So as some of you know I drive class 2 currently but have a class 1 licence burning a hole in my pocket! So I have been desperate to get my hands on class 1 for many months now especially with Evil getting his class 1 and driving an artic 48 hours later! I arranged with Evil to join him for a day and just see what he does and have a little drive, if his company are OK with this which they were 
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So I just finished a 72 hour week (Inc Breaks & POA) and an INCREDIBLY long day on Monday (finishing at 9.45pm) I arranged to meet Evil at 7am at his work on Tuesday so there is no backing out now! Yes some of you may think I am mad, 2 days off and I am spending one of them with this bellend 
. So I get there for 7am, I cant believe how relaxed this place was and how nice everyone was all the drivers chatting away in no rush to grab their load and start their day.
We hunt around the yard for the unit stated on Evil’s run sheet, but without success! 
So we go to the office, only to find out that unit isn’t there, as the tracker shows it’s in Wales at the main depot! 
Instead we are in the Merc, which we eventually find, only to spend another ten minutes trying to work out where the bloody gear change is! 
It was pretty much panto season, as the armrest was up, and we couldn’t find the gear selector for love nor money, neither of us ever thought to say “It’s behind you!” The vehicle was new to Evil as well, and we are now starting to realise why everyone is extracting the urine out of us, because to be fair, it’s a bit of an old shed! So it looks like today is going to be an interesting day. I haven’t driven class 1 since my training (which was 4 months ago), so Evil points me to the trailer we want, and I go and pick it up. Next we have to make sure we have all the kit on board that we need for the day, only to find we have no pump truck, no Anderson lead, no wander lead, no tail lift key, half an ADR bag, no shovel, no broom, etc… So off goes Evil to do some hunting, as he’s got ADR on his run and can’t leave without the proper kit… Basically, this truck is just a substitute truck while others are off the road or being serviced, so all the gear has been robbed off it!
Once Evil has sourced all the mandatory ADR kit and most of the other stuff (along with an extra ADR kit because I am on board) I head towards the exit once loaded, with Evil warning me where agency guys have popped tyres on a sharp U bend corner with obstructions on both the inside and outside. (He enjoyed filling me with confidence lol!) And after navigating it I could see why, as you really have to hug the outside of the bend to miss the obstruction on the inside, but at the same time keep an eye on the headboard, as just as you’re completing the turn, there’s an obstruction on the outside as well! 
We then get up to the gate and switch over, as I am not insured with the company to drive on the road and am only there as an observer. We proceed to do our run and manage 5 drops before we break down! Fantastic, we are now sat millimetres away from a hoarding with the trailer almost touching it, and the unit wont start, it’s as dead as a Dodo! We phone through to the office and the mechanic eventually arrives after 3 hours, confirming the starter motor is buggered! So we now have to wait for him to go get a starter motor and then fit the bugger! We got some very strange looks from every person that drove past, as we have stopped in a strange place, and in total we were sat there for 6 hours… But laughed it off and smiled at everyone that stared 
Evil even wandered the 50-75m down the road to where the drop we were hunting for when we stopped to see if they wanted their pallets, but clearly they weren’t in that much of a hurry, as they didn’t want to drive that far down the road, even though they were apparently allowed to drive their forklifts on the road. In reality though, I think Evil was actually more interested in using their toilet and sniffing out the burger van!
Eventually with the starter motors fixed, we are on our way back to base with just about the whole run still on board. Once back within the bounds of the depot, we switch drivers again, and I navigate the tight corner and drive into the warehouse. Taking great care with the headboard as we enter the entrance to it, as it bore the scars of previous incidents, of which Evil assured me none were his (I did believe him honestly!). Once unloaded, I then drove back out of the warehouse, and reversed the trailer on to a bay to drop the trailer (It was the easiest reverse ever to drop a trailer considering it was dark and the yard isn’t that well lit, so I guess Evil was feeling nice, or just wanted to get the hell out of there after a disaster of a day! ). Even though i only drove within the company yard, I am very surprised how quickly the skills I’d learnt 4 months ago, came back to me. It felt natural pretty much immediately!
So my first experience at class one involved, eating two burgers, breaking down, and doing basically sod all for the whole day! â– â– â– â– I am missing out. Why am I still on this class 2 crapâ– â– ? I would like to thank Evil for convincing his boss to let me come along for the day (at my request) It was a great experience, and has now given me great confidence and enthusiasm to get my arse in gear and progress onto class 1!
. The breaking was probably my fault as well, that’s why he asked me along, he needed someone to point the finger at if anything went wrong?!