The trouble with being on agency when you’re new to driving is you’ll likely get the jobs that no one else wants with companies running on the edge of existence.
It ■■■■■ for sure and there are red lines of course which include:
Anything falling off
Red engine warnings / stop errors
Illegal tyres
Brakes that don’t function or scrape
Something which PC plod would notice easily.
etc.
Yellow warnings, put in the defect book, alert the office then if it breaks down its their problem.
Engine malfunction is std on DAFs from about 6 months old until the day someone writes it off. You get used to them.
It sounds like an iffy operation, but even at the better ones you’ll get the bags of [fb] trucks as they dint care as much if the truck gets written off by an inexperienced driver. They wont usually give you the decent ones.
Oh if its a DAF rigid, the brakes are awful by design.
Old John:
If the MIL light is on as well, I think that would be a delayed prohibition. Anyone know for sure?
It isn’t. Prohibitions are issued for safety reasons so things like brakes, steering, suspension, bits hanging off, engine spewing loads of black smoke out of the exhaust or diesel/oil all over the road, not just because the engine has an electrical gremlin that puts a light on the dash.
I’d have reported it and let them make the decision, suggesting helpfully ‘do you want me take it into the workshops after the run and see if they can fix it’, £££ all on the clock, nice little earner sat on your arse drinking tea missed there.
Juddian:
I’d have reported it and let them make the decision, suggesting helpfully ‘do you want me take it into the workshops after the run and see if they can fix it’, £££ all on the clock, nice little earner sat on your arse drinking tea missed there.
True but… i did a 14 hour shift yesterday doing 9 drops (Leeds to Notts (9 drops) and back to Leeds and i thought to myself, sh*t… did i spend too long doing these drops and then started to worry thinking transport might question and won’t pay me fully as they might expect a 10 hour shift or something. 14 hour shift and only had a 30 minute break because i thought i’m taking too long. I know stupid right but being a new driver i just started feeling that.
Harry Monk:
99% of the time these yellow warnings simply mean that a sensor has gone bad. Personally, I’d mention it but if I was told to crack on then I would and if the engine blows up then it’s not my problem.
Old John:
If the MIL light is on as well, I think that would be a delayed prohibition. Anyone know for sure?
It isn’t. Prohibitions are issued for safety reasons so things like brakes, steering, suspension, bits hanging off, engine spewing loads of black smoke out of the exhaust or diesel/oil all over the road, not just because the engine has an electrical gremlin that puts a light on the dash.
Testers manual categorises an inoperative MIL light, or a MIL light indicating an engine malfunction as a" Major " defect.
Always put the ball in their court, it’s likely a sensor on the fritz, all the electronic nonsense on modern trucks its bound to happen.
Always ask “what do you want me to do” if the man says crack on then crack on, if it goes bang then hey ho.
There are a 2 factors 1 is it for profit transport and 2 is it own account, if its for profit then playing the licence holder card is ill advised a piece of rag over said light works well, if its own account then ■■■■■■ up that there defect book (AKA the golden ticket) and make use of the well equipped on site facility, rude not to its positively encouraged.
ibby730d:
i did a 14 hour shift yesterday doing 9 drops (Leeds to Notts (9 drops) and back to Leeds and i thought to myself, sh*t… did i spend too long doing these drops and then started to worry thinking transport might question and won’t pay me fully as they might expect a 10 hour shift or something. 14 hour shift and only had a 30 minute break because i thought i’m taking too long. I know stupid right but being a new driver i just started feeling that.
If you did a 14hr shift and only took a 30 minute break I’d be more worried about this, than a dodgy engine light.
As for worrying about the client not paying you for it, that’s not you problem. As the clients contract for the job is with the agency not you, and is totally separate from the contract you have with the agency. So if the client gets hissy and throws a strop, and says I’m not paying YOU because you took too long, laugh it off & don’t worry about it, you are paid by the agency not the client so they cannot influence wether you get paid or not. Likewise if the agency says to you we’re of paying you for it because the client won’t pay them, you have the right to be paid by the agency
ibby730d:
14 hour shift and only had a 30 minute break because i thought i’m taking too long. I know stupid right but being a new driver i just started feeling that.
Not legal. Tipping on break is a slippery slope to start going down.
You’re agency, companies expect you to be crap and to take longer which is why it’s a good way of learning the ropes without pressure from wondering if you’ll lose your job. Worst that can happen is your agency don’t send you to that client again.
Client expectations are usually quite low so as long as you come back having delivered what you were supposed to without bending the motor and getting lost going to Preston in Hull when you should have been going to Preston in Lancashire they’re generally quite happy.
Juddian:
I’d have reported it and let them make the decision, suggesting helpfully ‘do you want me take it into the workshops after the run and see if they can fix it’, £££ all on the clock, nice little earner sat on your arse drinking tea missed there.
True but… i did a 14 hour shift yesterday doing 9 drops (Leeds to Notts (9 drops) and back to Leeds and i thought to myself, sh*t… did i spend too long doing these drops and then started to worry thinking transport might question and won’t pay me fully as they might expect a 10 hour shift or something. 14 hour shift and only had a 30 minute break because i thought i’m taking too long. I know stupid right but being a new driver i just started feeling that.
Your a new driver and in a route you hadn’t done before. It takes as long as it takes mate. But do take your full breaks as you will get into trouble with the DSA. And if you only took a 30 minute break then only the first 15 counts mate.
Take a 15 and then a 30 in future. And don’t tip on break that’s a bad routine to get into [emoji12]
Picket up a unit on agency recently with a large pool of coolant. Remote site so no one else there. Phoned it through, and you could tell they just wanted me to run it. I said your choice, your engine, your responsibility. They changed their mind at that point.
