Bking:
And how many drivers have the faintest idea how a 5th wheel operates?
Now thats a little worrying as well dont you think.
Got to admit, never took one to bits (that’s why I’m a driver & not a mechanic/fitter) but I know it clamps around the pin on the trailer & the Dog Clip stops the handle from jumping out & releasing the clamp & I always check that the bar is across the pin as well as the tug test. Also try not to wake the dead when I hook up (why do so many drivers try to recreate the ‘Big Bang’ /start of the universe,when they hook up ?)all you need is a gentle click ! Lol.
Hah! Tell that to an inexperienced driver stuck in a MAN auto box for the first couple of times, you got to operate that pedal with a feather.
Well actually what you’ve got to do is select reverse crawler
Haha! ■■■■ man you kill me, just when I’ve got it down to an art without using crawler, might try it next time I’m in one! Thought it was pretty violent! Lmao
After I passed my CE on a W&D, then did a regular CE refresher course; the first time I went out on my own was a 4am start to be out for the week. The truck was an older 55 plate Iveco and all the air tanks were empty and what with other complications I forgot the basic coupling thing and panicked a fair bit.
Later on, when pulling into the garage I found I didn’t have reverse and it was only half an hour later when another company wagon pulled in was he able to help me out and we found parts were missing from the truck. But even so.
When you’re new, inexperienced and a bag of nerves; you’re going to make mistakes.
Since then I have already had some distracted moments of coupling and of one of them the guy that had been distracting me walked away laughing as the combination started to roll away with me on the catwalk…
Thanks truckyboy for another interesting post.Makes a refreshing change! You sound like you went through a similar process to me.
You are right though these days nobody seems interested in helping anyone else.Every man for themselves and don’t get me started on bad attitudes!
Things ain’t what they used to be…power steering synchromesh gearboxes and now auto boxes! What is the world coming to.
albion1971: u know what sicken’s me…we are all made to do the ■■■ of a DCPC to make us better drivers…in all the painful hours we have to sit and listen to someone talking stuff theres no where in it that tells a newbie where or how to lift a trailer or drop a trailer.
Hang on a minute milkchurns…Why would the DCPC include connecting and dis connecting a trailer…YOU are taught that when you do your LGV training and you have to pass a test to show you are competent…Wake up…
[/quote
not when i done my training but that was back when god was a boy…from what that young fella told me he was never shown how to connect to a trailer and what the OP said i wouldnt think the person he met was showned how to do it…maybe they were and it was in 1 ear and out the other…by the way i am fully awake and in tip top form
Sorry but coupling and uncoupling a trailer was part of the test when they first introduced the HGV test.
You must have forgotten!
I see a lot of daft things in my current job, but i think the most disturbing was this morning just before i went off shift.
Drove past a driver split coupling a trailer, noticed his reverse lights were on and it was beeping, so went over to see what was what. Turned out, he was doing it with the engine running and still in reverse gear.
Now i’m far from any kind of expert, but when i asked him why he was doing it and pointed out how potentially dangerous it was, he just shook his head at me and walked away…
I know years back when I started working for an agency, although being a Class 1 licence holder for many years, I told my agency Driver Hire that I’d not had much experience actually driving Class 1. They put me into a Company for a couple of nights with an experienced driver who taught me the ropes without the Company having been charged for two drivers. Still remember what the old driver told me to this day and thankfully to-date I’ve never dropped a trailer on its knees or ripped my lines off.
Even now at nights if I change trailers I still shine a light into the 5th wheel to make sure it’s secure. Other drivers take the mick but it’s water off the preverbial.
Lilysgranpa I’ve seen that many times over the years…not really a shortcut I’d chance. Putting a handbrake on and turning a knob or switch to N really doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds.
Bking:
And how many drivers have the faintest idea how a 5th wheel operates?
Now thats a little worrying as well dont you think.
Got to admit, never took one to bits (that’s why I’m a driver & not a mechanic/fitter) but I know it clamps around the pin on the trailer & the Dog Clip stops the handle from jumping out & releasing the clamp & I always check that the bar is across the pin as well as the tug test. Also try not to wake the dead when I hook up (why do so many drivers try to recreate the ‘Big Bang’ /start of the universe,when they hook up ?) all you need is a gentle click ! Lol.
Wrong the dog clip doesnt stop the handle jumping out, the springs and detent does.
These are the things that should be in the dcpc not some bollox about bovine ■■■■ =add blue
the whole scam might then gain a bit of credibility instead of being the joke that it is at present.
Latest update, I spoke to Mr Agency Driver at about 07.30 this morning, when I got back to the office around 17.15 I asked the office how he’d got on, apparently he didn’t take a break until 16.30 so alarm bells were ringing & the agency have been contacted.
He won’t be back !
I feel sorry for the Guy but the agency are as much to blame as he is. They’ve supplied an inexperienced driver at the normal rate.
If I was in charge I’d be looking for a new agency or even directly employ experienced class one driver, or even (now here’s an idea) employ drivers & ‘Train them up’. lol !
Some Great ‘Inexperienced’ stories, I can relate to a lot of them-
Learning Dollys & how to sheet, different routes, getting yourself out of the ■■■■ in a foreign country, reversing an Artic in the Dark on a busy street for the 1st time, winding the legs up with a 20 ton load on (air suspension is your friend)
One if the best things I’ve learnt over the years is- Don’t rush it.
An extra 5 minutes checking every thing is ok could save you hours waiting for a fitter to attend a breakdown 100 miles away from base or making sure that the load is secure might cost you half an hour initially but could save you hours (as well as a big fine) at the other end whilst you pick it up from the deck of your trailer then spend an hour filing out paperwork for insurance purposes !
So if you see a driver struggling, why not ask him if he’s ok, don’t forget, we we’re all there once !
Martin the thing i find a bit worrying is the fact your company have let an inexperienced driver out who does not know what he’s doing. What checks did the company do to ensure he knew what he was doing? Did he have an induction? What was he asked? When you didn’t have time to go through things with him in the morning (granted its not your job) did you raise your concerns to your office or just raised them here ? I feel sorry for the fella trying to muster on but the fact is it doesn’t need to be like that. Some very basic minimal provisions could ensure the driver and company has a good experience with the temporary worker. Looks like they wheren’t done ?
Most companies take it on good faith they are paying for a service and the agency will provide a competent professional driver. Sadly as we know this doesn’t always happen.
I’ve gone to show a driver how to use a tail lift and as we walked towards the back, the truck (7.5t) started to roll back as he hadn’t put the handbrake on - that was the end of his day.
Maybe the OP should have told a supervisor what happened and what was said in the morning and let a manager make a decision as to wether the truck left the yard. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Mike-C:
Martin the thing i find a bit worrying is the fact your company have let an inexperienced driver out who does not know what he’s doing. What checks did the company do to ensure he knew what he was doing? Did he have an induction? What was he asked? When you didn’t have time to go through things with him in the morning (granted its not your job) did you raise your concerns to your office or just raised them here ? I feel sorry for the fella trying to muster on but the fact is it doesn’t need to be like that. Some very basic minimal provisions could ensure the driver and company has a good experience with the temporary worker. Looks like they wheren’t done ?
Probably didn’t have a proper induction, as far as I can see, any agency driver just gets his licence checked, gets given an A4 with ‘instructions’ on (induction by instructions) then he’s given the keys & paperwork & off he goes.
Yes I raised my concerns with the office as I left the yard this morning & also asked after him this evening, that’s when they told me about him not taking his break. I couldn’t have done any more in the time that I had this morning (I had a deadline to meet)
The system is ■■■■, all new agency drivers or full time drivers should have at least one to two days out with an experienced driver before being let loose on a wagon by them selves. Maybe the agency, the company & the driver could go a third each towards the cost, so that at least the driver would get some money for the day ?
I think all the legislation is already in place. Its 100% down to a company to ensure that its employees (even if they are agency) are capable of using the equiptment they are going to be asked to use, even if he has a C+E and he’s going to be driving one. In other words, its not enough to hope that they (the employee) know what they’re doing.
I would think the ultimate cost would be born by the employer, unless temp workers fancy doing free inductions in the hope it will lead to more ongoing work for them.
As regards the Agency, their remit is to supply a temp worker with a C+E (in this case) ,it would be impossible for them to induct/instruct on an employers behalf and in any case it still wouldn’t alleviate an employer of thier responsabilities.
You shouldn’t be able to pass in a wag & drag then drive artics! That’s what I did, didn’t have a clue how to use a fifth wheel or air suspension, would the DCPC have taught me that? I doubt it…
Pitched up at Safeway Tamworth in the Xmas rush & the 2 year rule was out the window, blagged my way through a night shift, ahh them were the days…
I would like to see a system where newly qualified drivers had to do at least 35 hours of training in a lorry going out in the real world earning revenue with an established driver.This would be counted as the new and real DCPC .No job without it.The desk bound sitting in portacabins should be consigned to the bin.
truckyboy:
Well if he`d been on wagon and drags, he would know that even they have to be dropped, and even they have a pin to pull, or locking device, so either way he should ( with half a brain ) know that something holds it all together. Even if he was on either, and never had to drop a trailer, should have been able to fathom it out, must have been a half wit.
And they have a parking brake.
But worry not, if he’s a new driver… he’ll have a DQC so that’s better for everyone.
alamcculloch:
I would like to see a system where newly qualified drivers had to do at least 35 hours of training in a lorry going out in the real world earning revenue with an established driver.This would be counted as the new and real DCPC .No job without it.The desk bound sitting in portacabins should be consigned to the bin.
So would I, there’s a day needed in the classroom to cover legislation, Tacho, drivers hours etc, but the other 28 hours should be practical experience & why the ‘F’ have we got to keep doing it for 35 hours/5 days every 5 years. What else can it achieve apart from revenue generation. 1 day refreshers (on legislation) after you’ve done the 1st 5 days would be ample !
Just checked the trailers down the yard & WHB22 has got a rear mudguard hanging off/actually rubbing on the wheel, I was told by the fitter that they knew about it on Monday (they won’t touch until they get a defect form, so I’ve written 3 out, because there’s other trailers with visible defects !) Mr Agency from yesterday took it out after he managed to hook it up without even reporting the defect. Good job VOSA didn’t stop him !
Poor bloke needs some Intense Training ! Along with some of our full timers !!!
martinviking:
The original story continues-
Just checked the trailers down the yard & WHB22 had got a rear mudguard hanging off/actually rubbing on the wheel, I was told by the fitter that they knew about it on Monday. Mr Agency from yesterday took it out after he managed to hook it up without even reporting the defect.
Poor bloke needs some Intense Training !
Surely it should’ve been VOR’d with a sign on the suzi connectors or a salvo lock or something to say “don’t take this trailer”
Silver_Surfer:
You shouldn’t be able to pass in a wag & drag then drive artics! That’s what I did, didn’t have a clue how to use a fifth wheel or air suspension, would the DCPC have taught me that? I doubt it…
Pitched up at Safeway Tamworth in the Xmas rush & the 2 year rule was out the window, blagged my way through a night shift, ahh them were the days…
I passed in an artic, and 1st job I went to, they said “When you pull the trailer off the bay, you have to re-set the trailer suspension or the under-run bar catches the guide bars”…
Me “How?”
Although I passed in a unit and trailer, and knew about unit suspension, I had no idea that trailers had adjustable suspension - so that argument against wag+drag passing is out.
Also, I drove wag + drag for a while, I did demounts on wag + drag for a few firms, and also a-frame wag + drag, and had no problem adapting between that - including hitching and un-hitching - and a ‘normal artic’ so don’t see why it’d be any different for someone passing in 1 of those.
If in doubt, ask, no harm in it and we’ve all had help off someone at sometime along the way.
