‘Back to work tomorrow’ thread has expired now so best start a new one to keep everyone keen 
.
I’d been booked on Friday to go to S C Timber in Knottingley for 0600 Monday and when the alarm was blaring in my lug-hole at 0445 I really could have said zebidee-it and gone back to sleep. Not wanting to let Chris down (agency gaffer) I dragged my arse out of bed and got over there for 0600 on the nail.
Try as I might I couldn’t find the office anywhere but an 02-reg 420 Topline with new looking rag-sider trailer got my hopes up as it was the only artic in the yard. Eventually I collared the fork-truck man and told him who I was and why I was there and he said that I must have got the dates confused as they didn’t need a class 1 driver this week, it was for next week !
After confirming that this was definitely the case and also because the ‘tm’ wouldn’t be in while 0730 I belled Chris up and told him the craic. Unimpressed he told me to make my way back home for now and would try to sort something out in the meantime.
I was just dropping down into Dewsbury through the cutting and the bell rang - it was Chris.
“I’ve explained everything to them at UPS and I’ve got you back in there, so head for there. You’re doing a 1030 Wigan. It’ll be an all week job so make sure you take your night gear. Same money as agreed and £20 night out money for now but I should be able to stick a few extra quid on that I think”. Crikey ! It turned out when I re-introduced myself that they’d never heard of me, or so they said and in all fairness the guys names in the office weren’t familiar. Maybe they’ve got shut of the last zebidee’s that worked there in the office and got some folk in that know how to treat people ?
So, pleased that I’m back in with them I collected the keys for a 52-reg XF430 space cab and a fuel card and padlock and got myself set up ready to go.
First delivery was a 1030 booking for Asda ‘George’ RDC at Ince-in-Makerfield near Wigan. Plenty of time to spare so I pulled off the M60 at Prestwich junction and parked up at Tesco’s and stocked up on food and drink and had an hour on the bunk in an attempt to recover from the silly o’clock start. Went straight up the M61 and off at J5 and along the A58 and A577, arriving at the gate at 1000 on the nose. I was promptly told there was no space for now so had to circuit the building and came back out and park up on the waste ground round the corner. They’d come and get me when they were ready.
1050 arrived and the guy wanted me on bay 2 but when I got there, there was an Iveco already on there. It turned out that he was meant to have pulled off the bay first and then parked up and collected his paperwork. He did it the other way round and trust my luck, there was a problem with his notes so it was 1115 before I got on the bay. On opening the door my eyes lit up as it was all hand-ball, right to the back doors !
I had a natter with the driver of the artic at the side of me for half an hour then retired to the unit and got my head down to fully recover from the aforementioned silly o’clock start.
Two hours later the shunter knocked me up and told me I was ready to go so collected my notes and keys and pulled out.
Phoned the office and the next job was to run empty over the Meyer Prestige at Bromborough on the Wirral and collect 17 pallets for Asda Magna Park for an 0300 tip. I can’t remember the name of the estate but it was something international business park and it’s off the A41 on the M53 J5. I knew the address was Riverview Road but it wasn’t listed in my OS Merseyside map. ■■■■ it. Must be in the same area so not worried by it I got myself over there and trolled up and down the main road several times to no avail. I was just about to bell the office to tell them I couldn’t find it when I saw one last turning of a roundabout that I hadn’t explored. I dropped down the hill to the bottom and there it was on the left !
17 pallets on and a 45 break out of the way I was en-route to the Haulfast depot at Derby to drop the trailer off. Thinking of the most direct route I pulled the map book out and settled for M53 to Chester and then come off at the first junction after the M56 as if heading for Northwich and go cross-country to come out at Stoke. However, someone had other ideas and I found that the road in question (can’t remember the number) was closed eastbound !!
A quick rethink was needed but I needn’t have worried as there was a handy diversion set-up which took me down the A41 for a good few miles and then a left turn up over the top to Nantwich. I didn’t have that much weight on board and the 430hp ZF-boxed lump soon ironed out the hills ! Eventually I got past Nantwich and then headed south towards Stone until I got to the junction with the A525 and hung a left for Stoke, which takes you under the M6. Once in Stoke I soon found my way on to the A500 and then the A50 for Derby.
I was in the depot for about 1830, dropped my trailer on a bay and went into the office to find out what I was doing next. Argos Basildon tomorrow for a 1430 booking said the notes. Crikey ! What am I going to do with all this time to spare??!
As I want to get a good amount of hours in this week I decided that I would run down there that night - with about 2hrs 50 driving time left on a 9hr day - and park close-by and then just take a 9 off and start early and see if I can get tipped.
Got back on the A50 and decided it was time for tea so pulled into Derby services and had another 45 break there whilst munching.
An uneventful trip down the M1 and M25 but I’m wondering if that was Alix I saw coming anti-clockwise near the M11 around 10pm in his souped up 470 Topliner ■■
I came off on the A127 and unsure whether I could park up near Argos, I didn’t risk it and pulled off on the A123 which runs between the A127 and the A13 and eventually found a lay-by down there just near the turning for Bulphan village to park up for the night. Card pulled just before 2300.
15hrs in the bag equates to £157.25 plus £20 for the night out.
I wasn’t intending on starting while 0900 today at least but I was woken by the bell ringing at 0545 ! Crikey! It had awakened me and I saw the number was the office. I mulled over whether to ignore it and go back to sleep or whether to phone them up and find out why they were belling in the middle of the night!
Eventually the latter got the better of me so I belled them up.
“Sorry to wake you Rob, what time you can move? We’ve got a driver at Argos who’s actually on holiday but he’s picking up a bike from Colchester and he’s hitching lifts with the drivers to get there. He’ll be waiting for you about 0830. It’s a drop and swap at Argos so you’ve no need to tip it”.
“Right okay, I’m on the outskirts of the town so I’ll set off from here about 0815 and collect him. Where am I going after this? Colchester I gather?”
Anyway he told me my collection address from Colchester so I went and did my drop and swap and picked the guy up (Roger). We had a cracking chat on the way up there and I eventually prodded him enough to find out how much the Haulfast drivers are on. Needless to say I certainly shalln’t be applying for a job there. My take home per week is nearly double what they’re on and there’s naturally a lot of agency-driver-hate going on…
I dropped the guy off in the centre of Colechester and then proceeded round to the industrial estate on the south side of the town to Cheatwell Games to pick up 7 pallets for Woolworths at Rochdale on a 2130 booking. By this time it was about 1000.
7 pallets soon on and I’m away. Straight up the A12 to the A14 and up the A1 to my fave eatery, Colsterworth Diner ! By this time it was about 1400 but a breakfast no.1 with 2 hash browns and a pot of tea was just heaven for £4.20 !
A quick call to the office to find out if I was gonna be doing the delivery I had on revealed a “yes please” so on I cracked up the A1. Recalling the queues with the raodworks from a few nights ago I was beginning to wonder whether I’d made a mistake but fortunately I was only delayed for a minute or so at Wittering and further up past Newark at Carlton. Having never been a fan of the A57 because of there being a roundabout every 100 yards I declined and carried on up the A1. It then dawned on me that I still hadn’t returned the JDS Logistics drivers’ ‘Big Timer’ so a quick consult of the map had me coming off just before Blyth and then running through Blyth village and up to Maltby where I got on the M18 and J2 and ran up the M1!
Dropped the timer off at JDS which they were well chuffed about and upon declining some work which the ‘tm’ offered me whilst I was there(!) I got back on the M1. As it was about 1620 by this time I pondered on whether to run Lofthouse, Gildersome, Chain Bar or come off at J40 and run down through Dewsbury and come out on the M62 at Brighouse. I decided on the latter just for the hell of it and soon found myself turning left at Tesco’s at the bottom of the A627M onto the Ind Est where Woolies is.
Having never been to this place before I didn’t know where it was but it’s bound to be a big place. Eventually I came to a cross roads with a sign on the wall instructing Woolworths delivery drivers to turn left here, which I duly did. But then it takes you to a dead end with nowhere to turn round… So what’s the craic here like, I was thinking? Having seen a Woolies wagon go past the end of the road in my mirrors I figured that something was amiss. I gingerly reversed back out into the main road blindside (!) not being able to see a ■■■■ thing that was coming and merely hoped other drivers would have the since to get out of the way.
I carried on down the road I found the real entrance about another 100 yards along! Booked myself in about 1730 and parked up next to another driver and a chat ensued about one thing and another. Shortly after, an Irlam’s XF turned up and the driver turned out to live nearby and was on agency too! We got talking about the rates and stuff and liked the sound of the craic I’m on and he’s going to bell them up tomorrow to get on UPS as well!
While all this was happening the fire alarm goes off and everyone starts pouring out of the place and walking off down the road. The security bods come over and told us we had to follow them! As we’re only delivering and not “staff” we have other ideas and stand just outside the gate. Where all their lot were going is anyone’s guess but we weren’t going with them as it was pouring with rain and much nicer to stand under a nearby tree and stay dry!
30 mins later they all start waltzing back in and at about 1830 I got on a bay with some guidance from my ‘new trucker friends’. If anyone’s been there you’ll fully understand why some guidance when getting on the bays is very much welcome!!
Got tipped and was away from there at 2045. Gave the office a bell (had 2hrs 15 spread and 1hr 30 driving left) and asked what next and they said to park up for the night somewhere, run in tomorrow about 0730 and do a Bradford for 0900. Nice one, so back over the hills and into Ravensthorpe, dispose of trailer somewhere safe-ish and park them unit outside my house!
Now I’m shattered and am going to bed!
13hrs 30 in the bag equates to £138.12 and another £20 night out.
Better get me a few packs of them I think. That should just about last me the week 
. I had a look in the end of the plug which revealed it to be okay that end so I deduced that as it connected to my previous trailer without problem then it must be the socket on the trailer. Determined not to be beaten I jumped back in the cab and jacked it round far enough so that I could have look down the socket to see what was hampering it but there wasn’t anything there, although the socket length looked shorter than it should be 
that’s where Grattan is because I’ve been there already with a container 
. Crikey 
. I jumped out and had a good scout round and discovered that the landing legs had grounded out as the slope into the site is so steep 
(under my breath). Well have you got a street address or summat