Just recovering after a long day yesterday. Thought you might like to read about my day. Here goes:
Get up at 04:45 (ouch…) and get over to DHL at Birmingham for 05:50 to load for Normanton. Its a valuable load so will be escorted. Check the notes and immediately see that the load will put me overweight by 400 kg. (DHL calculation error…) By this time the forkies, eager to go home had put most of the freight on the truck. Tell them not to put any more on, until I get this sorted, as I am not going overweight. Ring boss and wake him up…
Luckily our other lighter 7.5 tonner is also there loading for Derby and Stoke so suggest to boss that we swap loads. OK so then ask forkies to unload truck and swap freight. Forkies not happy… but they did it anyway and we depart happily, if delayed.
First tip at Rolls Royce Derby is a regular job and got the freight off OK, then its off to Stoke with 3 pallets of golf clubs and golf kit, bound for Holland. Looked on the notes, I have contact name, phone number, road but no company name! Boss rang the company and got no reply and so I got to the road and noted a transit van with my phone number on the side - I am just passing his company warehouse - a freight forwarders - so it all makes sense now. Luckily they were expecting the freight and whilst I am being tipped the teapot is in action.
Next it was a run down the M6 to Nuneaton, delayed 30 minutes by 2 separate accidents. That made me late for the next job, load 6 pallets of shoes for Stylo at Northampton. Customer doesn’t have a forklift, but with my taillift and pallet truck we get loaded quickly, and time to call in the office and take a tacho break whilst raiding the fridge…
Got to Stylo 45 minutes late and found the forklift driver had gone to lunch for 40 minutes so I tipped myself and had all the shoes on the ground by the time he came back. Didn’t appreciate his “humour” at first when he came back and said that as I had missed my slot I would have to reload and take it all back. When I had picked up my lip he laughed and proceeds to book in the shoes. Could do without humour like that!!!
Back to DHL and load 4 pallets of missile loader components for the giant MOD depot in Telford and then continue to Welshpool to pick up from a regular customer. Got to Telford and discover that the warehouse that my freight was consigned for closed at 11.30 am. Thanks DHL for checking that out, so get the paperwork noted at the gate house I continue to Welshpool running into some traffic jams round the Shrewsbury bypass. Gave up on the bypass and headed for the town centre. Gladys - the satnav woman provided a route through the town and I reached Welshpool at just after 6 pm.
5 euro pallets and some cartons to load here so the taillift came in useful again and I left with a very full truck.
A 40mph run back along the A458 behind a very slow motorist 
and noted the Shrewsbury bypass was about 7 miles of slow/stopped traffic the other way, so felt vindicated in my choice of route outwards.
DHL were happy to see me when I got back and I finally got home after driving for almost 10 hours, but as I have only worked 2 days this week no problem with the hours. A long day but made better by the nice weather we had yesterday. This is my favourite time of year and seeing the countryside in Wales made my day.
Hope I haven’t bored you too much. Not all 7.5 tonne work is TNT style multidrop and I prefer this type where 2 days are ever the same.
Calv
