Well Day 4, which was Sat 26/04 I was actually still stiff and sore from the Tuesday and didn’t really feel 100%. I had a 54 plate DAF XF, pretty tidy and just did a few local drops, one of which was Natures Way Merston which if you been round the back you’ll know what a pain getting on to bay 1 is. (Given that bays 2-4 are out of action there’s not much choice). I have some help from Phil at Philsons but it took me an age to get in place. Was sweating like a glassblower by the time it was in and then of course realised I’d forgotten the ■■■■ doors again! Pulled forward carefully to open them and got back without any fuss but having forgotten to open the doors a few times now I’m so much more conscious of them and getting them open in advance. I feel a bit bad a times though, given it’s often chilled stuff you don’t want to open them too early of course but you dob’t want to forget either!
I had a moment of lost focus later on and whilst crawling into a site I was concentrating on looking at where I should pull up to find out which bay I needed and completely forgot my trailer. I’m not the only one though as the gate post was badly bent already. There’s some sort of guide stones at the entrance which for some reason are on an angle and it looks like you can take a very different approach than what you need. That’s my excuse anyway. As I was crawling forward it was just a small scrape on the trailer and some paint added to the post. It was a schoolboy error and although I was a bit hard on myself there was no real harm done, my scrape was hidden amongst the others on the trailer although I was quick to admit it and point it out when I got back.
Being a quiet day there was less help loading and unloading so I was pretty much on my own. I felt a bit uncertain and did go and ask for some help when after fighting with a ratchet strap for 5 mins it wouldn’t play ball. Of course the minute I found help and showed him what it was doing it suddenly behaved making me look like a right ‘girl’! 
Oh well!
The customers seem to be hearing about me in advance, once site greeted me with ‘you must be Miss Lyons’ (Stuart Lyons Haulage) which I though was kinda nice.
Sat was only about 7 hrs, which was welcome given the disabled state of me.
Unfortunately it’s gone a bit quiet, I was hoping to be out Sun/Mon/Tues this bank hol weekend but only did Monday.
Day 5 was a pretty mammoth day if not a lot of ‘work’ in it. I was in an old W reg CF again, was told to pick up a loaded trailer from Runcton and take it to Funtington and to run back and forth all day or indeed to any of the other Natures Way site as they dictate. The was no loaded trailer for me, only an empty one and I was told there was probably one at Funt, so I headed over there solo (and so far, no I don’t like driving solo, feels awful, I prefer the weight of the trailer behind me, loaded or not to hold the whole thing down!) o find they had no trailers whatsoever! So back to Runcton to collect the empty one so Funt could fill it.
Now when I trained we never adjusted the unit height to pick up a trailer but I know it saves scraping grease everywhere so I lined myself up, dropped down a bit and back I went. Sounded fine although the big ‘click’ was much quieter. Did a wee pull forward and it felt right though. Got out to have a look to find the Spanish driver next to me eyeing the whole thing up. THANK GOD for him! I’d gone just low enough to gently overshoot the pin so the back of the fifth wheel was resting against the pin. (Didn’t bash the cab either as I stopped after the little ‘click’) So of course when I tugged it didn’t move and felt ok but had I set off… ugh, don’t even want to think about it!! My Spanish hero just pointed to it and shook his head, not having the English to communicate properly. Well, that’s an exercise I don’t want to repeat, fortunately he helped as the fifth wheel would not stay tilted the other way to get back under so he held it down whilst I got the right side of the pin and got it all back on track. The legs were pretty old and rusty and I could not possibly get them all the way up, so had to just get them as far as I could.
It was a long day - 06.00-20.30, a lot of it was waiting around to get onto bays/warehouses. I think the waiting can be more tiring than actually having an activity to do. Whilst on site I had a trailer safety inspection and was a bit ashamed that he found various light bulbs out. I had checked my taillights and indicators before setting off. I didn’t have any easy way to check my brake lights so had had to leave that out. But the running lights I didn’t look too closely, just that there was some. There should have been various bulbs lit in the shape of a chevron though sand there was only two on each side working in different places. One of my brake lights was out as it happened so that was immediately replaced.
My (very expensive) sat nav has been great, it can entertain me when waiting (TV/radio/music on SD) but it also gives me much more confidence on where I’m headed. Even if it’s a destination I know I still use it as if you have a ‘moment’ and can’t recognise something it’s there to set me straight. I do ask at sites though about recommended routes as my first two trips to Funtington I felt the route I took was just too tight even though it was not ‘restricted’ it was just more risky than I wanted. Sure enough I’d been coming up by a route that villagers didn’t really want to become a HGV run. There was an alternative which missed out most of the little villages and had much more room for passing other vehicles etc, I just need to get my satnav to store this info for next time but I haven’t really spent too much time with it yet figuring out its little features.
I’m very careful when driving to bring enough food and especially water with me. I always take a minimum of 2 litres with me, ideally 3 and get through them pretty much. Some of the 54 and onwards trucks have fridges built in which is so lovely. The brain requires hydration to work properly and if it’s not working at a decent level that’s when mistakes are made. My knees are getting a work out with the pedals and both shoulders, left from the gears and right from hoisting myself into cabs. It is getting a bit easier though, but given the long day yesterday I’m a little bit glad to have today off to recover.
I’ve learned so much already. Yes I’ve had mistakes and errors but so far (touch wood!) nothing serious. I’ve been using more analogue tachos than I had hoped for and have struggled at times to keep on top of my breaks. I don’t usually use a lot of driving time, just working time, so before I set off I write down the 6hr time by which I must have had one break, and I take notes throughout the day of the breaks I do take and my times on sites. This has proved so useful, especially for the couple of tachos I’ve had that didn’t work properly and didn’t record fully or as with yesterday at all! I infinitely prefer the digi tachos although I’ve only had them twice now. My confidence on road is growing. I still worry a tad on roundabouts when I have traffic on my nearside. My speeds are better though, I don’t slow quite so much for every roundabout as I used to. I’ve clipped the odd kerb which sometimes disappoints me, other times its a choice of nip the kerb or squeeze the traffic. My reversing has come on so much, I’m still so far from perfect as to be funny but nowhere near as bad as I feared I would be! In some ways the early days have been easier then I had expected but harder on me physically than I had thought they would be.
he then said as I was walking back to office " well that told me was a good reverse " also did receive another compliment when reversed onto a bay ok couple shunts but forkie said did better than most blokes as they struggle some actually give up we do go to a place Sheffield area that is a tight yard to turn then a blind side reverse under a canopy only 2 bays the easier bay normally has a standing trailer on so you have the harder bay to use or just for fun the gap is smaller than the 2 bays due to a wall being there 
1st time I went done it in 1 so was pleased to say the least
