Here’s a few escapades from my early career I’ve dreged up for you to have a look at which are knocking about on the old Trucknet forums, it was nice to go back and have a looksie how I started. Hopefully it’ll get people to post a bit about their faliures as well as their good days. Anyway, just so you can take the ■■■■ out of me about it, here’s some of mine in no particular order:
My first full week of driving in an artic.
I’m doing local stuff at the moment. Mostly dropping trailers at places within the three countys close to us occasionally tipping loads.
The first major lesson I “learnt” (apart from ask and don’t rush it)and it’s a right old learning curve at the mo, was: disconnect your airlines before dropping the trailer If you don’t half of them stay on it and half on the unit. Needless to say, before I get in the cab to pull foreward, I now check I’ve disconnected the airlines and make sure I’ve wound the trailer legs down. That’s my only major mistake so far. I’m sure I’m going to make others in the near future though. The thing that’s worrying me at the mo is reversing. Looking at the other posts on the site, I think it looks as though that’s a major thing with everyone in the first few weeks?? The different trailers all have different reversing charachteristics. I’ll get to grips with them eventually I suppose.
I have to say the company are being pretty good about it. They accept I’m still learning and are cutting me a lot of slack. I feel lucky to have got into an artic as quickley as I have so am greatful for the chance.
Cheers
Ian.
I had to be extracted from a field today 1/7/03 (yes really).
Got a delivery that I was unsure of; hadn’t been there before so I asked one of our artic drivers if you could get in. Yes was the reply; if you go round the back, they’ve got a turning circle you can back into and turn out of. Well, I got in, did the delivery; it was only when I made ready to pull out thinking: that wasn’t too bad, that I noticed the air conditioning unit on the wall. With the corner already being tight, it suddenly got a lot tighter. Only avalible option left was to go out onto a field. Trouble is, it’s been raining solid for two days and I’m now braindead and starting to panic. I then had my first logical thought; I rang the office, explained the situation and said look; I’m going to have to turn out onto this field as I can’t see any other way out and I might get stuck. Office said: “carry on, let me know the outcome.” So I gave the Tarzan cry and crept gently foreward; “hmmmm, it’s not going anywhere” was my next thought. So I engage Diff Lock in first and give it a load of revs whilst dropping the clutch. No joy. I ring the boss who wasn’t too pleased to put it mildly. He says (words to the effect of) your stuck arn’t you; ok mate, we’ll come and pull you out. Now meanwhile a woman’s waving at me out of the window and I realise I’ve come to rest so to speak in front of a ladies only gym. Hmmm, could be worse. No it couldn’t, they’re all looking out of the window and pointing/laughing at me .
Anyway about 35 munites later the recovery vehicle turns up to applause from the other drivers that were gathered around and queing up the drive (notabley all 7.5 tonners) and with a lot of swearing (both at me and the wagon and the wittering woman in the health farm) we get the vehicle out without any damage. Just as well really I suppose. When I got back to the yard he’d calmed down; he just said these things happen. Suffice to say, I havn’t heard anything from it yet and I wouldn’t like to speak too soon, but I don’t think I will.
Now I’ve worked out why I got stuck, it was:
- Me being a silly arse
- The driver I spoke to has a much smaller unit than mine; with a lot shorter gap between the headboard of the trailer and the back of the cab. That’s why he could get around the corner and I couldn’t.
We live and learn.
End of an extremley busy day, one ruddy great handball to do (no tailift) and a couple of collects. It’s now 4:30pm and one of them shuts at five. It’s a flippin’ great pallet of Pot Pourri to get rid of. I arrive at the drop in a vehicle with no power steering and on a very busy market day in the middle of town. I have to back into a tight yard with cars all over the place and a woman selling flowers from a stand on the pavement. Has anyone guessed where this is going yet?
I start to back in taking particular care to avoide a solitary lampost on the corner. Just as I think I’m going to get it in, I get a pedestrian stood on the opposit corner shouting “Stop, Stop.” Turns out she’s put her wares over the kerb and she’s got 17 tonnes worth of rigid sitting on a couple of her shrubs . Anyway, inevitable arguments insue . I give her my bosses phone number and tell her to ring the office.
Drop duly done, I decide to go and lick my wounds at one of the collects, unfortunatley (and I really didn’t realise this as I was so preoccupied with getting to the collect ) someone had chained a pushbike to said lampost . I got a phone call halfway round saying I’d squashed the thing on my way out .
Upon speaking to the boss at the end of the day, he just said forget it mate, you’ve had a bad day. Oh and by the way, when she rang I just told her to prune the ruddy thing .
Suffice to say I now take my time when manouvering in either rigid or artic, if I can’t get to a collect I don’t stress about it, someone else can collect it. It’s not worth damaging something or killing someone for. That pushbike could so easily have been a pedestrian. If I don’t think I’ll get in there or can’t get things moved, I’ll stand up for myself and say so.
Bad day at the office. Lessons learned.
By the way, the following day I only got a 9am drop right outside her stand. Couldn’t have been the boss, he doesn’t have any control over the pallets I get to deliver. That’s fate that is.
They should give you enough ammo.
.
I have posted threads about dropping trailers literaly 
