Ever set off for work, got 100 yards down the road and had the feeling that things are just not going to go right? Happened to me got in the car to set off for the shift, traffic was a nightmare, where does it all come from all of a sudden? What would normally take forty minutes took an hour and ten, nothing wrong anywhere just volume of traffic 
.
Anyway gets to the yard told Iām doing Gonerby, Stortford, Aylesford, Park Royal then back empty to the yard. Pick up the unit, give it the once over, untangle suzies, wipe the lights, mirrors, etc and then across to despatch office to find trailer and load. āBay 18 Driverā so parks up in front of it and waits for the green light. Green light appears and I promptly couple up, pull forward go to put on the plate, check the trailers is a dual temp and about to close and seal the doors, looks inside to see that some of the load retainer strip is peeled away from the inside of the trailer which I believe is a problem as it sticks out and a forkie could easily catch it or themself so back into despatch, āThis trailer has a problem, has it been defected? ādonāt knowā is the reply, chap then finds trailer ticket to find that the previous driver has written on the docket āTrailer VOR, load bar neededā all ok you may think, however the plonker had not filled in a defect sheet for the garage and not told anyone and had parked the trailer on the usable empties bay, not in the bays marked Trailer VOR on big red signs 
, so unsuspecting shunter had used it, you might think he should have checked, but why if it is defective it should not be on the user bay?
So yours truly has to wait while trailer is offloaded, then swap it and take it back for reload. Finally set off some 45 minutes late to Gonerby, arrive at Brakes at just after 20.00 to be moaned at because they are waiting for this transfer load to go to Peterlea which is now hour and a quarter late, explain the situation but still feel that they believe I could have clicked my fingers and miraculously sorted it all out, your late Driver, not interested why, your late itās your fault. 
Get tipped and set off for what to my relief is an un-eventful run down to Dunmow Road, albeit late. No dramaās here all runs pretty smooth, get on the bay to load, stick it on break and go find the coffee machine. As a bit of an aside we often call security people on here as being jobsworths or awkward [zb]ās but one of the guyās at Stortford, keith is OK he can talk for England but is quite a nice guy and sure knows what he is doing, when he books vehicleās in/out for loading/tipping if the driverās listen to what he asks them to do it runs like clockwork but if someone takes it into their head that they know better then it [zb]ās it up for everyone the yard is very tight and full of four wheelers at night.
Anyway set off for Aylesford about an hour & ten from Stortford, get in, tip six pallets and straight off for Park Royal. All goes well until on the north circular, there was an incident at the traffic lights of A406 and A105 (Green Lane) plod has the junction closed, not entirely sure why, couldānt really see anything because too many plod vehicles in a wagon ring to keep out the redskins. Anyway young plod says that you will have to go down Wood Green high street and find an alternate route, OK says I and sets off, now I am not too familiar with the parishes of London once off the beaten track so set off down wood green lane looking for somewhere to stop and consult map. As I am not the only one being diverted along this route I cannot just stop anywhere and block that road as well, as it was hardly built with articās in mind, thought can I see another Truck and if he turns that might be my escape route, but no, nothing, so finally after negotiating my way through the shopping precinct to the surprise and amusement of some of the revellers turning out the clubs and pubs, scenery improved considerably by the way, I arrive at a fairly wide road section near some shops where I can pull up for a moment.
Get out the map to find that I have gone too far 
and should have turned right just before Wood Green nick onto A109 (Bounds Green Road), oh! Bugger says I now I need to turn. Move up a bit to find a fairly large crossroads which are light controlled with a fairly large yellow hatched box protecting the junction, I can get round here, bit tight maybe but do-able so wait for my side lights to change to green then move up to the box, let the traffic clear from the opposite direction and just as the light go amber I move forward, hazards on, and start to swing round, by this time it has become obvious to all what I am intent upon so it they hang back rather than argue with 54 foot of artic, get swung around and set off back, find the A109 and gat back on track, no more dramaās so arrive Park Royal about 02.30 to tip.
The Brakes yard at Park Royal is another tight one at night, again due to it being full of four wheelers and the goods in bay is situated between the office building and a concrete ramp and heads down hill. Itās a blind side reverse at night due to the line of four wheelers parked in front of it but OK with care, they have stuck a yellow and black steel bollard to protect the corner of the building which makes a right side reverse with a yard full of trucks a non-starter.
Get tipped whilst having a coffee and set off for home, nice steady run back up M1 to 15A and another break then press for home M1/A46/A614 job sorted.
I donāt dislike this run, its easy enough work and you do see some things on the NCR, not least of which is the amount of cars that get the cameraās flashing, must cost some of them a fortune or they no longer have a licence to lose. Anyway that was my night, 618km, but 12 ĆĀ½ Hours.
, finally left 00.15, did peterlee as well , rigid change and was told to wait in canteen [ 2 hr wait] . this was 2 yrs ago so things may have changed
