ok, now it’s my turn to share the experience.
i was booked for a 5 am start today, turned up and reported to security and office blokes. papers were not ready and i was bored for another 1.5 hours approx at an RDC watching a BBC film about North Korea.
Finally got the keys and the delivery notes. Ok, i got two drops, one at New Cross in London, another at Queenborough, Kent. Went through the risk assessment and the New Cross one did not look very good on the paper. Well, anyway, here is the truck, an 59 plated Renault Premium, set of initial workaround checks, looks ok.
I need to find my trailer next. Engine on, drive, move on. now what a hell is that? oh, ffks, driving without card! ok, card goes in with a manual entry for POA / waiting. Not the best beginning of the first shift 
Found the trailer, a 10 meter (i think) single axle, non-steering, coupled, further checks. It appeared that the wipers jet washer were not working properly. Reported the wipers and told the office drove without my card 10-20 yards. Next step - program the satnav. Car satnavs are not allowed but i confirmed that a truck satnav is ok. However the risk assessment paper has the route so i do not chance it and just put the route into the device.
i was just a nerves the first 10-15 minutes, not sure if it was as bad as on the test, brushed a number of kerbs though.
on a406 on the roadworks at M11 junction hit the camera at 33 (with temporary speed limit 30 and normal speed limit 50). Not sure if it has been retuned but getting flashed on the first run is even worse than driving without card 20 yards. oh 
Approaching the New Cross area i got lost as to where i am supposed to turn, took the wrong turn, got even more nervous, and almost hit the plastic “keep left” bollard which was in the middle of the road on the kerb (obviously mounted it). Ok, now i had to relax and pull myself together before i really find myself in trouble, very annoyed and unhappy with myself. Got to the road i need but the last turn was a tight right one. I started it a bit earlier and watching the trailer in the mirror i think i was just couple of inches away from the building wall. That was a bit closer than i wanted but nevertheless, i saw that i can pass. Arrived, oh my god, that was quite stressful, but no damage so far.
The road is on an incline so i have to play with trailer and unit suspension in my attempts to straighten it up. Down goes the tailift and guess what? it is not levelling with the road and the potholes do not help either. I won’t tell you about the theatrical performance of myself with the pallets trying to turn them round, as that would probably be too much. I just say that it has taken me ages, almost every pallet got grounded and without the help from the store stuff i probably would have ended up handballing each pallet.
Ok, goods delivered, time to go. I give a quick walk to my escape route and it looks even worse than the approach. in normal circumstances it is probably fine but there are some construction works which have taken the pavement and a bit of the road. I don’t have any choice, really, it is tight but seems doable. so i jump in the cab, drive, move on.
WTF? the bloody thing struggles to move and is bouncing around. i have done i think 10 yards and notice nice black marks from the trailer tyres. FFS, the trailer ran out of air and automatically applied its parking break. Before moving off i obviously waited for the air to come back to normal but did not realise i had to check the trailer parking break (though i now remember i have been told about this during my training). That is going to be too much for the first day.
Break off, move on. As the tight turn approached i mount the kerbs i don’t think i can do it just using the road, trying to stay close to the construction area fence. The entrance door is open it is exactly where i need to go. Engine off, close the bloody door, engine on. My right hand mirror goes just millimiteres away from the fence, though i must admit i was in control of where it is going and the trailer nearside is 3-4 inches away from the wall. Nice one, finally.
Back on the road to Queenborough. That was actually an easy drive via A2, so not much to write about, the Queenborough store is quite big, so no tight turns and walls around. Unload, 15 min break, a u-turn with a shunt and back to the depot. Some paperwork, which i probably have f*d up somewhere on top of forgetting to take the ODO reading in the morning. Fuel up, good side reverse to uncouple the trailer. On my first attempt the nearside of the trailer was almost on the line so i took three shunts to position it perfectly.
what a day.
back to the office, hand the keys back. on their quick question “how did it go” i just said “it was ok” as i don’t believe they were interested to listen to how nervous i was and al the near misses i had.
So this is it. Goods delivered, no damage done to anything apart my confidence and i just have to pray the speed cam has not been retuned.
Next shift - on sunday: 8pm trunk run to Warrington and back. It has to be better than today. i really hope
apologies for a bit of a chaotic read - still trying to keep myself calm.
(Kidding!!!)
