First day with a proper truck

[madbaz]

I should’ve stayed in bed!!!

Snoozed alarm at 03.50, bloody thing didn’t go off again, woke up at 04.40 with 20 minutes to get to new job (agency) at 3663 (or Swithenbanks @ Bradford).
Gets there at 05.05 and gets a hired DAF XF(iirc), 6 speed, with a fridge bolted on the back, and its ZBing HUGE. Only 2 drops for today, both prisons in the Midlands. after sorting out the ream of paperwork, gets it in gear and then I can’t get 2nd, tries third and promptly stalls the ■■■■■, and I does it again, double ■■■■■!!!

Eventually gets on the 606 then 62 and I’m overcome with emotion, this is what it’s all about, I’m finally living the dream , sorry that was a bit soppy for a truckers forum.

I ends up 20 miles from my first drop, and the sat nav says go this way and that way, but I’m scuppered by flippin 7.5t limits, eventually finds a way round em and first tip ends up being a nightmare, drives up to the wrong gate, PO there says “you should be down there” she opens the gate to let me turn round and I clip the ruddy great big day glo orange skip I didn’t see (it’s only a hire wagon a bit of T-cut will make that dent look like new), goes back the way I came and cant get round to the correct gate, by this time I’m nearly in tears , so I decides to start again, I drive out of the site, to the bemusement of onlookers and turns on road and comes back in, then everything is hunky dory .

Gets to my 2nd drop, signs in gets on the bay, and starts tipping, then the cook comes out and says “you here again, we had you yesterday” alarm bells ring and the cook explains I should be next door (what bloody good are signposts when they’re obscured by foliage), tears are really welling up now .
I reload I does the security thing and goes round to the right gate, only to be told it’s dinnertime and shift change straight after, and there’s no way I’ll get in b4 2pm . Sticks the tacho on POA and I go thru half a twenty pack, gets on the bay at 1.30 and I’m back on the road at 2pm, just in time for the bank holiday caravaner’s to make an appearance .
Diesels up, sorts paperwork and gets home at 6. all in all a crappy day, a bit more experience, and I learnt a huge amount today, like check and double check, if in doubt get out, oh and I figured out the cruise control 20 minutes before getting back to the yard

I’ve got a similar run tomorrow, so if the News at Ten is about prisoners rioting cos they’ve been starved, it’s my fault

[winters]

What I tend to do is ask other driver(s) at the depot for info about the place I’m delivering to.
What, where and how??
It makes life a lot easier.
Never be afraid to ask.
Write down what they tell you.
If you’ve got some info then that’s half the battle over with.
When entering the delivery area then stop and ask joe public or at a security gate house if on an industrial estate.

[olly]

that made me laugh, sounded like my first day on the artics last year.
The more i rushed it and panicked the worst it got
Dont worry to much mate, every balls up you do has been done before and will be done again.
Chill out and enjoy your new career, try not to rush anything, deep breath and dont panic.
As you go on it will all become easier and your be watching new guys making the same balls ups you did.
I always asked other drivers for help, if im lost or a difficult bay and always got help…good luck mate and chill out, it all gets there in the end.

[8wheels]

I’ve done a fair few prisons (delivering that is) and they are almost all crap drops. The older Victorian ones are ridicously tight for wagons to get in and out of and the modern ones have got landscaped areas and other things that the architect thought would make the prison a nicer place to be in.

You cannot rush through the system and there’s a good chance you’ll end up getting stuck inside when there’s trouble or the numbers don’t tally.

And we all get days like that, I had a bad one on agency as a new driver delivering milk to Tesco’s in South London.

I’d spent over half hour looking for the place on a dark wet Saturday evening in Feb. whilst trying to work out what was what I lost a dolly of milk off the tail lift. Trying to restack and clear up when there are buses going past and ■■■■■■■■■ milling about is soul destroying. Eventually I finished the shift at 3am (12 hours after starting) but I did feel like getting on the train and going home.

I look back and laugh now, but I seriously wondered what I’d got into at the time.

[lee_g]

MADBAZ:
I should’ve stayed in bed!!!

Snoozed alarm at 03.50, bloody thing didn’t go off again, woke up at 04.40 with 20 minutes to get to new job (agency) at 3663 (or Swithenbanks @ Bradford).
Gets there at 05.05 and gets a hired DAF XF(iirc), 6 speed, with a fridge bolted on the back, and its ZBing HUGE. Only 2 drops for today, both prisons in the Midlands. after sorting out the ream of paperwork, gets it in gear and then I can’t get 2nd, tries third and promptly stalls the ■■■■■, and I does it again, double ■■■■■!!!

Eventually gets on the 606 then 62 and I’m overcome with emotion, this is what it’s all about, I’m finally living the dream , sorry that was a bit soppy for a truckers forum.

I ends up 20 miles from my first drop, and the sat nav says go this way and that way, but I’m scuppered by flippin 7.5t limits, eventually finds a way round em and first tip ends up being a nightmare, drives up to the wrong gate, PO there says “you should be down there” she opens the gate to let me turn round and I clip the ruddy great big day glo orange skip I didn’t see (it’s only a hire wagon a bit of T-cut will make that dent look like new), goes back the way I came and cant get round to the correct gate, by this time I’m nearly in tears , so I decides to start again, I drive out of the site, to the bemusement of onlookers and turns on road and comes back in, then everything is hunky dory .

Gets to my 2nd drop, signs in gets on the bay, and starts tipping, then the cook comes out and says “you here again, we had you yesterday” alarm bells ring and the cook explains I should be next door (what bloody good are signposts when they’re obscured by foliage), tears are really welling up now .
I reload I does the security thing and goes round to the right gate, only to be told it’s dinnertime and shift change straight after, and there’s no way I’ll get in b4 2pm . Sticks the tacho on POA and I go thru half a twenty pack, gets on the bay at 1.30 and I’m back on the road at 2pm, just in time for the bank holiday caravaner’s to make an appearance .
Diesels up, sorts paperwork and gets home at 6. all in all a crappy day, a bit more experience, and I learnt a huge amount today, like check and double check, if in doubt get out, oh and I figured out the cruise control 20 minutes before getting back to the yard

I’ve got a similar run tomorrow, so if the News at Ten is about prisoners rioting cos they’ve been starved, it’s my fault

as the saying goes baz, everyday is a school day.

i think about 90% of everyone on here has had a bad first day, or do we just think it is worse than anyone elses because you wonder WTF have i done this for!

keep smiling mate and it does get easier, sorry it doesnt get easier you just dont worry about it as much!

well done though, you didnt kill anyone!

[madbaz]

Thanks for the chin ups guys

I had a much better day today, I gets to one prison and the chef starts going off on one , “your supposed to be here at 8, your supposed to deliver cages not pallets(6), you’ll have to handball it into empty cages.” I said something along the lines of I’m no superman, Bradford to Birmingham in 2.5 hours is impossible, by the way your my last drop, I don’t load the truck and I don’t do handball so I’ll just take it back mate . He then suggested getting some prisoners to do the work and lo and behold one comes out with a pallet truck!

My DHG started to go mad when I ended up 10 minutes over my 4.5 hours , couldn’t take a break inside the prison and couldn’t find anywhere to stop and M6 was heaving , stopped at Hilton Park, marked it down on chart.

Could end up liking this trucking lark