Im not allowed to drive any works vehicles because im under 21 and you have to be over 21 on works insurance. Apparently it covers on the yard aswell. So i take the passenger seat when something needs moving but i have reversed trailors and shifted tractors when needed(person driving them made it hard work driving them forward so reversing i took the seat) Does get a pain when we are short staffed or i could just shoot something over myself but the people in charge say no. Up to them, they make the rules and pay my wages. If they told me its fine for me to drive then i would happily do it. Until then it makes other people feel more important when i have to ask them to drive the van for me 
They do have some very very expensive caravans and motorhomes that could get damaged and they arent exactly the strongest things when given a slight tap 
My first ever job in haulage was a yard boy… back then its was the way into haulage, and at 16 with not a clue how to drive I used to wash trucks, steam clean, strip tilts , grease wagons and trailers load up trailers. all involved me driving them around the yard, and I learnt and didnt kill anyone.
That was the way we learnt not to be a steering wheel attendant but to be a driver,
Given the choice between someone who has shunted trailers on and off tight docks, learnt to reverse in a real environment rather than a government designed excercise, who has done it day in and day out… Who do I feel is more experienced? Mr A who has just pased his test in a short draw bar outfit having never touched an artic, or matey boy Mr B who has shunted them trucks and trailers in the real world?
You choose who you feel more confident in… there is something to be said for the old fashioned way of getting into this business, and to my mind the way this young fella is going at it is much preferable
■■■■! Trust Rikki to turn up and be all sensible
Our yard bloke, (Shunter, trailer washer, general dogs body) has just passed his car test a month ago.
He has been driving trucks around the yard for the last 2 years at least without incident. He can reverse trailers into spaces better than any of us regular drivers, in fact an older experienced driver (approx 40 years experience) yesterday left a scrape down the entire length of my car whilst backing the tractor unit out of the row 
.
Oh and BTW the yard shunter lad is Polish and has only been in this country for about 3 years, swears better than most of us too 
The moral of this is dont judge a book by its cover, If youre that bothered about getting run over get a hi viz jacket ,trousers , hat, and stay in the canteen till he’s finished or perhaps this might help…
just get on with the job or find another occupation thats safer, florist maybe
toowise:
Our yard bloke, (Shunter, trailer washer, general dogs body) has just passed his car test a month ago.
He has been driving trucks around the yard for the last 2 years at least without incident. He can reverse trailers into spaces better than any of us regular drivers, in fact an older experienced driver (approx 40 years experience) yesterday left a scrape down the entire length of my car whilst backing the tractor unit out of the rowOh and BTW the yard shunter lad is Polish and has only been in this country for about 3 years, swears better than most of us too
The moral of this is dont judge a book by its cover, If youre that bothered about getting run over get a hi viz jacket ,trousers , hat, and stay in the canteen till he’s finished or perhaps this might help…
0
just get on with the job or find another occupation thats safer, florist maybe
FLORIST■■? Have you seen those Dutch drivers and those dirty great Juggerynuts they park at the side of the road to offload flowers? Now THAT’S gotta be dangerous - just ask Ady
The Sarge:
■■■■! Trust Rikki to turn up and be all sensible
One of my more annoying habits 
The Sarge:
■■■■! Trust Rikki to turn up and be all sensible
One for the H+S boys out there
Haven’t got one of these signs in your yard have you? Or has the unqualified shunter knocked it down 
toowise:
just get on with the job or find another occupation thats safer, florist maybe
I find your suggestion totally irresponsible. Are you not aware of hazards such as prickly leaves or thorns on roses? What if he pricked his finger and got some kind of blood poisoning, would he be covered by insurance. What about hayfever, he might sneeze and while momentarily blinded by snot walk into a door and die. The there is that wire florists use, that could have your eye out in the, well the blink of an eye! Sure, it’s all just fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it’s just a game - Hunt The Eye.
You really need to take a long hard look at yourself. Your irresponsible suggestion could deprive his possible grandchildren of a grandfather and where would they get their Werthers Originals then?
Personally I think he should just stay at home to be safe from all these hazards. Oh, hang on, most accidents happen in the home. 
Ach well, he’s screwed and is gonna die. His grand-kids will just have to soldier on without him. 
Here’s a picture to help them get over it.
I wonder if you could choke to death on those?
Coffeeholic:
toowise:
just get on with the job or find another occupation thats safer, florist maybeI find your suggestion totally irresponsible. Are you not aware of hazards such as prickly leaves or thorns on roses? What if he pricked his finger and got some kind of blood poisoning, would he be covered by insurance. What about hayfever, he might sneeze and while momentarily blinded by snot walk into a door and die. The there is that wire florists use, that could have your eye out in the, well the blink of an eye! Sure, it’s all just fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it’s just a game - Hunt The Eye.
You really need to take a long hard look at yourself. Your irresponsible suggestion could deprive his possible grandchildren of a grandfather and where would they get their Werthers Originals then?
Personally I think he should just stay at home to be safe from all these hazards. Oh, hang on, most accidents happen in the home.
Here’s a picture to help them get over it.
0
I wonder if you could choke to death on those?
I do apologise if ive misled you, I wasnt thinking through the florist idea properly, i just thought of the pretty flowers
All shunters at our place hold class 1’s, due to the fact some of our staff would be queing up to get hit by said shunter. Then would be quickly in touch with the NO WIN NO FEE brigade ££££££££.
Long as he’s had training to cover the insurance requirements he’s good to go same most tools vehicles in the work place/private land
My advice to you then would be to stay away from quarry and power stations a lot of the coal scrapers don’t have licences for them and I’ve seen quite a few quarry’s run internal trucks with people with just training no licence to drive on the road. Quite a few of them are better drivers than some of the ****s I’ve seen with all the paperwork and driving on the road.
Also don’t let your boss see you worrying about what job and qualifications other people’s got and are doing other you’ll might find your employer paying for his truck licence and replacing you as obviously the lad gets his head down does what his told and isn’t one of these looking for excuses to cause a fuss to get out of work
also you probably will get hit by a truck won’t be his fault mind as you’ll be too busy looking what he and everyone else is doing on the yard. People like you who make h&s such a ball ache
ady1:
theres also a memo on board saying theyve now tasked him with checking interiors of trucks when they come back in to make sure there left clean and tidy,no ■■■ ash,rubbish,coffee stains etc,so now hes going to be washing the trucks,shunting them,checking them for cleaness ,
as for leaving him to get on with it,i think someone needs to have a word with him,talk about cutting the job up
I think this is the real problem, drivers worried they are going to be caught out leaving a mucky cab by a bloke who cant drive. As long as you take your bottles home, their shouldn’t be an issue
If Ady ventures abroad or onto the Docks, he may get run over by a dock spotter rather than a stobart spotter
waynedl:
Sometimes I wonder how some people on here have made it to adulthood.
He’s a ■■■■■■■ Stobart driver - what do you expect? None of them ■■■■■ can think for themselves, that’s why they work there so they can be nannied 24/7 and have their arses wiped for them. Just the sort of BS I’d have expected from Baby1.
Rob K:
waynedl:
Sometimes I wonder how some people on here have made it to adulthood.He’s a [zb] Stobart driver - what do you expect? None of them [zb] can think for themselves, that’s why they work there so they can be nannied 24/7 and have their arses wiped for them. Just the sort of BS I’d have expected from Baby1.
This explains a lot. Now, man up a bit love
Rob K:
waynedl:
Sometimes I wonder how some people on here have made it to adulthood.He’s a [zb] Stobart driver - what do you expect? None of them [zb] can think for themselves, that’s why they work there so they can be nannied 24/7 and have their arses wiped for them. Just the sort of BS I’d have expected from Baby1.
Not that old chestnut again…
I’ve done Stobarts on agency in the past and have applied to work there, just the right job hasn’t come up yet.
I couldn’t give a ■■■■ who’s name is on the top of my payslip, as long as I’m getting a payslip.
Wayne, don’t get all defensive mate. Ady started this bull ■■■■ conversation, and unfortunately he exemplifies Stobart to a lot of people on here. No offence to normal people
Oh, and to answer the original question “Yes” and “you’ll get flattened”, OK?
The Sarge:
Wayne, don’t get all defensive mate. Ady started this bull [zb] conversation, and unfortunately he exemplifies Stobart to a lot of people on here. No offence to normal people
Oh, and to answer the original question “Yes” and “you’ll get flattened”, OK?
Yeah I know, and it was daft of him…
I used to drive busses, but when I got sick of the muppets (I mean passengers) I moved into the bus wash for a break.
I was the ONLY 1 in there with a licence to drive a bus, this is the guys who fuel, vac and sweep the bus, then drive it into the wash which, as a show on tv would say, only has the space of a ciggy paper either side, then park them up literally with inches to spare in the yard / depot.
1st accident I saw in there was about 4 weeks after I started, and it was ME!! I was reversing last bus in and clipped the wall. ME!! WITH a licence.
All those bus drivers walking around the depot must’ve been blessing themselves when they got out of there at night without being crushed by those ‘unlicenced drivers’, oh, and the public would use it as a cut through too - talk about taking your life in your hands.
I used to park up the 16 tonners in the yard of a weekend before I had a licence, when I was a warehouseman. That was like a bus depot too, as close as you can and get out of the passenger door before shoehorning the next one in. Funny, I didn’t kill Ady either…
I grew up in a transport environment and started shunting vehicles around the yard at approximately 12 years old. This was done under supervision and as a kid I loved it. Every weekend I would be in the yard raring to go and do all the crappy jobs that none of the drivers wanted to do In return they would let me move the trucks and trailers and passed on tips and hints.
As a youngster, I was fully aware that if anything happened it would be my balls on the line, despite everyone knowing what I was doing. To that end, it made me concentrate 100% and make sure I didn’t cause any problems or damage. Those experiences certainly helped me in later life and made me a better driver as well as giving me lots of reversing experience.
Ady, at the end of the day, the company is doing nothing wrong, and whether an ‘unlicensed’ I use the term loosly, driver is manouvering in your yard or a fully qualified C+E holder is driving, providing you still use common sense and awareness, no harm will come of you, give the guy a chance and let him get on with his job 
Why not just wear Hi-viz, surely you know as long as you have that on you will be invincible Seems to work most places.