Hello. After using the forum for a while I have my first post and question. I passed my class 1 test some time back. I have been checking my knowledge to keep it as fresh as possible, but my question is what is the best way to check the levels of oil etc on daily check. On some I understand you can use the digital display in cab. How do you access the menus. Are the bonnet catches generally always in the same place on different makes of lgv? Thanks.
Hi and welcome.
Cant really help too much with the question as there are many variations. Some vehicles can be checked with dipstick and/or computer. Some are computer only, some dipstick only. Same with bonnet catches, some are in cab, some are around the grille. Best to ask about a specific vehicle if you can. But I understand your concern.
Pete 
As stated above varies on every wagon,ask the company you drive for to show you on the vehicle if your unsure…I’m sure they’d rather you ask than blowing an engine because it has no oil in it.
See a lot of this on here “how do I do this how do I do that?”
Its as if new drivers think they are expected to know everything there is to possibly know about the job before they’ve even walked in through the gate for the job interview.
What are you going to tell the interviewer when you get to the interview? “Don’t bother telling me anything about the job I may be new but I’ve already learnt all there is to know about the job off of the internet, I’m like a 30+yrs driver with my knowledge base now”
Its not going to work is it, also here’s a scenario for you,
Interviewer says “Right ok then you seem like the right sort of lad we want working here, just one more thing, a formality really, take me round this truck and perform your Daily vehicle check”
You’re thinking, “Hah I got this in the bag now I remember on TNet how they told me to check These Merc’s oil” smug mode activated
Only problem is because you were focused on that you forgot to check the Kingpin clip or something!
What I’m trying to say is this…
Do not overly concern yourself with knowing the ins and outs of a cats arse with regards to the job, focus on the basics, you know how to perform a daily walk around check, you know the coupling procedure, if its something that’s likely to be different from one vehicle to the next ASK!
Asking the guy how the oil is checked on this particular Brand/model of truck shows more initiative than telling him you “learnt it off the Internet” You asking him will tell him that you are not afraid to ask if in doubt and that is half the problem with us Blokes, we don’t like to ask as we don’t like to appear anything less than top of our game, but that’s 99% of the reason why we [zb] something up! Because “we didn’t like to ask”
Even if you don’t get to do a physical walk around at the interview use these questions at that god awful critical moment when the interviewer says… “Any questions?” You know ■■■■ well its at this point of the interview that you turn into a gibbering idiot doing a fair impersonation of a Goldfish as your desperately trying to think of something to ask that hasn’t already been covered by the interviewer!
Now is the time to ask something along the lines of “I understand that all makes of truck are different, as I’m unfamiliar with this particular make will I be shown how to check the oil and Water and so on?”
Like i said concentrate on the basics and use the lack of experience not as an excuse, but a reason to want to learn!
Good luck.
Best thing to do is ask the people you are working for.
We use mainly one make of truck and have hire trucks in throughout the year.
One truck we have has been with us 3 weeks and nobody noticed the cable to release the bonnet catch was not working. There was no way of checking the oil level by the onboard computer either.
Because they all wanted to drive the ‘big shiny hire motor’ nobody decided to defect it, or even worse, nobody bothered to check the oil at all.
Thank you for your comments, they are very helpful.
What has happened is I have done two Saturday’s on agency. The first one was kind of a surprise to me when I walked into the traffic office and told " hi there’s the keys, get yourself up to Glasgow and call in for further instruction when you’re done there". First day and first trip I was obviously trying to do everything correctly, particularly by checking with the shunter driver going past, explaining I was a new driver and is this and that correct.
My surprise mainly was they didn’t offer to show me the vehicle and most likely my feeling of trying to show I can get on and do this. To be honest looking back I was asking him the stuff which was completed fine and was feeling a little daft that I couldn’t find the oil levels.
I think my mistake was moving the lorry as I was told to make sure I wasn’t blocked in, would this prevent the oil level displaying because I had started and moved it round the corner? Or was it more likely that I simply didn’t use the display options correctly?
The second job was a 09 MAN parked some way from the office. While I was going round I noticed the only guy in on Saturday leave. The vehicle didn’t have a digital display, and I just could see the bonnet catches?
It’s typical agency to be thrown the keys with no induction or anything.
You are right that once you start up, a the oil will be around the engine and therefore the reading is not too useful. In general terms, get in, fiddle with the computer - see if you can find diagnostics / checks etc; turn the key to first position as on some it tells you there and then. If no joy, then (as you say) don’t start up. Almost all trucks have two catches to open up the front and it’s just a matter of finding them.
As said above, the point is that you know you need to check the oil, and asking the bloke doing assessment “do you check oil on the dash or under hood” demonstrates that you know this is part of the check. That ticks the box.