As per title, came across one yesterday. Bloke on goods in asks me to move as another driver needs to drive in but could have done a medium difficulty level reverse. I said to the goods in guy he must be a new driver but he said he’d been a regular there for at least five years.
I know there are a few about but what puzzles me is how the hell do they get away with driving artics for so long when they either can’t reverse or have a massive fear of it. How come they aren’t constantly coming unstuck with badly judged u-turns and bashing into stuff all the time?
No different to foreigners who can’t reverse, we’ve had several lately turn up in their fancy big rig but have absolutely no concept of how to reverse and our yard is big with loads of room to manoeuvre but some are there 15 minutes or more trying to get on yet they drive a truck all over Europe !!
I’m talking EE drivers here obviously, the Dutch will make it bang on no problem.
Some people can drive artics for years without having to reverse. Horses for courses. If you do a lot of market deliveries or farm deliveries or collections you don’t have to do a lot accurate reversing. Fridgework will involve more bay work as its rdc deliveries.
I was at Britax the other day and it took the yeodel drive 5 mins to get lined up on bay in a empty yard and I was already on bay next to him but I’m only a ridged and big yellow tube bars either side of bay
Several things spring to mind, they’ve spent every day doing all they can to avoid having to reverse, so even if they’ve been doing the job ten years they might have performed half the reverses a yearling could have done.
Have a look at the lorry, clean windows and mirrors? betcha no…if you sat in the driver’s seat again i betcha the mirrors (what little you can see in them) are set all over the shop and only any use for spotting low flying aircraft.
Mostly not doing the job by choice so really no interest, those who wanted to do the job from boyhood usually take a pride in it and perfecting your reverses is one of the things the modern training methods can’t dumb down nor regulate.
The worst time for me to reverse is after a 14-15hr shift or if I’m really tired like after driving through the hours of darkness ,But don’t generally avoid reversing
having done a fair bit of supermarket work (kwik save/somerfield) which was more difficult than most RDC’s Sometimes i get on a bay in one, but others off days it can take a few shunts , i have also found that the mirrors on a scania are better for reversing than on a DAF, or it’s the driving position /turning circle as i found reversing easier with a scania than a daf for some strange reason, unless i imagined it
blue estate:
Also DAF’s have their blind spot mirrors on top not bottom like rest of trucks or is it just ridged LF
Not quite I think Renaults and Scania also put the blind spot mirror above the main mirror, takes a bit of getting used to when you’ve spent years driving Volvo’s, but should affect reversing.
B Taylors of Mansfield delivering papers into Menzies Wakefield every night. It’s pure comedy gold. Yard is huge but a perfectly straight forward reverse under the canopy takes every single one of their drivers between 5-15 mins whereas it’s a 10 second exercise for any competent class 1 man. Unsurprisingly they’re all foreigners that can hardly speak a word of English.
Am I the only one, that when reversing into a tight spot on a regular basis, most times can get it in in one, but on the odd occasion make a poor set up and finish up taking half a dozen shunts?
Carl Usher:
B Taylors of Mansfield delivering papers into Menzies Wakefield every night. It’s pure comedy gold. Yard is huge but a perfectly straight forward reverse under the canopy takes every single one of their drivers between 5-15 mins whereas it’s a 10 second exercise for any competent class 1 man. Unsurprisingly they’re all foreigners that can hardly speak a word of English.
Carl Usher:
B Taylors of Mansfield delivering papers into Menzies Wakefield every night. It’s pure comedy gold. Yard is huge but a perfectly straight forward reverse under the canopy takes every single one of their drivers between 5-15 mins whereas it’s a 10 second exercise for any competent class 1 man. Unsurprisingly they’re all foreigners that can hardly speak a word of English.
I do find northerners hard to understand
I find all this anti foreign driver crap hard to understand.
Can’t speak English, ah well they must be crap at reversi g then. ffs!
Carl Usher:
B Taylors of Mansfield delivering papers into Menzies Wakefield every night. It’s pure comedy gold. Yard is huge but a perfectly straight forward reverse under the canopy takes every single one of their drivers between 5-15 mins whereas it’s a 10 second exercise for any competent class 1 man. Unsurprisingly they’re all foreigners that can hardly speak a word of English.
I do find northerners hard to understand
I find all this anti foreign driver crap hard to understand.
Carl Usher:
B Taylors of Mansfield delivering papers into Menzies Wakefield every night. It’s pure comedy gold. Yard is huge but a perfectly straight forward reverse under the canopy takes every single one of their drivers between 5-15 mins whereas it’s a 10 second exercise for any competent class 1 man. Unsurprisingly they’re all foreigners that can hardly speak a word of English.
I do find northerners hard to understand
I find all this anti foreign driver crap hard to understand.
Hearing going as well?
Yeh another age related sense disappearing
Nah it’s just getting more and more frequent on here the Foreign driver bashing at every opportunity, and mostly from drivers that have travelled no further afield than their last delivery to Travis ■■■■ Perkins.
I know many Dutch a couple of Belgian and the odd German (very odd German ) all drivers and all good lads. I have also been victim of anti Foreign crap myself, and it just pulls my wires big style when it appears on here , that is why I bite every time
robroy:
Nah it’s just getting more and more frequent on here the Foreign driver bashing at every opportunity, and mostly from drivers that have travelled no further afield than their last delivery to Travis [zb] Perkins.
I know many Dutch a couple of Belgian and the odd German (very odd German ) all drivers and all good lads. I have also been victim of anti Foreign crap myself, and it just pulls my wires big style when it appears on here , that is why I bite every time
Really? I’d not noticed…
Laugh at it!
Personally I’m amused that some are silly enough to judge a persons character, abilities, attitudes and values by their passport!
It makes me giggle every time!
LIBERTY_GUY:
My reversing is very good … just got to master the going forwards stuff
Nowt wrong with guys taking a shunt or two to get where they need to go. Better that than cause damage.
I can never understand the “I do it one shunt” boys; IME they’re the ones who do more damage in the long run, but see it as a weakness to play it safe.
ffs! 
