Hi again folks,
Okay so i was minutes away from my first crack at some Class 2 work (agency)…The transport manager hands me a set of keys and asks me to back the lorry onto a bay,Now bearing in mind ive never used a tail lift or reversed onto any bay in my life.I explain to the manager that iam a rookie in the hope that he will get somebody to just to show me the drill (mainly just to reassure me etc)…at that point he he says just hang on a sec.He goes back into his office and closes the door behind him.I knew then what was coming!!
5 minutes later another chap comes out of the office and explains to me that they cannot use me because ive no experience,sorry for wasting your time etc etc…he says it was a misunderstanding between the agency and themselves.
I know its too late now but i was wondering whether i should have kept my gob shut and done it…(maybe i would have If it hadnt been for the fact that i had a bit of the flu and the roads were quite bad )
I was a bit unsure as to whether i needed to do anything with the tailift etc before backing it on■■?
Iam becoming a bit frustrated now with all this…Everbody wants experience which i can understand but nobody will give you a chance!!!
The fault lies with the ZB they should have given you the chance to prove yourself.You could buy the Truckers handbook from Haynes .We were all rookies once,the guy could have demonstrated the tail lift and the gear box.I have presented myself at customers before and gone through a site induction.
Next time just take the keys and go out and have a go,if there’s anything you’re not sure about the best idea is always to ask another driver. Even in this day and age I would hate to think any driver wouldn’t help a fellow driver out. i know I always do.
Should of just grabbed the key’s and backed it up onto that bay, i assume they would of opened the tailgate then once you are on the bay ect then loaded up! Don’t worry mate sometimes it’s better to be abit cautious. You will get another chance so dont worry too much about it. Goodluck in the furure
when i started if i wasn’t sure i asked both drivers and tm,BOTH have been very helpful,sounds like you were just unlucky to get a ■■■■■■!! keep your chin up mate it will get better,good luck for the future.cheers,carl
Cheers folks…hopefully my next chance wont be too far away…get crimbo out the way and start hounding the different agencies again…merry christmas to you all
My advice would be to do some drivers mate work through the agency. I was a drivers mate for 3 years on and off and it allows you to get used to some of the aspects of being a driver without actually doing any driving such a tail lifts, load restraint etc. Plus you get to watch the driver doing his thing so you’d have known exactly what to do on that loading bay.
…or some 7.5 tonne work would be good experience too. When I first contacted manpower about Royal Mail class 1 work with no previous experience they said I could get an asessment drive but in the meantime would I be interested in doing some Royal Mail 7.5 tonne work? I was a bit reluctant, having recently spent £2000 getting my C+E, but said yes anyway and I’m glad I did as it gave me experience of the different tail lifts, reversing onto bays, securing loads, etc. before I actually got to drive the big stuff. And if I didn’t know how to do something, there were plenty of drivers about to show me how.
i had near no experience at all, I asked other drivers they all helped 4 big tips I was given, 1, open your doors yourself then you know they wont pop loose and smash the wall. 2, take no plate out when you open doors never know if you will defo leave with the same trailer, accidents do happen inside a trailer. 3, go slow as slow as you can then you wont go through the walls/doors if you hit them. 4, ask another driver to do the job we all learn new things everyday, you will get it in time!!!
also find out as much as poss about your wagon, I was driving a merc actros with auto box, tried, tried and tried more to get on bay wouldnt happen. I ended up sweating my ■■■■ off effin n blindin the thing and me, Then bright Idea phone other actros with auto box.
guess what there is a button on the dash for maneuvering, pressed it and bang 1st go im on the bay!!!
First job with an agency yesterday. Very nervous as it’s been 6 months since test. It was multi drop in a city centre. I tell you time seemed to fly by and ran out of time battering my way through traffic and struggling to tip at some places. Not sure they’ll want me back after taking all day to do 10 drops. Very steep learning curve yesterday was but I’ll be wiser next time. Finally got the first day out of the way driving as a job.
I took all day yesterday to do 2 drops and it was mentioned (albeit not my fault the company loaded a VOR trailer and variou other ridiculous hold ups). As long as you didn’t smash anything up then they’re unlikely to care, multidrop always takes longer when you’re starting out and they know it, I did vans with 140 drops a day when I first started working, it was a nightmare, never got the stuff all delivered but after about a month I was much better, still hardly ever got all the stuff delivered but was just much more efficient at it.
With regards to the original poster, not your fault for being honest, personally I probably would’ve done the same if I didn’t feel confident enough but I probably would’ve been a bit more specific, ie just asking about the tail lift not saying that I wasn’t sure about reversing a truck. It’s possible their insurance required experience as some do. Tail lifts are fairly straightforward, you just have to make sure you come into the bay guides on the ground straight and dont clip the lift on them then just before you hit the buffers get out and check if the tail lift needs lowering a bit to let the ramp get onto the truck floor. Some lifts need folding out, lowering and then you reverse it so the lift passes under the bay in the cubby hole. Look at trucks on the bays beside you, see how they’ve done it. If you’re not sure just make up a story like you’ve only done curtainsides, no lifts, or you’ve only done fridges, no curtainsides, then they should just show you only what you need without thinking you’re totally useless.
As i am now TM for our company - i have no issues letting rookie go out for the week with one of our day drivers - it would be unpaid - as i wouldn’t be letting them driver or help unload - but they would be able to gain experience and see how things go on the road and at RDC’s etc
No one has asked yet though - we have just employed a guy who has C+E but no experience - he’s driving 7.5’s at the moment - but is going to be driving soon doing supervised shunts etc
cheers
Steve
this post sounds like one i would of made about 2 months ago , i have been doing caged runs in a class 2 since nov and now i dont worry about backing onto a bay . my best advice and the best advice i would say for you to listen to is , when backing up and reversing when you are unsure is go slow and if in doubt stop jump out and have a look behind you, dont worry if you have to shunt forward or backwards this is not your test. in the place i work there are old and brand new trucks and i find some mirrors are diffrent to others so when reversing in one truck you might think you are really close to something behind you but you wont be , and in others its the vice versa .
as for tail lifts some places are diffrent to others , our place is reverse slow till you touch the buffer then roll forward an inch , put your handbrake on etc… then put tail lift down.
if you ever do roll cages this might help.
you cant just put them in any old way most cages like tesco / co op etc have an order and its this :
key: > means cage facing sideways ^ means cage facing forwards
here is the 3 row arrangement
row 1 ^ > >
row 2 <^>
row 3 <<^
then repeat the order
hi steve/gm,
Excellent post mate and great idea,this has been my own personal pain since i passed my class c + e last april,every job i have applied for i get the same reply,sorry mate need 2 years experience etc,i currently drive vans for awell known supermarket and since passing my class c + e have tried to transfer over to no avail,same problems sorry need experience.Now my problem with this is they have x amount of agency guys there everyday sitting around for hours sometimes at what cost,i suggested i go there say 2 days a week to start even unpaid and go out with other drivers to learn the ropes and maybe also do some class c work ,but NO he wouldnt budge i now am trying to leave the company that prides itself on us all being partners to gain experience and a start somewhere,very,very frustrating, ,anyway sorry to hijack post but wanted to reply to steves comments
cheers,
