Sorry fellas and fellettes another question. Are there specific course you need to go on for tipper, tanker or transporter driver etc. My adr says tankers and in Raf we did fams for different vehicles/trailers but nothing official. Thanks for advice up front I am new and enjoy driving just seeking guidance down the right paths.
Some places will give you a brief, if there is time, a few places will put you go through the driver trainers for multi deck, refuelling the liquid gas tractors etc . Does save you making an error through simple lack of experience. That said when things are busy you can get thrown in the deep end a bit, but just ask if unsure.
Most places the regular drivers are very helpful, if you treat them and the veh with some respect.
As Pete said ask regular drivers but who you work for should give you training on the trailers,it’s there duty to make sure you are up to speed on the equipment you are expected to use.
They don’t want you going out with equipment your not sure about and risk an accident and it hurting you or others and it coming back on them for not giving adequate training beforehand.
Tippers aint so bad, few days should see you sorted, but in the unlikely event of a tanker car transporter operator sending someone out without comprehensive training, they will reap richly in the resulting disaster and deserve it all.
Juddian:
…sending someone out without comprehensive training, they will reap richly in the resulting disaster and deserve it all.
As the guys have said, companies are making a better effort to ensure drivers are trained up. I think it comes back at them a lot quicker these days. I have been out of it a while, just recently returned and some of the sites I am working at have put me through an 8 hours induction, others 40 mins. The longer one was well run and informative, learnt a couple of new tricks as well.
I have never really suffer the [zb] agency driver bs, well not too my face. But its their problem not yours, and most professional drivers on site are only too please to help out the agency guys who are smart enough to ask. But I am sometimes appalled at some of the guys the agencies send in, so have some sympathy for the reg guys\TM’s.
Always worth turning up early on a new site or run, don’t let the agencies be lazy, they usually know the run and the general score on a site, knowing where you are heading\doing before you turn up saves time.
When I started at my current job I had only used fridge and curtain sides. Now I use flatbed, ejector, walking floor and tipper trailers. When it came to training I spent 1 day out with a driver who used whichever particular trailer and then I was off solo the next day.
Have not used our low loaders yet but I think you get a week or so with a pro as some of the plant is pretty big/heavy stgo stuff.
Cheers guys. Yet again some good tips. I will definitely ask. I’m at the port this week and the reg guys qre really helpful.
FYI - the civvy version of a FAM is one of the drivers/office bods will say this is how you do it ok? then that’s it, even more so if your agency.