Bking:
dieseldog999:
so if you were a smallish company owner…which of the following would you employ.
1…drivers who would be able to get out off trouble up the road, possibly get to nearest workshop or back to the yard, thus save expensive call out charges …or
2 some Tosco type beancounting useless jobsworth that wouldn’t change a bulb etc??
Change a bulb!! these [zb] expect me to top up their washer bottle.
Agency Pole had the audacity to yank a load of my tacho roll out in my unit in order to leave me a 3ft long message hanging out of the ashtray “SCRIN WASH IS EMTY”
Then took the rest of the tacho roll. Probably to wipe his backside for the next month.
I have done all kinds of repairs on the side of the road over the years, including some pretty big jobs, but things are different now, as an employed driver I would do what I could at a small company, I’d be getting paid so wouldn’t have a problem with getting my hands dirty. At a big logistics enterprise it would be a case of feet up and wait for the man to come and dot the I’s and cross the t’s.
As an owner driver I would need a paper trail to satisfy VOSA, so I would do what I could and get it checked by my authorised repair facility to cover my arse.
As a fleet owner it would depend on the circumstances, is the driver savvy enough to get it sorted? Is he going to do a proper job or just a quick get you home bodge? That could end up saving a fiver and costing me a tenner in the long run.
Personally I wouldn’t employ someone who wasn’t able to do a simple repair job, I would reward them for their efforts too.
eddie snax:
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 
Yes it is possible just put the leads in to the front battery only and put it on -30 as you’ll need the fridge engine running hard to get some juice into the batteries. Oh and leave it for 10- 20 mins before attempting to start the truck. If you have a bad battery its usually the rear one that dies first
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. 
Did the boss give you any money for saving him a fortune?
Maybe maybe not but it’ll increase the chances of a pay rise as the money saved from 10 call outs /tows per year is fair bit
Folk like nightline and rambo are just bums on seats that are only employed to steer. My first job was on bulk tippers and if you could fix something to get you back then you did. Did we get rewarded? Not always. But I’d do it all over again because it was a pleasure to work there with a great bunch of drivers. We all had a laugh and would meet up for a pint at nights. It was called camaraderie.
One driver had a burst main feed pipe on a Thursday. Did he get a call out? No boss shuffled the work about so I could run up the road with him. I tipped his load while he loaded elsewhere. We then swapped to tip again until Friday when we both got to the yard. He kept earning. I lost maybe an hour of my week and we saved the boss a call out. I got an extra tip bonus in my pay.
Conor:
alix776:
I would think its more if a change bulbs/ air lines and jumpstart the truck if needed which isn’t a shouldn’t be a problem for most drivers.
Yep, that’s about the limit I take it to. I’ve even cut off and re-attached split air suzies in the past.
I am a qualified time served mechanic and can, health issues aside, do pretty much everything on a truck but I am buggered if I am going to do anything more than bulbs, suzies and jumpstarting a truck for the pay rate of a lorry driver. If they want me to start doing things like safety checks, changing fuel filters, brakes etc and doing things like winding brake pots off to get me home then yeah I’ll do it but it’ll be for a lot more money than you’re paying me to drive the thing.
Same here Conor… I wonder how many drivers dont realise tho that there are many unqualified fitters/mechs working for dealerships and in garages, we all just trust that they are competent… 
I can’t see the problem with doing a few jobs on the truck to get it out of the yard if you’ve found something in walkround checks or to get it back if its something that’s happened on the road. In my time I’ve done several repairs to the trucks I drive to keep them going or found somebody who could help and bunged them a few quid, (and yes my bosses have paid me back when that’s happened, because I’ve work for people who trust me and I trust them to give me the money back)
I have mostly worked for small companies, either haulage or race teams, and I’d probably would be less willing to do this if I worked for a large logistics company where it was against company policy and could end up with disciplinary action taken against me.
I also wouldn’t be willing to take on day to day maintenance and safety inspections, I’m not an hgv mechanic and I don’t want to be one, I’ll leave that to those who make that career choice.
I feel sorry for those who wouldn’t do anything, (unless its because of company policy) and can’t understand those that would, it must be terrible to go to work disliking your job and employer so much that you’re only willing to do the bare minimum.
Back in the day it was virtually expected that you would do all you can to get her home (obviously safety was a concern but in them days not so much), bulbs where a given even little things like draining the air tanks a bit to get the moisture out on cold days, jumpstarting, wheel changes etc.
Now after 10 years off I was faced with a headlight bulb gone on an actros, don’t get me wrong all the other bulbs I could change but company policy was that a callout was needed as this was deemed a big job. Anyway fitter arrived and after usual banter I was told this was literally a 2 minute job. Low and behold one torx screwdriver and in a flash new bulb was fitted.
I now carry headlight bulbs and have succesfully changed one myself last week. Didn’t get any extra pay, medal, pat on the back for it but now have the peice of mind that I’m a little more self sufficient, not a driving goddess like some but instead of waiting for a fitter I can do the job in the time it takes to book a call out. Just gives me a bit of pride that I can fix stuff.
Now I have no mechanical skills so what I always did was learn by watching others, but then i come from an era where my first thought was -‘How can I fix this’ not ‘Help I need a callout’.
Times change and I did have to confirm that it was OK for me to change a headlight bulb, got thumbs up from managemenet and ironically all drivers are now expected to change headlight bulbs, ooops my bad…
Up mk3 actros just duck under the bumper
alix776:
Up mk3 actros just duck under the bumper
Yep but was on lorry park and the smell of wee wee put me off going down on her… 
2 screws and she just swings out for easy access…
We always used to have blankets on board as it was furniture
Rambo19. Got a couple of extra N/O’s in my wages. Better than nowt and I wasn’t overly inconvenienced.
muckles:
I can’t see the problem with doing a few jobs on the truck to get it out of the yard if you’ve found something in walkround checks or to get it back if its something that’s happened on the road. In my time I’ve done several repairs to the trucks I drive to keep them going or found somebody who could help and bunged them a few quid, (and yes my bosses have paid me back when that’s happened, because I’ve work for people who trust me and I trust them to give me the money back)
I have mostly worked for small companies, either haulage or race teams, and I’d probably would be less willing to do this if I worked for a large logistics company where it was against company policy and could end up with disciplinary action taken against me.
I also wouldn’t be willing to take on day to day maintenance and safety inspections, I’m not an hgv mechanic and I don’t want to be one, I’ll leave that to those who make that career choice.
I feel sorry for those who wouldn’t do anything, (unless its because of company policy) and can’t understand those that would, it must be terrible to go to work disliking your job and employer so much that you’re only willing to do the bare minimum.
Yeah, when we worked at the same firm Bruv, if it was a quiet day (and all stone had been painted and pallets washed) then you’d go in the workshop and help out, as you know I’m no mechanic either, but helping out the fitters gave you a cursory knowledge off the truck that came in useful when trouble brewed up the road. Also having your own firms workshop, meant that the fitters were on the end of the phone and could talk you around problems up the road, especially if they knew you had the wit and were with all to fix/bodge as and how instructed, or initiative to come to your own solution’s 
Dipper_Dave:
alix776:
Up mk3 actros just duck under the bumper
Yep but was on lorry park and the smell of wee wee put me off going down on her…
2 screws and she just swings out for easy access…
theres no answer to that one…its almost too easy.
What about “professional” mechanics being happy to bodge repairs and say “it’ll do for now”? Rather annoying, particularly when it comes from those contracted to do repairs and maintenance.
Hiya…done a bit years ago on older lorries…i remember day dreaming once about a Scammell handyman with a 220 roller
RVT217L but i never got it some arse liker got it…any how not knocking you younger drivers but when it come to changing
bulbs and you say its the garage workers job…before there was air suspension you could get through a box of 2 dozen bulbs
per week with spring trailers and old bulb technology…belivie me bulb changing was part of the job or run without and
get nicked…then there was the owner drivers who would nick your lenses we had a wire frame to stop lens going missing.
remember we used to melt our reg in the plastic lens with the soldering iron trying to keep hold of them a bit longer
talk about fixing trucks it was a case of you needed to…
true …John
So say a young driver like my self who has not got the experience of fixing any thing apart from a bulb on a truck would they still want me to try and solve the problem or would they tell me to call someone out■■?
If you do something for a decent boss that’s not part of the job and you get rewarded then fair enough unlike the tight arsed Irish ship owner I once had the displeasure of working for. On one of his ships he needed a new engine to power a gen set and he asked me if I knew of any going, I tracked down a boxed complete one used as a reserve power supply only so very little use and like new, on delivery he was going on about how good it was and how much he had saved. He never saved naff all, I did but I did not even get a thankyou let alone a few quid. I swore I wouldn’t do it again but I did with a ships radar but I paid for it myself then handed him my invoice … + 50% on top !
