LIBERTY_GUY:
Like many ‘old skool’ drivers I have always walked round the vehicle, kicked the inner tyres on twin axles to ensure inner one not deflated, made sure all the lights are working and replaced any blown bulbs, checked the fluids and topped up if necessary, as well as checking the security of the load, etc.
However I’m NOT a truck mechanic, nor have ever claimed to be one. By the same token I wouldn’t want to drive a truck that had been serviced, or had been repaired by a driver rather than a mechanic, or at least someone that had received proper training to fix them. Last thing I’d want is something falling off at 50mph, or the DVSA guys ordering cakes if I got pulled on a routine stop.
Bit more to being a mechanic than"kicking" an inner tyre I think!
Think I would like to know that at least he knew how the brakes work.
alix776:
That’s because many driversdomt know how to jumpstart alot of trucks and blow the ecu up
ergo…employ a driver with a brain and a bit of hands on gumption whos adaptable and hands on for some simple tasks when things go wrong.or…employ jobsworths and pay for everything as a callout. I know who id be employing,and it wouldn’t be the beancounter.
I think we all have got the message you’re a backwards thinking knuckle dragger still operating in the 1970s. Change the record.
Just “ignoring the warning lights and limping the thing home” on a Euro 6 truck could see you with a bill for £1000s, far more than the cost of a call out - especially the type you’re most likely to ignore - the exhaust DPF regen one.
Edit: Please nobody explain why it would. I want this muppet to make a complete and utter ■■■■ of himself.
alix776:
That’s because many driversdomt know how to jumpstart alot of trucks and blow the ecu up
ergo…employ a driver with a brain and a bit of hands on gumption whos adaptable and hands on for some simple tasks when things go wrong.or…employ jobsworths and pay for everything as a callout. I know who id be employing,and it wouldn’t be the beancounter.
I think we all have got the message you’re a backwards thinking knuckle dragger still operating in the 1970s. Change the record.
Just “ignoring the warning lights and limping the thing home” on a Euro 6 truck could see you with a bill for £1000s, far more than the cost of a call out - especially the type you’re most likely to ignore - the exhaust DPF regen one.
Edit: Please nobody explain why it would. I want this muppet to make a complete and utter ■■■■ of himself.
I’m not sure that’s what he’s getting at, surely a driver should take a bit of interest in the machinery he’s tasked with operating. Changing a bulb or jump starting a vehicle isn’t really something to call a fitter out for if you have access to the gear. As for ignoring warning lights, a quick call to the dealer and they’ll probably tell you it’s fine to crack on 90% of the time. If its company policy not to touch the vehicle or there’s no access to the required tools then fair enough but if I were an employer I know which type of driver I’d prefer to have in the seat and its not the one who’d call a fitter out because his radio wasn’t working!
klunk/■■■■■■■■
True Eddie, the kit we have today is far supeirior to the crap we were expected to drive,our oldest trailer is 5 years old and unit is a 62 plate,also the 6 week inspection of kit helps as well.
Klunk
Actually this week is a case in hand, I drive a 13 plate 440 scania, was in for 6 weekly inspection on Friday. Monday morning I turn the Key and have “Emissions high” on one screen and on the next screen “Emissions - Engine power reduced in: 36h”. These were an amber warning, so I phone it in, and get told its ok to use, and that arrangements will be made to get the truck looked at. So later in the day I’m in a Scania workshop with the truck plugged to a lap top, and this is how they go about diagnosing problems, so as for drivers sorting out problems on the side off the road, there is no chance with this sort of thing.
As an aside, it was an emissions sensor on the exhaust and Adblue unit
One The rear lights speed working on my trailer. I took the lens off and found is not bulbs anymore but one complete unit for running lights, brake lights and indicators. The plug had corroded of the unit. Couldn’t even so much as get a write onto it. Pffft technology. Whole new unit needed.
If you are an employer and someone turns up in front of you with a recognised certificate, saying they are a qualified mechanic, it shows they have had formal training and had to pass various tests and evaluations to get that certificate. Whilst it might not establish if they are a brilliant or a duff mechanic, it at least shows that have had proper training and have some concept of what they are doing.
You are an employer and employ a driver that tells you they have mechanical aptitude and are happy to service your trucks, carry out repairs etc whereas the reality is they will tell you absolutely anything to get the job. Trouble is, someone else may well have to drive these ‘repaired’ trucks afterwards, that have been bodged by some boss pleasing reprobate, that doesn’t actually have a clue what they are doing.
We all have to get a dcpc to drive a truck nowadays and have to endure an entire week in a classroom, so we have more concept of safety etc. All to do with the industry having a more professional image and drivers being better trained (well that’s the theory). Does it not therefore seem common sense that apart from minor things like bulb changes and replacing mirrors or connectors, that untrained individuals are not let anywhere near the mechanicals of modern trucks? After all it may not just be your truck you have to worry about, but the bodged truck heading towards you that is the real problem?
just a quick question,why do scania supply a bulb kit with new units as well as showing how to replace bulbs in the handbook?
years ago it was part of the job to change wheels,in fact it was an unwritten law that if you saw a driver changing a wheel you stopped to help him.
i carry bulbs and also carry a spare suzzie just to get me out of trouble if need be but that is about all i will do,anything more its a phone call to the boss to get a problem sorted
rangechange59:
just a quick question,why do scania supply a bulb kit with new units as well as showing how to replace bulbs in the handbook?
Apart from the day running lights, My Sacnia, which is a euro 6 Streamline so pretty much upto date doesn’t have any LED’s, all bulbs off one sort or another, and I think that at 18 months old(the truck ) I’ve already replaced most off them. Probably why many are using LED’s, instead off crap Chinese bulbs
Own Account Driver:
This thread is full of so much that’s just not right regarding vehicle repair and safety inspection requirements that it’s too big a job to correct it all but the short answer is no.
Very few of the posts cover Repair and Safety inspection requirements, so please enlighten us as to where they are wrong?
Own Account Driver:
What’s the ‘professionals’ in any case?
The person who its easy to blame as they were qualified enough to know what should have been done.
Own Account Driver:
The main dealers or large hire companies full maintenance package that involves absolutely nothing resembling a proper brake test, at any safety inspection, apart from once a year at MOT?
Only ever had the maintenance and inspections done by one main dealer, their service was so poor and prices high we moved the inspections and maintenance to a small independent workshop.
alix776:
That’s because many driversdomt know how to jumpstart alot of trucks and blow the ecu up
ergo…employ a driver with a brain and a bit of hands on gumption whos adaptable and hands on for some simple tasks when things go wrong.or…employ jobsworths and pay for everything as a callout. I know who id be employing,and it wouldn’t be the beancounter.
I think we all have got the message you’re a backwards thinking knuckle dragger still operating in the 1970s. Change the record.
Just “ignoring the warning lights and limping the thing home” on a Euro 6 truck could see you with a bill for £1000s, far more than the cost of a call out - especially the type you’re most likely to ignore - the exhaust DPF regen one.
Edit: Please nobody explain why it would. I want this muppet to make a complete and utter ■■■■ of himself.
I’m not sure that’s what he’s getting at, surely a driver should take a bit of interest in the machinery he’s tasked with operating. Changing a bulb or jump starting a vehicle isn’t really something to call a fitter out for if you have access to the gear. As for ignoring warning lights, a quick call to the dealer and they’ll probably tell you it’s fine to crack on 90% of the time. If its company policy not to touch the vehicle or there’s no access to the required tools then fair enough but if I were an employer I know which type of driver I’d prefer to have in the seat and its not the one who’d call a fitter out because his radio wasn’t working!
+1…thankyou for having the aptitude to read and understand the joined up spelling on my post…we are all aware how ■■■■ conors posts and opinions are regarding the rest of us mere mortal drivers as we don’t have a real job comprising of a zero ours plobber job etc,hence comparably worse than your normal agency wallah,but then again you cant educate a cabbage. the observation that I made was…if you were a normal smallish hands on type of firm,would you 1, employ someone who was adept at helping out to limp a truck either off the road,to the garage or back to the yard with a bit of initiative whether 100% within the jobsworth rulebook or not,and save the company the greif of a stranded truck somewhere ( this includes limping home with the dash lit up like a xmas tree as its as its the bosses truck hence his decision),be expected to bleed a fridge,jumpstart a fridge from your truck,or jump your own truck,and do simple bulb changes etc…or…employ a beancounter being the epitome of conor with his inherent jobsworth attitude…bit of a no brainer for a normal type employer I would have thought.unsurprisingly enough ,the reply was a waffle about a different matter,but once again…ho hum so predictab and boring. I bet others having difficulty coming off shift just login to read his posts and save themselves the bother of making some ovaltine…years ago I brought a truck half loaded back from france to Scotland with no clutch and just crashed the gears,bit of a challenge and an interesting experience,but it saved the inevitable fortune for a foreign repair,plus it meant I still had a bed to sleep in.i still bleed the occasional fridge and change a bulb,clamp an airbag etc,i don’t think that’s 70s neanthradal tacticts,just being a normal hands on average driver and not a plinth.
dieseldog999:
[be expected to bleed a fridge,jumpstart a fridge from your truck,or jump your own truck,.
What about jump start your truck from the fridge, do able, I know coz I’ve done it
that’s what I meant though didn’t write it correctly…all that’s required is common sense and a bit of reasonable obligement and commitment to your firm,assuming their playing ball with you in the first place.
dieseldog999:
[be expected to bleed a fridge,jumpstart a fridge from your truck,or jump your own truck,.
What about jump start your truck from the fridge, do able, I know coz I’ve done it
that’s what I meant though didn’t write it correctly…all that’s required is common sense and a bit of reasonable obligement and commitment to your firm,assuming their playing ball with you in the first place.
Fair dues, if your working for a proper haulier, then probably worth sticking your neck out a bit. But in the land off Logistics they just aren’t interested in initiative, and to be honest, logistics firms aren’t worth the bother
bobdebouwer:
Ive only been driving for lorries for 7 years but I dont mind getting stuck in. Although last company decided to lease the new motors, at which point I decided [zb] it and phoned for a callout to change a side marker bulb, just cos they ■■■■■■ me off.
Got a contract with a small company for semi permanent work and they like you to get stuck in. Certainly bringing the enjoyment back into driving.
You go to work every day and all most of you say is if it means me getting home I would do it.
The price of a call out is like a small mortgage to me and you and if you need parts the sky is the limit
Why don’t you people get a job that’s get you home like a normal person, do you go to work on a Monday and the first you say to yourself is I have to get home what a ■■■■ of a way to live your life, after all your a truck driver so you do your 12 to 15 hours a day for your buttons and you love your job so why would you go to work on a Monday and want to get home at all, beats the ■■■■ out of me why you would want to go home when you sleep in your truck all night for 20 quid all week.
I remember all them people doing little jobs on the truck and fixing this and that, what a lot of ■■■■■■■■■■ they did not know any better in life, I love my job or my boss likes me better (you were only a number and as good as the next fool who came along and did it, but saying that I have met people who could not count 1 and 1 or even dress them self’s and there doing this job, how they get through life the mind boggles.
IF THEY PAY YOU TO DO IT OR REWARD YOU THEN DO IT (IF THEY DONT ■■■■ THEM AND LET THEM PAY THE BIG MONEY FOR CALL OUT)
What chance have you got with above post, none another fool.
dieseldog999:
[be expected to bleed a fridge,jumpstart a fridge from your truck,or jump your own truck,.
What about jump start your truck from the fridge, do able, I know coz I’ve done it
that’s what I meant though didn’t write it correctly…all that’s required is common sense and a bit of reasonable obligement and commitment to your firm,assuming their playing ball with you in the first place.
Fair dues, if your working for a proper haulier, then probably worth sticking your neck out a bit. But in the land off Logistics they just aren’t interested in initiative, and to be honest, logistics firms aren’t worth the bother
that would sum it up nicely…im assuming your including agencys and those upmarket fulltime zero hours contract excuses for jobs in that umbrella as they could only be asked to plobb on with their risk assessed beancounting . most logistics wouldnt allow anyone to touch a bulb etc as they can buy trucks by the dozen on a full lease maintenance contract no doubt for handy dosh.the peculiar thing for me was,when I had the misfortune to be working for agency/Tosco in Belfast,they actually let you bung in a bulb in the yard now and again,how bad does that make the rest of the ones that don’t?
I had the alternator go in Germany once. Got a cloggie to jumpstart me in the morning, did my collections and topped up my groupage then headed for Calais. At some point, a lad doing the NAFFI work ended up behind me and followed me into the services. He commented on my lack of indication. I explained that I had no electrics. He then sat behind me all the way to the docks. I got on the boat and switched off. Got back to the UK and gave the dock tug lads a story about flat batteries. They jumped the truck and I pulled round into the parking area to be met by my boss and the fitter with a new alternator. Would’ve cost an absolute fortune for a call out and new alternator in Germany. You do what you have to do.
spooky70:
I had the alternator go in Germany once. Got a cloggie to jumpstart me in the morning, did my collections and topped up my groupage then headed for Calais. At some point, a lad doing the NAFFI work ended up behind me and followed me into the services. He commented on my lack of indication. I explained that I had no electrics. He then sat behind me all the way to the docks. I got on the boat and switched off. Got back to the UK and gave the dock tug lads a story about flat batteries. They jumped the truck and I pulled round into the parking area to be met by my boss and the fitter with a new alternator. Would’ve cost an absolute fortune for a call out and new alternator in Germany. You do what you have to do.
That’s brilliant
I had a motor where the starter solenoid, I think that’s what it was called, had packed up our fitter explained over the phone about using a screw driver to bridge the terminals, sparks every where and near as dammit welded the screw driver to the terminals, but the motor started. Boss says can you still get that load off, I thinks well I could leave it running, No chance on a bay(not side tip) tug driver was sent over to tell Me to kill the engine(wanted to kill the truck G290 Renault), I explained the problem, No problem says He “soon as your tipped I’ll be over, have a strap rigged up and I’ll bump start it with the Tug”. That was the best part off 20yrs ago, I wonder if yard H&S would allow that these days
Same truck, it was a twin steer and I got a blow out on the 2nd steer, rings in to and was asked if possible to strap up the axle(not a lift axle) and run home empty, Kent to Norfolk. The air bag wouldn’t deflate enough to allow the axle off the ground, so bright spark moment, I disconnected the air supply pipe from the air bags on the 2nd steer, and fastened a bolt in the end off each air pipe with a jubilee clip, it worked I dead chuffed, but my work mates gave Me dogs abuse for years after, any time there was an air leak out would come the bolt scenario
bobdebouwer:
Ive only been driving for lorries for 7 years but I dont mind getting stuck in. Although last company decided to lease the new motors, at which point I decided [zb] it and phoned for a callout to change a side marker bulb, just cos they ■■■■■■ me off.
Got a contract with a small company for semi permanent work and they like you to get stuck in. Certainly bringing the enjoyment back into driving.
You go to work every day and all most of you say is if it means me getting home I would do it.
The price of a call out is like a small mortgage to me and you and if you need parts the sky is the limit
Why don’t you people get a job that’s get you home like a normal person, do you go to work on a Monday and the first you say to yourself is I have to get home what a [zb] of a way to live your life, after all your a truck driver so you do your 12 to 15 hours a day for your buttons and you love your job so why would you go to work on a Monday and want to get home at all, beats the [zb] out of me why you would want to go home when you sleep in your truck all night for 20 quid all week.
I remember all them people doing little jobs on the truck and fixing this and that, what a lot of [zb], they did not know any better in life, I love my job or my boss likes me better (you were only a number and as good as the next fool who came along and did it, but saying that I have met people who could not count 1 and 1 or even dress them self’s and there doing this job, how they get through life the mind boggles.
IF THEY PAY YOU TO DO IT OR REWARD YOU THEN DO IT (IF THEY DONT [zb] THEM AND LET THEM PAY THE BIG MONEY FOR CALL OUT)
What chance have you got with above post, none another fool.
bobdebouwer:
Ive only been driving for lorries for 7 years but I dont mind getting stuck in. Although last company decided to lease the new motors, at which point I decided [zb] it and phoned for a callout to change a side marker bulb, just cos they ■■■■■■ me off.
Got a contract with a small company for semi permanent work and they like you to get stuck in. Certainly bringing the enjoyment back into driving.
You go to work every day and all most of you say is if it means me getting home I would do it.
The price of a call out is like a small mortgage to me and you and if you need parts the sky is the limit
Why don’t you people get a job that’s get you home like a normal person, do you go to work on a Monday and the first you say to yourself is I have to get home what a [zb] of a way to live your life, after all your a truck driver so you do your 12 to 15 hours a day for your buttons and you love your job so why would you go to work on a Monday and want to get home at all, beats the [zb] out of me why you would want to go home when you sleep in your truck all night for 20 quid all week.
I remember all them people doing little jobs on the truck and fixing this and that, what a lot of [zb], they did not know any better in life, I love my job or my boss likes me better (you were only a number and as good as the next fool who came along and did it, but saying that I have met people who could not count 1 and 1 or even dress them self’s and there doing this job, how they get through life the mind boggles.
IF THEY PAY YOU TO DO IT OR REWARD YOU THEN DO IT (IF THEY DONT [zb] THEM AND LET THEM PAY THE BIG MONEY FOR CALL OUT)
What chance have you got with above post, none another fool.
Sorry I’m baffled by this post
+1 there…could be a severe case of buckfastisis or similar…is there going to be a prize for deciphering it or poss the o/p could do a translation from gobbledygook into coherent english
