I’m in a low pay area, but I stopped looking once I’d found 3 jobs offering 50k potential that will take new pass drivers, there is also 2 firms who will pay for you to go from car to class 1 both in the 40k bracket.
This quote is from the CPC thread i am posting here as i don’t want it going any further off topic.
Around here no firms i know of will allow a new employee to drive an artic they usually ask for 2 years minimum experience, i assumed ones that will let new employee out in artics would be in a huge minority so how does your employer deal with new employees and do they insist on some experience before allowing them to drive Artics?
Tesco here. If your lucky you might get a few days with a driver to learn the ropes. That is about it then bam your delivering into Central London doing Trafalgar Square, Saint Paul’s Cathedrals area and all the other fun areas in Central London. Oh and dont expect your sat nav to work because the routes are straight through 7.5t zones and bus only roads (except permit holders) so your sat nav will have a melt down trying divert you. Not that your allowed to use a sat nav.
last assessment drive I had , assessor said look out for bridges , as I knew route I said there isn’t any , he said good as you’ve not set height indicator , checked height of trailer , I still got the job !!! Think dhl were desperate
Nb I’d worked with assessor for years in previous job so forgone conclusion I’d pass ha ha
whisperingsmith:
In at the deep end & you soon learn - or if you can’t learn, move on to shelf stacking etc…
The slogan ‘Keep death off The Roads’ is as true today as it ever was !!
What if “in at the deep end” causes the driver to kill someone?
whisperingsmith:
In at the deep end & you soon learn - or if you can’t learn, move on to shelf stacking etc…
The slogan ‘Keep death off The Roads’ is as true today as it ever was !!
What if “in at the deep end” causes the driver to kill someone?
Why did that person die?
Which part of the job REALLY requires the experience? I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days, even if it is for the sake of just driving around for an hour or two. I see little difference between driving a rigid and an artic. Both are larger and heavier vehicles than my car, and both require more thought to operate. Does that make an artic harder to operate vs. the rigid?
Part of it is down to the mental attitude of the driver. If you’re going to cut corners in the artic and hit curbs, there is nothing to say you wouldn’t in a rigid, either, as consideration for the track of the rear axles is not being considered. Heck - plenty of car drivers run over curbs when turning corners. It’s all the same - lack of attention.
If you have the ability, why not go out day 1 driving artics?
As for going out ALONE on day 1 - that is down to the company, and I think all drivers should have a day or two with someone learning how things are done, even if they’re an experienced driver. Maybe a company does something slightly different or in an easier way? The driving part doesn’t change.
TruckerGuy:
Which part of the job REALLY requires the experience? I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days, even if it is for the sake of just driving around for an hour or two. I see little difference between driving a rigid and an artic. Both are larger and heavier vehicles than my car, and both require more thought to operate. Does that make an artic harder to operate vs. the rigid?
I’m guessing you don’t drive lorries. There’s a world of difference when it comes to corners, to roundabouts, to turning left or right into or out of a road. You mention hitting the kerbs in an artic, you’re very unlikely to in a rigid because in a rigid you corner the same as you do in a car, in an artic you make a wider swing.
whisperingsmith:
In at the deep end & you soon learn - or if you can’t learn, move on to shelf stacking etc…
The slogan ‘Keep death off The Roads’ is as true today as it ever was !!
What if “in at the deep end” causes the driver to kill someone?
Why did that person die?
Which part of the job REALLY requires the experience? I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days, even if it is for the sake of just driving around for an hour or two. I see little difference between driving a rigid and an artic. Both are larger and heavier vehicles than my car, and both require more thought to operate. Does that make an artic harder to operate vs. the rigid?
Part of it is down to the mental attitude of the driver. If you’re going to cut corners in the artic and hit curbs, there is nothing to say you wouldn’t in a rigid, either, as consideration for the track of the rear axles is not being considered. Heck - plenty of car drivers run over curbs when turning corners. It’s all the same - lack of attention.
If you have the ability, why not go out day 1 driving artics?
As for going out ALONE on day 1 - that is down to the company, and I think all drivers should have a day or two with someone learning how things are done, even if they’re an experienced driver. Maybe a company does something slightly different or in an easier way? The driving part doesn’t change.
OK, let me step this up to a whole new dimension. " I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days,", so if i have piloted a single engine plane for the last 20 years, does that make me safe to pilot a 747 Jumbo Jet?
whisperingsmith:
In at the deep end & you soon learn - or if you can’t learn, move on to shelf stacking etc…
The slogan ‘Keep death off The Roads’ is as true today as it ever was !!
What if “in at the deep end” causes the driver to kill someone?
Why did that person die?
Which part of the job REALLY requires the experience? I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days, even if it is for the sake of just driving around for an hour or two. I see little difference between driving a rigid and an artic. Both are larger and heavier vehicles than my car, and both require more thought to operate. Does that make an artic harder to operate vs. the rigid?
.
I somehow missed this post.
So you think driving an artic is no harder than driving a rigid, i am surprised people are not queuing up to point out the error of your thinking process.
Connor and Swedish Blue couldn’t have put it better -
I’m guessing you don’t drive lorries. There’s a world of difference when it comes to corners, to roundabouts, to turning left or right into or out of a road. You mention hitting the kerbs in an artic, you’re very unlikely to in a rigid because in a rigid you corner the same as you do in a car, in an artic you make a wider swing.
OK, let me step this up to a whole new dimension. " I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days,", so if i have piloted a single engine plane for the last 20 years, does that make me safe to pilot a 747 Jumbo Jet?
I retired 2 years ago so I haven’t done the poll as it’s not current.
We not only would take new passes but u der was, youngest was 21. Did benefit from a lot of 2 man work so they would learn ftom older drivers and I would get feedback if there were problems. Which we didn’t really have. And it wasn’t because that was all we could get, didn’t advertise and people virtually never left.
TruckerGuy:
Which part of the job REALLY requires the experience? I have been a car driver for 20 years, and I drive most days, even if it is for the sake of just driving around for an hour or two. I see little difference between driving a rigid and an artic. Both are larger and heavier vehicles than my car, and both require more thought to operate. Does that make an artic harder to operate vs. the rigid?
I’m guessing you don’t drive lorries. There’s a world of difference when it comes to corners, to roundabouts, to turning left or right into or out of a road. You mention hitting the kerbs in an artic, you’re very unlikely to in a rigid because in a rigid you corner the same as you do in a car, in an artic you make a wider swing.
I’d dare say that the real experience you need driving an artic, is not avoiding the kerbs, it’s knowing when you’re heading for trouble, before your trapped in trouble.
Most sensibly-sized rigids (the ones without lethal swing-outs) are not more difficult to drive than large cars or vans, and anywhere you go in forwards, you can get out backwards. With a few days or weeks of experience, you can maneouver them as quickly as a car, with full visibility in the mirrors on both sides. They are not normally very tall, so you will encounter relevant height limits only rarely.
With artics however, you will encounter height limits. You will often need more maneouvering space than is freely available. You can’t reverse them like a car. And so on. In a rigid you might ask “how much space do I need for this turn?”, but in an artic you start asking “can I even get safely back out after the turn?”.
Eventually with experience, you get to know the difficult junctions and the infeasible routes for artics, and in unfamiliar places you learn to detect some of the subtle indicators of them before you’re in trouble.
But it’s not really something that can be trained by general principles - it’s experience of driving lots of specific routes with the largest road-going vehicles, usually with a few fairly stressful mistakes to savour.
I’d dare say that the real experience you need driving an artic, is not avoiding the kerbs, it’s knowing when you’re heading for trouble, before your trapped in trouble.
Most sensibly-sized rigids (the ones without lethal swing-outs) are not more difficult to drive than large cars or vans, and anywhere you go in forwards, you can get out backwards. With a few days or weeks of experience, you can maneouver them as quickly as a car, with full visibility in the mirrors on both sides. They are not normally very tall, so you will encounter relevant height limits only rarely.
With artics however, you will encounter height limits. You will often need more manoeuvring space than is freely available. You can’t reverse them like a car. And so on. In a rigid you might ask “how much space do I need for this turn?”, but in an artic you start asking “can I even get safely back out after the turn?”.
Eventually with experience, you get to know the difficult junctions and the infeasible routes for artics, and in unfamiliar places you learn to detect some of the subtle indicators of them before you’re in trouble.
But it’s not really something that can be trained by general principles - it’s experience of driving lots of specific routes with the largest road-going vehicles, usually with a few fairly stressful mistakes to savour.
Big Scottish co. will send you out in Artic, no exp, if you mess up, P45, crazy but that’s how I got a chance, 27 year ago, granted, roads weren’t so busy, but, granted, all the same
