Here’s one which should produce a good range of answers…at what point do you think we should be allowed to call ourselves “Experienced”?
Personally I don’t think it’s just a time-served thing…I’ve been driving wagons for 5 years now, and still reckon I’m very much a Newbie!
But, personally, I think I’m “getting there” because:
I’ve stopped being amazed that anyone would hand me the keys to £££s worth of wagon and then pay me to drive it.
I used to make a mess of reversing and feel gutted …now I just think “hey-ho, still can’t back!”
I can get to 90% of places without looking at the map for the majority of the journey.
Nowhere feels a long way from home any more…and it’s rare to see a new view or go down a main road which I haven’t used before.
A bunk isn’t a novelty.
A 45ft trailer doesn’t seem big…
A red light on the dash no longer terrifies me in case it’s my fault - I know I’ll get the blame regardless!
I know longer feel frightened or empbarrassed to admit there are things within this industry I know nothing about…I know that I can keep driving for another 30 years, and I still won’t have covered even the tip of the iceberg!
For the trampers…(although some of these apply universally)
I’m no longer horrified at the idea of finishing work at 10pm, having started at 7am…then starting again at 7 the following morning…or starting at 6, getting stuck somewhere for a couple of hours, then somewhere else for a few more, then having to work through to 10pm to make the time up by splitting the shift…the doing it all again after an 8 hour break…day in, day out…
I’m perpetually tired, constantly in need of a holiday, and give the doctor a blank look when he quietly points out that that is probably because I work excessive hours and eat a lousy diet…and no, antibiotics won’t cure it…
The dog gives me a filthy look if I’m home on a week day…and the idea that some people, hell, most people, have 15 hours to themselves every night is something which I simply cannot imagine.
No matter where I am in the country, no matter where I’m heading and what time I have left, I always have somewhere mentally “earmarked” to stop for the night…usually because I’ve used the spot many times before.
I have a mental list of garages nationwide which take various different fuelcards.
I have another mental list of garages nationwide which don’t sell those disgusting Ginsters’ sandwiches.
And for the ladies…
If anyone asks me what I do for a living, I either vaguely mutter something about “driving long distance” (note no mention of lorries), and let them think I’m a Rep…or make a crack about “as little as possible”…anything, in fact, to avoid admitting to being a wagon driver and having to deal with the inevitable “OOooo, aren’t you brave?” type comments which inevitably follow.
I know where most of the women’s showers are, and whether they a) work; b) are a health hazard and c) have a strong enough jet to get 2 lots of shampoo out of hair which nearly touches my backside in under 45mins…
I take great pleasure in looking and feeling feminine at weekends…but couldn’t care less during the week.
I’ve heard it all before. All of it. And it’s boring.
I don’t notice people staring until I run with a bloke and he tells me about it.
I pull the curtain when I’m next to a coach in a traffic jam…I’m no longer proud to be pointed at and discussed, just mildly irritated…especially when there’s a really crusty bit of snot I could do with removing whilst I’m stopped…
I no longer have anything to prove to anyone, except occasionally to myself.
There are stacks more…but that should set the ball rolling…so come on…what do you think makes a driver “Experienced”?
your experienced when
your arse and your seat are the same shape
you try to put a tacho in the car at weekends when you take your lass/lad (pc) shopping
you take a wizz out the back door cos you cant be arsed to walk to the main building(you know who you are)
and finally
you spend your nights on HERE talking ■■■■
mezzzz1211:
your experienced when
your arse and your seat are the same shape
you try to put a tacho in the car at weekends when you take your lass/lad (pc) shopping
you take a wizz out the back door cos you cant be arsed to walk to the main building(you know who you are)
and finally
you spend your nights on HERE talking [zb]
When I first passed C+E I would go to drops that I’d been to in a rigid and think “Christ I’ll never back that in there”…a year on and I reverse in without giving it a second thought, and if I do the manouvere in one go,God does it make you proud.
Also when on my artic test doing the trailer couple/uncouple exercise I went through every step meticulously to make sure I’d "crossed the ‘tees’ and dotted the’I’s’,to show the examiner I was competent enough. Now, whenever I shunt trailers in the yard I can put six or seven trailers in place in about ten minutes,and not give it a second thought
When a driver with clearly many more years HGV driving experience than yourself ask YOU for advice/directions/how do you operate this gearbox,mate.
Yes, there are many others but I will pass the baton to someone else as I don’t want to blow my own trumpet too much
Lucy:
I pull the curtain when I’m next to a coach in a traffic jam…I’m no longer proud to be pointed at and discussed, just mildly irritated…especially when there’s a really crusty bit of snot I could do with removing whilst I’m stopped…
There are stacks more…but that should set the ball rolling…so come on…what do you think makes a driver “Experienced”?
I have been driving trucks since 1975 and I am not yet fully experienced, you learn something new every day
I still have embarassing moments,… last week I pulled into a factory compound in Glens Falls NY, went into the office for my notes, walked around the truck and opened the right hand door and actually stared for a while wondering where the steering wheel had gone
Wait for the ignition lights to go out when starting the car.
Dont care when the boss asks if you’ll just nip out on that van,
Make a {zb} of yourself when trying to back 4 wheeler on a bay, and hopping out when done with a bow.
When you run rings round the traffic monkey for fun, because you can {with out ref to map on wall}. and not caring how it may effect you employment.
Dan:
Just one more from me…
You opposite lock the steering wheel when trying to park the car in Tesco’s…(guilty )
Cursing other motorists {you can get a zb bus through there} , Whilst being reminded about how you give plenty of room on your n/s in the family car.
NOT being able to parallel park your car.
Despite the fact that ?00s of times a week, you blind side reverse a 45ft trailer and parallel park perfectly, an inch away from a line, partially painted in a yard somewhere
eddie snax:
Cursing other motorists {you can get a zb bus through there} , Whilst being reminded about how you give plenty of room on your n/s in the family car.
I now know I’m more of an HGV driver than a PSV because I no longer press a switch on the dash when a passenger is about to get out & I no longer check bus stops for passengers .
I once, whilst driving through Snowdonia, with a bus behind me, stopped at a bus stop when someone put their hand out for the bus.
I also find myself looking in the wing mirror even when I’m a passenger, taking corners in an HGV line when in the car, never seem to use the interior rear view & have been known try & pull away in second or block change from 1st to 4th, or depending on what I am driving HGV wise double declutch the car.
But I think the biggest give away is finding the car heavier on steering & clutch than the wagon.
Simon, I use to regularly parallel park my 45ft trailer in a lay-by in ■■■■■■■ (my party trick, although it use to scare the [zb] out of the chap in the butty van) then I’d go home and struggle to park my ford fiesta in a gap twice as big as the car.
When I’m a passenger in a car and there are 3 or more people then I’ll opt for the back seat, but everyone assumes that as a driver, I’ll want to sit in the front passenger seat and watch the road, are they kidding?
Dazza
If it needs stars to get it past the censor, then it’s not allowed! L.
Ive got to strike a blow for the semi-senile here, could “experienced” be when you cant remember anymore, the stuff that first made you aware you were experienced?
The biggest argument I have usualy when im driving, and my mums in the passenger seat is the amount of space I use when driving and turning. Few nights ago I went down a road with daft lane widths and sticky-out pavements. Me having driven buses for too long, Sits in the middle of the road instead of weaving in and out following the white lines. That caused a bit of an argument, But not as much as me turning right at a roundabout from the left lane.
I had an embarising moment a few months ago, When turning right in the car with my sister I was looking to overhang the pavement with the left side slightly as buses front wheels are set back a good bit, I usualy use that to my benifit. I releasided what I was doing just in time to avoid the pavement, But not quick enough to show to the passengers that I was crazy
I wouldn’t claim to be experienced. while it is true there are some aspects of the job I have been doing for years there are others that I have never done and would be a total newbie if I was to move into those areas.
It’s alwasy best to claim you know nothing then your mistakes are more easily forgiven.
…now I just think “hey-ho, still can’t back!” 
