Ive passed my cat c test about 3 weeks now , On the afternoon of passing i rang a local general haulage co .
They said there were no vacancies at present but collect an application form anyway .Filled that in and added a revamped cv and covering letter .
Took those in and a had a good chat with the guy who seemed quite interested . I didnt have my licence at that stage so took that in a week later when it arrived.
The guy who i spoke to was on holiday , so popped in the next week when he was back . he although they were still busy they werent taking on just yet but he would be in touch if a vacancy arose
Well this morning i got the call offering a job on an 8 wheel tipper , I was dead chuffed ,on cloud nine all afternoon .
So monday 7.30 i start , got to go out with the fitter for an acessment and then a months trial .
He said in april, they work with the road contractor enterprise doing the tar and chippings job on the roads ,so would probably be doing that for the summer .
Cant wait for monday but will be cakking myself i think !
Cheers guys , the good thing is they do general haulage so its not just tippers ,they have skips ,flatbeds , curtain siders, hiabs etc . so plenty of other stuff to work up too.
Ok Jen just for you
Well i survived my first day intact !
Got my truck for the day a 8 wheel tipper DAF W reg 85CF , a bit rough round the edges but most things worked
Was sent off on the first run with colin (the fitter/mechanic) in the passenger seat and following keith ( the old wise one ) in his truck .
About 20 miles later we got to the factory to load up with Aluminium oxide waste , horrible grey and stinking of sulphur ! The onboard weigher doesnt work so its strictly 4 1/4 .loading shovel buckets .Next its round the corner to sheet up , again the easy sheet doesnt work as it should ,so its pull on a bit of rope to pull the bar /sheet over . couple of bungee ropes over the sheet and we set off to the weighbridge get the print outs and its off to Telford .
Dropping colin off enroute ,we get to the landfill site , im watching and learning what keith does .go over the weighbridge, engange difflock when on the tip, remove the easysheet etc .
Keith tips first and gets stuck , soon pulled out by the guy on the landfill machine (thing with the metal 'tyres ')
Next its me and get tipped ok and dont get stuck . Then its thru the wheel wash and back over weigh bridge …
I notice a problem tho and manage to get keith to stop , the difflock indicator light wont go out even with it switched off
He says it will be ok just see how it goes as the switch seems to be working ok .
so its back for a second load of lovely ali oxide .
Load up and keith asks if the difflock indicator is still on , well yes it is , so i ring the office and they say to offload and come straight back to the yard .
so its off to tip back where the grey stuff comes from
Back at the yard only the apprentice fitter is there , so he has a half hearted look and rings colin who is out with the boss (buying two artic units ) for advice .
Any way back from the buying expedition the boss gives me another truck to load up with screened top soil from up the yard and deliver to a posh ladys , posh house/mansion ( its a volvo FL7 L reg again 8 wheeler) its only about 7 miles away but not keen on this truck steering is not too precise and the gears crunch or a couple do ( not tried double de clutching with it tho).
THe boss said please dont go over her lawn as its only a narrow driveway and i managed that ok well ok i maybe ran over a 4 " strip of grass Hopefully lady muck wont notice tho !
So thats my day over ,apart from the refueling lesson .
I did almost â– â– â– â– up with the tacho when changing trucks , didnt fill in the info for second truck on the back of chart a helpfull driver pointed it out tho before i set off .
Tomoorw its back to the original truck as its fixed or so im told and about 3 loads of oxide to the tip .
Sounds like you had a productive day and enjoyed it thats the main thing and as the week progresses you will start to feel more confident and will enjoy more it will become second nature with the tacho on one of the jobs i do I have to change truck midshift its a lot easier with the digi card ! just remember dont be afraid to ask questions you will learn so much more
Thanks for the replys guys ,
Well jennie as you said my confidence is certainly growing , Me and the truck are’ bonding’ sounds a bit daft but im really warming to the old girl
Gear changes are getting slicker etc .ITs totally different driving a fully loaded truck tho… in reality when fully loaded you have 32tonnes to pilot as opposed to about 7 tonnes with an unladen training truck . Keeping in the green band and any eco driving goes out the window straight away
Anyway 2nd day over and still loving it !
keep it up glad going well a laden truck is different to driving unladen but you will get the hang of it and as you say bonding with the old girl ! it will be slick before you know it
Just a quick update , On my second week now and STILL LOVIN IT .
Not too many mechanical troubles with the old girl , one tail light bulb , one new side marker light , air compressor some times plays up first thing in the morning , Anyway shes due a service and 6 weekly inspection anytime now .
Gonna miss her that day lol
oh and had a lovely big stone chip in the screen today
The boss is a great guy as well which helps , this has to be the best job ive had ! , in 42 years ive only had 3 employers tho .
Definatly the best move ever this ‘career change’ thing
Just another wee update
End of my third week and still lovin it , had a great day today .
A diffent job not moving the waste oxide for once
Was moving topsoil from a building site about 6 miles to another building site ,3 trucks on the job 10 loads each it feels good to have moved 540 tonnes today
Poor old truck , still waiting for inspection /service Next week i hope .
will post up some pics soon .
Mikey D:
Was moving topsoil from a building site about 6 miles to another building site ,3 trucks on the job 10 loads each it feels good to have moved 540 tonnes today
Poor old truck , still waiting for inspection /service Next week i hope .
will post up some pics soon
That’s ok, I took a video of you doing the assessment for that job…
Mikey D:
Just another wee update
End of my third week and still lovin it , had a great day today .
A diffent job not moving the waste oxide for once
Was moving topsoil from a building site about 6 miles to another building site ,3 trucks on the job 10 loads each it feels good to have moved 540 tonnes today
Poor old truck , still waiting for inspection /service Next week i hope .
will post up some pics soon .
)
