been offered a start on monday with Edinburgh Council on Monday working on the refuse collection on long term contract, really excited to finally be making headways in my hgv career, was just looking for any hints or tips from people who have or work in this line of trucking
cheers
If your doing domestic listen to the loaders they shouldnt steer you wrong but if you are unsure of something dont be scared to ask them or get and look they would rather be 10 mins late cos tou wanted to double check than hrs because you hit something.
Few tips-
Make sure you do your vehicle checks totally thoroughly. I can’t stress this enough. Your loaders will think it’s no big deal to have a couple bulbs out, but it’s your license at stake. If it needs fixing, get it fixed.
If your vehicle doesn’t have weight scales built in, When the loaders say “Oh, there’s LOADS of room left”… don’t listen to them. Even if you have to tip off twice in a day and be an hour late, it’s better than getting stopped by VOSA when 2 ton overweight! Or in my case, 2.3 ton overweight and have a blowout on the motorway on the way to tip off. If you think it’s gettin full, tip off. Your loaders will just have to deal with it. DO NOT be scared of ■■■■■■■ them off by saving your own license.
Until you learn your round, you might have loaders who are crap at giving directions, so you will be late finishing (compared to their normal finish time). Don’t let this get to you, you will get faster with time, and more confident with reversing, which you will do a LOT!
Be willing to do an extra job when you finish your round. Your boss should remember this and do you a favour back at some point.
If you smoke, DON’T smoke in the cab. Even if the loaders smoke in the cab. Remember you are in that seat almost the whole time, and old people LOVE to spy on you doing your work, and all it will take is for someone to take a picture and send it into the council, and you’re stuffed.
Don’t turn your flashers on till you actually start loading bins on, and after the last bin is put on, turn them off. You can get busted for this.
Always keep an eye on your loaders. All the time. If you can’t see them in your mirrors or camera, wait till you can before you move off. If one of your lads is cleaning up a spill from under the binlift, and you go to back up… well…
Never pay attention to other drivers you are blocking in the road. They will shout at you and call you all kinds. Just ignore it. They have to wait, end of. Don’t go pulling in to the side all the time to let people past, if they come to the cab to tell you off, explain to them that your lads are in and out at the back of the wagon, and the last thing they need is someone in a hurry, flying past the wagon and running them over cause they are late for their hair stylist appointment. The loader’s safety is part of your job as well, so if you need to block the road so your loaders can get bins from both sides of the road, then do it.
If you aren’t using tacho cards, and drive with a book, your loaders will most probably have a moan if you take a break, let them moan, if it’s break time and you want to stop for a bit, then tell them you want a break, maybe finish up the road you are on and find a place to pull over. Don’t let them tell you the score. You are the driver, You make the rules!