One of our ‘experienced’ (he been driving trucks for 25 years) drivers got the sack last week. he arrived at a customer, parked on an incline, jumped out the cab to go to the goods-in office and somehow forgot to apply his parking brake!!!, and apprantly before he realised what he hadnt done his truck had gathered momentum and rolled into staff cars and knocked down part of a brick wall in the proccess. I havent been doing this for all that long but surely its second nature??, you come to a stop and you apply the park brake? like riding a bike you never forget?? especially on a hill??
laters
gregz
You have alot to learn, I’ve do this coming off the ferry, queing up, a bit sleepy, you think you put the handbrake on, next thing you think the truck in front is reversing in to you, until you hit the footbrake out of panic. just because something is second nature, doesn’t mean you can’t forget.
I have spent many many trips on the train wondering did I? didn’t I? and imagining my truck bouncing between the lorry behind and the one in front or the thing just not being there at all.
As you pull up, there is a lot of things to think about, grab your coat, put the tacho on break, make sure the lights and all interior lights are off, have I got my book, paper, wallet etc, is the night heater off? with a fridge or a generator turn that off, get out and lock the door without scratching the paint, all this as the bus and it’s passengers are willing you to get a zb move on!
I was loading at a place last friday & the folkie told me that someone from same company had parked got out left hand break off truck rolled into several cars ( yep he had watched this )
Not long ago a driver was bragging that he not had an accident in 10 years of driving ( lucky him ) then went to collect a container when coupling up the unit moved forward ( yep due to him leaving hand break off ) rolled into another container causing nearly 3k worth of damage
One of our ‘experienced’ (he been driving trucks for 25 years) drivers got the sack last week. he arrived at a customer, parked on an incline, jumped out the cab to go to the goods-in office and somehow forgot to apply his parking brake!!!, and apprantly before he realised what he hadnt done his truck had gathered momentum and rolled into staff cars and knocked down part of a brick wall in the proccess. I havent been doing this for all that long but surely its second nature??, you come to a stop and you apply the park brake? like riding a bike you never forget?? especially on a hill??
laters
gregz
You have alot to learn, I’ve do this coming off the ferry, queing up, a bit sleepy, you think you put the handbrake on, next thing you think the truck in front is reversing in to you, until you hit the footbrake out of panic. just because something is second nature, doesn’t mean you can’t forget.
I have spent many many trips on the train wondering did I? didn’t I? and imagining my truck bouncing between the lorry behind and the one in front or the thing just not being there at all.
A favourite little game of mine is when on a ferry with a mate wait until you get all the way up from the vehicle deck to the information desk/driver’s restaurant, then while queuing to get your cabin or meal look at him and ask, “You did put your park brake on didn’t you?” Most of the time they will say yeah, think about it for a minute or two then go all the way back down to check. You just have to sow that little seed of doubt and even though they are 99.99% certain they did put the brake on they cannot settle until they check.
One of our ‘experienced’ (he been driving trucks for 25 years) drivers got the sack last week. he arrived at a customer, parked on an incline, jumped out the cab to go to the goods-in office and somehow forgot to apply his parking brake!!!, and apprantly before he realised what he hadnt done his truck had gathered momentum and rolled into staff cars and knocked down part of a brick wall in the proccess. I havent been doing this for all that long but surely its second nature??, you come to a stop and you apply the park brake? like riding a bike you never forget?? especially on a hill??
laters
gregz
If you never forget then why would companys go to the expence of fitting alarms to warn drivers?
merc0447:
The daf i have at the moment has a nice chap who shouts at you saying ‘‘caution handbrake not applied’’ which is a pretty good invention.
paul b:
been on agency this last couple of weeks driving newish wagons and i thnk everyone has had a warning buzer that sounds if you try and open the drivers door without the hand brake on, not a bad idea really.
darkseeker:
Wilkinsons units have a thing where if you open the door with the park brake off a fappin loud whistle goes off, just what you need to wake you up when the doors not shut right so you open it to slam it harder as you move off!!
Trouble is, the park brake has to be applied and door shut to stop the bloody thing. Works well though and I think it’s a retro-fit kinda thing.
A case of speaking too soon
animal:
Not long ago a driver was bragging that he not had an accident in 10 years of driving ( lucky him ) then went to collect a container when coupling up the unit moved forward ( yep due to him leaving hand break off ) rolled into another container causing nearly 3k worth of damage
Coffeeholic:
A favourite little game of mine is when on a ferry with a mate wait until you get all the way up from the vehicle deck to the information desk/driver’s restaurant, then while queuing to get your cabin or meal look at him and ask, “You did put your park brake on didn’t you?” Most of the time they will say yeah, think about it for a minute or two then go all the way back down to check. You just have to sow that little seed of doubt and even though they are 99.99% certain they did put the brake on they cannot settle until they check.
You are a horrible little man in real life aren’t you?
Coffeeholic:
A favourite little game of mine is when on a ferry with a mate wait until you get all the way up from the vehicle deck to the information desk/driver’s restaurant, then while queuing to get your cabin or meal look at him and ask, “You did put your park brake on didn’t you?” Most of the time they will say yeah, think about it for a minute or two then go all the way back down to check. You just have to sow that little seed of doubt and even though they are 99.99% certain they did put the brake on they cannot settle until they check.
You are a horrible little man in real life aren’t you?
@wheelnut & coffeeholic that one about the train & ferry , yep i would lock the door
and then reopen it just to double check, and it got to be a daily occurrence because
being honest I was frightened that I had forgot to put it onm what one guy here and
it has been posted else where about the warning siren/horn to say you have for got
it is a good idea as we are
Human beings not machines and mistakes are made by all of us some time or other,
its the second nature stuff that always gets forgotten because its done without any thought proccess until you get distracted one day and wham you have to make the well boss call.
I got to one of our concrete plants once, got ticket signed, undone the tailboard and then another driver rang me for directions. Sorted them out, done up tailgate and drove out of the gate, wondering why the truck was labouring when pulling away in 3rd…
I have spent many many trips on the train wondering did I? didn’t I? and imagining my truck bouncing between the lorry behind and the one in front or the thing just not being there at all.
As you pull up, there is a lot of things to think about, grab your coat, put the tacho on break, make sure the lights and all interior lights are off, have I got my book, paper, wallet etc, is the night heater off? with a fridge or a generator turn that off, get out and lock the door without scratching the paint, all this as the bus and it’s passengers are willing you to get a zb move on!
[/quote]
[zb] me coach passengers on the train parked next to you. that euro tunnel must have some wide trains for lorries now.
Not so long ago I ■■■■■■ up, but was lucky. Hooked up to my allocated trailer, but when I got out of the cab I noticed straight away I had a puncture on said trailer. Anyway, continued to hook up and then go round to the vmu and get the tyre changed. Off I go Heading North (Peterhead) and noticed Vosa were pulling all Southbounders at Stirling. The A90 was pretty busy with the traffic boys as well all the way up the road. Thirteen hours later I’m back in the yard, fuel up and go round to drop the trailer. When going to pull the pin, I see the dog clip hanging unattached. “What a knob” I thought to myself, and a lucky knob at that. 23 years worth of experience, and I let a puncture knock me out of my routine and dent my pride a tad.
These kinda things happen to the best of us, and it’s all part of being on the road.
Just don’t make a habit of it, or it’ll come up and bite your arse big time…
browncow2:
I have spent many many trips on the train wondering did I? didn’t I? and imagining my truck bouncing between the lorry behind and the one in front or the thing just not being there at all.
As you pull up, there is a lot of things to think about, grab your coat, put the tacho on break, make sure the lights and all interior lights are off, have I got my book, paper, wallet etc, is the night heater off? with a fridge or a generator turn that off, get out and lock the door without scratching the paint, all this as the bus and it’s passengers are willing you to get a zb move on!
[zb] me coach passengers on the train parked next to you. that euro tunnel must have some wide trains for lorries now.
[/quote]
Yeah, whatever
One of our ‘experienced’ (he been driving trucks for 25 years) drivers got the sack last week. he arrived at a customer, parked on an incline, jumped out the cab to go to the goods-in office and somehow forgot to apply his parking brake!!!, and apprantly before he realised what he hadnt done his truck had gathered momentum and rolled into staff cars and knocked down part of a brick wall in the proccess. I havent been doing this for all that long but surely its second nature??, you come to a stop and you apply the park brake? like riding a bike you never forget?? especially on a hill??
laters
gregz
a clear case of over confidence with a driver who " hasnt been doing it very long" and that my boy is the biggest mistake you will ever make , dont for one second think you wont make a daft mistake cos you will , oh yes you will , i just hope your over confidence dont get you or anyone else hurt . you cant possibly know everthing , no one does , and you will never stop learning … the driver in question ■■■■ up , big style , and he paid the price but that dont make him stupid , its called human error …
oh and while i’m on a rant i did the very same thing not 2 weeks ago luckily for me my wagon was stuck in the mud on a landfill site and was’nt going anywhere … but still i got out without putting my handbrake on and i , as your workmate , have been driving almost 25 years , learn from his mistake you;ll find it cheaper .
Wheel Nut:
I have spent many many trips on the train wondering did I? didn’t I? and imagining my truck bouncing between the lorry behind and the one in front or the thing just not being there at all.
As you pull up, there is a lot of things to think about, grab your coat, put the tacho on break, make sure the lights and all interior lights are off, have I got my book, paper, wallet etc, is the night heater off? with a fridge or a generator turn that off, get out and lock the door without scratching the paint, all this as the bus and it’s passengers are willing you to get a zb move on!
Youo have no idea how reassuring it is to know I am not the only one thought like this… The visions I had of the truck being a pile of iron in a puddle of buttermilk was a very regular thing. And on the HUPAC it was even worse… 11 hours of worry…
i have forgotton to apply handbrake a few times once while hooking up trailer shoved in airline and noticed i was moving, lucky i had the quick thinking and disconnected line sharpish, now its a obsession to double check, things are never second nature when maybe your mind is elsewere or your phone goes were only human, also there is always the point of sabotage and dont tell me it dosent go on there are plenty off ■■■ holes out there another reason for always having a quick glance that brake is applied and u lock your door
browncow2:
I have spent many many trips on the train wondering did I? didn’t I? and imagining my truck bouncing between the lorry behind and the one in front or the thing just not being there at all.
As you pull up, there is a lot of things to think about, grab your coat, put the tacho on break, make sure the lights and all interior lights are off, have I got my book, paper, wallet etc, is the night heater off? with a fridge or a generator turn that off, get out and lock the door without scratching the paint, all this as the bus and it’s passengers are willing you to get a zb move on!
[zb] me coach passengers on the train parked next to you. that euro tunnel must have some wide trains for lorries now.
[/quote]
do they not chock tours as they do mine !!! as you park the train is still moving due to other truck coming on so i think it would move enough for you to see
It’s funny, but I still sometimes feel I need to check, but on these trucks the brake is a button, not a lever, so you have to actually check it. We are fortunate though… No air is released to the trailer until you press the big red button in the cab so if you don’t put the tractor brake on then it still won’t go anywhere.
I have done it as well, though, in DTs yard in Avonmouth. In fairness to me, it was not me who left the brake off, but I started the truck, got out and off it went… It rolled about 3 feet into the front of a Clipper truck, and it did no damage… But was I ever shocked and embarrassed…
Matt, they throw a chock somewhere in the vicinity of a couple of wheels. I would never have trusted them.
I know it has been posted on here before, but this is a classic example of what happens when the driver doesn’t put the hand brake on when leaving his cab, parked on a slope it didn’t start to roll away for a while after he got out…Just goes to show
The ferry situation Dieseldog6 describes is very unnerving, motors either side of you are moving, many a time I’ve slammed the brakes on to make sure I wasn’t moving
Coffee, PMSL, never thought to do that, wish I had
Bullitt can tell you a story about one of his former workmates who left the handbrake off on a Boulogne-Folkestone crossing, the front of the offending lorry and the one behind were demolished
I’ve told this before, but it’s quite funny, so here we go again, my mate hooking up to a tilt after a few rainy days, I was doing the legs, he was doing the suzies, suddenly the winding handle started to move to my left, my mate had turned the taps on and without a handbrake being on, the whole thing started rolling forwards, I shouted at him to yank the red line off (so he didn’t run himself over trying to get in to apply the brakes) he did and the lorry stopped dead, unlike the huge puddle of water that had collected on the roof of the tilt, my mate was knocked over by the force of water and was soaked to the skin even funnier was his windows were all steamed up when we arrived in Dover
