I’ve been out of driving trucks for a couple of months and not even driven cars. And I’ve recently started driving for a new supermarket. One that doesn’t let you use a sat nav. And one which is more keen at throwing stuff at you.
I passed my assessment but cannot help feeling a bit out of my comfort zone. Yesterday I was given a 16ft 3 trailer and the system they use instead of a satnav was trying to take my through ridiculous places. In the end I gave up with it and pulled my map out. I’m talking about going through high streets at rush hour - in very poor weather. I just didn’t feel safe. It was also trying to take me down places with 7.5t limits.
Long story short my map got me to the store. But I was so stressed I pulled into the petrol station to work out where the delivery yard was. And then it doomed on me… I was running at over 16ft and the max height was just under 14ft (feel free to laugh). I got myself out of it - asked for some help inside (to stop people on roundabout) and reversed out around the roundabout. But I just don’t feel safe driving after coming back from travelling.
It’s not the reversing - that’s the easy bit. It’s the lack of knowledge about the area, not knowing the vehicles (very old and not in good conditions), not being able to use the equipment i"m used too (tomtom) and also doing new things for me like the double decker (I know you all have done it but I have not and it was stressful).
So I wondered if anyone had suffered a loss of confidence? And if so how you got over it?
I was pretty nervous the first time with a DD. Going round roundabouts at a crawl in case it fell over and triple-checking every bridge. You get used to it.
It is possible that you were routed along high streets to avoid low bridges. I remember with Plumb Centre in Frome, we were sent through a 7½ t limit to get to the shop.
sammym:
the system they use instead of a satnav was trying to take my through ridiculous places.
I’m assuming Stobarts on Tesco? Aren’t they using Microlise? It comes with Copilot Truck, you tap the delivery location icon on the Microlise screen and it fires up Copilot Truck. Did you enter the vehicle dimensions into it? If not then that is why it was trying to send you under bridges you couldn’t fit under.
Trickydick:
Nav on smart phone, phone in top shirt pocket and listen to what it tells you, cant be seen by the microlise sorted.
Microlise doesn’t video you. They don’t want people using their own Satnavs because they have specific risk assessed and local council approved routes to stores which your Satnav may or may not take you down and most bridge strikes they have and vehicle getting stuck in towns are likely down to people not following that route.
Assuming it’s Tesco half the maps are wrong anyway. I asked how I was supposed to read a map in the dark (night driver) and what to do when it’s wrong. Guy on desk shrugged his shoulders.
When you’ve been doing the job 40 years and start somewhere different you’ll still feel out of your comfort zone, as does everyone else when they start a new job.
If i have a fortnight off the lorry appears to be stupidly long when i first get back into it
Don’t worry about it, follow the route they’ve advised, if it takes 2 hours to negotiate a town centre in peak time so what? the £clocks ticking by.
Beauty about following their route, no matter how it goes pear shaped no one can point the finger at you.
Remember with DD’s its not just bridges that are an issue, trees become a serious problem and can do nearly as much damage to a vehicle as a bridge, quite apart from branches getting knocked flying all over a road that normally never sees a vehicle over 13’6", but which satnav might advise as a perfectly fine alternative route.
I can see how someone could suffer from a stressful situation, 16’2 is a big old trailer not just bridges you have overhanging buildings and tree canopies to contend with one thing I will say about them is nobody in my depot has ever turned one over (and we employ some proper imbeciles) they have a much lower centre of gravity and if properly loaded should be able to deal with the most foul wind and weather.
My advice is to take the time to look at the route before you leave if there is a paper risk assesment take the time to study it most of the big supermarkets will have the paper version available on the Microlise tablet.
Stressful situations can lead to bad decision making by the driver and the consequences can be diastrous best thing is to keep a cool head once you have learned the routes and where all the stores are the job is a doddle lots of drivers quit the supermarket work without giving themselves time to adjust, I know drivers who have driven for years and have come to work at my place and at first they tell me they hate it and are looking elsewhere, I tell them to stick with it, I speak to them some time later and ask them how they are doing and with very few exceptions they tell me its the best job they ever had.
Last time I suffered from a loss of confidence it effected me physically too.
However as soon as I was sat down and had some words of confidence in my ear I soon perked up, the problem was fixed…and whilst I was on his knee he slipped a big medal over my head and I soon got my rhythm back…
Slightly different I realise but when I went to renew my class 2 licence after a couple of years without driving a truck my Doctor asked if I thought I was still capable of driving one? When I confirmed that I was he surprised me by saying that whenever he has a fortnights holiday he comes back to the surgery and has to have a quiet hour to himself while he gets back into ‘Doctor Mode’ and feels confident enough to actually see patients again!
I think most folk feel nervous when doing something fresh but after a short while it all drops into place and you then wonder what you were worrying about.
Talking of bridges ,according to the dvsa twitter page Ely bridge has been struck again after reopening a week ago ,pictures shows curtainsider at 45 degrees .
Norfolkinclue1:
Last time I suffered from a loss of confidence it effected me physically too.
However as soon as I was sat down and had some words of confidence in my ear I soon perked up, the problem was fixed…and whilst I was on his knee he slipped a big medal over my head and I soon got my rhythm back…
Use a sat nav.
Or just spend a few minutes going over the route.
Dunno why driving through a high street would be a issue though. You work for a supermarket, you will get that a lot.
Also going through weight restrictions will be common so best get used to it.
At the coop they offer print outs of what roads to take (risk assessments of each store)
Do you have these? If so just go on the roads it tells you to.
away from work has anything else affected you. such as a person saying a throwaway comment “youre furkin useless” i had someone say something like that to me and it really affected my confidence for 10 yrs. i think it caught me offguard and because nobody said the opposite for a very long time it left the wound open.
Despite satnav being “banned” The last time I did a Tesco it was common to see drivers sticking the satnav in the window as soon as they had got out the gate, what they don’t see won’t hurt em
