Well I think I’ve had quite an eventful 2nd week/1st week out on my own (due to others being off sick)
Monday I was supposed to be double manned in the new 26t curtain sider, the other bloke rang in sick so I was trusted to go out in it on my own… abit nervous as I’ve not driven since passing my test back in November, I got the job done and bought it back in one piece!
Tuesday the fun really started as I was then put in the 12t for the day, started off well got a few drops done then was pulled by the DVSA that was a squeaky bum moment just because it was only my second day on my own, was kept there for about an hour, apparently it could of been longer but the company I work for are on green so they where gentle! 
Wednesday back out in the 12t and the day was going really well, done my first run then was sent out on a second run and one of the other lads decided to tag along with me, luckily he did! delivering to a “farm” was actually a tiny cottage with a narrow road leading upto it (we thought to ourselves it’ll be alright as its a farm address so there will be somewhere to turn around… there wasn’t! We unloaded then spent the next 50mins reversing back down this lane in the pitch black, luckily i was doubled manned as he guided me back out with his voice as both mirrors where folded in, that was a new experience!
Thursday I managed to loose a 1t pallet off the tail-lift because I was obviously on a slight incline but that wasn’t obvious until it fell off! Id managed to push it onto the tail-lift but as soon as it started to go down the weight obviously shifted slightly and off it went, luckily no was hurt or in its was as it fell, only damaged a few boxes but most of the order was fine luckily!
Friday well that was quite uneventful other than not being paid as pay roll had managed to mess that up but i eventually got paid by the end of the day…
Not a bad week…
Sounds like quite an adventure!
Seems like you tackled it well though, and better to ding a pallet than a truck!
Ianf:
delivering to a “farm” was actually a tiny cottage with a narrow road leading upto it (we thought to ourselves it’ll be alright as its a farm address so there will be somewhere to turn around… there wasn’t! We unloaded then spent the next 50mins reversing back down this lane in the pitch black, luckily i was doubled manned as he guided me back out with his voice as both mirrors where folded in, that was a new experience!
Which leaves me wondering what might have happened if you’d gone on your own - beg for help from a nearby householder prepared to give an hour of their time (and pray they have decent levels of concentration and spatial awareness) or stay put untill daylight perhaps? 
KTMrider:
Ianf:
delivering to a “farm” was actually a tiny cottage with a narrow road leading upto it (we thought to ourselves it’ll be alright as its a farm address so there will be somewhere to turn around… there wasn’t! We unloaded then spent the next 50mins reversing back down this lane in the pitch black, luckily i was doubled manned as he guided me back out with his voice as both mirrors where folded in, that was a new experience!Which leaves me wondering what might have happened if you’d gone on your own - beg for help from a nearby householder prepared to give an hour of their time (and pray they have decent levels of concentration and spatial awareness) or stay put untill daylight perhaps?
Well if losing a pallet was the worst thing that really happened, you’ve had a good week, and also hopefully learnt from it! 
Keep it up pal, and not hitting anything whilst safely delivering the goods is what matters, doing it efficiently will come later…
KTMrider:
Ianf:
delivering to a “farm” was actually a tiny cottage with a narrow road leading upto it (we thought to ourselves it’ll be alright as its a farm address so there will be somewhere to turn around… there wasn’t! We unloaded then spent the next 50mins reversing back down this lane in the pitch black, luckily i was doubled manned as he guided me back out with his voice as both mirrors where folded in, that was a new experience!Which leaves me wondering what might have happened if you’d gone on your own - beg for help from a nearby householder prepared to give an hour of their time (and pray they have decent levels of concentration and spatial awareness) or stay put untill daylight perhaps?
What real difference does it make? You crack on…
If there was no place to turn around, you’re going to be reversing in one direction, whether you go in forwards or backwards…
My preference is to reverse into a captive and restrictive location, as when you realise it don’t fit, it’s easy to get out again!
And trying to reverse into main street traffic is never going to end well, it’s better to block the road and dictate that you’ve reversing into an entrance or side street and people will have to wait. Sorry!
Seems as though you’ve just got on with it pal, one thing I’ve learnt in my 12months with my place is that you never make assumptions about anything. Unless you’ve done it before. I’ve been caught out good and bad a couple times at the beginning. If ever you aren’t sure it’s easier to go have a walk and check it out rather then spending an hour getting yourself out of a mess that could of been prevented [emoji846] well done bud [emoji846]
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Evil8Beezle:
KTMrider:
Ianf:
delivering to a “farm” was actually a tiny cottage with a narrow road leading upto it (we thought to ourselves it’ll be alright as its a farm address so there will be somewhere to turn around… there wasn’t! We unloaded then spent the next 50mins reversing back down this lane in the pitch black, luckily i was doubled manned as he guided me back out with his voice as both mirrors where folded in, that was a new experience!Which leaves me wondering what might have happened if you’d gone on your own - beg for help from a nearby householder prepared to give an hour of their time (and pray they have decent levels of concentration and spatial awareness) or stay put untill daylight perhaps?
What real difference does it make? You crack on…
I think you may have interpreted my comment as a criticism of the OP which it really wasn’t meant as. As the OP said, he was lucky his work colleague jumped in - so putting myself in the OP’s position (and as a less experienced Class 2 driver than he already is) I just thought “■■■■” what do you do in that situation if you are on your own? - hence my comment.
So to answer your question I think the real difference my “wondering” makes is to help us newbies think about how we can avoid getting into mega stressful situations, which is surely kinda the point of this newbie forum.
I think Useless Force has got a good answer:
UselessForce:
Seems as though you’ve just got on with it pal, one thing I’ve learnt in my 12months with my place is that you never make assumptions about anything. Unless you’ve done it before. I’ve been caught out good and bad a couple times at the beginning. If ever you aren’t sure it’s easier to go have a walk and check it out rather then spending an hour getting yourself out of a mess that could of been prevented [emoji846] well done bud [emoji846]
KTMrider:
I think you may have interpreted my comment as a criticism of the OP which it really wasn’t meant as. As the OP said, he was lucky his work colleague jumped in - so putting myself in the OP’s position (and as a less experienced Class 2 driver than he already is) I just thought “[zb]” what do you do in that situation if you are on your own? - hence my comment.So to answer your question I think the real difference my “wondering” makes is to help us newbies think about how we can avoid getting into mega stressful situations, which is surely kinda the point of this newbie forum.
I don’t think I have misinterpreted your question, it’s a country lane, you use your mirrors and reverse back out on your own. There are no banksmen in the real world for 99% of us, and certainly not in a very rural location. My point is that you HAVE to get on with it, and use your skill as a driver to get yourself out.
However, I went on to say that not putting yourself in a difficult or compromising situation is vitally important. OK it may be a long country lane, and if it was that long, I may well drive down forwards chancing my arm instead of getting out and having a wander. But I’ll also be assessing my exit strategy as I do it, and ensuring I don’t compromise that. For example, don’t drive down a tight lane with lots of overhanging foliage, as when you come to reverse, your mirrors will be useless as they are full of foliage… At that point, you make the call on whether to fail the drop, and it goes out on a smaller truck or van. A Newbie needs to learn these things, as you won’t get a gold star for making a drop and then having to be recovered, or filling in accident forms…
Ianf:
started off well got a few drops done then was pulled by the DVSA that was a squeaky bum moment just because it was only my second day on my own, was kept there for about an hour, apparently it could of been longer but the company I work for are on green so they where gentle!
What happens when you’re pulled by the DVSA?
Evil8Beezle:
I don’t think I have misinterpreted your question, it’s a country lane, you use your mirrors and reverse back out on your own. There are no banksmen in the real world for 99% of us, and certainly not in a very rural location. My point is that you HAVE to get on with it, and use your skill as a driver to get yourself out.
That would be one heck of a skilled driver that could use his mirrors while they are folded in 
Evil8Beezle:
For example, don’t drive down a tight lane with lots of overhanging foliage, as when you come to reverse, your mirrors will be useless as they are full of foliage… At that point, you make the call on whether to fail the drop, and it goes out on a smaller truck or van. A Newbie needs to learn these things, as you won’t get a gold star for making a drop and then having to be recovered, or filling in accident forms…
Two gold nuggets of info here (the perils of foliage and failing a drop) this certainly answers some of the questions the OP’s post raised for me - thanks !
KTMrider:
Evil8Beezle:
I don’t think I have misinterpreted your question, it’s a country lane, you use your mirrors and reverse back out on your own. There are no banksmen in the real world for 99% of us, and certainly not in a very rural location. My point is that you HAVE to get on with it, and use your skill as a driver to get yourself out.That would be one heck of a skilled driver that could use his mirrors while they are folded in
So don’t put yourself in that situation, as that’s one of the skills of being a driver…
It’s more than just being able to control/steer the truck, thinking is also required at times!
Oh I definitely learnt a very valuable lesson from it, never trust a customer and always check for myself! Also with the pallet falling off the lesson there was I won’t be doing it again!
When I was pulled it was only for a mechanical check so just a check of lights etc as well as the toffee hammer came out tapping wheel nuts and other bits and bobs! Clean bill of health and off I went, still cost me an hour but I’ll admit it was squeaky bum moment! My manager was happy though with a clean bill of health just helps “us” keep in the green!
As for the reversing into nearly everywhere now definitely makes life easier for getting out and like evilbizzle has said you can control the traffic a lot easier! As correctly said 99% of the time you won’t have a banksman, I just got extremely lucky in that sense!
It’s been a learning curve and I believe I’ve come out the otherside with abit more knowledge and confidence, the other new driver that started when I did had an easy week he was saying, nice easy drops and no hassles or anything!
Nice going mate, sounds like you had a steep learning curve all round - good for future reference I’d say. As for the other new guy, I guess it’s nice to have the easy drops etc. but I imagine it’s swings and roundabouts and his difficult days will come.
Ianf:
It’s been a learning curve and I believe I’ve come out the otherside with abit more knowledge and confidence, the other new driver that started when I did had an easy week he was saying, nice easy drops and no hassles or anything!
I enjoyed my time on the pallets, as no day was ever the same…
As your confidence grows you actually start relishing a bit of a tricky maneuver, instead of dreading it.
There’s nothing worse driving to a regular drop that you really really hate, so you have to put a spin on it somehow.
Be it the maneuvering, dealing with the customers, and within reason having to put a bit of graft in now in then…
Although the words ‘Kerbside Delivery’ were often said! 
As some people want to take the ■■■■… 
Get on well with the regular drops/customers, and you might get a coffee, a bit of banter and tipped quicker when you need it!
A job is often as hard as you make it, and if you can stay damage free, you’ll probably not get queried about failed drops.
Let the 7.5t driver deal with that tomorrow. And they’ll pass it on to the Van for the next day!
If you want any more drivel about pallets, let me know? 
But one last thing, do they run class 1 on days side by side at your place?
If so use that link if class 1 is your goal…