I’ve been home on hols, so I’ve learnt just what my family get up to all week… 
What about you? 
I learnt that in the few months I’ve lived away from the UK (again) that ‘things’ in general really are deteriorating fast!!
I had a 2-day run to UK and the amount of (really) bad driving from all types of vehicles/drivers, crap food and service both on and off the road/route, the amount of time I spent static in traffic jams (I was on the M25 both Weds & Thurs) and the cost of things in general reminded me why I am looking to stay away from the UK for the foreseeable future, and who knows, maybe change continent!! 
Just remembered…Not really truck related, but should generate some mirth…
After spending three hours getting covered in oil, grease, petrol and miscellaneous other crap whilst training to be a contortionist and discovering exactly what level of physical pain my body can withstand these days before I can actually feel it (quite a lot, it would seem, looking at the number of mysterious bruises I now have), I learnt that…
…The broken bit which stops my Landy from running under load is NOT[/i] in fact the fuel pump. 
(See new signature addition below. 
)
never to assume that you will get what you shold expect. booked a days holiday with agency and got the princely sum of 42quid. 8xminimum wage and not my minimum rate. what a joke but def gonna be giving qs a serious body swerve from now on
I learnt that a donkey engine won’t run on fresh air.
Also that Crewkerne is not a good route to go through for Dorchester. I was having a senior moment and thought the sat nav was showing me a short cut.
And when you have a good idea, don’t tell a manager, cos the git nicks it as his own and get the praise.
That the DSA will give a C licence to some-one who cannot cope with general road hazards if they have any easy test or are lucky on test not to encounter any probs - the trainee got flustered if a bicycle has to be overtaken and could not work out who had the right of way if cars were parked on the left!!! - wants to do artic now!! - not with me instructing - I value the lives of others too much.
i learnt that you can have the occasional saturday off 
This week I’ve learnt
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Even a decent TM will stitch you up on some occasion
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Said TM gets the hump when you don’t bite and just say “no probs, I’ll ring the wife to say I will be late home”
Lucy:
…The broken bit which stops my Landy from running under load is NOT[/i] in fact the fuel pump.
[/quote]
Distributor? I’ve had one with a cracked head. Of course, installing the points back to front didn’t help either.
Congrats for owning a landie
Going to a mill for the first time on a night trunk is a lot easier if the directions which you are given (on paper!) bear some resemblence to the actual route.
Thought it was me till I checked it out with one of the other drivers!
In mitigation, directions were given to me by senior driver at our mill; should have known better 'cos the only time he goes out of Wales is when he flies out of Cardiff airport every summer for a fortnight in Spain!
Well as the first part of Monday was spent training I better at least pretend I paid attention and learned something.
First it was ‘Manual Handling’ which I thought would be a total waste of time as I never read the manuals for anything so have no need to handle them.
Next was Digital Tachograph Use. Quite interesting and I learned a fair bit but I did have to argu… err, discuss a point, with the trainer. He went away and made a phone call to check it out and came back to say I was indeed correct and he was wrong. 
Finally it was coupling and uncoupling a trailer Good to finally learn how to do that, I guess the night shift I used to do for them which involved either hooking or dropping a trailer 12 times during the night was a bit of risk as I hadn’t been trained then.
if you stick the wagon in the gateway at your collection at 17.05 they have no choice but to load you to close the [zb] 
whitehaven is switching its analogue masts of soon and there will be only digital tv avalible in ■■■■■■■ 
well i learnt that a 4 Metre high trailer WILL fit beneith a 3.6 metre high bridge
was in france on a little D road no advance warning and nowhere to turn arround
warning dont try this at home children!!!
Coffeeholic:
First it was ‘Manual Handling’ which I thought would be a total waste of time as I never read the manuals for anything so have no need to handle them.
that car transporter drivers and container drivers must be under a lot of pressure to get the job done as its either one or the other trying to force there way around you at every roundabout you come to.
not so much what i learned more what the company learned YOU CANT QUACK A RUBBER DUCK its getting intresting
… that no matter how much you question the weight of the load you are given, some TM’s & agency managers will always insist that it’s legal.
24 x 1 tonne pallets, 4 leg Scania & curtain side trailer plated down to 35 tonne GVW = legal ■■?
Handballing 4 overloaded pallets at 4am is hot work, even when it’s only 7 degrees outside.
Overloaded pallets with only one level of shrinkwrap around when badly stacked come off pretty easily.
Always check the pump truck loaded can actually lift a pallet!
Always a good idea to find out why the previous driver took his dog to work in the cab. Also a good idea to carry cream for the then resulting flea bites
Need more self confidence to stand up to TMs when they say that an overnight 12h shift is legal.
There are times when it is necessary to send TMs to voicemail. Especially when the bluetooth headset suddenly “goes to sleep” when needed.
I learned that Volvo I-Shift is even more intelligent, even further ahead of it’s competition than I thought a week ago, thanks to doing an FH / I-Shift ‘Train-the-Trainer’ course at Volvo Truck and Bus in Warwick.
I learned that 80% of FHs ordered in this country are specified with two pedals.
I learned that if you pop into you local Volvo Truck and Bus dealer on Monday morning, order an FH and pay the full asking price in cash, you won’t see said FH until week commencing 04/05/09. A useful 81 weeks later.
i learned that even though ive done a defensive driving course stil dosnt help you when some dozy belgium git veers sharply over the road while hes messing around with his radio (or something else), nice of him to do one as well,leaving me to pick up bits of his bumper and mirror of the road!!