for those that know me, know i failed on my class 1 last week and am booked up again for the 29th this month. well you all know that it was my reversing that let me down. a very kind lorry driver called vince who lives a couple of miles away from me, made a very kind offer to me to go to his place of work and let me practice reversing his lorry (a scania124 i think but a very very nice lorry to drive anyway) a few times around the yard to get a bit of practice on reversing.
well last night i went up with vince and had few goes at it didnt do too bad i think. but my point is, that for those that have family and children know how precious your time with them is . vince left for work about 2.5 hours earlier than normal so he could help out a fellow driver (all be it a baby one class2 ) try and acheive his dream of being a fully fledged one and obtain his class1 licence. now it might only be 2.5 hours to alot of people, but when you have kids and donāt see them from one week to the next that is alot of time to give up for a stranger and someone he has never met before.
so i think vince deserves a big pat on the back for being a bloody good samaritan, because not many people would give up their precious time off so easily
Vince is one of the āOriginalsā on this site, and has been around since I can rememberā¦ He has always spent an inordinate amount of time helping drivers, wether on this website or quietly one to oneā¦
This act of Vinceās does not surprise me, itās the sort of bloke he is, and the type of member that make the backbone of this site.
And one thing i do knowā¦ this thread will make him blush with embarrasement as he will be determined he doesnt do anything specialā¦
Tough Luck Vince, yet again youve been caught outā¦ well done mate
This may well be insperation(sp) for other Drivers to do like wise!!!
I drive a Artic for a living I only do days and my boss doesnāt have a problem with me taking out someone who is interested in seeing the every day Job of a driver!
Unfortunatly that would not involve driving because of insurance etc.
but it would show what the industry is all about!
As soon as I am back at work I would be happy to take someone out for the day!
to be honest i am not bothered if he is embarrassed by it, vince done me a huge favour and i wanted everyone on here to know how grateful i wasā¦but more so what the man vince himself did for me, he deserves the recognition. It really did help me get a better understanding of how the trailor reacts
a genuine new age samaritan and if i pass on the 29 th part of that success will down to the man vince
margatemafia:
your avitar vinceā¦is it part of the scenic railway at dreamlandā ā ?
Yes, it certainly is- I`m an active member of the campaign to save Dreamland and the 84-year-old Scenic Railway, a unique and beautiful piece of Edwardian engineering.
Part of this involves spending as much of my wages as is humanly possible on riding it and myself, Charlie and Sam each rode over 120 times last season, making us just about the most regular riders.
We also got shown around the motor room and workshop which was fascinating for me as I am machinery-mad.
The good news is that the park is going to open for a couple of months this season, starting at the beginning of July. We`re keeping our fingers crossed for the long term.
Ill just plug the Save Dreamland website while Im on- Rikki has previously give permission to mention it and it`s at www.savedreamland.co.uk
Nice one Vince, Iād love to do the same but I never know where Iām going to be and like Ian, more than likely insurance issues regarding actual driving. I tramp too which makes it nigh on impossible.
You may or may not be interested to know that I`m taking Wayne to work tomorrow. I have to collect a loaded plate-glass trailer and tip it at Ashford.
I dont suppose it will be of much help with his test, but its all experience for him when he has obtained his ticket and is looking for work.
I had enormous amounts of help when I started, and I always promised myself that Iwould help others in return when I was more experienced. Waynes a nice laddie so Im happy to show him a thing or two
It helps that I have such a decent boss, who allows me to treat the lorry more-or-less as though it was my own personal posession.
Anyway, I`m sure Wayne will let you know how it goes.
vince did indeed take me out today, went throught the coupling and uncoupling again which is a big help. being in the lorry and even though it was only a little way down the roadā¦it has made me more determined than ever to get my class 1 next weekā¦i really do have the bug bad at the momentā¦some drivers i have spoken to have said in a deep lorry drivers voice " son thatāll soon wear off " but i dont think it will!!! i just get a buzz being near a lorry let alone driving it!!
but once again i want to say a big thankyou to vince!!!
Good on Vince for giving you a chance to see the job as opposed to just driving a truck to pass your test. After I passed my test I double manned with my brother, it was a great way of learning the job.
The truck driver thing doesnāt always wear off, but sometimes you wish it would when your heart says you like trucks and driving, but then you have a family or feel you could earn more for less hours, donāt really want the agro of driving on crowded roads etc.
Every so often my head tells me to leave the industry, but it doesnāt take long before Iām back behind the wheel. So I wouldnāt want to put anybody off, but just be realistic, there are days when you just want to be anywhere else that behind a wheel or triing to get a load on or off, but there are days when nothing else comes close to the sense od achievement and contentment you get for driving a truck.
Reckon you owe Vince one very big beer for his help and hopefully youāll be in a position to share your knowledge with somebody one day.
i think. but my point is, that for those that have family and children know how precious your time with them is 
. vince left for work about 2.5 hours earlier than normal so he could help out a fellow driver (all be it a baby one class2 
