I passed my class 1 on a Friday and on the Sunday I was out doing store deliveries in a decker. 1st couple of nights I was out with someone then I was left to crack on. 5 years later I’m still driving them, with a different company now, been all over Scotland, up and down M6 through road closures etc. and I’ve never came close to hitting a bridge, and I don’t have a satnav just a map and some old fashioned common sense. In my book anyone that hits a bridge should never drive an HGV again.
Harry Monk:
I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest. He was brand-new at the job, and I think anybody given such a tall trailer to drag around should be pre-routed by the office. In fact, to show my full hand I think double decker trailers should be illegal anyway and there should be a maximum permissible trailer height of 4 metres.
Im with Harry on this one. Im not so long in the job that I cant remember theearly days, and the nearly vertical learning curve. It takes quite a while beforeyou can sit back and enjoy the ride, so abit ofsympathy wouldnt come amiss. Besides, the best lessons, they say, are the hardest learnt. He will be unlikely indeed to do that again.
I’ve only been driving trucks for just under 3 years and thoroughly enjoy it, may even do my class one soon. It’s a job I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid watching the scammell tippers from a local company going about (great looking trucks). Unfortunately life got in the way and it got to the stage of do it now or not at all.
Personally I’ll embrace any technology that helps make my job easier and see nothing wrong with that, it’s not the technology at fault as some suggest but the people using it. To my mind sending someone straight out without any training is totally irresponsible on any companies part, so although the driver is undoubtedly at fault the company that employed him is just as bad.
I’d suggest,everybody in here has a bit if interest in the job…otherwise we wouldn’t spend time on a forum talking about it.
You always do things better,if you actually like what you’re doing…wether you’ve just passed your test…or been at it decades.
Harry Monk:
I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest. He was brand-new at the job, and I think anybody given such a tall trailer to drag around should be pre-routed by the office. In fact, to show my full hand I think double decker trailers should be illegal anyway and there should be a maximum permissible trailer height of 4 metres.
Harry Monk:
I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest. He was brand-new at the job, and I think anybody given such a tall trailer to drag around should be pre-routed by the office. In fact, to show my full hand I think double decker trailers should be illegal anyway and there should be a maximum permissible trailer height of 4 metres.
+1
I don’t have a problem with DD, l spend half my time driving them, usually the new 50 footers. But I think when you got a inexperienced driver who not only got to get used to the lorry, the trailer and find the route, there is a strong chance it’s going to end in tears. That is where the employer must take some of the blame.
rob22888:
Rather than slagging off and mocking the driver, I would much rather take aim at the ‘bums on seats’ culture at whatever crappy outfit it was that allowed a new pass out on the road solo with a decker. When your that inexperienced driving wagons you can get panicky & overwhelmed when you get lost or whatever, his head will have been all over the place & he won’t have been thinking straight.
I sympathise with him tbh & think the operator deserve every penny of the £17k fine. You reap what you sow…
It’s a fair point. This attitude that “well you’ve got a licence, here are the keys see you later” shows that companies don’t actually understand how big the jump is from car to artic, even with them being autos etc there’s still a lot to think about for a new pass on your first few weeks, never mind first day. It’s the drivers fault ultimately because he should have set his sat nav right, height indicator right, read road signs, and last resort looked at the bridge and though that looks low…
But I agree, what is a company doing putting a new pass out in a double decker on their first day with no trainer or experienced driver in the passenger seat. They probably thought that would cost em an extra £100 in wages for one day for a driver sat there doing nothing but observing. They probably do deserve the fine for that.
commonrail:
The moron pool has become more concentrated.
A couple of decades ago,your average moron could get a job in various industries…were terms and conditions were usually better than in haulage.
Lorry drivers were lorry drivers,because they wanted to be.
Nowadays,all those other industries have gone,and the only way a moron can avoid shovelling [zb] for the rest of his life…is to become a lorry driver.
rob22888:
Rather than slagging off and mocking the driver, I would much rather take aim at the ‘bums on seats’ culture at whatever crappy outfit it was that allowed a new pass out on the road solo with a decker. When your that inexperienced driving wagons you can get panicky & overwhelmed when you get lost or whatever, his head will have been all over the place & he won’t have been thinking straight.
I sympathise with him tbh & think the operator deserve every penny of the £17k fine. You reap what you sow…
It’s a fair point. This attitude that “well you’ve got a licence, here are the keys see you later” shows that companies don’t actually understand how big the jump is from car to artic, even with them being autos etc there’s still a lot to think about for a new pass on your first few weeks, never mind first day. It’s the drivers fault ultimately because he should have set his sat nav right, height indicator right, read road signs, and last resort looked at the bridge and though that looks low…
But I agree, what is a company doing putting a new pass out in a double decker on their first day with no trainer or experienced driver in the passenger seat. They probably thought that would cost em an extra £100 in wages for one day for a driver sat there doing nothing but observing. They probably do deserve the fine for that.
Are people going for class 1 too soon as is the demand for class 1 sucking too many into it too early. I personally think the same is the case with class 2 as well particularly with the age limit being reduced.
I favour a more gradual progression where someone gets decent experience in a car/van, so they see the sort of stunts other road users routinely pull you have to be wary of, a stint in a 7.5 tonner to acclimatise to air brakes, tail swing and that sort of thing (difficult one this as I don’t actually think being able to drive one on a car licence was a good thing but now it means many jump straight from a car to a 32t tipper), spell in a 18t + rigid to get used to a full size HGV and there will be bridge heights to look out for more often when you get to that size before finally progressing to artics.
I wont laugh at the driver either. I have been to places where Council cut backs mean that the signage is missing or covered over with bushes. I took a tipper down a narrow road once and thought ,is this really the way no real drama . Went past in my car and there was a sign on a broken pole saying not suitable for hgv.
I feel sorry for him,Another dud firm not training correctly probably ,I think that these three days to a licence are to blame as well,No real live training .You simply do not get shown everything while doing the tests .Lots of these firms are far to keen to get you in at the deep end and give no f@#$ for you .
Things like this prove what a farce the dcpc is. We get to sit there and listen to someone without experience tell you how to do the job you’ve done unscathed for 20-30 years, meanwhile rookies make glaringly obvious mistakes like this. I suppose 35 hours of first aid could come in handy if you hurt yourself doing it
rob22888:
Rather than slagging off and mocking the driver, I would much rather take aim at the ‘bums on seats’ culture at whatever crappy outfit it was that allowed a new pass out on the road solo with a decker. When your that inexperienced driving wagons you can get panicky & overwhelmed when you get lost or whatever, his head will have been all over the place & he won’t have been thinking straight.
I sympathise with him tbh & think the operator deserve every penny of the £17k fine. You reap what you sow…
It’s a fair point. This attitude that “well you’ve got a licence, here are the keys see you later” shows that companies don’t actually understand how big the jump is from car to artic, even with them being autos etc there’s still a lot to think about for a new pass on your first few weeks, never mind first day. It’s the drivers fault ultimately because he should have set his sat nav right, height indicator right, read road signs, and last resort looked at the bridge and though that looks low…
But I agree, what is a company doing putting a new pass out in a double decker on their first day with no trainer or experienced driver in the passenger seat. They probably thought that would cost em an extra £100 in wages for one day for a driver sat there doing nothing but observing. They probably do deserve the fine for that.
Are people going for class 1 too soon as is the demand for class 1 sucking too many into it too early. I personally think the same is the case with class 2 as well particularly with the age limit being reduced.
I favour a more gradual progression where someone gets decent experience in a car/van, so they see the sort of stunts other road users routinely pull you have to be wary of, a stint in a 7.5 tonner to acclimatise to air brakes, tail swing and that sort of thing (difficult one this as I don’t actually think being able to drive one on a car licence was a good thing but now it means many jump straight from a car to a 32t tipper), spell in a 18t + rigid to get used to a full size HGV and there will be bridge heights to look out for more often when you get to that size before finally progressing to artics.
absolutley spot on mate, that’s exactly how i started in 1979 from the bottom gained experience and worked my way up.
Yep I feel sorry for him to! Our 16’4 deckers certainly keep you on your toes especially when they close the roads of a night with there fantastic diversions [emoji849]
TruckDriverBen:
As a new driver myself i have been driving loads of curtainsiders some double some single the whole aspect of finding out true height is confusing as the trailer will have two lenghts and then say something about fifth wheel.
Anyways long story short i visually spot the highest point and use a height measuring stick as i dont know how to work it out the other way also i would give myself a couple of extra inches on bridges never hit a bridge of yet
The height of the trailer is marked. Sometimes it is all the trailer incl an assumed 5th wheel height of 1.25m sometimes it is just the body height and you have to add the 5th wheel height.
Ever thought of carrying a simple tape measure? I do and if in doubt just measure the 5th wheel height. Note a lifting mid axle adds about 3" to the height.
When I was working we had one job with a decker of 16ft.I had 40+ years of experience soI got on with it.Someone new or inexperienced would have struggled.Doncaster to Ollerton to Chepstow to Bristol to Ollerton then Doncaster.Not so easy with a high trailer.However,having said that,you are supposed to know your height and to observe signs that indicate lower heights as well as the "strewth that looks low"alarm that should sound in your head.
Gidders:
When I was working we had one job with a decker of 16ft.I had 40+ years of experience soI got on with it.Someone new or inexperienced would have struggled.Doncaster to Ollerton to Chepstow to Bristol to Ollerton then Doncaster.Not so easy with a high trailer.However,having said that,you are supposed to know your height and to observe signs that indicate lower heights as well as the "strewth that looks low"alarm that should sound in your head.
Bournemouth to Bristol you need to know where you’re going with our 16’3” dd’s.
OVLOV JAY:
Things like this prove what a farce the dcpc is. We get to sit there and listen to someone without experience tell you how to do the job you’ve done unscathed for 20-30 years, meanwhile rookies make glaringly obvious mistakes like this. I suppose 35 hours of first aid could come in handy if you hurt yourself doing it
The DCPC is supposed to be in addition to sensible planning and development of new starts, not instead of it!
And seriously, if you can’t find something useful to talk about for a couple of afternoons a year, then either you should become a trainer and spread your vast wisdom to others (a quality it seems that many trainers themselves lack), or else you don’t realise how much you need a couple of afternoons of talk!
Trouble is its not just a couple of afternoons. Its five full days and some trainers don’t know their A$$e from their elbow, I have had to sit through some utter nonsense. How useful to know that a Ford Ka is the same motor as a Fiat 500.etc. I have learnt more from some of you fine fellows than I learnt on DCPC modules.
