hi all right after spending so much time looking for work and going daft indoors one agency have got me an assement monday with wakefield council driving bin wagons would have prefered artic work but beggars can’t be chooser’s, I’m wanting to know what driving regulations they run to is it european or the other. Just wondering i know some council workers drive on the other regs (can’t remember the name) any info would be greatly appreciated.
I suspect it would be on domestic rules…one for rog I think
I think it is DOMESTIC regs but you’ll be lucky to get near the limit for them as they are usually job and finish.
DOMESTIC REGS - VOSA SITE page 24
I think you will find it is Domestic rules and no tacho used on refuse trucks.
thank you all couldn’t remember what they where called if it’s job and finish i hope the pay is decent 
i know they want a fair few drivers so if anyone is desperate for work i’ll give you details.
I dont think you need any special training either , just pick it up as you go along
If it’s an auto like the one I drove then it’s stick back to go forward and stick forward to go in reverse - daft system
auto boxes, usually dennis wagons. Point and squirt but watch the tailswing.
and expect to have to go down some really tight spaces. (a couple of mm either side of you and parked cars.
Havn’t actually done it myself, but from what I’ve heard the loads that are loading are usually spot on
TIP - ALWAYS drive forward when collecting
- dead end road - reverse to end and then start the collecting - no matter what the lads say - the last thing you want is to reverse when they are anywhere near the rear
thanks for that i was hoping for manual but auto will have to do. what they like on the land fill wot with winter here? i used to take a scania 8 wheeler up but with being manual it was fine the artic was a bit harder. Auto’s tend to pick the wrong gear?
steve07:
thanks for that i was hoping for manual but auto will have to do. what they like on the land fill wot with winter here? i used to take a scania 8 wheeler up but with being manual it was fine the artic was a bit harder. Auto’s tend to pick the wrong gear?
If you didn’t ache before going on the landfill, you sure will afterwards - bounce, bounce, bounce…
Unless you are on for BIFFA in Leicester City - tipped onto nice flat tarmac and then the dozer shoves it onto the belt which is the width of a road where it then goes into the BIG sorting drum - using recycling bins in our city is pointless as it ALL goes into the drum.
Oh - but we have the recycling truck that comes around - for political purposes - seriously 
I did 1 day on the agencyon the bins back in the day - auto box with a pushbutton for N D and R… dead easy. Big tip (no pun intended), the brakes are extra very poor when fully loaded and you’re off to the landfill, you need to brake a couple of hundred yards before you would normally. Preferably a bit before then actually, as its embarrasing having to reverse back to the junction, one would imagine 
thanks for the heads up rog i’ll get the pain relief ready 
i have the memories from the scanias ouch
i did dustcart work for a year with the local council as my first hgv job. As already mentioned you will probably have an auto box with push buttons R D and N, tip: when you stop to load a bin, the lorry must be in N for the packer to work.
You will be going up some seriously narrow streets, millimetres either side of cars, possibly some very narrow lanes if you have country work to do, and lots and lots of reversing with which the loaders can help and watch you back with.
You should have a rear view camera fitted too which does help a lot with reversing. (depending on how good the camera is). sometimes reversing up narrow lanes the camera is the only thing you have to go by, as the mirrors are full of hedgerow 
You will prob be on job and knock so your crew will probably be getting a move on with it, and you will be expected to do some loading yourself ie collection points where theres lots of bins.
tip: If reversing on a funny camber (normally where the road suddenly gets very steep and you will ground out the bin lifts) make sure the bin lifts are raised enough so that you dont catch them on the ground and twist them. (crew may advise you of that already) The lifts should raise enough when you hit R anyway but always look in camera to check.
TIP - ALWAYS drive forward when collecting
- dead end road - reverse to end and then start the collecting - no matter what the lads say - the last thing you want is to reverse when they are anywhere near the rear
probably a good idea. reversing onto the bins that that the loaders are putting on takes a bit of practice to get right. i did do this but is dangerous if you dont stop for some reason. Again the camera is VITAL If you do decide to do this.
I find on the landfill site when its wet try not to stop and reverse flat out up to where I had to tip. if you wernt flat out you would get stuck. Engage the diff lock while doing this and again after you have tipped, another useful thing to know is to raise the tag axle on the landfill site (if it has one), as you will get stuck a lot easier with that draging you into the ground.
Have fun, it can be a good laugh if you have a friendly crew!
why would you want a manuel when driving round the town 
And don’t forget steve it is Wakefield council, so if the lid of the bin is 1mm from shut just drive past as the poor little lambs must not touch overloaded bins!
Stan
i would not touch it sounds rubbish to me
At this time of year, you might get a chance of some gritter work on a night, as well. Really good practise for bad weather driving, and normally good money.
its good work
i loved it, but got banned for putting a 2 inch scratch on a t reg astra which supposedly cost £800 to fix - personally i think it was a zb reason as me and the transport manager didn’t get on.
as for driving rules, its 4.5 hours then a 30 min break.
if you can go for the dennis wagons as they are better than mercs.
ive done bins skips and hooklifts for my local council, most of their old motors are manuals which are great, some of the newer models are rubish though, though i drove a merc econic and that was pretty nice to drive if a bit weird. luckily never had to tight a street or dead end to go down when i did my run
landfill can be a pain if you get in a rut cause you really have to boot it to get it out of it and sometimes it doesnt like that.
but its just R,D,N buttons for the gearchange which is fine when ur stopping and starting all the time