Just got a call offering me work tomorrow, driving a milk tanker up from somerset to north london drop off and back…my first lone drive in charge of an artic (and 28000 litres of milk!) and feeling just a bit nervous. 
I’ve done it twice but with an experienced driver in the cab. Fingers crossed. We all have to start somewhere and so long as I don’t ■■■■ it up hopefully this will lead to more work…
brilliant, keep it up mate 
Excellent stuff kvin.
You’ll love being on your own tomorrow,just take it nice and easy. 
Is it only me who has a mental picture of a traffic plod saying the immortal words to the OP? Professional driver, ignorance of the law is no excuse… blah,blah,blah… 
The first solo drive in an artic got cancelled (drat). Then I got offered it again but was away. But fortunately it came up so yesterday was the day. Turned up early - just before lunchtime start - and was told to go wait in the “drivers room” - after 20 minutes went back to check that I’d been forgotten. Picked up the paperwork and was told to go do my checks, found the truck and put in my digicard, started my checks. Checking the trailer found the valves open and realised that the tank was empty, checked the trailer number and discovered that my full tank was the other side of the yard…
So first task is unhitch one trailer and attach to another. Brakes, legs, airlines, kingpin and number plate, pull away and then get out to make sure everything looks ok! Back up to the full tank and get out to check height…realise I’m still 30 feet away and do it again, repeat twice!! Make sure trailer brake is on. After more faffing back under and click in and try to pull away… Out to connect up and do all the checks, can’t raise the legs. So out comes the little remote control to raise the tractor unit suspension, eventually suss that and lift it enough to raise the legs. Everything connected, checks done, abs warning light on… disconnect and reconnect the suzies, no joy, find another driver who confirms it isn’t down to me, then find a mechanic who eventually fits new lines!
Nearly an hour late having sorted the paperwork leave the yard. Trailer has a big sticker saying I’m delivering 49777 pints of milk for Tesco - how cool is that! Come round a blind bend on a hill to find half a dozen cars with caravans parked up one side of the road, fortunately someone is directing traffic so no drama. Completely uneventful drive up to North London - by the time I hit the North Circular it’s 5 pm so busy but stay calm and ignore the numpties in BMW’s cutting each other up…
Oakthorp dairy drive on the weighbridge and check in, then try to reverse on to bay 3 - thanks to two experienced drivers who help me in. Takes me three or four goes and a lot of cursing under the breath on my part but they stay patient (like all the other drivers I meet) and help and answer my questions and even sort the pipework for me. Take the samples from the tanks and send them up the magic vacuum tube for testing. Bloke from the office comes and tells me that the front tank failed so I have to dip it again, this time it passes. (No one seems to know what happens if it fails again!).
Hit the road again at 8, this time traffic is quiet so only just over 3 hours back to Somerset, keeping it on the speed limits like a good boy and trying to stay out of the way of other trucks wanting to go faster… fill up with fuel after struggling with the key fob system at the pumps in the depot, clean the truck and trailer with the pressure washer (again lots of faffing trying to remember how the thing works, get covered in grease and mud). Finally back between two parked trailers in a dark corner of the yard with mirrors covered in rain (this involves getting out and checking about 6 times as a better bet than hitting anything). Clean up the cab and make sure no grease on the steering wheel! And finally finally having sorted the digicard and got a printout back to the office to be taken through the paperwork line by line and ticking every box.
I reckon my paperwork still leaves a bit to be desired, not sure that I always put the tacho on rest when I was resting or that it tallied with my written log. Need practice reversing as I’ve still probably only backed an artic less than 10 times, but that will come. Likewise connecting up trailers is ok if I take it slow and careful. What it seems to come down to is in in doubt don’t, if in doubt check, and if in doubt ask. The agency were happy that the load got delivered and nothing got broke so have promised me more artic work, so fingers crossed!
All sounds good to me! The first few runs on your own can be buttock clenching from time to time. After the 40 years I’ve had in the job, I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with the pipes and paperwork etc etc. Every job has it’s own special bits you have to learn. The basic driving doesn’t vary that much though.
All the best, Pete 
Sounds like you had a brill first drive good on ya and heres to many more
Jen x
Really interested in your story. I’m in a similar position [mid 50s , office based, though in PR not law]. I was made redundant and took early retirement last year. Have decided to pursue an ambition which is to get my class 1 licence. Any work I can get after that is a bonus as I can manage on current income. Have my medical booked and am doing the theory revision at present. Would be interested in a discussion offline sometime - PM me if this suits you?
this involves getting out and checking about 6 times as a better bet than hitting anything
Absolutely! You had an interesting job for a newbie with potential for problems so caution is key.
Thanks Guys - Jen I just read your post about the first artic job and know how you felt! It really is a steep learning curve when you get out there in a depot with your bag and flask and a truck and a couple of trailers to move and hook up to and have to get on with it on your own, but as everyone says if in doubt you have to ask! And the trailer brakes foxed me and it’s so easy to get it wrong.
Thursday I had another call, again a milk tanker up to North London, again it had the wrong trailer attached so had to drop off a full one and connect another… then completely cocked up the reverse on the bay and ended up doing it from the blindside with most of the other drivers out watching… that said several came up to me afterwards to tell me what a difficult place it is to get in to as many of the tankers have rear wheel steer (but not the one’s I’m driving…). The driving is getting easier, even doing the North Circular isn’t too bad, but I hate getting on the bay. Plus I couldn’t connect the pipework, only by asking I found out some of the tankers use an adaptor which was on my outlet pipe and explained why I couldn’t connect up to it…(again lots of struggling and swearing until I asked someone and they explained…)
Just got back from cycling 200 miles in the Peak district (yep I’m one of those bloody cyclists in the way up the Snake pass) to find I’m on a run tomorrow at 3.30 am up to Oakthorp then wait around and pick up a load of cream to bring back to another dairy in Wiltshire - apparently I’ll have to watch my hours as it often ends up with phoning in and getting picked up in a van. Sounds like a fun day and should keep me on my toes…
kvin:
Thanks Guys - Jen I just read your post about the first artic job and know how you felt! It really is a steep learning curve when you get out there in a depot with your bag and flask and a truck and a couple of trailers to move and hook up to and have to get on with it on your own, but as everyone says if in doubt you have to ask! And the trailer brakes foxed me and it’s so easy to get it wrong.Thursday I had another call, again a milk tanker up to North London, again it had the wrong trailer attached so had to drop off a full one and connect another… then completely cocked up the reverse on the bay and ended up doing it from the blindside with most of the other drivers out watching… that said several came up to me afterwards to tell me what a difficult place it is to get in to as many of the tankers have rear wheel steer (but not the one’s I’m driving…). The driving is getting easier, even doing the North Circular isn’t too bad, but I hate getting on the bay. Plus I couldn’t connect the pipework, only by asking I found out some of the tankers use an adaptor which was on my outlet pipe and explained why I couldn’t connect up to it…(again lots of struggling and swearing until I asked someone and they explained…)
Just got back from cycling 200 miles in the Peak district (yep I’m one of those bloody cyclists in the way up the Snake pass) to find I’m on a run tomorrow at 3.30 am up to Oakthorp then wait around and pick up a load of cream to bring back to another dairy in Wiltshire - apparently I’ll have to watch my hours as it often ends up with phoning in and getting picked up in a van. Sounds like a fun day and should keep me on my toes…
You`ll be fine mate the more you do it the better you will become 200 miles cycling bloody hell your thighs must be like nutcrackers lol ,
an if you get stuck in wiltshire I know a really good taxi driver that can take you back lol
seriously have a good un
jx
Thighs like nutcrackers - I wish! Third day on my own today, went to bed at 9 pm and got up at 2.15 to get to the depot for a 3.30 am start - up to Oakthorp and in to bay 2 which is not easy, out again on the weighbridge when I’d tipped (and got the pipes the right way round this time) then back in to 2 but had my tire marks to follow in. Filled up with cream and then out to Westbury to tip that… I guess cream is denser so heavier and when it starts moving backwards and forwards everything moves. Takes several miles to calm down once you get a wave going!
At Westbury dropped the trailer and then had a palaver as was told to go find a powder tanker, take it to the weighbridge then drop it off again…bloody great big thing with additional legs at the back which fortunately I spotted but spent ages trying to raise. Eventually got through the task, sorted all the paperwork, got everything in the right places and got back to the yard after a full 15 hour day at 6.30pm… lots more learnt and I don’t think I broke anything or harmed anyone in the process!!
Had a call earlier today from the agency to say that they might ring me at 2.30 tomorrow morning to go out and do the tanker run at 3.30 
- if they don’t then they will give me an 11 am start. Reckon I have to grin and bear it at this stage so that I keep getting the work. It’s not as if I can be choosy, I’ve been really lucky to get a start doing tanker work. Though you have to wonder why they reckon the driver they’ve allocated it to won’t turn up and why they don’t just get me to do it.
So looks like make a packed lunch and fill my flask, get the bag ready and take the phone to bed…
Yoiu may well have been called out so wont read this till later but to give benefit of doubt the company may not know the run will happen till last minute hense the uncertainty but could be wrong , just keep what your doing as you are earning your reputation with them as flexible and willing to work so soon will be able to pick and choose as they will be calling on you more and more 
jx
hello Kvin
I was really interested to see how you have got on with things as your story matches mine in so many ways. I trained at WTTL and finished my C+E three weeks ago. I was not a lawyer but have been a lecturer among other things. I have been given the number of a company in Frome for milk work, is this where you work? I am at present driving for an agency and like you have had a very steep learning curve to adapt to, not least the wild times of day you start and finish. Quite difficult to sleep in the truck when in a yard but with ear plugs I am sure it will get better.
I did a tramping job last Friday and went out at 9.00pm to Bedford, Doncaster and stopped over in Boston all day and then back to depot at 2.00 am Sunday Via Weston super mare and Chard. Last drop was a reverse back up hill round a lorry, round a 90 degree corner, through a zig zag and then into the bay. Good job it was the last job of the day, it took me a few goes and a lot of shunts but nevertheless I got there in the end.
Magic roundabout was a bit daunting for the tests and I missed the turning on the class 1 test and ended up going round the bus station to get back to in. Glad you are doing OK with work and hope that things continue the same. Keep posting on here as it is great to hear how other new drivers get on. I did think at first I would end up asking averyone everything but it is slowly coming together. More experienced drivers are so helpful and always willing to assist if you get stuck so it makes sense to ask if you need to.
Best bit of advice I have had so far ( well maybe not best as there has been so much good advice) was from an older guy who said when he learned in 1968 his instructor told him that if you had to drive 20 miles to turn around and avoid a blindside reverse it was still cheaper than the cost of damage you could do if it went wrong.
Great to hear that another new driver is doing well
regards
Truckist
Definitely put on a fixed smile and say yes I’m available for work even at short notice and it messes up my weekend!
Good to hear of others getting work, there’s hope for new drivers. I’d like to try a tramping job and get a night out though with the milk work it seems unlikely. Didn’t get the call at 2.30am, but did get a call at 9 to start at 11.00am. This was supposed to be a straight run with 28000l of milk up to Oakthorp but having got on to the M25 I got a call to say I was collecting cream to be delivered back to Westbury. Know the procedure now so knew what to do at the dairy, and to expect the difficult bay as that’s where the cream outlet is…
Stuck at the dairy for 6 hours, some of it loading and a lot of it waiting, staggered by how long drivers and trucks are made to sit idle while the office and technical bods do their thing. I consoled myself with the thought that it’s the big companies loss if they can’t or don’t make it work better, and I was being paid not to do very much and read a book to pass the time…eventually got loaded with 28000l of cream. Last run was 23000l which sloshed around a bit, this time it didn’t move much as the tanks were full but it was heavy - hill starts were a bit slow and getting up the hill at Hanger Lane roundabout took a bit of time (lots of eejits hurtling past both sides of me). Downhill was like falling out of a window, have to keep a close eye on that speedo and use the engine brake to keep below 60. Roundabouts take nice and slow and gentle even if it does annoy everyone else!!
Enjoyable drive up the M4 and down to Westbury, with the occasional plonker in a car doing 50 in the middle lane. I admit to tailgating middle laners when in a car but the thought of what would happen if they touched their brakes made me keep my distance and swear instead. At Westbury dropped the trailer - on a slight slope so when I tried to get the kingpin out couldn’t budge it. Eventually sussed that I needed to reverse the unit ever so slightly to take the pressure off. Then back solo to Frome trying not to exceed speed limits and hitched up to another trailer with 15 minutes left of my 15 hours…another long day and back home early in the morning.
Now waiting on a call to see if I’m working at the weekend - and just got my first day’s pay in to the bank though it seems they deducted tax on an emergency code so it’s nowhere expensive to celebrate.
Hey your becoming an ol pro , glad to see your enjoying it , and them middlelaners do my head in too why they think its fine to cruise along is beond me they effectivly bring the m/w down to 2 lanes and cause gridlock as the inside lane is nearly always empty , if in the car I wont pull round them just stay on inside lane but cant get outa way in lorry as quick so dont try it then bit too risky lol
keep on truckin
jx
No work from the “milk tanker” agency this week - they say “things are quiet”. But got a call this morning from another agency out of the blue to ask if I could get down to Westbury - 40 minutes away - straight way to do a job. Said yes, as you do, and got down there quick. A cursory handover (here are the keys) to a 7.5 tonner Iveco with curtainsides and a load of pallets of packing boxes and three delivery notes with addresses in Portsmouth and Southampton…
Managed to detain the guy briefly to show me how to open and then close the sides (useful). Did a vehicle check, sat and planned my route with the digi card in (managed to remember to put it in at the start), set off and tried to work out how to get the bloody thing in gear and find the handbrake etc. Driving a large artic with an auto box then driving a small truck with a manual box makes life interesting. A hill start with a manual box, blimey how do you do that again?
Then had several warning lights - a bulb (ok a bulb has gone but not one I can find). A tacho warning “security breach”. Stopped and checked everything and pressed yes on the tacho which made it go away. A symbol on the dash in the shape of a gearbox…stopped and it went out…
Was told to stop for fuel at Warminster, went in to the tills to ask what they needed, to be told to get on and fill up and they would sort me out… “agency driver?” she said…how did you guess. Pin number? Under the sun visor apparently…
First drop was easy, unusually for a firm on an industrial estate they even had the unit number on the unit. Had by then forgotten how to operate the curtains…did some swearing and pulling and more swearing and more pulling, encountered one of sods laws - the pallet you want is the other end to where you opened the curtain and on the other side. Second drop the name on the delivery note was different to the name on the unit and it took several calls to work out that the named recipient was somewhere else and I was to deliver to another firm who ran their warehouse (!!) Rang the office to tell them where I was. Hard to tell if they cared but I thought I’d better reassure them I was still alive. No they said, they didn’t want me to tell them when I did my last drop (no they didn’t care).
Stopped after four hours driving for a break before miraculously stopping outside the last drop to see if I could find it on my phone and spotting a sign down an alleyway. These firms do like to hide themselves. Then back to base to find everyone had gone home apart from a couple of drivers. Told them about the warning lights, their view was that Iveco dashboards often look like a christmas tree and so long as it was a bulb warning and a gearbox symbol that was fine as they always did that (!)
Good to get a bit more experience, play with curtains and pallets (and even use a clutch - a bit) and hopefully the agency will be happy and give me more! Shall go and re read that thread on here about curtains which I wished I’d read more carefully.
Another short notice job this morning - small local firm, told to go to a lorry park, find reg no ■■■, get the keys and my instructions in an envelope from the security cabin. More like mission impossible than driving agency. Fortunately managed a chat on the phone first to find out where I was going, so got an address and planned a route. This truck was another Iveco, this time an 18 tonner so a bit bigger and curtainsides again (but bigger).
First task - an analogue tacho with a tray to put the disc in. Fortunately I’d watched a you tube clip about filling in the card, and more by luck than judgement got the disc the right way up…
Next a six speed gearbox with 1st 3rd and 5th up, reverse 2nd 4th and 6th down. So 2nd which I needed to get moving was somewhere between reverse and 4th, that somewhere involving a lot of very vague stirring the gear lever. Many apologies to anyone caught up in the jam behind an 18 tonner in the middle of a junction this morning while the idiot driver sweated and struggled to find a gear. Often reverse… Hill starts were not fun.
Managed the curtains though - largely because there was a tail lift and I had no idea about that so kept well clear. Even found that there was a pallet truck, worked out how it worked and got loaded on one side and shifted the pallets to avoid opening both sides…
Securing the load? Got loaded with 8 large (tall) air conditioning units with big labels saying “fragile” and “top heavy”. But hey there’s a long metal pole down the middle of the top of the truck and all of two cargo straps with clips that clearly go where the curtains clip… so use some imagination and wedge the buggers tight then strap them across, then put on 8 more heavy pallets. Remembered reading that I should spread the load evenly… so did.
Then back home to another cleverly hidden industrial unit, unload and return the truck. Found out that I had indeed accidentally got the tacho disc the right way round (well it was 50/50).
More lessons learnt. In a way the driving is the least part of this, though I still managed to hit a kerb and decided I still have to try harder to get that right all the time. And find second.
And tomorrow I have a new one, an artic with a box trailer delivering mattresses, and an overnight job. I think from reading on here I’m lucky to be getting C and E work, a bit nerve wracking driving a different truck each time, but hey I’m learning every time and getting paid!
Tune in in a couple of days for the next thrilling installment.
Excellent.
That’s the joys of agency work. Often a different employer with a different vehicle with a different type of load and a different type of tacho and a different gear box every day.
You soon get the hang of it.
Looking forward to the next installment