Jasesonix:
After just 5 weeks driving class 1 tippers, (no previous lorry driving experience), I can happily say NO. I know its early days, Im still learning and making lots of mistakes, but Im trying my best to learn from them. I have to say that the reversing excercise that I did for my test was a piece of ■■■■ . In the real world of trucking however, I have to say its been harder than I thought it would be. Got into a pickle this morning when I turned up the wrong road on a farm estate. Found myself in a small yard surrounded by stables and residencies. Only had one option to turn around, by reversing into a tight lane. 7.00 in the morning too so trying not to rev too much and wake everyone up…no pressure. Thankfully got it out, but I dread the day when I do get major stuck. You’ll hear from me when I do lol.
Farm tipper work, you have some fun and games with that When I used to arrive on some of the farms the words I dreaded the worse was “never had one as big as that in here”. Or pointing at a 3" auger; you loading out of that.
Blind side reverse into a small gate hidden somewhere in the fog on the left.
After scrapping the mirrors on the wall a few times and avoiding the lampposts and water filled bollards on the right. Had to jack knife it in but no room at all to straighten up after getting the back end in.
The bloke backing me in insisted he could do it as he had a class 1. I called his bluff threw him the keys but he claimed he werent insured. Funny that.
i called the office, sent them a few pictures and the gaffer told me to give it a miss and get back to the yard. I had to go back with a smaller trailer and only after they had moved the gates round the other side of the site would my place send me again.
My gaffer billed them twice for delivery and my time, called it the idiot tax for thinking that it was possible to do what they were asking.
I once got a bit overconfident with my reversing. Two units were hooking up to trailers either side of the bay I wanted to get on. And a trailer was directly in front of my bay against the fence. Feeling a man of my skills could overcome this I went for it anyway…
I didn’t get it in easily. And I managed to get into such a position that I was stuck. Fortunately I was regular agency at the DC so I knew the shunters and other drivers. Long story short I was helped out - and did get it in. But only after some of the other drivers had to move. If I went further back I’d smack unit on my blindside. If I cut in deeper I’d smack unit on my good side. And I couldn’t get it out. Doesn’t make sense on here - but at the time it was horrible.
I did learn I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. And I also learned that being nice to people comes back and helps you sometimes. What could have been horrific turned into a few blokes sorting it out for me. Nothing was said. No jokes were made. They knew I’d messed up and was embarrassed. Since then I have been a lot more careful with showing off my amazing skills in the DC I’m agencying at. But I still say hello to everyone and offer to get the coffees.
Tipper - the RIGHT spec truck(Volvo or Scania ) and trailer can be supereasy to back in places where standard reefer with ■■■■■■ truck (DAF or IVECO ) could never get in…
Tippers are short.
Tippers have NO rear overhang, no swing.
Tippers are often specced by smart - clever tipper game bosses, not pointy shoe retarders…
At the same Greencore - if anyone would ever take there tipper he would not even sweat, however standard reefer can be a nightmare…
Yes, tippers go to supertight places like farms, construction sites etc… but over there you have different risks…
you can slide off the road - farmer will pull you out, no problem…
you can hit wooden fence - few scratches, no problem farmer will just nail that fence back on without saying a thing…
run over a dog or sheep or cow… who cares…
however with the same said refer a bit messed up angle and trailer wall against wall, corner against corner… of another reefer and all hell breaks loose in the office…
Howardplant: I guess the skill and experience is: knowing whether it will or will not fit in the first place
Oh how true that is and any experienced decent driver should be able to do that by looking first, getting out if necessary and making the decision.
From what I read on here some seem to focus on who is looking at them more than the reverse itself.
It ain’t hard. Concentration and practice work wonders.
Howardplant: I guess the skill and experience is: knowing whether it will or will not fit in the first place
Oh how true that is and any experienced decent driver should be able to do that by looking first, getting out if necessary and making the decision.
From what I read on here some seem to focus on who is looking at them more than the reverse itself.
It ain’t hard. Concentration and practice work wonders.
And you gain that skill and experience by making a ■■■■ up or two as long as no damage was done there isn’t a problem and if more experienced drivers gave new passes a hand instead of laughing at them people would learn quicker but you’ve more chance of solving Brexit in your tea break than finding an over 50 year old UK driver who’ll get of his fat arse and give a hand, next time you’re in a services have a look if it’s tight an EE will give you a hand long before a British driver
And you gain that skill and experience by making a ■■■■ up or two as long as no damage was done there isn’t a problem and if more experienced drivers gave new passes a hand instead of laughing at them people would learn quicker but you’ve more chance of solving Brexit in your tea break than finding an over 50 year old UK driver who’ll get of his fat arse and give a hand, next time you’re in a services have a look if it’s tight an EE will give you a hand long before a British driver
100% correct although I sometimes wonder if they have not been taught correctly in the first place. It certainly looks that way when you see some attempts. I have helped many drivers through the years however that has now stopped. A year or so ago I saw this guy struggling to do a fairly simple reverse so I approached him and told him I was a driver and asked if he would like a little advice.
All I got in return was a mouthful of abuse. It’s a reflection of society today and I am just glad I drove lorries when I did when most other drivers were helpful and friendly.
Ages ago was loaded up with about 5 drops 1 being to Turkish I think or some embassy in London 4 plts of tiles as place was being decorated
Got there seen the fella at security gate .
Tile fitter came out said we specified a 7.5t truck or ideally a luton van as no way your get down there. As it’s tight and lots of ranger rovers Bentley etc parked in the car park.
Was central London all double red lines so couldt tail lift them off
Rang work explained he said bring it back to Manchester so I did.
About 2 days later they reloaded it onto me again I said I took this last week was refused as can’t access site.
Was told it’s ok all beem.sorted.
Got there was refused agaiin
So off it went back to Manchester again. God knows where it went after that
When I used to arrive on some of the farms the words I dreaded the worse was “never had one as big as that in here”. Or pointing at a 3" auger; you loading out of that. 
) and trailer can be supereasy to back in places where standard reefer with ■■■■■■ truck (DAF or IVECO 