First Artic Shift Tonight!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

I think the adrenaline rush will keep you going through most of it, depending on what time you got up this morning, sleep will try and kick in between 2am and 4am and then once you get past it daylight will start and you may think ‘this is no problem’ as a you get your second wind but tiredness may pop up again around 10am.

Not sure how long you will be working but don’t be afraid to just keep stopping at regular intervals and splash some water on your face (take plenty with you), and keep the window open a little to let some fresh air in.

Lots of coffee can work in the short term but with every up remember there is also a down.

Eating little and often is a good tip as large meals will make you drowsy.

Let us know how you get on and if in doubt just say ‘fo-ok-it’ and have a sleep.

22

robertsherry:
Iv been napping all afternoon on and off, almost too excited to sleep!!

Iv burnt a few CD’s up in case the cab doesnt have an aux in and got the iPod ready!

If need be and I get tired I’l just pull in and get a coffee!

Rob

Bless you! I know exactly how you feel and I’m glad you’ve managed a snooze, any bit is better than none at all :slight_smile:

23

Relax enjoy and take your time.
Remember my first ever run what a ******* buzz!

24

The advice I was given mate was to just take your time, no prizes fir finishing quicker than other drivers,
Don’t bother about holding other drivers up or let their stares put you off reversing etc
Just enjoy it as much as you can it will be one huge learning curve for you and a shift you will always remember just take your time and make it memorable fir the right reasons
Just like you I couldn’t sleep but nerves, excitement 40 smokes and a barrel of coffeekept me ggoing lol
Well done landing your first shift this is the start of your career enjoy it again take your time and bring the truck back in one piece
Good luck mate and don’t be afraid to ask other drivers if in doubt but take your thick skin with you as there us some know alls out there

25

robertsherry:
Hey Guys,

Got my first ever Artic shift tonight, I had to call in to the agency this morning to do some timesheet stuff and asked if they could place me anywhere, it happened they got a call at that moment for a driver tonight and she gave me the shift!!

Working for Expert Logistics out of crewe, up to Leeds, on to Darlington and back to Crewe again!

The shift doesn’t start until 23:55 though! Anyone got any tips or pointers for the first shift? Also any pointers for the fact its a night shift?

Thanks guys,

Rob

Hope the agency don’t cancel you at 23:45 :wink:

Happened to me a few times **** ! :imp:

Read and digest what’s been said on the thread.

Take care and enjoy.

26

DO NOT HOOK UP WITHOUT GLOVES

that’s the mistake i made 1st time i was let loose on my own,was caked up all night :blush:

27

Scanner:
Get some sleep before it.

+1 :slight_smile:

28

Apples ! eat apples to help keep you awake. Way better than coffee for keeping you up. Trust me on this. Good for you too. Othe fruits are good for waking up your mind.

29

jrt:
Apples ! eat apples to help keep you awake. Way better than coffee for keeping you up. Trust me on this. Good for you too. Othe fruits are good for waking up your mind.

Coffees a quick fix and can leave you flat after an hour. Apples wake you up very quickly but last a lot longer too. Half a dozen Granny Smiths or golden delishsh are the best.

30

jrt:

jrt:
Apples ! eat apples to help keep you awake. Way better than coffee for keeping you up. Trust me on this. Good for you too. Othe fruits are good for waking up your mind.

Coffees a quick fix and can leave you flat after an hour. Apples wake you up very quickly but last a lot longer too. Half a dozen Granny Smiths or golden delishsh are the best.

Also wont leave you needing a ■■■■ every hour :laughing:

31

Hey Guys,

Just an update on how it went on!

So I got there on Monday night and got directed to the traffic office, got handed some check sheets and told which bay my unit was on to go over and do the checks! They are quite strict about writing down damage and make it quite clear that you really want to go over with a fine tooth comb and mark down everything so I do this and hand the paperwork in and off I go!

Its an easy run, from Crewe to the sub-depot in Leeds and back again doing some trailer swaps in Leeds.

Easy run up to Leeds, nice to be back behind the wheel of a artic again. Its a DAF CF 6x2 auto unit, nice machine pulling a tri-axle moving double floor curtain sider. It was loaded on the way out.

Trundle up and get to the depot, due to the first unit earlier in the evening being delayed by 2 hours, there was another unit at the front and another trailer behind. I go and speak to the guys in the depot and say that the one they currently had in the bay would be another 40 mins and the 1st unit another hour so I ask them to call me and I go and get some sleep! I get the call and the first thing is to disconnect my trailer and connect up to the trailer ahead of me. Remembering ‘BLACK’ I have no problems and the trailer is in the bay quite easily, they rapidly offload this trailer (only a single decker) and its back out with that one and connected back up to the one I took up, throw that in the bay, connect up to the other trailer again and back to Crewe! Again an uneventful drive back to the depot. Get back, fuel up and drop the trailer and off home!

Good first night!

I get called asking if I want to go back in last night so said yeh!

Same start, do the paperwork when I get in and get told its to the same sub-depot in Leeds, swap trailers in Leeds and take the one that would already be in the bay up to Argos in Darlington and swap with a returns trailer. Leeds drop is uneventful and get up to Darlington, swap trailers, nip into the office and this is where it goes a bit wrong…

I ask if there is the paperwork and they said it was in the trailer, but the trailer was sealed and didnt want to break it so ask them again and they are sure its in there.

So driving back, I notice I’m coming up to 4 hours, thinking I could get to the next services I keep going and then see a sign that services are in 27 miles and I have 20 mins left on my driving time…

So I come off at the next junction and try and find a layby that I can put this unit in (picture at the bottom), not as easy as I thought and I park up with 2 mins to spare. Stick the night heater on low and grab 45 mins of kip. 45 later I wake up and get back to Leeds, having stopped at Lymm to go to the loo, Crewe would have just been a little bit too far!

Get to the gate at Crewe and they ask for the paperwork so I open the trailer and there is no paperwork… Gate lets me in but the yard guy says I can’t go on a bay without the paperwork so I park it up and go into the office, they are a bit stunned with the no paperwork and tell me to go upstairs and see the boss. He lays into me a bit and I am extremely apologetic as it was only my 2nd day in there and I was very grateful for the start and want to go back! He says just remember golden rule now don’t leave without paper in your hand, if need be get them to open the trailer up to check and re seal it!

So not the best 2nd day.

Don’t get booked for tonight, hope I haven’t ■■■■■■ them off. One of the senior drivers gave me his number if I want more work as I can get better pay not going through through the agency but got to be careful as agency have always been good to me! When I text him saying they apparently dont need people he was a bit surprised as he said they are short of drivers and will try and push for me to be back as he liked me and will mention that no one really explained to me the craic as its the first time on Class 1!

Back on Class 2 tomorrow mornings, to be honest these first 2 night shifts have killed me a bit and now know how to try and fully prepare myself. but I have enjoyed it!

Oh and to top it off, I left my Digicard in the unit so got to go and pick that up on the way to the other work in the morning, thankfully its only 5 mins down the road!

Hope for some more next week!

Rob

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32

Kudos for the decker on your first artic shift buddy

33

Havent got round to my C+E license yet, but this is a great read :smiley:

34

Yeah, you can tell how inexperienced you are…

You said a CF auto was a nice machine! :laughing:

Seriously though, well done on your first shifts. You didn’t hit anything, got some experience, learned not to listen to clowns in offices saying “it’ll be alright”, you got a number for a guy whose word might carry a bit of weight, all in all very good I’d say.

The manager bloke’s comments about the golden rule suggests he wants you back there again, he at least took the time to explain it to you.

Don’t worry, it’ll all be alright :slight_smile:

35

Scanner:
Don’t worry, it’ll all be alright :slight_smile:

Said the office monkey that didn’t have any paper work :wink:

36

Driveroneuk:

Scanner:
Don’t worry, it’ll all be alright :slight_smile:

Said the office monkey that didn’t have any paper work :wink:

:laughing: What can I say?! :laughing:

37

A good start. 2 days damage free. Seems like a nice little run to ease you in and hopefully you’ll get some more.

As has been said, office bods are only any good at gossiping. Nothing else. If something doesn’t seem right, go with your instinct.

Keep us updated.