I've been to Cornwall today

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
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Well, I thought it’d be nice, what with it being a bank holiday and all.

Actually the agency offered me a day’s work at double time; how could I refuse? :slight_smile:

So, I get there 10 minutes late :blush: (what do they expect when they book you for a 5am start at short notice? :unamused: ) but I’ve been to that client quite a few times before, and I always end up spending an hour or more in the canteen waiting for something to do.

Not today. The guy is already on the phone trying to find someone to do my run - just my luck :unamused:

Anyway, I get given the keys to a nice new-ish 53-plate MAN ME-something-220 - better than the W/X/Y I usually get. Two drops - St Austell and Looe.

So, off I go. A quick stop at Bridgwater to plot the route, and another at somewhere near Okehampton for a [zb] - I feel a bit guilty about using their loo without buying anything (the fuel gauge is still reading full), so I buy a copy of T&D :sunglasses:

First drop in St Austell was OK - a minor detour when the SatNav tried to route me down a very minor road that I didn’t like the look of, but otherwise OK. Pallets loaded so high they wouldn’t fit out the back of the truck as usual :unamused:, and the shop is up a steep driveway that I can’t drive up. :frowning:

I forgot to change mode on my Hour Guard whilst unloading :unamused: , so I take my 45 break early just in case.

Second drop in Looe - go past it first time, try to turn round in a driveway, and it’s taking ages; someone comes up and tells me there’s a big carpark 1/4 mile up the road :unamused: , so I go and use that. Shop manager is very nice and supplies suitable chilled drinks - by this time, I’m sweating like a pig with the unloading.

Nice easy drive back up, over the Tamar bridge. Stop in Bridgwater services for fuel (I have to use BP), and it appears that some trucker was a little careless - all the HGV pumps were shut, as someone had bent them :unamused:

Get back to the client with 1/2 hour driving time left before I need my next 45, and I still have to fill up with diesel. The nearest BP station to Avonmouth is Aust Services, so I go up there. I make sure I switch mode on the hour guard whilst I’m filling up, as it’s going to be close.

I get back to the client, and as I pass through the doors into the warehouse, the Hour Guard alarm goes off :sunglasses: :sunglasses: :sunglasses: :sunglasses:

The most surprising thing is - I never got stuck in any traffic jams. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

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Excellent read MrFlibble :smiley: Wouldn’t mind a run to
Cornwall myself one day.

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[quote="MrFlibble

First drop in St Austell was OK - a minor detour when the SatNav tried to route me down a very minor road that I didn’t like the look of, but otherwise OK.

The most surprising thing is - I never got stuck in
any traffic jams. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:
[/quote]

That was a wise move not to trust sat nav, theres some back roads round my way that I would think twice about in a tractor, let alone a wagon!

No Traffic Jams? good lord, that must be a first. I expect Goss Moor was wedged though.

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I was driving in St. Austell on my second week of Rigid driving and had to negotiate that lovely little hairpin in the middle of town on the west side.

A couple of ppl clapped when I got round - and that made me laugh :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
I had to coax a few very nervous car drivers to pass me, and me being fresh to LGV’s LOL :laughing:

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ghinzani:
That was a wise move not to trust sat nav, theres some back roads round my way that I would think twice about in a tractor, let alone a wagon!

There were a couple of sticky bits on some of the B roads which weren’t wide enough for 2 vehicles all along, but otherwise it wasn’t too bad.

ghinzani:
No Traffic Jams? good lord, that must be a first. I expect Goss Moor was wedged though.

I didn’t say that I didn’t see any traffic jams, just that I didn’t get stuck in any. On the way from St Austell to Looe, The A30 past Bodmin was a big car park as a camper van had broken down closing one lane; fortunately, I was going the other way :sunglasses: . Also, as I came back, the M5 was jammed as usual between Portbury and Clevedon, but it was clear on the way down - probably something to do with it being 05:30…

aposhark:
I was driving in St. Austell on my second week of Rigid driving and had to negotiate that lovely little hairpin in the middle of town on the west side.

I didn’t go into St Austell itself, but a village on the NW side. There were a few hairpin turns I had to do on the B roads though, and I misjudged a couple - I tried to take it nice and wide to avoid cutting the corner, but took it too wide and ran out of room… :blush:

Fortunately, everyone was nice and patient :slight_smile:

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My second ever LGV run was from Chepstow (Tesco RDC) to Penzance store last Summer, on a boiling hot day…what a great hello to LGV driving. Made it there and backed onto the bay with 7 mins spare, unloaded and parked up outside for my 45. Back to Chepstow with 5 mins spare :sunglasses: …not help up at all, but lots of queues the other direction though ha ha

Be cool