First days of paid driving!

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Right well, this is the end of day 3, it’s been a very hard few days for lots of different reasons but overall although I am bruised, have a blister on my toe from my safety boots and am totally knackered I’ve had a lot of fun and met loads of helpful and lovely people.

Anyone driving around West Sussex, if you spot a grinning redhead in a white (and very occasionally a black) DAF it’s probably me, gis a wave!

Day 1

Easter Sunday - I was allocated our one black DAF XF, 58 plate I think, auto, digicard, pretty clean and well looked after, I didn’t have to do my collection after all, just pick up my load from our warehouse. I cheated a bit and had a friend along who is a class 2 driver with bags of experience both with big trailers and just HGV procedures in general. This meant I had a constant banksman for reversing, someone to remind me of breaks etc and basically take some of the worry out of the day. Got out of the yard fine, my nice new sat nav taking the directional strain. I was enjoying the auto, and loving the cruise control. Got into the warehouse between 2 other trucks with help from my able banksman and got my load on for Brinklow. Traffic on the M25 was a pig and due to delays I had 15 mins to spare driving time when I pulled into the Waitrose RDC. I mentioned this to the gateman but there were no bays free so I parked up out of the way and took my full 45. Went in and waited patiently to be called, by now my delivery eta was out of the window, although I arrived at 14.09 and the expected time was 14.00 it was around 15.50 when I was allocated a bay. The reverse didn’t go as easy as I had hoped and I did go back onto the bay rather harshly. The bays there are slightly uphill so you have to push it up… but not that hard. No damage was done, it was just rather loud. Handed in the keys and tried to wait patiently but after a while I suspected they had forgotten me as I’d heard them in the box the instant it was on the bay and it doesn’t take that sort of operation long to offload 21 pallets. I held out for an hour and politely asked them to check on them. As expected they were finished and I was given my keys back. This was 17.15 now. Back to Littlehampton but again M25 was slow so it was 20.00 or so when I reached the yard, now panicking that there would be no (easy) parking spaces. I was very tired and kept reminding myself to focus but still upon seeing the yard and the fact there were in fact spaces left I was so eager to get in and get done I made the very basic error of forgetting to give room for the trailer. Thankfully there are only bushes either side of the entrance, had it been a wall I would have taken it out, as it was the bushes bounced back. I was mortified however and felt so ashamed at making such a textbook error, it rather took the shine off the day. Got home exhausted but pleased with my day bar the ending. I only needed to do 3 reverses throughout the day and didn’t really feel I made a lot of progress in improving my techniques. Hours 8-20.00

Easter Monday - first, proper ‘solo’ day; Didn’t start as planned, the vehicle I was due to take wasn’t back from Swindon so I was allocated another. Put my card and and was nearly finished my checks (and had put my sat nav etc and all my junk in) only to be told ‘sorry, you can’t have that one now, take this one’. OK, these things happen, packed up my stuff and transferred to a little DAF CF80 I think, quite old and tatty as nothing much else was left. Manual box & Analogue tacho and as I discovered later, put my tacho in the wrong way up (well, I had a 50/50 chance didn’t I?) Being a ‘W’ reg it didn’t have a seatbelt fitted which I found very disconcerting to drive. I loaded up at the warehouse with some oranges for Chichester Food Park, Merston site. I found it and pulled up to check in and was told all bar one loading bay was out of order, the one left being the most difficult to access. I’d pulled up in the wrong place really so although I did have a vague go at a blindside reverse I was really just hoping for some help, and it arrived in the form of a lovely Fowler & Welch driver who I let get onto the bay first as I had no deadlines (I was just down to be ‘girl Friday’ and clean up some small jobs here and there). I watched him make the bay (not and easy feat and of course he made it look slick and simple. Once he’d pulled out he guided me in, I did take a small piece out of the concrete guide which I reported but no one was bothered. I now know how to manage that one though! I was given a heart attack when my satnav took me the worst way to the warehouse; I ended up facing a sign which indicated a VERY low bridge in one direction and a 7.5t restriction in the other!! I pulled up, hazards on and rang in for help, really hoping I wouldn’t have to reverse back or turn around in a busy little village! I was able to use the 7.5t restriction as I could turn off a little way down but it was uber tight anda bit stressful. I’d been asked to return to the warehouse and swap vehicles again to an older DAF xf, manual with a few quirks shall we say. I had several issues with the box as the hi/lo would occasionally not work and at one point I could not get a gear at all and just had to put my hazards on until I could finally move off again. I delivered the load which was on. The loading bay for delivery was a downward slope which I found much easier, I did have to shuffle about a lot to get onto the bay but not embarrassingly so. Once delivered I was to drop the trailer back at the yard. I dropped the trailer only to discover that the one I was to hook up wasn’t there. I was told topark up the unit separately and swap again. Another similar DAF xf, older style, but with a slightly better gear box. I made a small collection, again a downward sloping loading bay which took me too long to get into. Dropped that at our warehouse and returned to the yard and finished up. A messy, bitty day, but interesting nonetheless. Did about 10 reverses in total which was good but again I didn’t really feel my confidence improve much. Hours 8-17.30

Tues 22.4 - Early start, 6am at the warehouse. I had the little DAF CF80 again, put my tacho in the right way this time but as I discovered tonight there’s a malfunction and it didn’t record my speed or driving details, just the bits around the inner ring. I was to spend all day running between two nurseries, only about 1/4 mile apart. It was a hard day, lots of graft, fair amount of paperwork but over all it was fun AND it was great reversing practice, both loading bays downwards slopes and one a fair bit tighter than the other and actually I did great. A bit slow maybe and my last one when I was knackered was a faff but I really felt my reversing came on a lot. I’m knackered, covered in bruises - I bruise easily - especially my right upper arm from getting my head and arm out whilst reversing. Probably did about 15 in total and a couple I was dead proud of, I didn’t miss the seatbelt given the proximity of the two locations. It was a gorgeous day, everyone was so helpful and positive and when I finally finished at 19.30 I got plenty of praise for even managing such a grueling day that many a bloke before me has moaned about or even tried to get out of. It was a long day but I did feel that I had done a stirling job and a good days work, when I think of the amount of stock I shifted from site to site and even the amount of loading/unloading I’m dead chuffed with myself. I was told that the customer at both ends was full of positive comments as were other drivers etc that I was working with during the day which was great as I couldn’t have put any more effort in. Hours 6-19.30.

I’ve a few days peace now, day off tomorrow and my office job Thurs/Fri. Will probably be out Sat though.

The grin factor has been huge, overall it’s been a ball, a learning curve yes, and so much to remember. Day 2 I forgot my break in time, but last night I sat down and made up a check sheet to help me get through the day without forgetting anything and it was a huge help today, stuff like start/end mileages, a helpful list for walk round checks, vehicle and trailer details etc. I do actually know I can do this now my only worry is stamina as I couldn’t do today again tomorrow, not at all. Next week maybe, but not tomorrow!

Looking forward to the next adventure! :grimacing:

2

Wait till you get two gruelling 15hr days straight after each other :laughing:

Pleased you enjoyed it & can feel for the bruise easily as I do top of my arm is mainly 1 rather large bruise mainly form uncoupling trailer as I use them as a leaver to help with pin it is a nice colour purple atm only 4 days old

Yep have had some interesting reverse especially 1 place we often go with a blind side under a canopy & round a bend often with sun in your eyes

Dont worry how much time you take as long as you dont hit anything if in doubt get out & look dont be afraid to ask for help say you have just past test most drivers will help & dont worry bout an audience when you get it right they will applaud if you get it wrong just smile & say what you expect I am a woman :laughing: :laughing:

3

It’s true isn’t it when they say ‘the real learning starts when you pass your test’!

Well done though, even when you feel that you’ve not learnt anything or progressed your skills during the day, you have, you just don’t realise it! The mistakes will become few and far between and soon everything will become second nature and you will be doing blindside reverses with your eyes shut, if you pardon the pun! Just don’t ever become complacent, that’s when things can really go pear shaped!

4

Well done on your first days you have definitely earned your money by the look of it, as for worrying how many times it takes to get on a bay dont, as long as its straight and you dont hit anything its fine it will come with practice and time.
Its a hard job no matter how long you have been doing it if it was easy everyone would do it but they cant thats what makes truck drivers special :smiley:
You will get used to being knackered bad enough two or three long days get to the end of 5 long days and your just glad to clock out and go home.
Good luck for the next few days you know what to expect now.

Jeff.

5

Thanks all, I’ve still got my office job so I had today off then I have two days office and driving Sat. Looks like I’ll be able to do every Tuesday and every other Sat along with my three days office and still stay legal. Plus I’ll volunteer for bank hols too.

6

Nice one matey , you did good , no major incidents and got the job done , cant of been that bad I didn’t get any calls :wink: :wink:
the first few days in any job are hard work your getting to know how everything works not just driving but what to when arr at dest and paperwork etc , next week will be easier on your head as you now have an idea what it all entails , goodluck for next week and enjoy
jx

7

Well done Missus, great diary, you can certainly drive a keyboard & it looks like you’re getting to grips with the Big Steering Wheels as well.

As others have said- it’s not a race, no one is timing you, you don’t win a Prize (but you can Loose)

I hate cab hopping, but it’s a good way to learn about the differences between wagons. Leave 'em as to find 'em ! If it’s a Pit, leave it like a Pit (even add to it, if you like. Lol)
If it’s clean, leave it clean.

Waitrose, Brinklow is a ‘Hole’ it’s on our doorstep (along with ‘Smelshall’) they won’t let you on early, but they will certainly keep you there late Grrrrr !
We’ve been pulled out of there a few times, if they don’t put us on a bay within half an hour of our booking time, I even got pulled out once after they put me on a bay but didn’t start to unload for an hour, loved it, the management got involved but I still F’d off with their goods which had to be re’booked & re’charged. Lol.

The more you do, the easier it gets, so keep up the diary & take your time (the gears on a Lorry are not the same as Lewis Hamilton’s & some times they need a bit of TLC)

8

The first days are certainly the hardest and then one day it will just click and everything suddenly makes sense and just works. As for reversing, the only way that improves is experience, still at it and that will just click too.

Stick at it and it will get much easier in time.

You wouldn’t by any chance be working for stuart lyons would you? :slight_smile:

9

Great diary Missus , keep doing the diaries very interesting , as a newbie myself who hasn’t actually started driving yet it’s good to hear how others are doing , well done, can’t wait to start all though I’ll have to wait till March 2015

10

I’ve really enjoyed your progress…I guess I am about 4-5 weeks behind you

C+E next week…did you get any Class 2 work done before your Class 1?

11

Great read Missus. It’s brilliant how far you’ve come in such a short time. Seems like only a few weeks since I was reading your posts about training and now you’re a fully fledged wagon driver. Keep it up :smiley:

12

Wow, I’m almost in the same boat but different tack! I have a new class1 licence and have been out a whole two days now. Interesting to see the same difficulties here, reversing is getting better very gradually. Double checking everything, waiting for a disaster as I drive the tractor out from the uncoupled trailer etc…

Lots of help and advice from all the other drivers. Found a colleague raising the ride height on the rear of my tractor unit and realised I’d been running too low and worn a hole through the plastic mudguard, bit gutted as it was all going so well. I think it was down to a bit of pressure I put myself under as I was asked to try and carry out 8 shunts a day as all the experienced drivers are doing, I managed 6 so was happy with that, as was the chap asking me to up the pace!

My new job involves running between two based about 10 miles apart loading and unloading plastic pipes, lots of jumping between curtain siders and flat bed trailers and lots of coupling / uncoupling. The unit is a W reg Scania 114L 340, if that makes sense to anyone?
I’m sure there are up’s and downs to long runs and shunting and i’ll have to make my mind up which direction I want my new career to go in later on. Concentrating on REVERSING right now. Felt a bit daft earlier as I had n’t even seen a ratchet before, let alone strap up tons of enormous gas pipes!

Can anyone tell me how the auto self levelling works on this tractor unit, my colleague was not that good at explaining it to me. There are two butons to the right of the steering wheel on the dash, one seems to be on/off and the other is up/down.

Overall still having fun, hope the boss isn’t too mad about the mudguard, it’s been repaired before so i’m not the first.

13

Will try to explain the ride high best I can ( bare in mind have been away since last thur & early start this mor )

There should be a box at the base of the drivers seat this will allow for you to set ride high you must have the engine on for it to work it will have an on/off button press that then there will be another with an arrow pointing up & a different one for down also a stop button & another with poss pic of lorry on with both arrows on pointing towards each other

Make sure you turn on adjust to suit you this will level the trailer

There will also be a handle near the back of the trailer that will allow you to raise & lower trailer sometimes the trailer break is next to it this can be either side

HTH

14

Excellent thread.

I started solo on article tankers same week but Easter Monday and did five hard days tramping straight off. Phew! I was knackered at end of week but really enjoyed it more as the week went on. Reversing and parking up at night are the biggest challenges so far. Generally, other drivers and people one come into contact with at loading and unloading sites are very helpful especially when you tell them you’re new to the job etc.

Look forward to further updates from the missus as we all have to learn and why not together by sharing experiences.

15

Jennie:
Nice one matey , you did good , no major incidents and got the job done , cant of been that bad I didn’t get any calls :wink: :wink:
the first few days in any job are hard work your getting to know how everything works not just driving but what to when arr at dest and paperwork etc , next week will be easier on your head as you now have an idea what it all entails , goodluck for next week and enjoy
jx

Thanks matey. It’s slowly getting easier, I’m really enjoying it though, even the mammoth days I’ve had some fun with. I’m still getting bruises on my inner upper right arm, the other half doesn’t believe it can be from hanging it out the window when reversing but it has to be, the more reversing I’ve done in a day the more bruises I have! I’ve taken to wearing a doubled over tubigrip on my upper arm which is helping to reduce them but other than hoping my arm toughens up a bit I just keep the arnica handy!

16

martinviking:
Well done Missus, great diary, you can certainly drive a keyboard & it looks like you’re getting to grips with the Big Steering Wheels as well.

As others have said- it’s not a race, no one is timing you, you don’t win a Prize (but you can Loose)

I hate cab hopping, but it’s a good way to learn about the differences between wagons. Leave 'em as to find 'em ! If it’s a Pit, leave it like a Pit (even add to it, if you like. Lol)
If it’s clean, leave it clean.

Waitrose, Brinklow is a ‘Hole’ it’s on our doorstep (along with ‘Smelshall’) they won’t let you on early, but they will certainly keep you there late Grrrrr !
We’ve been pulled out of there a few times, if they don’t put us on a bay within half an hour of our booking time, I even got pulled out once after they put me on a bay but didn’t start to unload for an hour, loved it, the management got involved but I still F’d off with their goods which had to be re’booked & re’charged. Lol.

The more you do, the easier it gets, so keep up the diary & take your time (the gears on a Lorry are not the same as Lewis Hamilton’s & some times they need a bit of TLC)

LOL I’d LOVE to see Lewis Hamilton try to drive one of these old units!! :grimacing: (ideally with trailer on but either way would be funny!)

Yes, absolutely, I am always careful with other people’s units. You can tell which ones are a ‘regular’ drive for someone and I do try very hard to not add any muck. Sometimes its hard as our yard is a dust bowl which means mud pit in the rain. My other half is quite houseproud of his truck and you can see it pains him if someone puts boots on the middle carpet say as he only ever lets socks touch down there and keeps it as clean as he can. I don’t tend to look at grubby trucks much different, i’m always equipped with baby wipes and often can be found cleaning the dash and wheel/controls when waiting to get on a bay/break etc so I like to think that people will be happy to have me visit their vehicle rather than thinking ‘who’s been in here’. For the same reason I always try to remember to put the seat right back again, as when it’s set for me no one else can get in! :smiley:

17

DJC:
The first days are certainly the hardest and then one day it will just click and everything suddenly makes sense and just works. As for reversing, the only way that improves is experience, still at it and that will just click too.

Stick at it and it will get much easier in time.

You wouldn’t by any chance be working for stuart lyons would you? :slight_smile:

Yes, you get the prize! :grimacing: I’m very grateful for the opportunity to get this valuable and so crucial experience. They seem a good bunch and I didn’t find any negative comments about them. Some of the older vehicles are a bit tatty but newbies can’t be choosy and let’s face it; it’s expensive to maintain a fleet of trucks so you really can’t expect lovely shiny units and perfect trailers from the start.

I was sorta sold on the work with the RDC jobs but actually having been to one RDC I actually think I prefer the smaller work, the food stuffs and nursery work. All the other drivers at the RDCs look miserable, people don’t seem to chat to pass the time. With the smaller locations you can have a good natter with loads of folk and the day passes quicker.

18

jonesy1985:
I’ve really enjoyed your progress…I guess I am about 4-5 weeks behind you

C+E next week…did you get any Class 2 work done before your Class 1?

No, I had no interest in Class 2 work. That sounds bad but the reality is I know that rigid work is more physical, multi-drop and pallet drops or foodservice stuff. It’s hard work. I’m finding it physically demanding as it is, I couldn’t have taken out the ‘fun’ of the big trucks and added more labour and enjoyed it too. I need the pleasure of enjoying being a minority driving a big unit to offset the hours/sore muscles. Also remember some things are so different, like reversing, you won’t necessarily get any benefit from Class 2 practice as it will all change soon. Good luck with C+E!

19

Rat67:
Great read Missus. It’s brilliant how far you’ve come in such a short time. Seems like only a few weeks since I was reading your posts about training and now you’re a fully fledged wagon driver. Keep it up :smiley:

I know! I have to keep pinching myself, it hardly seems feasible in such a short time! I feel like two different people, the neat manager who sets off north three days a week and a sort of tougher, less tidy version who set off to the south twice or thrice a week to go and play with trucks and the lads! :smiley:

20

Tommytrucker999:
Wow, I’m almost in the same boat but different tack! I have a new class1 licence and have been out a whole two days now. Interesting to see the same difficulties here, reversing is getting better very gradually. Double checking everything, waiting for a disaster as I drive the tractor out from the uncoupled trailer etc…

Lots of help and advice from all the other drivers. Found a colleague raising the ride height on the rear of my tractor unit and realised I’d been running too low and worn a hole through the plastic mudguard, bit gutted as it was all going so well. I think it was down to a bit of pressure I put myself under as I was asked to try and carry out 8 shunts a day as all the experienced drivers are doing, I managed 6 so was happy with that, as was the chap asking me to up the pace!

My new job involves running between two based about 10 miles apart loading and unloading plastic pipes, lots of jumping between curtain siders and flat bed trailers and lots of coupling / uncoupling. The unit is a W reg Scania 114L 340, if that makes sense to anyone?
I’m sure there are up’s and downs to long runs and shunting and i’ll have to make my mind up which direction I want my new career to go in later on. Concentrating on REVERSING right now. Felt a bit daft earlier as I had n’t even seen a ratchet before, let alone strap up tons of enormous gas pipes!

Can anyone tell me how the auto self levelling works on this tractor unit, my colleague was not that good at explaining it to me. There are two butons to the right of the steering wheel on the dash, one seems to be on/off and the other is up/down.

Overall still having fun, hope the boss isn’t too mad about the mudguard, it’s been repaired before so i’m not the first.

Oh I know, your heart is in your throat as you pull away from the trailer mentally checking the list again; yes, the legs are down, yes, the brake was on, yes. the lines are off!! Horrible feeling, but I guess it’s better than being too complacent and rushing off and dropping a trailer on the ground!

That sounds like a similar sort of vehicle to the W reg DAF CF i was out in yesterday. A bit the worse for wear but for me the older cabs are lower to the ground so less muscle strain throughout the day hoisting myself up and in.

Actually i know I have an advantage with the ratchets etc, being female often they don’t expect me to know how to use stuff so I just stand back a bit, watch how its done and they make a point to play with the equipment between loads to familiarise myself with how it works. Loading bay staff always look a bit surprised still when I heft the load restraint bars in without help, sometimes I let them do it (provided I’ve place the ends so it goes where I want it) others I make a point of doing it myself.

Double check, you may have a self leveling button as well, just a single button with a pic of the unit and an up and down arrow together, just press that and the proper ride height is resumed. I’m surprised you didn’t have a warning light telling you the ride was too low. The DAFs we have all give you a warning to reset the height if it’s too low.