A glimmer....now a start!

[toofarover]

hey everyone

following on from my previous post…

i now have a start…friday and saturday working with walking floor trailers delivering climafuel to cemex/rugby
sites around uk . its mostly drop and pick up but there will be loading and unloading involved at times .

to say i’m nervous …understatement

so here i have a short list of the main thing’s that are worrying me ,

driver hours and managing breaks (i understand it all in theory but putting it into practice in real life is worrying me a touch)

fuelling up ( sounds daft i guess , but i’ve never filled a wagon up before , i’ve been told there will be a shell fuel card
but i’m still zb’ing it (my own censoring )

any help/advice appreciated guys

any slating will be taken under advisement

thanks.

[bandit12]

Good luck with ya new job, unfortunately cant answer your questions as have not started myself yet !!

[gazza7682]

bandit12:
unfortunately cant answer your questions as have not started myself yet !!

+1

Also good luck with the new job

[selby_newcomer]

TooFarOver:
hey everyone

following on from my previous post…

i now have a start…friday and saturday working with walking floor trailers delivering climafuel to cemex/rugby
sites around uk . its mostly drop and pick up but there will be loading and unloading involved at times .

to say i’m nervous …understatement

so here i have a short list of the main thing’s that are worrying me ,

driver hours and managing breaks (i understand it all in theory but putting it into practice in real life is worrying me a touch)

fuelling up ( sounds daft i guess , but i’ve never filled a wagon up before , i’ve been told there will be a shell fuel card
but i’m still zb’ing it (my own censoring )

any help/advice appreciated guys

any slating will be taken under advisement

thanks.

Just chill out mate, you have done the hard part and got your licence, so you know you can do it, just take your time in everything you do. If your changing trailers, check twice to make sure you have done everything you need to.

As for keeping an eye on your hours, make sure you have a 30 min break if you get to 6 hours without having done 4:5 hours driving! That will be a WTD(work time directive)break, if you have done 4:5 hours driving within 6 hours, you need to have a 45 min break, which can be split into a 15 min and 30 min break but not the other way round, so you can’t have a 30 then 15, if your splitting your 45, the 2nd part always has to be 30 mins.

As for the fuel card, if it’s shell, just find a shell station and pull onto the pump and go in and hand your card over and tell them what pump number your on and then go and fill up. Make a note of your mileage and go in and pay and off you go, simples

Hope this helps

[44_tonne_ton]

Keep it simple to start with. Use the alarm facility on your mobile to give you a reminder to start looking for somewhere to have a break. Set it for 5 hours after your start time unless you’re doing a 4.5 driving stint from the off in which case set it for 4 hours. The digi-tacho will only give you 15 minutes warning before you reach 4.5 hours of driving and that might not give you much leeway.
When you finish a 45 minute break you can start again as above. Avoid using that POA bollox it can cause you trouble!

[yambol57]

Hiya mate
Good luck with the new job … as for tacho well try and Judge your times so that you are stopped at a drop anyway as soon as that thing starts flashing driver 1 break you only have 15 mins to get parked for 45 mins .
as for fueling up take a flask with ya lol ( oh ya mean the truck ) most places want you to take the card in to the shop before they turn the pump on but if ever you are stuck there should be a phone number on the back phone them and they will tell you where the nearest station is also it may be accepted at other stations .

[dar1976]

Can’t really add much to that.

Something that no-one mentioned though is that you should head for HGV fuel pumps (not the car ones) as the gantries can be a bit low otherwise.

Your hours on tacho will come naturally the more you use them. You will start to get used to planning your stop anywhere between 3.45 to 4 hours driving.

If you on analogue tacho, keep an eye on your ■■■■■■■■■■ times. Remember driving time is only when the wheels are turning.

If you get really stuck, we are here to help.

Best of luck. Take it easy. And enjoy

[jennie]

You will be fine , breaks not a prob just keep an eye on your times for first day once you have done a day the taking a break will come natural , as said if analogue set a timer on your phone to go off you can normally stop these when unloading as you wontbe driving ,

driving brks 4 1/2 hrs brk 4 1/2 hrs rest

split start day 2 hrs driving 15 mins brk 2/ 1/2 hrs drive 30 mins brk 4 1/2 hrs drive rest

or variations on these

you can do 2 x 10 hrs in one week so if you get to 9 hrs drive and less than hr away from home take another 45 and can drive for one more hour

on vosa site there is a printout that you can take with you if you put in staying legal it will come up i used to take it with me when first started just to refer to might help

hope havent made you more confused

jx

[toofarover]

thanks for all the comments and support guys

it is much appreciated , just had a call from agency start time tomorrow 06:30 .
she said should have enough ad blu in wagon for the weekend and not too fill up without
getting permission from the company beforehand .

sooo…i’m off to pub for a couple pints too calm down n chill out , me legs are like jelly
then home relax , make sure my bags ready for morning and have an early night .

tomorrow’s a big day for me , wish me luck guys and gals

[toofarover]

should i avoid the POA ? why is it bollox?

thats made me think a bit!!

[toofarover]

well all seemed to go well , quite straightforward , 2 128 mile round trips a day , south ferriby to grantham .
still a learning curve , but overall i enjoyed it . worked 2 days fri and sat . just had call from agency i’m back in again this friday .
also just done a theory test with agency (passed second time 91/100 ) and now they are putting me in for an assessment at tesco’s in doncaster for fridge work . slow staring but things seem to be going in the right direction

i’ve attached a couple pics of the daf i was driving , bit of a big boy for my first time ever on the road , but after a couple hours i felt much more comfortable manouvering it , well that was my first time .

catch ya laters boys and girls