It’s been a while since I first came onto the forums having passed my Class 1 in Feb. Since then I havn’t had a sniff of work though I’ve knocked on many doors.
Today however, an employer, that I cold called on a few days ago called me to ask if I was still looking for work. Needless to say I was amazed, gobsmacked and very interested. I was offered a start next Tuesday driving tippers.
I was honest about having no experience, other than my 2 weeks training on class 1 & 2 and my tests. The employer seems happy to give me a go.
Now the nerves are setting in and I was hoping someone here may have some advice on driving these things or hints about tipping etc, especially on muddy uneven sites. Hopefully the tacho rules won’t pose to much of a problem in this line of work too.
The most important thing to consider when tipping is to make sure you are level when you tip.
The other important thing is before you raise the ■■■■, LOOK UP . You are looking for overhead powerlines and the like. Metal body and electricity do not mix. Out my old firm there were some interesting pictures of a burnt out unit after the driver got close to high voltage powerlines.
Note :- he didn’t even get as far as touching them and the power jumped to the trailer
Thanks Semtex, that’s a very good point, i’m sure theres gonna be a lot of stuff to avoid and electric is definately high on the list.
Thanks for the message Wills, I’ve read through some of your posts, It can’t be long till your test now right? very best of luck with it. If you get on well with your instructor just imagine him next to you in your test to help relax. Both of my examiners in Class 1 & 2 were real friendly and put me at ease so don’t worry to much.
hi scud, ive been on the tippers for three years now so know enough about them to answer a few questions that you might have,
as semtex said ,powerlines are the most important thing closely followed by no distractions wot-so-eva whilst tipping,make sure ur level (when your abit more expierenced,then you can have fun making the ram bend abit)
What tippers you gonna be on, artics or 8 wheelers? artics are real arse twitchers,make sure you are dead level.
If your goin on to soft ground,best thing to do is engage your diff locks and cross locks,this gives you a much better chance of gettin through the sticky stuff,BUT REMEMBER TO DISENGAGE THEM AS SOON AS YOUR OUT OF THE SOFT STUFF, else you will rip your tyres to bits and theres a chance you might blow your diffs,and bossy wont be happy,i should know
The only other thing that springs to mind is try and get hold of a thick chain or steel rope, you proberly wont need one now the dry weathers here,but believe me in winter you will because getting bogged down is just part of tipper work,if a machine is goin to push you out make sure he is on your push bar as it wont take much to bend your tailboard and make it impossable to shut,also found out by myself when you do get stuck,engage your diff locks select either crawler or first gear and keep the power on till you feel the lorry moving under its own steam,then just give the machine driver a toot to say thanks and stop pulling/pushing, thats another thing,try and keep the machine drivers on your side,they can make life bloody hard for you if you pee them off,
A toot from the machine driver when positioning to get loaded means stop, then another toot means your loaded,always give them a quick toot then to say ta, believe me it goes a long way when your trying to drink a cuppa just as their dropping 3 tonne of heavy muck on you.
anything else thats concerning you just ask away,if i cant answer then im sure someone will
Thanks for the link and all the info Gav and Sir LANs-a-lot. That’s given me such a huge insight. It made excellent reading. I’ll re-read it all again in the morning before i go and “have a chat” with the employer.
I’m really not sure what i’ll be driving but given that i’m about to step onto the bottom rung of a new career, i’m not expecting too much. I have no idea what i’ll be carrying, but my guess is sand, stone, muck.
The company have 7.5 tonners, 8 wheelers and artic tippers i believe. As I’ve had absolutely no luck in finding a driving job since 7th Feb (Class 1) i’m thinking it would be worth me taking the job even if it means driving the small stuff to begin with. What are everyones thoughts on this? would that be a mistake, or is it best to get a foot in the door any which way, with the hope of moving onto bigger things once i’ve proved myself.
scud if i was you mate id take it even if it does mean driving a puddle jumper, it will give you an insight of whats expected from your employer and what the jobs like, i wouldnt fancy goin straight onto an artic tipper having never used a tipper of any sort, an 8 wheeler would get you used to tipping in different surroundings much better and prepare you a little for the future if they let loose in an artic
The meeting went well this morning. I definately start tuesday 7:30am - 5pm so the hours are good for me. They’re going to send me out to ride shotgun first day (to see it done properly) and then the rest of the week I’ll be driving with an experienced driver sat with me. Should be out on my own the following week if it all goes well.
I’m starting on the small stuff (upto 6 tonne loads apparently) and considering i’ve never driven laden or tipped a thing in my life (apart from the odd waitress) I suppose it’ll break me in gently. I’m really looking forward to it now.
Thanks again for all the support and advice everyone.
well done Scudmonkey,good to hear about your job,nice that they will be showing you the way with old hands riding shotgun.sounds like a decent outfit.well done…
Good luck with the new job Scudmonkey,sounds like you are of to a good start if you’re going to get some" training",hope all goes well for you.
regrds derek
Just thought i’d come on to report after day 1 on tippers.
7:30am and I was introduced to the guys in the yard and some of the other drivers. Then I was taken to the office to meet the transport manager. There must have been a shocked moment on both our faces when it turned out we were friends at school and hadn’t seen each other in about 20 years!!
I was sent out to ride shotgun with a driver until around 10:30am when I was given the keys to take over the driving. A bit sooner than expected to say the least. the first load was 6 tonnes of building sand to a local site. I had to reverse about 300yds down a narrow backstreet with cars on either side then make a reversing U-turn into the site through two brick piers. In the words of the driver next to me “that’s about as tight as it gets” anyway I got it in and out with a few directions from my buddy but it really made me sweat. other drops wern’t any easier with steep inclines, narrow lanes, deadends, double loads, sticking loads, low trees all adding a little spice to the experience. The final drop was nice and easy onto a driveway!!!
The TM says I’ll be out on my own tomorrow in at the deepend but I think it’s probably the right thing to do. I’m still nervous as hell about screwing up but I’ve got to go it alone sometime. Thanks to the other driver I learnt lots today but know I still have a long way to go. All I know for sure is, it felt like a very long day and I’m knackered!!!
A bit better than my first day…here’s the keys, there’s the truck. This is how the tipping gear works. Follow me and i’ll show you where the quarry is and your first drop is!!! And that was in a 1993 17tonner daf.
Oh happy days!!!
perhaps thats why i’m going back to tippers (allbeit on artics)
Yep - as Semtex says, a pretty standard tipper day! You’ll soon get used to all the tight spaces and sites you’ll visit. I find it’s much worse in the rain, mirrors all rainy and hardly any rearward vision - then things start getting interesting, especially on a busy land-fill or cluttered site!
that must have been a great feeling.
