fao Joe Public

[mushroomman]

bestbooties:

andi_cardiff:
To be fair though, ex-squaddies make terrible truck drivers

Thanks.

merc0447:
Supposedly the reason they make terrible hgv drivers is because they never reverse in the army, you need a few farmfoods/iceland combat deliveries under your belt

That’s because they were trained in the British Army and not the Italian or the French Army .

[molepower]

i hear the same from my releif driver who’s just done a tour in afghanistan with the TA.
he said the driving level of army drivers is appauling , & much to his platoons amusement he always took time to watch the army drivers display their skills . at one compound a truck couldnt make a turn into where he needed to go , so after a few shunts he just booted it , damaging the side of the truck, when he confronted the driver suggesting it might be worth reversing in, he was told , ah it’s ok mate this is my job, to the extent that the following few trucks also took the brute force to enter route , all except the last driver who was TA & drove in civvy street, who turned at the enterange & reversed in without damage
we also used to get ex squaddies on tankers as well, some who accept help are always curtious & friendly & listen, others have served queen & country & make sure you know it & just wont listen as ‘they’ve been trained to drive in the army’ & usually end up being hard on the trucks out of frustration & lack of understanding for simple manuvers we then use d to crowd round & cheer every shunt
horses for courses, there is good & bad from all corners weather it’s ex army or civvy drivers

[muckles]

mushroomman:

bestbooties:

andi_cardiff:
To be fair though, ex-squaddies make terrible truck drivers

Thanks.

merc0447:
Supposedly the reason they make terrible hgv drivers is because they never reverse in the army, you need a few farmfoods/iceland combat deliveries under your belt

That’s because they were trained in the British Army and not the Italian or the French Army .

So everytime you mean to say reverse that truck into there, tell them to “tactically withdraw” the vehicle instead, then they’ll get it.

Although not British or Army, I remember watching a young airmen learn to drive a bus when I was at RAF Mildenhall, to be fair the poor lad had never driven anything bigger than a pick-up, or anything RHD or Manual. And they put him straight into this RHD, manual 52 seat bus. Several of the kerbs and verges on the base didn’t survive the day.

I don’t know if it’s the same in the British Army, but one thing I noticed was they trained a lot of service personel up to to drive various vehicles, but once trained they would rarely drive them, this meant when they did drive them they were always at the bottom of a learning curve.

[madmanjay]

im ex forces and i believe my driving to be better than some of the people i work with if you want a job and can’t drive forget to apply hand brake when hooking up, like crashinng into shop fronts,try sports direct been with them 3 years on agency never had any accidents,did a run down to exeter last week and there full time driver asked me if i could reverse in as he could’nt do it,people like this should’nt be allowed on the road without experience,bearing in mind he had been driving for the past 20 years,where im still wet behind the ears with 14 years experience

if you see a sports direct please move out the way,probably driven by a pole or a driver who pasted his test last week

[conor]

muckles:
I don’t know if it’s the same in the British Army, but one thing I noticed was they trained a lot of service personel up to to drive various vehicles, but once trained they would rarely drive them, this meant when they did drive them they were always at the bottom of a learning curve.

I think we can all recount stories of squaddies earning a bit of extra dosh or one who has just left the army where they can’t reverse onto a bay to save their lives.

[muckles]

Conor:

muckles:
I don’t know if it’s the same in the British Army, but one thing I noticed was they trained a lot of service personel up to to drive various vehicles, but once trained they would rarely drive them, this meant when they did drive them they were always at the bottom of a learning curve.

I think we can all recount stories of squaddies earning a bit of extra dosh or one who has just left the army where they can’t reverse onto a bay to save their lives.

Although anybody who saw my early attempts at truck driving (and a few later attempts )could say the same and I paid for my own licence.

[c10hoo]

Conor:
I think we can all recount stories of squaddies earning a bit of extra dosh or one who has just left the army where they can’t reverse onto a bay to save their lives.

to be fair though look at it from the other angle, how many non ex-squaddies could drive through a city under fire and keep their head (literally) Civvy drivers are trained for Civvy street, Army drivers are trained for the armys needs.
When was the last time you saw a HET backing on a RDC bay or a Tesco trunk wagon avoiding IED’s and roadblocks
(Bradford doesnt count)

Each to their own, no ones perfect

[wheel_nut]

I think Italian soldiers are better at reversing, French Soldiers can get out a tight spot and Dutch Soldiers can talk the talk.

In my life I have come across some soldiers who made decent drivers. I know a few firemen and a lot of civilian drivers who were good lads. On the other hand I have come across a lot of Civilians and Service lads who should never have passed a driving test, in anything.

You cant generalise like that, but many of the newer breed have come into the “logistics industry” having never ever set foot in a haulage company yard!

[skids]

I was taught in the army that you always reversed to park so that you can drive straight out quickly.
As has been said a driver in the army does not actually spend that much time driving, most of it is spent on the vehicle park doing maintenance. The bulk of the driving happens either on ops or exercises.
There is also a big lack of loading bays to reverse onto as well and most artics are tankers or low loaders that dont need reversing onto bays.
The main advantage I see from employing ex forces is that the majority have the attitude to get the job done with the minimum of fuss. They are also quite used to taking care of themselves in a tramping role. It amazes me at the conditions some drivers live in and get in as they cant look after themselves.