rambo19:
When I 1st started driving buses years ago, my instructor, a welsh fella called mike, who was brilliant, always said there is 1 word to remember doing this job;
ACE.
Arse
Covering
Exercise.Sadly, the company are within thier rights to suspend you, but, what does your contract/training say?
Was he a bender ?
OVLOV JAY:
Seems like you made the schoolboy error of fessing up to ignoring the warning light. As you state, you was outside the cab using the crane when the pulley sheared off (I’m assuming engine running for pto?). You can’t monitor dash warnings whilst outside the cab. I admire you for owning up, as not enough people do. But I would have pulled up on the warning light and put the ball in the operators court, although on top of Christmas I’d be using the “it was alright while I had it” defence to cover my stupidity and keep my job
There a few standard phrases we all should have in our minds…
I have no recollection of any such incident.
It was working when I checked it at the start of my shift.
I was trying to do my best in a fluid situation.
I’m sure others will have better ones than these, too!
tommymanc:
rambo19:
When I 1st started driving buses years ago, my instructor, a welsh fella called mike, who was brilliant, always said there is 1 word to remember doing this job;I think I speak for all now, when I say we can sleep a little more peacefully knowing your bus driving instructor was a welshman named mike. WTF
I’m sure many would not have seen any light, and would have presumed it had come on when outside the cab.
But do modern trucks keep and store this data ? is there a log that may show that the light come on at 11:36 and you kept driving till 11:52 ? Spies everywhere now. Society’s bolluxed
Bluey Circles:
I’m sure many would not have seen any light, and would have presumed it had come on when outside the cab.But do modern trucks keep and store this data ? is there a log that may show that the light come on at 11:36 and you kept driving till 11:52 ? Spies everywhere now. Society’s bolluxed
To be honest, they store problems with times and dates, but sometimes you don’t get any warnings on the dash. Deny all knowledge, there word against yours
Sounds like a typical tin pot waste firm. Does the boss use the response of “you’re on good money here” everytime someone raises an issue?
I’d be tempted to leave. As by sound of it there there going to either.
Find you at fault and then want to stop money from your wages weekly to pay towards the repairs.
Or there going to give you worst jobs they can find and max your hours out
Refuse to accept any deductions from your wages to pay for repairs
Pierre - there’s no question of me accepting any reductions, I can barely manage on what they pay me now so at that point I’d tell them they can have my resignation by e-mail asap
edd1974 - there are no worse driving jobs at our place, there’s only two of us to begin with and we share the same work, my hours are already maxed out, that was something they brought in earlier this year, it used to be “job and knock” and that was great, it balanced out all the bad stuff, then they stopped it.
Muckaway - 
No they don’t try that one, but the last time my oppo asked for a raise (about three months ago) the boss openly laughed at him and spoke about the costs of the new site they’re having built in another town. As if that matters to someone as low down the food chain as us.
I agree with the general view, it’s most likely they’ll want to get rid of me, so I’ll be updating my CV today and contacting the various jobs I’ve seen advertised. Which incidentally are nearly all offering significantly more money than I’m on at the minute.
Zac_A:
Pierre - there’s no question of me accepting any reductions, I can barely manage on what they pay me now so at that point I’d tell them they can have my resignation by e-mail asapedd1974 - there are no worse driving jobs at our place, there’s only two of us to begin with and we share the same work, my hours are already maxed out, that was something they brought in earlier this year, it used to be “job and knock” and that was great, it balanced out all the bad stuff, then they stopped it.
Muckaway -
I agree with the general view, it’s most likely they’ll want to get rid of me, so I’ll be updating my CV today and contacting the various jobs I’ve seen advertised. Which incidentally are nearly all offering significantly more money than I’m on at the minute.
I’m struggling to see anything that would attract you to this job. Why are you there anyway?
Drempels:
Zac_A:
I’m struggling to see anything that would attract you to this job. Why are you there anyway?
Yup, i’d have been long gone given the attitude at the place.
I think people maybe missing the point here, the pulley fell off doesnt say which pulley but the fact they managed to refit it says to me it was the alt one, the puley fell off because whoever fitted the new alt didnt do the bloody thing up properly.
If its a daf it used to be quite common for the alt pulley nut to go slack as some peole use the alt nut to turn the engine to adjust the valve clearances.
Bluey Circles:
I’m sure many would not have seen any light, and would have presumed it had come on when outside the cab.But do modern trucks keep and store this data ? is there a log that may show that the light come on at 11:36 and you kept driving till 11:52 ? Spies everywhere now. Society’s bolluxed
If all the errors are cleared there will be little the dealer can do beyomd that, and the ecu will most likely need to go back to the maker for checking ie in the case of a fatal accident, so in this case the op can adjust his memory to suit.
Drempelss - I’ve been there for a bit over seven and a half years, for the first six and a half it was mostly a good gig, I had a good relationship with my boss during that time, it was job and knock, there was flexibility when I needed it (for family issues) and there was no real drama.
Then that boss (a woman) got married to a guy who’d just joined the company and the husband started running things, which is when it started slowly turning into a cowboy company. It’s only in the past 12-18 months that things have gone steadily downhill with the new guy calling the shots. So it’s been a gradual process from being relatively settled in a permanent job to getting grief over just about everything, in those situations there is a lot of inertia and you need a big issue to make you move on, like the one I’m facing now.
re the pully, it’s the one that sits where an air con unit would have done (the engineer said) but in this case it didn’t have any real function except to make one fan belt fit two different engine models, the rest of the pulleys drove the engine fan and alternator.
Where are you based Zac?
Sounds like it is a fairly modern motor with the warning lights so the sensors and computers would have shut the engine down before any damage could be done, at least that’s what they did one the one’s that gave me problems.
We don’t practice ACE here but CYA Cover Your Arse (we say ■■■ but same initials 
Most of my driving career has been with big firms so this comes natural to me now and always ALWAYS write down the time and who you talked to. I learnt early on that saying i talked to someone in the garage didn’t mean anything when no one in the garage remembered speaking to me (allegedly) but when i had a name it gave me a bit more credit.
Zac_A:
Drempelss - I’ve been there for a bit over seven and a half years, for the first six and a half it was mostly a good gig, I had a good relationship with my boss during that time, it was job and knock, there was flexibility when I needed it (for family issues) and there was no real drama.
Then that boss (a woman) got married to a guy who’d just joined the company and the husband started running things, which is when it started slowly turning into a cowboy company. It’s only in the past 12-18 months that things have gone steadily downhill with the new guy calling the shots. So it’s been a gradual process from being relatively settled in a permanent job to getting grief over just about everything, in those situations there is a lot of inertia and you need a big issue to make you move on, like the one I’m facing now.re the pully, it’s the one that sits where an air con unit would have done (the engineer said) but in this case it didn’t have any real function except to make one fan belt fit two different engine models, the rest of the pulleys drove the engine fan and alternator.
At the risk of sounding glib, there’s no future in the past, mate.
There are loads of jobs out there for a willing bloke (which you sound like you are). Time to go “sick” for a few days, I think.
Look out for No1 mate, you don’t owe these people anything.
Look, the way you’ve described it, matey wants rid of you anyway. Probably because as you’ve been there so long, he sees you as a threat. Been there a couple of times myself.
I’d be wiping their dust off my feet as soon as possible.
It sounds like they’ll try to use you as a scapegoat for dodgy maintenance. If someone screwed up the pully, imagine the quality of checks on the trailers etc.
If you’d stopped work with this error, I doubt they’d be too thrilled either as you’re losing money and it’ll be alright…until it breaks then its your fault too. With cowboys you really can’t win.
Get out asap as this guy will drop the company down the drain one way or another and it could be with VOSA / DVSA so instant work stop and no redundency.
I’ve never seen anyone “disciplined” for “not responding to a fault” nor “Not putting a vehicle VOR” at the end of their duty, and handing it over with an unreported fault to the next muggins driver who ends up taking rather longer than 15 minutes to do their walkaround checks…
Flat Batteries - happen all the time. Surely most yards will have some kind of “Power Ace” by this point?
Having a tail lift not work at a remote customer - would also likely to get you a disciplinary - but not the sack, at least not for “first offence” one would think…
Getting a PG9 though? - There can’t be many yards that will take lightly to their driver putting not only the ‘O’ licence at risk, but also the firm and driver get fined…
Juddian:
The lesson is to make a phone call and put the ball in their court.
This. I’m not paid to use my judgement, that’s someone else’s job