i used to regularly load light double stacked pallets, loaded by forklifts that picked up 2 sets at a time (4 pallets). it was a bit of an unusual center post rig up with the trailer, so a bit of technique was needed when putting pallets on at the center post area. one time i go in to load there’s a flt driver i’ve not seen before. " alright mate? have you loaded this trailer before?" with a bit of an arsey look “i’ve loaded about 4000 trailers” now i never asked how many trailers he’d loaded and wasn’t actually that interested, but i sensed this isn’t the sort of dude who likes advice! so i stfu. when he got to the center post area, it became apparent that in the 4000, he hadn’t loaded a trailer like mine with double stacked pallets! i just stood there and watched. whilst i did drive forklifts, i always unloaded at the other end, i certainly hadn’t got anywhere near his 4000 tally, but if he’d of been open to a bit of friendly advice, from someone with far less overall exp, but a lot more in this particular scenario, he’d of loaded quicker, not had to mess about lifting pallets on and off, not stuffed the top corner of a pallet into the trailer and not looked and felt like a ■■■.
Janos:
I am struggling to think of another profession where a member of the public tells them how to perform their job!No matter how tight the access it is up to the driver to work it out, and as some have already alluded to, it is a challenge to our experience and professional pride, that we have to and want to rise to. I would be ashamed to have dents and scratches on the nearside bumper. Some people wear them as badges of honour I think.
Rob, you are not the only one who has those sorts of conversations. A guy actually shook my hand a few months ago in dis-belief. First time in ten years somebody had reversed an artic into his warehouse first go. Standards are low…whatever anyone says. The evidence is over-whelming. Bridge strikes, turnovers, crashes, rank-stupidity, tail-gating etc etc.
it’s not just a random member of the public though! it’s someone with knowledge of what works in that yard. if you’re the 1st person ever in a yard then it’s up to you to work it out, but you might spend hours / get stuck / damage something before you strike on the easiest way that works. common sense to me says listen to someone that knows what works and what doesn’t over being a pioneer and going through what the 1st pioneer went through before working it out!
i too like to think that im able to to reverse…ive had times where i have pulled off the impossible in one go and nailed the most difficult bays in one hit…but i can also balls up the easiest good reverse up…and be mocked by my fellow murderers…best thing i find if you get a bit of advice listen to it. you can always shunt out and try it your way , too many drivers wont take advice and struggle for 20 mins
Truckbling:
Sorry dudes, you might all want to seem politically correct and all that but it is ■■■■■■■■!Standards have gone down the toilet since about 2006/7 when we began to see our local agencies opening and actively sourcing labour from Poland.
A few of the contracts I used to regularly attend became no hopers because they could get labour cheaper than us. Roadways was a prime example of this and many of my co workers will attest to this fact.
After many rollover on the A1 along with much damage caused by the cheaper labour, we were called back in to work there but we wre put on locals and only given 8 hour shifts because and I quote " they wreck everything and get lost".
I refused to work there on that very basis. They were getting the long hour port runs and we were put on [zb] local multi box work for 8 hours.Sorry but this is factual.
I have worked at many companies since and can say hand on heart I have met a stupid amount of foreign drivers, Mainly Polish and YES THEY ARE CRAP!
The Poland based Polish drivers may very well be a cut above the rest but the UK base Polish driver on the whole leave a lot to be desired. You can’t argue with the facts and I live and see the facts every day.
Why to many British people fail test to many time???Why to many British LGV drivers dont pass driving assestment at companies.■■?problem with job quality can see everywhere start from cleaners till big obsses.And everyone hate another .But really problem happened because more old people (50+) can do any job more quality than will do 30 years old British,Scotish or any national people .This is not UK problem,this is world problem.
SuperMultiBlue:
Give yourself a big pat on the back OP, you deserve it
Try reading, and this time digesting 
, the theme of my o/p mate, and also the next ones… concentrating on the bits where I say I am not looking for any form of congratulation.
(paraphrasing)
This time give me your comments on it…(.or don’t I don’t care) but at least try and avoid insinuating I am being a smartarse, as it only has the effect (ironically) of you coming across as being a one yourself. 
Truckbling:
Sorry dudes, you might all want to seem politically correct and all that but it is ■■■■■■■■!Standards have gone down the toilet since about 2006/7 when we began to see our local agencies opening and actively sourcing labour from Poland.
A few of the contracts I used to regularly attend became no hopers because they could get labour cheaper than us. Roadways was a prime example of this and many of my co workers will attest to this fact.
After many rollover on the A1 along with much damage caused by the cheaper labour, we were called back in to work there but we wre put on locals and only given 8 hour shifts because and I quote " they wreck everything and get lost".
I refused to work there on that very basis. They were getting the long hour port runs and we were put on [zb] local multi box work for 8 hours.Sorry but this is factual.
I have worked at many companies since and can say hand on heart I have met a stupid amount of foreign drivers, Mainly Polish and YES THEY ARE CRAP!
The Poland based Polish drivers may very well be a cut above the rest but the UK base Polish driver on the whole leave a lot to be desired. You can’t argue with the facts and I live and see the facts every day.
I’ve met blokes like you before mate while driving foreign motors, you think every driver on a lhd is thick as ■■■■. 
They come at you with an air of pseudo superiority, shouting and bawling and trying to talk to you like ■■■■, and as soon as you come back as agressivelly as them and they realise you have a British accent they back right off.
Our lot have a few Poles in our main South depot, there has been a couple of knobs but on the whole they are as competent a driver as anybody else, one lad in particular.
3 motors came through the gate one day as I was watching, 2 Poles and a Brit, guess which one caught the gate and put a 40’ rip down the side of the trailer. Clue his name as far as I know did not end with ski or off.
Btw mate just to answer your point I am the least PC bloke you could meet.
Truckbling:
Sorry dudes, you might all want to seem politically correct and all that but it is ■■■■■■■■!Standards have gone down the toilet since about 2006/7 when we began to see our local agencies opening and actively sourcing labour from Poland.
A few of the contracts I used to regularly attend became no hopers because they could get labour cheaper than us. Roadways was a prime example of this and many of my co workers will attest to this fact.
After many rollover on the A1 along with much damage caused by the cheaper labour, we were called back in to work there but we wre put on locals and only given 8 hour shifts because and I quote " they wreck everything and get lost".
I refused to work there on that very basis. They were getting the long hour port runs and we were put on [zb] local multi box work for 8 hours.Sorry but this is factual.
I have worked at many companies since and can say hand on heart I have met a stupid amount of foreign drivers, Mainly Polish and YES THEY ARE CRAP!
The Poland based Polish drivers may very well be a cut above the rest but the UK base Polish driver on the whole leave a lot to be desired. You can’t argue with the facts and I live and see the facts every day.
Some fair points in that, and no mistake!
However, I’ve been around long enough to have seen plenty of crap UK born drivers too!
I’ve also been in the position of being a ‘foreign’ driver on national work in a foreign country. Have you done that?
I spent more than a year driving an Italian registered (Turin) truck on national and international work around 1985ish, and I made mistakes, some of which were silly. 
Let’s just say that anybody can make a mistake, and the person who hasn’t made a mistake simply hasn’t made his mistake YET!! 
Ok here’s my take on it for what it’s worth.
I can’t say I’ve ever turned up at a yard and got the feeling that they think I’m crap at my job, I have when I’ve finished reversing, but that’s another story
It must be your demeanor Rob, have you got a limp?
I will take any help that I can get when I go somewhere, after all it’s their yard, they know all the pitfalls and they’ve seen all the ■■■■■■■■ dropped, I’d rather have someone helpful than turning up somewhere and be as good as invisible when you walk into the office
As for all the foreign bashing, get over yourselves guys, there’s a lot of generalisation there, there’s good and bad in every nationality
For me it’s the other way round, I assume they will be crap at their job, loading/unloading etc, I’m not often disappointed in this assumption.
Why do fork lift drivers become fork lift drivers if they don’t enjoy the job? What do they expect to happen when the company they work for keeps ordering tons of products from the company you work for? Sometimes I get the feeling they think you’ve turned up just to annoy them.
Big Roy:
… there’s good and bad in every nationality
This ^^^
I think there’s a world of difference between some one giving you instruction on how to " do your job " and some one giving you a few tips about things you may not be aware of.
When I came off the road and worked in the warehouse, it was an old mill with a really narrow bit you had to drive through on you way to the exit. Our own fleet drivers were used to it so no problem. I used to say to any visiting drivers " on your way out mate, through the narrow bit, it’s best to keep as close to the wall on your left as you can because the bloody cobbles have a bloody dip in them and it’s easy to get a rock on and catch the guttering on the right, just don’t want you to get caught out "
Most would say " cheers for that mate " ( whether they meant it or not is another matter 
) , but I did have one bloke tell me to stick to loading furniture and leave him to do the driving !! Quite sad really 
Regards. John.
If I could just reiterate here, it aint about not taking advice, I do take advice if given in the right spirit.My point is about negative perception
For instance if a guy comes up to me and says something like ‘look mate it’s a bit ■■■■ tight, I ‘ll watch you in try and keep your front wheel tight to the corner’’ or something like that, fair enough, it’s all about attitude.
As I keep saying it is when they just assume that you are incapable of working the situation out for yourself, and come across all superior when they get a reaction off me.
I was boarding a ferry one day, this marshall came up to me (again thinking I was ‘dumb foreigner’ ) and said ‘‘keep your truck tight to side of boat’’
What he had not seen was a kooiap/moffit on the back of my trailer, so if I had it would have took out the side of the boat as I turned the corner.
I tried to say “but” he went off on one and said ‘’ never mind but, it’s my job to tell you’’ I ignored him and pulled out to allow for the kooi, and he went ■■■■■■ mad, I told him to go and ■■■■ himself . At the same time his mate came over and pointed out the back of my kooi a couple of inches off the boat side, his face was a ■■■■■■ picture, and his mate actually apologised for him.
Like I said attitude and the way you are approached.
robroy:
If I could just reiterate here, it aint about not taking advice, I do take advice if given in the right spirit.My point is about negative perception
For instance if a guy comes up to me and says something like ‘look mate it’s a bit [zb] tight, I ‘ll watch you in try and keep your front wheel tight to the corner’’ or something like that, fair enough, it’s all about attitude.
As I keep saying it is when they just assume that you are incapable of working the situation out for yourself, and come across all superior when they get a reaction off me.I was boarding a ferry one day, this marshall came up to me (again thinking I was ‘dumb foreigner’
What he had not seen was a kooiap/moffit on the back of my trailer, so if I had it would have took out the side of the boat as I turned the corner.
I tried to say “but” he went off on one and said ‘’ never mind but, it’s my job to tell you’’ I ignored him and pulled out to allow for the kooi, and he went [zb] mad, I told him to go and [zb] himself . At the same time his mate came over and pointed out the back of my kooi a couple of inches off the boat side, his face was a [zb] picture, and his mate actually apologised for him.
Like I said attitude and the way you are approached.
I can see what you’re saying Rob about attitude etc but you will always get your jumped up little ■■■■ on a power trip.
What you have got to remember It’s their little kingdom and they’ve got control over where the big truck goes and they get off on this, they where probably bullied at school and have now got that little bit of power and will milk it.
The last thing on their mind will be how good you are at your job because they are so up themselves and will have delusions of adequacy
I work for UK company that does not employ non British people in the UK office, we all struggle some times to reverse, I don’t think the standards are dropping, I think just don’t train drivers the same and some other drivers don’t help either!
Truckbling:
The Dcpc was only brought in because of all the side swipes etc caused by foreign drivers not checking their blind spots etc and the number of Poles that thought the A1 was a straight through road until they came upon a roundabout. This is why they took out all the roundabouts on the A1. The foreign knobs kept on driving straight over them, or at least trying to.
There was me thinking they got rid of the roundabouts because they caused delays, and so there would be free-flowing traffic from the Dartford Tunnel to the north via the M11. (They didn’t upgrade it south of Huntingdon because the recommended route from London itself is the M1.)
robroy:
Like I said attitude and the way you are approached.
Spot on Rob, applies to countless situations.
Regards. John.
davidjh1969:
I work for UK company that does not employ non British people in the UK office, we all struggle some times to reverse, I don’t think the standards are dropping, I think just don’t train drivers the same and some other drivers don’t help either!
I don’t really agree with that mate, I was trained 36yrs ago and could not then reverse to save my life, I even made a balls of it on my test , and did not master it until AFTER I passed my test.
It’s all about practice and experience.
As for other drivers not helping yoi , they are the knob head contingent of UK ‘drivers’ that you refer to, you just ignore those arse holes mate.
robroy:
I have noticed in quite a few places I have been to lately, (that have been tight reverse spots) the goods in staff give the impression when you arrive, that they just take for granted that you are going to be a crap driver and make a balls of backing in.There is always either a look of amazement and/or a comment of surprise when you get in first time (not boasting btw, if I can’t do it now I never will,… done job long enough)
More often than not you get some guy that has never driven anything bigger than a Mondeo telling you the technique needed for their particular place, I just say ‘‘yeh ok mate I know what I’m doing, but thanks anyway’’ and they look at you before you back in, looking as if they are thinking …yeh right.
I then try and do it completely different to the way they try and ‘instruct’ you. just to see their face change.Is it because there has been a lot of newbies turned up or what? (not knocking newbies either, we have all had to learn) or just a lot of crap drivers, or are there actually more crap ones about now than good ones.
It should be the opposite that they take for granted you will have no probs, and be surprised if you make an arse of it.
I just think it’s a bit of an insult to our perceived professionalism, when they actually EXPECT us to be crap at our jobs.
Anybody else had this, or is it just my furtive imagination…again
Another situation here is when your surrounded by banksman walking too close when your reversing and they’re even telling you where to go when you know where they want you ,some of them just don’t have a clue what room you need .
just ask any goods in man what hgvs they have driven,when they reply none which they probably will,i would look at him and say oh right,enough said then
It has bugger all to do with nationality, modern drivers are crap end of.
The thing drives itself they even tell you when you drift out of you’re lane, the loading and off loading is usually done for you and the general skill set required is just above zero our yard is huge and lit like wembley and drivers shunt back and fore to get on a bay fitted with guides, pitiful.
I get phone calls all the time about drivers taking 20 minutes to get on a bay, or calling up when they have become stuck or lost, and dozens of bloody idiotic questions to numerous to mention.
Rescued off tail lifts by the fire brigade, falling asleep with the headlights on following prat navs down farm tracks coming back with half the truck missing unbelievable, we all get tarred with the same brush, from my own experience around 80% are useless and I would not trust them to steer a sweeping brush.