biggusdickusgb:
why should you do anything to get your clients truck moving?
its called getting the job done, thats what lorry drivers do.
Why not? Because we need to do our professional utmost to ensure total safely …and not at any cost …otherwise we should wear check shirts, chew tobacco, remove all innocent citizens/victims from the cross-hairs of our ‘work’ area, lay-off the call-out dudes and not whinge when the bodge by a predecessor in our ‘servicable’ unit goes catastrophically wrong to send us and a bus queue early to our Maker.
I’ve thirty years as an accredited mechanical technician of sound distinction & wouldn’t touch what I’m not authorised or accredited to dabble with - largely because the ‘good old days’ of bodge n scarper is now BITE, wigglies & other OTT nonsense although I consider competently completed risk assessments the best thing that workers have benefitted from since time began.
However, I’ve had trailer brake-fail (luckily they fail ‘safe’) northbound on the A1 after a contracted trailer brake service out of Northant’s had his ‘simple’ reconnection job to the brake unit fail on me. I managed the lock-up safely but a rubber necking wag-n-drag Dutchman hauling fibreglass tail-ended going south - which proves that the foul-up by even the professional techie cost time, international crash insurance shenanigans, grief, ferry delays, etc. Was I lucky, or did I handle my incident because I was a trained and professional lorry-driver despite the techie lousing-up?
Meanwhile, I advocate that perhaps we should feedback our concerns to the manufacturer R&D guys via all available & legitimate means to instal more robust kit - which some might consider a healthier solution than bubblegum & string then home for a tin bath in front of Corrie with a self-congratulatory bottle of warm Mild ale…
Since when has a traffic jam been a new phenomenon? We are as much victims of ‘work in progress’ as we are professionally keen to deliver - yet our solution is surely to team-play within trained limits, or maybe I’m adrift & should get fitted-up with saddle n spurs in the cab ASAP.
biggusdickusgb:
ALL lorries should carry a spare airline or at least a bolt and jubilee clip, and if the driver can’t/won’t change one he shouldn’t be driving imho
what a complete feed of ■■■■!
i cant fix a broken Suzie, but i can drive! why shouldn’t i drive then?
i would be willing to have a go but i think my fear of doing something wrong and it all going pear shaped later on will stop me from doing it. bulbs and things, not a problem, i do it on my car, why not on a wagon, but funnily enough my car doesn’t have Suzie’s so never needed to change one! my mechanical expertise is from my humble motor car which does vary quite a bit from wagon but i guess the priciple is the same (considering i have never owned a diesel car)!
I am not suggesting every driver should be able to advance an injector pump timing or set the fuel injectors up.
But a driver who is not willing or able to change a suzie or fold the end over & use a tie wrap without a city and guilds, you are joking right?
The main reason this job is so bad is because of a lack of sense. We know there are many jobs that cannot be carried out at the side of the road, We know most companies do not carry spare wheels to save weight, but it does you no harm to know how it should be done.
Wheel Nut:
but it does you no harm to know how it should be done.
i asked on here a while ago how to do it and no-one answered and seeing as i am agency they tell me if it breaks give us a call and we’ll send someone out, we dont want you messing with thingymabobs wagon, he wont be happy!
Why not? Because we need to do our professional utmost to ensure total safely …and not at any cost …otherwise we should wear check shirts, chew tobacco, remove all innocent citizens/victims from the cross-hairs of our ‘work’ area, lay-off the call-out dudes and not whinge when the bodge by a predecessor in our ‘servicable’ unit goes catastrophically wrong to send us and a bus queue early to our Maker
eh? what part of
put bolt in red line, tighten jubilee clip with screwdriver, release brakes on trailer and clear obstruction, pull over somewhere safe and wait for breakdown.
don’t you understand, its just basic stuff to get you out of the way while you wait for a fitter.
Meanwhile, I advocate that perhaps we should feedback our concerns to the manufacturer R&D guys via all available & legitimate means to instal more robust kit - which some might consider a healthier solution than bubblegum & string then home for a tin bath in front of Corrie with a self-congratulatory bottle of warm Mild ale…
Since when has a traffic jam been a new phenomenon? We are as much victims of ‘work in progress’ as we are professionally keen to deliver - yet our solution is surely to team-play within trained limits, or maybe I’m adrift & should get fitted-up with saddle n spurs in the cab ASAP
again eh? … is this a failed attempt at humour or have you been drinking
sorry i dont know what BITE, wigglies are so i can’t comment on them.
gibsla,
sorry you seem to think its [zb]
is it beyond your ability to work out that if you put a bolt into a hole and secure it, you can move out of the way and let others get on with their lives, while you wait for your trained mechanic.
do you really think that its better to sit a couple of hours and wait for a fitter to come out at great expense to do what you could do yourself in a few minutes.
no wonder so many small hauliers are going out of business.
Few weeks ago whilst climbing the Woodhead fully freighted doing 1800 rpm there was a hell of a bang & a cloud of dust. Thought it was a tyre at first, but then it immediately lost power. Managed to get into lay-bye luckily 500 mts away. (and… whilst it kept running, reversed right back to the start of the lay-bye to allow room for a wrecker to get in infront of me incase i had to be towed away!).
Whilst getting to the lay-bye i’d figured it was the turbo & waited, heart in mouth, for the clatter as it ingested the impellor blades.
Turned out to have blown the intercooler inflow pipe off. Could have jacked the cab & put it back with a few basic tools. But ofcourse we’re not supposed to do anything like that.
As she was running sweet, though revving liesurely, i decided to give it a run at least to the next lay-bye to see how she went… In the event i drove it to the port at Birkenhead. (5mph up the steep hill west of Tintwistle!). Dropped the trailer for shipping, phoned the agent in Liverpool & drove it down there. Less than an hour later (on a Sunday!!!) i’m off again, job done.
I did find a few hills though, on the M60 & M56 that i never knew existed before!
How long would i have sat atop the Pennines waiting for a fitter and/or wrecker & at what cost?
all I’m saying is just the fact that i cant replace a Suzie doesn’t stop me from driving and never should.
when you passed your test did you know everything that you know today? no you didn’t and anybody that says they did is a complete liar.
people learn as they go through life, FACT
you pick things up from doing them or watching an old hand do it, FACT
you passed your test and knew straight away and had the confidence to repair a Suzie, don’t know but I’m guessing its not a fact!
everyone needs to learn somewhere and places like this now we have the Internet are brilliant but if it happened tomorrow while i was on the road i would not have a clue as no-one has shown me. until that day i will keep on calling out a fitter until someone shows me and says it is OK to do it to their wagon.
if i ring them and they explain over the phone then all well and good but if they say see if you can repair it with out explaining it, the answer will be a no!
You’ve gone from: ‘…why should you do anything to get your clients truck moving? …its called getting the job done, thats what lorry drivers do…’
to:
put bolt in red line, tighten jubilee clip with screwdriver, release brakes on trailer and clear obstruction, pull over somewhere safe and wait for breakdown.
There is zero consistency in your argument.
BITE means Built In Test Equipment - whilst ‘wigglies’ is a very common workshop reference to the electrical nonsense of volts, ohms, watts, resistance, etc. You’ve cleverly exposed a less than basic technical know-how admirably yet advocate that we should follow your advice of ‘…doing anything to get your clients truck moving…’ No ta…!
Perhaps if we had all ‘simply’ encouraged the Dutch driver (above) who crashed whilst gawking at my VOR trailer (- whilst I was under it on the mobile de-briefing the workshop) - fix your unit brakes you’d possibly not have this priviledge of bantering with us…
You’ve gone from: ‘…why should you do anything to get your clients truck moving? …its called getting the job done, thats what lorry drivers do…’
to:
put bolt in red line, tighten jubilee clip with screwdriver, release brakes on trailer and clear obstruction, pull over somewhere safe and wait for breakdown.
There is zero consistency in your argument.
BITE means Built In Test Equipment - whilst ‘wigglies’ is a very common workshop reference to the electrical nonsense of volts, ohms, watts, resistance, etc. You’ve cleverly exposed a less than basic technical know-how admirably yet advocate that we should follow your advice of ‘…doing anything to get your clients truck moving…’ No ta…!
Perhaps if we had all ‘simply’ encouraged the Dutch driver (above) who crashed whilst gawking at my VOR trailer (- whilst I was under it on the mobile de-briefing the workshop) - fix your unit brakes you’d possibly not have this priviledge of bantering with us…
Enjoy the home early-doors Corrie & yeeha, eh…
so it was that you’ve started early on the sauce, not humour.
don’t be a knob, i’ve only mentioned a quick repair to move the lorry out of the way or replace an airline and crack on
i fail to understand the dutchman part of your statement, are you saying someone will crash if i change an airline myself?
gibsla, i will apologise to you, i thought you were going the “i’m a driver not a mechanic route” that scanny and his ilk think is ok
the difference these days from the “old” days is that in the “old” days, you were given a box of bits and bobs and if you weren’t sure what they were for, your gaffer or fitter would explain it to you (unless you’re a fitter like happy keith)
red airline broken-if you have a tail(a bit left over from the break)kink it over and stuff it in a hole in the catwalk or wedge it behind some pipes or cables so it doesn’t unkink.MAKE SURE THE HANDBRAKE IS ON.you’ll be amazed how many get left off when the emergency spring brakes are holding the outfit stationary.go to the trailer and operate the blue shunt button(some will not work-they may have a spring behind the button to stop you using it).this should allow you to move the outfit a short distance.
most modern unit’s have a park brake feed going down the yellow line.this may stop you if it breaks because it will lose air there all the time the handbrake is on.take the brakes off(handbrake and footbrake) and rev up till the air builds up or undo the coupling and kink it over in the same manner,and proceed at a very slow pace to a place of safety as you have NO trailer brakes on now.
as for changing airlines-if your fitters want you to do it they will supply you with the relevant parts and show you how.that’s what we do for those that want to.
biggusdickusgb:
is it beyond your ability to work out that if you put a bolt into a hole and secure it, you can move out of the way and let others get on with their lives, while you wait for your trained mechanic.
do you really think that its better to sit a couple of hours and wait for a fitter to come out at great expense to do what you could do yourself in a few minutes.
no wonder so many small hauliers are going out of business.
see before you post drivel, any chance you could look at what you have typed to make sure it makes sense? you are saying 2 things here that are the same thing yet you are criticising one of them. whether you move the wagon and wait for a fitter or you sit where you are and wait for a fitter is still waiting for a fitter
and before you attempt another pop at me, yes in all 3 occasions i have kinked the line and shifted out of they way but driving around like that isnt the best idea is it?
Happy Keith:
However, I’ve had trailer brake-fail (luckily they fail ‘safe’) northbound on the A1 after a contracted trailer brake service out of Northant’s had his ‘simple’ reconnection job to the brake unit fail on me. I managed the lock-up safely but a rubber necking wag-n-drag Dutchman hauling fibreglass tail-ended going south - which proves that the foul-up by even the professional techie cost time, international crash insurance shenanigans, grief, ferry delays, etc. Was I lucky, or did I handle my incident because I was a trained and professional lorry-driver despite the techie lousing-up?
And what on earth has any of the above got to do with this thread? The Southbound cloggie would probably have run up the arse of something whether you had a broken air line, a puncture, a dropped valve or a broken crankshaft.
Since when has a traffic jam been a new phenomenon? We are as much victims of ‘work in progress’ as we are professionally keen to deliver - yet our solution is surely to team-play within trained limits, or maybe I’m adrift & should get fitted-up with saddle n spurs in the cab ASAP.
A simple 5 minute fix would allow you to get off the hard shoulder, or away from the roundabout or pedestrian crossing to prevent further chaos. It might just be enough to clear the jams so the fire service can get to your house to save lives
Children learn how to repair inner tubes and punctures in push bikes, they learnt how to build trollies from a pair of pram axles. No company requires every driver to be a fully trained & accredited technician, but they may expect someone who has the engineering skills of an 8 year old.
A little knowledge may be a dangerous thing but to have no knowledge of how the vehicle you are driving works is far more dangerous.
If you dont know why you check the tyre pressures or even how, if you dont know the difference between spring brakes and diapragm brakes or why you should use semi or fully synthetic oil.
i apologise to you as well scanny after re reading your original post (are you sure you haven’t edited that one, it seems different to when i 1st read it)
not sure if i would do this, ok I fully understand what most are saying simple repairs to get the unit out of the way for others,
a couple of years ago i worked for a Uni, doing security ect, part of the job was to assist all staff, the patrol car was kitted out with different bits of kit including jump leads to help folk who,s cars had flat batteries, one guy carried out this simple procedure for the battery on the other car to explode! luckily noone was hurt but the car had to have some repairs done to bodywork as well as electrical, this other person was far from happy and caused a fuss asking what training was involved for security staff to carry out these type of procedures? what safety equipment did we carry in case of a problem ect ect,
our employer also reacted badly and the guy was subject to a discipline, all for trying to help/do his job.
biggusdickusgb:
‘…unless you’re a fitter like happy keith…’
are confrontational and [zb] in equal measure - so let’s go.
Whilst I’m professionally content to absorb Biggus Dickus alongside Incontinentia Buttocks & all ‘go-bags’ of Swiss Army fun tooling, only Big ■■■■, demonstrating the very best armchair ‘training’ in open lorry surgery with a disturbing facination with cobblers, claims that I am a ‘fitter’ …because I don’t.
A ‘…mechanical technician…’ is different because it’s not a ‘fitter’ - but if you know better then take it on …a ‘proper driver’ would.
Whilst some are filling out the Accident Book with needlessly scraped ‘can-do’ knuckles (…never bothered with that Accident Book **** in the old days) I’ll be on the bunk awaiting the call-out dude to troll up.
Later, zzzzz
PS. I’m happy to anticipate what ‘the trouble with me is…’
There is certainly no argument as to why the Hungarians and Poles are being welcomed with open arms into UK transport. The reason manufacturers put a selection of tools in the cab is to allow a driver to do a repair.
As for the ones who cannot change a wheel, try reading the drivers manual, or ask the fitter, Im sure he will let you help.
Anyway you dont need a mechanical technician to replace a bust air line, a common fitter could do that
(are you sure you haven’t edited that one, it seems different to when i 1st read it)
