Is it me? or are we harbouring a breed of driver that cannot reverse on a bay anymore. I was delivering to Lidle in Enfield this morning and trying to get to the chill bays round the other side from the ambient and the amount of drivers trying to reverse on these ambient bays, was, to be honest shocking for a so called professional driver. Some of these guys were taking 5 and 6 cuts to line up on the white lines, and they were all brit trucks, so it’s not as if I could blame the EE drivers. Don’t they teach reversing at the training schools now.
i am one of them “so called professional” drivers you are talking about, i have had my class 1 6 months and readily admit my reversing isnt as good as it could be, but we have all got to start somewhere. i am not really bothered how many shunts i need to get on a bay, as long as i do it without hitting anything.
dont know how long you have been a professional driver, but maybe you need to give people a break, practice makes perfect after all
Maybe they were just having an off day, maybe they are new driving artics?? U don’t know.
Sometimes I’ll go to a place ive never been before and do a perfect blindside without a shunt, then my next drop will be somewhere I go all the time and ■■■■ it but this time I might have to take a shunt all of this on my GOOD side. Doesn’t mean I’ve lost my ability since my first drop. You can normally tell if someone is new anyway as an experienced driver will know he’s ■■■■■■ it up before he’s even half way through his manoeuvre so now the priority of his reverse is to set himself up for a shunt to get it on the bay the second time.
Its the test it only teaches you how to pass the reverse it doesn’t teach you how to reverse. The trailer i had there was markers painted on wheel arches when they went in view you turned etc I couldn’t reverse for toffee but 2 years night shift shunting in the dark ■■■■■■■ rain taught me all i needed.
Ive seen some howlers though, like others say you have bad days like my 8 goes at tesco pencuik the other month, just told the back door guy id just passed to save face
I’ve been driving artics over 40yrs so if anyone should get it right everytime I should. Needless to say I don’t so don’t knock anyone who is trying NONE of us are perfect.
Sorry if I made it sound as if I was perfect, I’m not, it’s just that some of the manoeuvers were really over the top, we all have bad days, but at least four were holding everyone up from getting by, I suppose that made them more nervous and frustrated and we all know what that can do. Anyway, quite a lot of you bit for that one.
sapper:
Sorry if I made it sound as if I was perfect, I’m not, it’s just that some of the manoeuvers were really over the top, we all have bad days, but at least four were holding everyone up from getting by, I suppose that made them more nervous and frustrated and we all know what that can do. Anyway, quite a lot of you bit for that one.
Sapper
I’ve been known to have the odd bad day here and there, we all get day’s like that, they most often happen when there’s a crowd of drivers around too but I know what you’re getting at, there are some drivers who are not having a bad day, they don’t look like they’re inexperienced either, they look like they haven’t got a bloody clue
sapper:
Is it me? or are we harbouring a breed of driver that cannot reverse on a bay anymore. I was delivering to Lidle in Enfield this morning and trying to get to the chill bays round the other side from the ambient and the amount of drivers trying to reverse on these ambient bays, was, to be honest shocking for a so called professional driver. Some of these guys were taking 5 and 6 cuts to line up on the white lines, and they were all brit trucks, so it’s not as if I could blame the EE drivers. Don’t they teach reversing at the training schools now.
I like most have good days and bad. Just don’t ask me to reverse after I’ve been asleep whilst waiting for a bay. It just don’t work!!! lol I struggle with painted lines on the floor, especially in poor light (Partial colour blindness)
As someone else said, as long as they dint hit anyone or anything WHO CARES!!!
While we’re on the subject of reversing, there’s one trailer that will catch anybody out, even if they’re having a really good day, that’s one that crabs as you go down the road, no matter what you do with one of them it will not go back in a straight line, older trailers on springs were more prone to this, I had one once that I was trying to drop between two other trailers in another firm’s yard, the guvnor came out in the end and asked me if I wanted someone to show me how to do it properly I had almost made tramlines in the yard I’d been back and forward so many times
sapper:
Sorry if I made it sound as if I was perfect, I’m not, it’s just that some of the manoeuvers were really over the top, we all have bad days, but at least four were holding everyone up from getting by, I suppose that made them more nervous and frustrated and we all know what that can do. Anyway, quite a lot of you bit for that one.
Sapper
oh i see just a wind up,for a minute i thought you was some kind of ■■■■■ trumpet
I went for one of those 30 degree angle parks this morning, backed up first hit, guy was happy so jumped out and realised how on the skew it was, oh well drop it and run, my excuse tired, in an artic after an a frame wag and drag, bad light , no lines, bright sunshine, any excuse will do just get the job done
sapper:
Sorry if I made it sound as if I was perfect, I’m not, it’s just that some of the manoeuvers were really over the top, we all have bad days, but at least four were holding everyone up from getting by, I suppose that made them more nervous and frustrated and we all know what that can do. Anyway, quite a lot of you bit for that one.
Sapper
oh i see just a wind up,for a minute i thought you was some kind of ■■■■■ trumpet
I wonder if it would have been a “wind up” if the general opinion was in his favour
I passed at the start of this year in a wagon n drag then started driving artics after a month on class 2, and tbh although the concept is the same I personally think that reversing an artic is a different process to a wagon n drag, I have actually put it on bays first time ( very rare tho ) usually it’s a shunt or two, but I have always had encouraging comments from other drivers ( the ones that aren’t perfect that is ) as they obviously can remember what being new to the game was like or they are intellectual enough to realise it ain’t as easy as some drivers make it look ! I have no doubt that with time I will improve but doubt I’ll ever be perfect !!
sapper:
Sorry if I made it sound as if I was perfect, I’m not, it’s just that some of the manoeuvers were really over the top, we all have bad days, but at least four were holding everyone up from getting by, I suppose that made them more nervous and frustrated and we all know what that can do. Anyway, quite a lot of you bit for that one.
Sapper
oh i see just a wind up,for a minute i thought you was some kind of ■■■■■ trumpet
I wonder if it would have been a “wind up” if the general opinion was in his favour
Course not, it’s the standard internet forum get out when a thread doesn’t go the way the OP wants, they claim it was a wind up all along. And this OP has a history of this sort of thing.
“so called professional” 
but I know what you’re getting at, there are some drivers who are not having a bad day, they don’t look like they’re inexperienced either, they look like they haven’t got a bloody clue 