear is that i havent lined the lorry up just perfect & the container wont go on & then my inexperience shines like a beacon
I wouldnt get stressed out about containers it can be a bit daunting at firstâŚthrough the in gates onto the dock several lanes marked A to J just as an example A is nearest the water side and come inland i havnt seen felixstowe for some time now but it has probably grown so mite be more lanes now âŚjust for example your pickup mite be A26 get to box A26 get yourself as straight in the box as possible and wait for the straddle driver âŚhe mite even be sat there waiting with your box or waiting to take your box offâŚif your a bit too far back or forward he mite sound his claxonâŚif your getting stressed by now just jump out and talk to him on the 2 way at the bottom of the staddler tell him your new to the job can he be patient and thanks âŚonce you have been a time or two you will settle downâŚgood luck and keep the shiny side upâŚshytalk
I pull ferry trailers out of felixstowe mainly and quite enjoy it, its much better than general haulage. Once youâve been to any dock, be it felixstowe, harwich, immingham a few times youâll know how to work them all. But if you like what your doing now, eg driving down tight arse roads, going to farms all day, stay where you are, iâd love to go back to that kind of work.
I started on dock work and still do it now. Itâs easy enough once you work it all out. Always a driver willing to help you out for example:
It was lashing it down, hooked up and came to wind trailer legs up. No handle. Got handle out of locker, but bolt I had was too big. Nothing else with me so struggling like, well you know! A driver stopped and asked if I was ok. Told him my problem and he told me to have a look on leg feet of other trailers, there would be a bolt in one. Sure enough, 2 mins later found one and on my way.
Hey thankyou Shytalk,Dominic & Saaamon (& all the others),your explanation has definately made it sound less daunting,i think i will âman upâ & have a crack,the good thing is i wont get a bo**ocking if i â â â â up or dont like it as no pressure to be like a pro as they are fully aware i havent done it,part of me wants to like it but part doesnt as i do enjoy the challenge of pokey lanes,mud,& âthe turning must be here somewhereâ although i wouldnt miss being smacked in the side of the head with a wet soggy curtain when the wind takes hold of it & i see it slipping out my hands & wizzing through the air & me taking the brace position âŚi want to like the docks work as it`d be something else to put on my CV when work is quietâŚthanks guys,really appreciate your advice
Your welcome. never think theres nobody there to help youâŚthe docks are impresive Felixstowe is a big big dock , at a loose end just stop and ask most drivers will show you where to goâŚsome mite take the â â â â âŚwe have all had itâŚbig thing on docks is safetyâŚjust double check your twist locks on the trailerâŚah ! listen at me waffling on âŚyou will be ok plenty of container drivers on here that you will probably see or meetâŚcarry on driverâŚcheers shytalk.
I used to love working out of Felixstowe, although it was back in the days of Townsend Thoreson and the old immobile Straddle Carrier that you backed under. It was also in the days when you could park anywhere on the dock, get a breakfast at almost anytime and all the lads knew each other. The last time I was there was to tip a road tank and I was amazed how bloody difficult it was to get in and out. I would sooon get fed up of doing Alconbury to Felixtown twice nightly. Much prefer a Scotch Welsh or a Cornwall
At the Palletforce hub in Derby they give new drivers a sign to put in the windscreen so that the forkies will know. Maybe docks should do the same, or the OP could make her own sign?
Just a thought.
As for the job itself - you wonât know until you try it and I think that the idea of putting you on different work is a good one. I know it would drive me nuts doing the same thing night after night but some people love that kind of work.
Welcome to the forum by the way - donât take any notice of our resident nutters.
Donât forget to get your Rhides card sorted if you do decide to do Felixstowe.You can get a temporary one but it only lasts 24hrs.
And its a pain in the arse having to go to the docks police every day.
if you can, try and get on the tilbury runs first.
its smaller scale than felixstowe, and once you are on a grid to get a box off/on at 43 or 39 berth, the straddle driver does the positioning to get your box on/off, you have to be out of the truck whilst its being done, and give them a thumbs up when the box is either safely lowered on, or lifted off.
if your new on containers i think its an easier way to get your groundings.
also as others have said, always check, and double check your twistlocks.
I am a tipper driver come with me for a day then you will be scared! Only joking we just all get tarred with the same brush