098Joe:
I drove a Renault premium with auto box the other day and could not find reverse! There was nobody around to ask and I was going out solo, and luckily I was able to drive off site without reversing. I stopped down the road and eventually worked it out. It was a bit weird it just had D and N on one switch then there was a separate one for R but you had to leave the other one in D before selecting R.
Ricekrispies:
I couldn’t figure out how to adjust the steering wheel on a premium, it wasn’t in any of the usual places and I ended up leaving it the way it was. Only had to move it few foot out of the way but can anyone tell me just for future reference?
Depends on the age but some have a button you press with your right heel by the corner of the seat.
Cheers, I don’t think I looked there and I wouldn’t have expected it to be there either.I thought it might have been the same as the Volvo with the pedal above the accelerator and I looked all around the steering wheel and dash for a button.It was brand new at the time so it would be around a year old now.
Don’t get sent into Tescos as a “sub” then - You’ll avoid using the 5th wheel slider release - 'cos you think it’s the ejector seat button for the passenger!
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Cheers, I don’t think I looked there and I wouldn’t have expected it to be there either.I thought it might have been the same as the Volvo with the pedal above the accelerator and I looked all around the steering wheel and dash for a button.It was brand new at the time so it would be around a year old now.
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On the 13 plate I drive there is a little switch on the bottom left of the lower steering column
alamcculloch:
We are having our time wasted on DCPC when the training time could be usefully spent on driver inductions.Our vehicles are highly complex ,its just stupid to expect a stranger to walk in and drive away.If I were a T.M. I would be making sure that a new driver knew how to use the tackle before attempting to take it on the road.
If a company ran a fleet containing vehicles with proper manual gearboxes with splitters etc. I might sympathise with this comment, but in this instance we are talking about a driver who couldn’t fathom the gear selector on an auto. Reverse, Neutral & Drive. What is complicated about that? Any confusion about tortoise mode could be sorted via a quickly asking another driver, the driver in this instance obviously had too much pride to do that
robert1952:
And how many of you suffered the embarrassment of not being able to move a Volvo F10 /12 because no one had shown you that little knob that you had to press in when the air is up / engine is warm (can’t remember which it was now! )? Robert
robert1952:
And how many of you suffered the embarrassment of not being able to move a Volvo F10 /12 because no one had shown you that little knob that you had to press in when the air is up / engine is warm (can’t remember which it was now! )? Robert
098Joe:
I drove a Renault premium with auto box the other day and could not find reverse! There was nobody around to ask and I was going out solo, and luckily I was able to drive off site without reversing. I stopped down the road and eventually worked it out. It was a bit weird it just had D and N on one switch then there was a separate one for R but you had to leave the other one in D before selecting R.
Same box in our volvo fl rigids if we have a new agency driver in shunter leaves the rigid facing the pallets to see how long it takes to get reverse, that said took me 5 minutes to work it out lol oops.
Like the time many years ago when i subbed for europa, so i had to take an italian trailer which had rear wheel steer, so off i went to purfleet to load an export load and after being told what bay to go on i attempted to reverse, so 20 minutes later they closed the shutter and said bang on the doors when your ready, so looking round the rear end to find the switch, then phoning the office to ask them only to be told they didnt know and would ring me back when they had phoned other drivers, and in the end all one had to do was turn on the side lights which locked the axle, i did get some ribbing from the warehouse guys though.
had a driver defect a spanking brand new Hired MAN … driver seat rocked forward and backward they insisted it was broken even had a fitter out they had throw their bag into another truck (along with the toy bag) tacho in etc hooked up to their trailer the whole hog and still havin a hissy fit … yeah they may have driven all over Europe etc but didn’t know about the little knob that stops the horizontal seat movement… then they wanted to change trucks boss told them to just get on up the road
mac12:
Another company that thinks a worker can just turn up and do a job with no training.
Are you suggesting that companies need to give all new agency drivers a hand in hand walk around the vehicle they will be using, showing them how to adjust the seat and select Drive & Reverse on an auto box?
If you are, that’s nuts. What ever happened to drivers being self proficient and asking their own questions?
mac12:
Another company that thinks a worker can just turn up and do a job with no training.
Are you suggesting that companies need to give all new agency drivers a hand in hand walk around the vehicle they will be using, showing them how to adjust the seat and select Drive & Reverse on an auto box?
If you are, that’s nuts. What ever happened to drivers being self proficient and asking their own questions?
There own Health and Safety procedures should mean that all drivers know everything about the job before starting
dozy:
Very strange as reading on here it’s claimed agency drivers are better drivers than company drivers as they go to different companies on a regular basis driving various different makes/ models of trucks whereas company drivers only drive one make of truck model .
that is one agency driver,you cant put us all in the same boat,the part about different vehicles is correct,i never have any problems,its hardly our fault if the driver as the O P says is thick
alamcculloch:
We are having our time wasted on DCPC when the training time could be usefully spent on driver inductions.Our vehicles are highly complex ,its just stupid to expect a stranger to walk in and drive away.If I were a T.M. I would be making sure that a new driver knew how to use the tackle before attempting to take it on the road.
Who are you trying to kid? Highly complex? Really? Maybe building one is highly complex but driving one certainly is not.
Power steering auto boxes etc have made it even easier.
Maybe an eaton twin splitter took a little while to learn but anyone with half a brain could master it after a short period.
If a lorry was highly complex to drive we would not be so low on the pay scale…get a grip.
I allways liked the eaton twin splitter,we had them on FED EX when I first started driving after passing 25 yrs ago the vehicle was a seddon Atkinson strato [good motor]and we were sent out on night trunks with experienced drivers and were not allowed to drive them on our own until the experienced driver gave the guvnor the nod,best way
robert1952:
And how many of you suffered the embarrassment of not being able to move a Volvo F10 /12 because no one had shown you that little knob that you had to press in when the air is up / engine is warm (can’t remember which it was now! )? Robert
had one of them on the volvo I trained in for my Class C. Couldnt for the life of me figure out what was wrong until the instructor realised I wasn’t looking for the handbreak
)? Robert
even had a fitter out 
