I finally did my first shift yesterday multi drop pallets…
What a day…
Be there for 7.30am didn’t leave till 9 wasn’t shown anything apart from the paperwork (they knew we were newbies) wernt to many people around to ask as all other drivers were loaded and gone
Had a tail lift couldn’t be shown how to use it as the driver before me took the key " don’t worry all your drops are fork lifts anyway"
First drop no fork lift phones the office can you get some help and hand ball it off errr it weights 3/4 of a ton…
Came up with a plan with another driver I’m not sure HSE would of approved but got the load of customer was happy it took 2 hrs but everyone was happy…
Rest of day went ok people at all sites were lovely and helpful no dramas didn’t get back till about 3.20pm to be told oh your going back out again ok now worries
Wasn’t loaded till 4.30pm gets to my first drop no fork lift tail lift still not working and no where to park…phone office ok go to your next drop gets there for 5.05pm sorry we are shut!! [emoji35]. They weren’t even expecting a delivery and it said nowhere on paper work they shut at 5
Ended up being told to go back to depot as all places shut at 5!!! Got back about 6pm rush hour traffic Ahhh the joy lol
So the last part of the day was pointless
An interesting experience
Drove a MAN rigid curtain sider with tail lift auto…
chunck247:
from outside looking in a bit of organisation wouldn’t go a miss…!!
Welcome to general haulage my friend!
Don’t worry about it mate, ■■■■ Poor Planning resulting in ■■■■ Poor Performance is something you HAVE to get used to…
It is bad that no one was there to help you or show you the ropes, but I’m not surprised! It would have been pretty much the same at my normal gig, although I’m sure if some of us were still about we’d have helped best we could. It probably didn’t help that it was a Friday, as everyone wants to get going and get back as early as possible. Look on the bright side, it can only get easier from here!
As for the tail-lift, it is bloody crazy that for the cost of a couple of quid, the firm doesn’t have a draw full of these keys. But even saying that, the moment something new arrives, the regular drivers will be in their like hawks getting themselves “spares”
With pallets mate the rule is simple: If in doubt, strap it!!!
I also use an internal on every pallet, and when I have a pallet of plastic drums or containers, I will check it’s well wrapped to the pallet, and if possible polity ask the forkie to move it so it’s behind another sturdy pallet that stops the contents sliding off like it sat on Teflon!
Yes the forkie may complain and have a bit of a song and a dance, but it’s his/her job to load the load safely and to YOUR satisfaction, so don’t be shy! As you will wish you weren’t when you are restacking the pallet later!
So ensure you have a roll of wrap in the truck as well mate!
Ye I noticed one of the pallets yesterday was plastic pipes it was light and wrapped with the one layer of wrap which was already loose, when I asked about strapping it with the internal truck straps I got told there’s no point it won’t hold it which seemed fair enough when I mentioned putting a strap over it he said it might crack which agin seemed correct so didn’t know wether to stick or twist lol…will know for next time…thanks for the advice…
Expect the first few months to be a sharp learning curve, I came in as a totally newbie having just passed the test and knew bugger all about anything, curtains, tail lifts, lift\lower suspension, pump trucks, paperwork, tacho’s, restraining loads are a few things that spring to mind as things that I had to figure out along the way, it’s not rocket science but mistakes can easily be made when everything is new and your mind is whirling around 20 different things at the same time, take your time, use common sense - if it doesn’t look right then it probably isn’t, don’t be afraid to ask for help and to then ask again if still unsure.
Congratulations on completing your first shift, it gets easier with time.
Ye good point… bit green just assumed if I was going out people wanted there delivery so of I went lol and the office would of figured that out…maybe hoping for a bit much lol…
Why even care if they are open or not, it’s not really your job, especially if you are paid by the hour…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying don’t care. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t let yourself get stressed out by ■■■■ poor planning.
If you are sent out late in the day for a second run, and it’s for industrial/business deliveries, what does the office expect to happen?
Yes use common sense and don’t ■■■■ the firms money up the wall, but also don’t load yourself with doing everyone else’s job for them, it will only take it’s toll on you. Just let it wash over you pal…
Better than my first day mate, I lost a 1 ton pallet of slabs off the tail lift. But now I’ve been round the block a few times I’ve realised that our 7.5t heaps that we had to start in have tiny tail lifts, not much wider than a euro pallet, and this was a normal sized one. Got thrown in the deep end first day but that’s nothing new as others have mentioned,
Good luck for next week and don’t be afraid to ask for help
Evil8Beezle:
Why even care if they are open or not, it’s not really your job, especially if you are paid by the hour…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying don’t care. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t let yourself get stressed out by ■■■■ poor planning.
If you are sent out late in the day for a second run, and it’s for industrial/business deliveries, what does the office expect to happen?
+1, yes evil got it spot on there, had the same thing mate in 7.5t, all our small trucks get second runs, and it don’t matter if you have a ■■■■■ first run either. Many occasions I brought half the load back because of businesses closing at 5 etc, but if you’ve got a few residentials they’ll expect you to go and do them
Just do what you can mate, we’re all bound by the same Tacho regs. Don’t go tearing about just to please them, at the end of the day they don’t care because it’s been sent out on your run so they can issue an attempted delivery charge, half knowing you’ll bring it back coz you’ve run out of time. Just to send it out again the next day
Evil8Beezle:
Yes use common sense and don’t ■■■■ the firms money up the wall, but also don’t load yourself with doing everyone else’s job for them, it will only take it’s toll on you. Just let it wash over you pal…
Evil said it!
Are you trying suggest some milk the hours eh? eh? Haha… Personally if it was the last drop of the day and its getting late on i’d/i’ll be ringing ahead (especially round the inner Landan circle and now from experience) purely on the point of a wasted journey on my part but like evil said care and think about what your doing just don’t overly worry yourself with others jobs (at which i’d like to add) UNTIL their jobs encroach on yours.
For example - the FLT drivers loading too much on the bed/per axle as i had to educate one the other day when he tried to overload my front axle… might only doing work via an agency but that doesn’t entitle “the few” to screw you over…
As for strapping, the curtains may be load baring. They will be marked if they are. If not, any pallet over 400kg should be strapped down, or anything that looks like it might move. As said, internal straps on the lot if you have them or strap them pallets to the body if you need to. Some things are a pain in the arse to strap down due to shape and size. If in doubt, put as many straps as you want on it. Remember, it’s your responsibility. I tended to strap the pallets as they were out onto the truck. Some places might not let you anywhere near it at that point though.
YouTube is a good source of instruction videos for things like how to operate curtains etc. Helped me from looking like a fanny a few times!
