On answering a previous thread brought to mind a couple of mishaps i encountered…i was in a yard a few years ago…and was doing the usual paperwork when i noticed a new driver at the oil pump.large can in hand…he filled it up and walked towards his vehicle…i took no notice…until i had seen him for about the fourth time with the same full can…i quickly got out and walked over to him…excuse me driver what are you doing with all that oil..erm im putting it in that vehicle over there…but thats the fourth can i`ve seen you with…hang on a minute…so i pulled the dipstick (no not the driver)…it read way over the top…driver how many cans have you put in…5 was his answer…well just dont start it up. so i goes to the workshop and tells them what happened and for them to drain the excess…turned out he was filling it up to the top of the filler neck…at least he checked the oil…just didnt know how to fill it up…
Another instance was a driver who pulled into membury services because the water light had come on…and promptly filled the oil reservoir up with water…luckily and experienced driver saw what had happened and told him not to start the engine but to call his company…that cost the firm a lot of money…
what other stories can be told…i have quite a few in hand…lets hear yours…
have a nice day
Both of those are more stupidity than inexperience I’d say…you could make those mistakes equally with a mini.
Any one remember the little Honda van/ pick ups things ?, 350 cc engine, it the vehicle that went before the Suzuki Super carry etc.
My mate had one & the oil filler cap was beside the fuel filler cap, it was in the days of attended fuel services & it saved him a fortune in oil changes & fuel, he always had three quarters of a tank of fuel, honest !.
yep more stupidity, or rarther not thinking. (or maybee they cant find the dipstick)
The engines could do with the same system as cars, with bright yellow caps for the water, oil etc…
When I worked for Swifts in the 80’s we had an agency driver come in one night, he was sent to do a change over at the bottom of the M10, it was an hour and a half at the most from Northampton but it took him 8 hours driving a brand new F12 demo, when question on his return he said the thing wouldn’t go over 25mph and that was over reving it 
… Never mind not using the over drive he hadn’t even used high range just the four lowere gears 
The same guy drove to the diesel pump to fill up, then walked over to a group of us to ask “Where do I put the diesel ?” … errrr ! the big tank on the side
I found a new driver at my old firm checking the oil level with the engine running 
simon
Is it inexperience or just plain stupitidy when one takes an empty trailer 1 1/2 hour up the road to get loaded, only to find when parked up in the warehouse and pulling the curtains back, that the darn thing is fully loaded with toilet paper ■■?
And is it sheer laughter for the forklift guys to watch a certain drivers face as she realise what’s just happened ■■?
I bet they talk about it each time they see me. “wasn’t that the girl, who…”
Oh well…
■■
Jo
Things like over filling the oil might seem silly to some, but it’s only because somebody told you how it should be, even if it was your father when you were a nipper. 
Many things we laugh at new drivers about are things that we had to learn often the hardway. You mean Wheels can come lose .
I had to take a new driver on an assesment drive recently and it reminded me of how difficult I found things when I started that now come as second nature and the questions he asked seemed to be things that were obvious to me.
However he did a really good job of driving and was willing to listen to advice and my old trucker stories but as we drove to the yard one of the other drivers who had been following us told him he’d never make a driver and that was the last we saw of the lad. Which is a real shame as I thought he’d make a good driver and the boss was going to take out for a trip the next day and if it went okay he’d would have offered him a job.
a few years back me and a mate where of to felixstowe in two coaches. both where low on diesel so we pulled into a garage to fill em up.
we both stopped either side of the pumps and started to fill up whilst chatting away.
well after 40 litres mine clicked off
i had only gone and filled the oil tank up (dry sumped coached, tank on opposite side to the diesel tank).
well i decided to risk taking it (very young and immature) and luckily i got away with it. the oil pressure was low for the first few miles , but one the diesel had been boiled off, the coach was fine.
you live and learn. 
These are the sort of thing you either know cuz you’re a mechie at heart… or have been told to do… You don’t know them instinctively like other things I can’t actually think of at the moment…
I’ve heard of a woman who tried to fill her car with oil thru the dipstick hole… makes no sense if you know what / how / where oil works in an engine, but also quite logical if you haven’t got a clue… !!!
I know my cars and go-faster turbo’s ‘n’ stuff, but i’m at a loss with the trucks… I understand how deseasals work but it’s all the other bits… water condensors for the air lines, Compressors, a million tanks of varying sizes… ■■? I wanna know what it all does…
Luv
Chrisie… 
SimonRS2K:
I found a new driver at my old firm checking the oil level with the engine runningsimon
I suppose there is no point in asking if it was a Honda 750 F1 by any chance .
daxi:
SimonRS2K:
I found a new driver at my old firm checking the oil level with the engine runningsimon
I suppose there is no point in asking if it was a Honda 750 F1 by any chance .
come again 
simon
truckyboy:
On answering a previous thread brought to mind a couple of mishaps i encountered…i was in a yard a few years ago…and was doing the usual paperwork when i noticed a new driver at the oil pump.large can in hand…he filled it up and walked towards his vehicle…i took no notice…until i had seen him for about the fourth time with the same full can…i quickly got out and walked over to him…excuse me driver what are you doing with all that oil..erm im putting it in that vehicle over there…but thats the fourth can i`ve seen you with…hang on a minute…so i pulled the dipstick (no not the driver)…it read way over the top…driver how many cans have you put in…5 was his answer…well just dont start it up. so i goes to the workshop and tells them what happened and for them to drain the excess…turned out he was filling it up to the top of the filler neck…at least he checked the oil…just didnt know how to fill it up…
Yes, I’ll admit to overfilling the oil. Thought, their’s ■■■■ all in that. Topped it up to the chamfeur at the top of the dipstick. Fitter caught me and promptly drained the engine before I went. I know know it’s erm, not the chamfeur . - We live and learn .
Another instance was a driver who pulled into membury services because the water light had come on…and promptly filled the oil reservoir up with water…luckily and experienced driver saw what had happened and told him not to start the engine but to call his company…that cost the firm a lot of money…
Not quite that bad , but I want to know enough about my daily checks and the general condition of the vehicle to keep me legal and spot anything obviousley wrong, the rest I’ll leave to the fitters. If you want to go into the mechanical side of it Chrisie, then good luck to you. I’ll be asking you for advice at some point probably. I used to work with a bloke who had the almost magical talent of being able to test drive a unit/trailer, come back 15mins later and tell you exactly , and I mean exactly - he was nearly never wrong - what was wrong with it. Used to tee the fitters right off I can tell you . I have never been mechanically inclined when it comes to trucks. I can strip and rebuild the engine on my motorcyle and assess it’s little technical foibles as well as the next man - I feel it’s heart and soul, the blood flowing through it’s veins, but if the truck does the job it’s supposed to do leagally, then it’s fine. I don’t want to know all the tekkie bits. If it breaks down, then I’ll call a fitter. You may say this will come with experience, and some of it may, but I have never felt inclined towoard that side and probably never will .
Sorry, rant over.
When I first started driving I drove my Merc 7.5tonner into the HGV lane of the local garage, grabbed the nearest black nozzle and filled it to the brim. Only when I went to sign the chitty at the desk did I notice they were charging me for 4-star.
Now was it my stupidity or the garage for putting a 4-star pump in the “high-speed HGV lane” or for putting a black nozzle on a 4-star pump.
Fortunately I didn’t start the engine, but I still got mercilessly tormented for weeks by the other guys. I know to double-check now though
Now we’re talking about fuelling up I have one that is pure in-experience…also VERY embarrassing
On one of my first days driving I had to fuel up before going out in the morning. So I drive the truck up to the fuel pumps. Right then, I consentrade getting really close to the kerb on my right without bumbing it. OK, that looks good. Then I fumble around getting the fuel card and the card code. Step out. Put card in machine, the code works all right, got my gloves ready, everything is just fine. And then I turn around to open the fuel cab on the tank. Ehhh…where the [zb] is the tank ■■?
Oh [zb] ! I’ve parked with the tank on the wrong side !!! Grrr…
OK, but that’s not a problem. So I get gloves off, fumble with card, crawl back in the lorry. Right, I think, I just need to go around to the other side of the fuel pumps. So around I go…Park up again but on the other side of the fuel pumps. Get card and gloves, crawl out, put card in machine…Get everything ready. And turn around with the nosel in hand ready to put in tank. What is that ■■? Where is the tank ■■? Isn’t this exactly the same side of the lorry as just before ■■? I just stands there for what seems like ages and I just can’t understand this. I’m so baffled that I don’t even consider how rediculous this must look and what a hillarious laugh I’ve made of my self for any onlookers. Then it dawns…how can I possibly be so thick ? I’ve taken the lorry 180 degrees around the pumps but off course that is still with the same side in towards the pumps. How stupid can you be ?
OK, I’m just too embarrassed to be embarrassed. So reverse out and get the left side in toward the pumps. Pheeeewwww… there is the tank !
Now there’s nothing better than bringing a smile on peoples faces, so off course I told the boys about this when having coffee in the drivers room later in the day. Yep, they did have a laugh, but said, don’t worry there was a bloke who did the same only he kept going round and round 10 times before he figured it out. They probably just said that to be nice to me…
■■
Jo
If it needs stars it’s not allowed. L.
Owens_girl:
Is it inexperience or just plain stupitidy when one takes an empty trailer 1 1/2 hour up the road to get loaded, only to find when parked up in the warehouse and pulling the curtains back, that the darn thing is fully loaded with toilet paper ■■?
And is it sheer laughter for the forklift guys to watch a certain drivers face as she realise what’s just happened ■■?
I bet they talk about it each time they see me. “wasn’t that the girl, who…”
Oh well…
■■
is that it,we had a driver(experianced one at that)pick a trl up at mossend,(nr glasgow) one sunday put the seal and tir cord on and drove to dover.the office staff came in on the monday and noticed that the trl was in the yard that should be at dover.they called the driver up,
office…where are you
driver…at dover waiting to board the ferry
office… don’t bother boarding it
driver… wtf are you on about
office…did you check the trl
driver… no just put cord and seal on it
office… next time it might help if you check the dam thing
driver…why
office…because the one you want is here at mossend loaded.the one you got is bloody empty
driver…oh zboffice…i’ll see you in 9hrs then
drive…slightly p’d off aye you willso point is always check your load
kitkat:
so point is always check your load
Well, I actually had the (empty) trailer on earlier and I knew it was empty. I just had to go out with another trailer shortly, then to go back and take the empty trailer out to Bridgend. As no one is working in that yard at night I knew it would not be loaded. My fault…I simply miss read the trailer number in the dark and took the wrong trailer. Too much in a rush. Definately learned from that mistake !
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Jo
I was at T&B on the run to Tesco Crick a few months ago, and one of the drivers had picked up the wrong box by accident and taken it to Cardiff (they were demountable boxes on wagon + drags). The first the driver knew about it was when he came in for work a few days later (the same day as me), and was told what he’d done. The box he’d picked up was supposed to go on an urgent run to London
Since the guys on the security gate are supposed to check the box numbers of every box that leaves, but they’d been trusting the drivers to fill in the paperwork correctly, they got a [zb]ing too…
Owens_girl:
Then it dawns…how can I possibly be so thick ? I’ve taken the lorry 180 degrees around the pumps but off course that is still with the same side in towards the pumps. How stupid can you be ?
very good
Liberace:
[I don’t want to know all the tekkie bits. If it breaks down, then I’ll call a fitter. You may say this will come with experience, and some of it may, but I have never felt inclined towoard that side and probably never willSorry, rant over.
In my college days we were studying tractors (agricultural, splitting them, engines gearboxes etc…) Anyway The tutor said there were two types of farmer, the animal lover & the machine lover. An animal lover can tell instantly if there is something wrong with any animal & instinctively know what to do, but they cant tell that piston ring is eating the lining in an engine. The machine lover can tell that there is something wrong with the tractor just by the sound & smell, but an animal could be lieing dead in the field for 2 weeks before he/she will bother to go & have a look.
Alot of this comes naturally to some people & can tell something is wrong others just dont know (nothing wrong with that - its just life)