First day on the new job tomorrow.........nervous or what?

[data_academy]

spd0121:
Funnily enough, the TM mentioned Leicester as a possibility for next week. Will pm you when I know and possibly take you up on a cuppa! I love Colombian too! Only reason I stick with the French really is that it is a such strong brew!! Not that i’m an addict or anything…I can go at least 26 1/2 minutes between cups!

It definitely won’t be Tuesday, as I will be going back to Norwich to ■■■■ off the Pit Bull again!! Mind you: he might not be around…when I was in there this Tuesday, the trailers had burnt to a crisp!! Only a blackened hulk remained!! Insurance job…do ya reckon? Wonder if the ‘hellhound’ made it?

LOL

Get ready my Columbian is the strongest how can you manage as long as 261/2 minutes between cups I would be ill leaving it that long approx 4 pots a day me, and yes I can sleep and yes I do have withdrawals if I go without.

If you are around Leicester call me as not always checking computer might miss a PM

Its a Great life in a truck and whats more all who moan about the job love it.

[rog]

RIK - you have 2 PMs

[data_academy]

ROG:
RIK - you have 2 PMs

Ta Rog told I was bl***y useless on a computer.

You coming for coffee too?

But I can drive a truck

[data_academy]

Thanks number gone

[spd0121]

Data Academy:

ROG:
RIK - you have 2 PMs

Ta Rog told I was bl***y useless on a computer.

You coming for coffee to?

But I can drive a truck

I’ll gladly take a few lessons from you tho’ Rog!!

LOL

As for the coffee, sounds good! Know what u mean about the 4 pots too! My missus bought me a lovely thermos that holds nearly 2 litres. After the first day, had to send her out to get me a second! What was she thinking? I mean FFS, did she think we are on ‘wartime rations’ or something!!

Number noted…will give you a bell!

Cheers!

[data_academy]

Brill serious coffee drinkers are a rare breed I have been known to park an arti outside starbucks not that it’s the best but any port in a storm.

Look forward to the call.

[26_years_an_lgv_trainer]

Data Academy:
Brill serious coffee drinkers are a rare breed I have been known to park an arti outside starbucks not that it’s the best but any port in a storm.

Look forward to the call.

Just do not drink n drive you will spill it…

[starfighter]

If you’ve got an 18tonne Wetherspoons Volvo flashing at you wave back it’s me.

[spd0121]

tofer:
If you’ve got an 18tonne Wetherspoons Volvo flashing at you wave back it’s me.

LOL

Sure will!!

I think I’m still easy enough to recognize even in a plain white truck. Simply look for the driver that looks something like this

It’ll be me!

LOL

Got a nice run over to Birmingham tomorrow for the Parent Company. Given me brand new Iveco Stralis with a fridge box. Anybody know what the Iveco is like? Was dark and rainy when i got to the yard, so I only saw the outside of truck briefly. Don’t know if it’s auto, manual, range change or Slap over. Anyone know what they usually are? Or is that that the proverbial, “How long is a piece of string?”

LOL

[starfighter]

The only Stralis I have driven was an auto, two side buttons, one switches between semi auto and full auto the other returns to neutral. Mode and gear info is on the dash display. In semi auto mode a half push moves you up a gear a full push moves you up two gears and ditto for coming back down. Reverse is got by pulling up a collar and pulling the lever back, half a pull for low range, a full pull for high range. If it’s manual it will probably be a slap box.

[spd0121]

Well…Firstly; I was wrong…No surprise there…LOL…it was not a Stralis; It was a Eurocargo!

Secondly; Based upon my extensive 10 days of experience…I can’t say i liked it over much…

I did, however, enjoy the ‘fridge work’. Back home with clean clothes and also clean hands…How nice is that? Oh well, better not get too used to it! Back on the tyres Monday!

Arrived at the yard, chucked my gear on the bunk, night heater on and put in the tacho card…Outside…‘Prelight’ complete…In we go and crank it up. Heavy, heavy frost…-7 degrees according to the display.

Have a good nose around inside whilst waiting for it to ‘defrost’…first impressions…dare I say…it all looks a bit…errr…‘cheap’?

I know…I know…‘New kid on the block’…‘still wet behind the ears’…‘where does he get off criticising something when he’s only been in the industry for 10 minutes’; etc., etc., etc… But still; The truck only had 27000 k’s on it and I could not help wondering what it was gonna look like with 327000 or more on it…

Anyway…The gearbox…a ‘manual’ showing 6 gears and no range change switch…I am now confused…what’s new…LOL…Is it really a six speed?..I try to think back to the gearbox operation links on here…I am sure I remember the ‘Slapover’ having 8 gears, 4 either side of the ‘neutral position dot’…Common sense tells me it must be a regular 6 speed box. But…Hmmmmmmmmm…Do they make a 6 speed or even a 12 speed ‘slapover’… Possibly…I dunno!!..Guess I’m about to find out!!..Windows and mirrors clear and we’re off!

10 minutes out of Wisbech and I am now pretty sure it is indeed a 6 speed…No matter haw hard I slap 'er, she will not go from 6th to 7th. I hear no ‘clunk’ as I push through the neutral spring…Well…ermm…Unless the funny grinding noises that were emitted as I tried to move (very briefly…LOL) from 6th to 1st count!!

Hee hee…errrr…

I have been monitoring the r.p.m’s as I shift up through the box and note that; 50 mph in 6th = approx 1400 or so…which again based on my ‘vast’ experience seems about right. So onwards we go…with no further dramas or funny noises!!..Result!!

Livin’ and learnin’…I love it!!..LOL

Toodling along, flashing in the other drivers that pass me; I am still happy that I am being acknowledged…Little things please little minds as ‘they’ say…LOL…Mind you…I do have to laugh, thinking back to an earlier thread on here…as I see all sorts of combinations of ‘acknowledgement’…A blink or two of the hazards…or…A left and a right…or…two rights…or…left, left, right, left right, right, left (possibly morse code or something? - A…S…S…H…O.)…Oi!, That’s not nice!!..LOL

I trundle along, having A14 and M6 pretty much to myself…Where is everybody?..Do they know something I don’t…Or, has Rog put the word out and everyone is staying safe at home?..I wonder?..LOL…About 2 hours later; I Arrive in the environs of Birmingham; in one piece and with no clouds of smoke or noises indicating gearbox troubles…LOL…I pull into a services…Now to find Lincoln Street…Don’t have a post code or a detailed Brum map; so I elect to try the Satnav to see if it behaves…If I don’t like what it is telling me, I will buy a detailed Birmingham A to Z thingy…Punch in Birmingham then Lincoln street…Bingo!!..It recognises it and shows about 13 miles or so to destination…Happy chappy!

Quick cuppa (coffee of course) and away I go into town…Satnav seems to be doing right…No weight restrictions or low bridges…I arrive at Lincoln street…Drive one end to the other…All houses! Pull into a layby…well a Bus stop actually but there is nobody standing there and I figure I’ll move if one comes along…Call the TM…“Is ‘Two Sisters’ the name of a house that I am delivering to? I assumed it was a business name.”…Short silence followed by, “No. Why?”…You could almost hear the unspoken “Dips**t!”…LOL…“Well, I’ve driven the entire length of Lincoln Street and it’s all houses!”…More silence…Can you see a large office building right on the corner, with a factory behind it?"…“No, Guv. It’s only houses.”…“OK. Read me the delivery note that the regular driver left you. Would ya’?”…“Deliver two pallets of rejected returns (Poor Quality) to Two Sisters, Lincoln street, Birmingham.”, sez I…“What is the post code?”…“Not on here - It reads exactly what I said”…“Hold on a minute; Did you say Birmingham?”…“Yessir! You know; Big place in the middle of the country where they speak kinda funny!”…He laughs…“Alright smartass!..I’m gonna kill that ■■■■■■ It’s Wolverhampton not Birmingham!! I can’t believe he did that. He should have put the post code on there at the very least. I am guessing he assumed that since it is one of our regular pickups; everyone knows where it is! No worries. Turn 'er round and head for this post code. It’s not that far.”…he then gives me directions and away I go!..Will definitely get proper info next time…

Lesson learned!!..Yet again!!

LOL

Arrive safely at Two Sisters…Huge place…Hard to miss…LOL

Speak to the HMFWIC and get told to drive round back and park on the bay…Blimey!! Never done that before…gulp…Hope nobody’s watching!!..Oh well, i’m pretty thick skinned and can take a ribbing…here goes nothing!

Through the gate…round the back… swing ‘er round a bit…Oh Lord! There’s three Indian guys on the bay waiting to unload me!! Right then…concentrate…smoothly back…get it lined up on between the guide rails…Must have been others before me who didn’t get it quite right then!..LOL…Gently bump the big rubber dealies…Psssshht!! On with the park brake…God I love that sound…even do it in my car occasionally, much to the annoyance of SWMBO!!..LOL…Shut her down…And out I jump to look…By Gawd Perfect I tell ya’!!..Dead straight, perfectly even gaps between the tyres and the rails, tight up against the buffers…Chuffed or what??..

Then…OH CRAP!!..Jump back in…crank it up…pull forward 6 feet or so and; yep, you guessed it. Open the friggin’ ‘Barn doors’…Bugger!!..Cue round of applause from the guys on the bay!! Basstads!!..LOL Oh what the hell…I take a bow!..Mucho laughter!!..Reverse back in…perfect again…Thank God!

15 minutes later and I am unloaded and given a receipt for the returns…"Thanks for the show, Driver!..Cheeky Git!!..LOL

Yet another LESSON LEARNED!!

Armed with the correct address this time, I head for West Brom; to another ‘Two Sisters’ depot for the next ‘drop’ of returned frozen chicken…

This time I arrive…no fuss, no muss…and am told to, "Back her into that bay over there. It’s a bit tight. Will you be OK? "…(There are two vans parked back there)…I have a gander and tell him no problem…Swing it round; back into the yard…STOP!!..Out…Open doors!!..LOL…Jump back in and wiggle my way back in, past the vans, and perfectly into the bay again…YES!!

Safely on the bay! (Doors opened correctly this time! LOL)

20 mins later I am empty…with another receipt… and pull out of the yard, into a suitable spot and park up for a 45 and another Java!!

Amazingly to me; my hands and clothes are still clean! Normally, by this time of day, I am mud splattered and damp!!..LOL…Lovely!! I could get used to this…but I won’t!..LOL

As there is actually a handbook for the Siemens digital Tacho in the wagon; I take the opportunity to have a good read up…Amazing bit of kit really.

45 mins fly by and then it’s; Pssssssht!..did I mention, I still love that noise!..LOL… and I’m away!

2hrs 30mins or so later I pull up and back into a slot in our yard…Psssssht!..Sort out the paperwork and tacho…Chuck the keys in the safe…Lock the gates…SWMBO is waiting in the car…and home we go!

Like I said; i am not overly impressed with that wagon. Especially the seat! The only word I can think of to describe it, would be ‘Diabolical’!!’ The biggest plus that I could find compared to my usual MAN is the turning circle. The MAN’s turning radius is, in all honesty, abysmal. The Iveco was a lot better. Overall tho’…I’ll stick with the MAN!..But that’s just my opinion…and you know what they say about those!!..

[rog]

Yet another good read

It’s so well written that I can imagine exactly where you are and what you are doing.

You might consider, in a few months, compiling all of them into one place - maybe on here or maybe a book - publisher = money - or a magazine - Hmmm… T&D comes to mind

[jeezo]

Thouroughly good read!

Regards

Scott

[spd0121]

Cheers guys! You are too kind…

Dunno about publishing them tho’…guess it depends on whether I have enough ‘interesting’ moments over the next few months/years. Although, thinking about it and knowing myself, I imagine that won’t be a problem…

Also…You guys seem willing to put up with my rambling, conversational, ‘train of thought’ style of blogging…Not too sure that any respectable publisher would be willing to do the same. I would think that they would view the ‘stream of consciousness’ (write it as I think it) style a bit too messy. I imagine they would want good grammar and punctuation too. As is only too apparent from my ramblings, these are not strong points for me either! LOL

Don’t really understand the reason I write them myself…Possibly to sort of re-organise my thoughts about the week’s ‘goings on’ in order to recognise what I have learned…

What I do know is that; once the decision to undertake HGV training and become a ‘King of the road’ had been made; I realised very quickly just how seriously it had to be taken. Partly, this realisation came about from reading the myriad threads on these forums. As a complete ‘newbie’ it all became a bit daunting!! So much so, in fact, that I began to seriously question whether the risk/reward ratio was good enough for me to even take it on.

As always, the perspicacity and perfect clarity of ‘20/20 hindsight’ has made me realise that, as with most things, it is worth it! In fact it is, to quote myself, “Brilliant!”, provided due consideration is given to the responsibility required. However, the same hindsight, along with a some-what warped perspective on life, has also allowed me to view my almost inevitable shortcomings, struggles and, yes, even my ■■■■-ups, with a sort of fatalistic humour.

What I truly and fervently hope; is that other ‘newbies’ and ‘wannabes’ might read them occasionally and realise that, short of a major ‘screw-up’ that actually harms someone (Please ‘God forbid’ that ever happens) most of my little transgressions have not been life threatening (except possibly to my ego) and have provided me with much needed realisation that ‘stuff happens’. And that, rather than despairing, you ‘blush’, get over it and ‘move on’ to the next ‘little lesson’. A bit more humble maybe… but also, hopefully, a bit more ‘schooled in the art’.

I fully accept that somebody like ‘ken57’ views ‘newbies’ and ‘wannabes’ as a sort of ‘poison’ that has somehow ruined the industry. I also, unreservedly, recognise his right to that viewpoint…We do, after all, supposedly live in a democracy…However; and I can’t stress this enough; I totally refute his argument and regard it as the most specious sort of self-centred crap! Any industry that does not encourage and embrace ‘new blood’ is destined to ‘wither on the vine’ and die! The future can only ultimately be strengthened by the sense of purpose and enthusiasm that ‘new entries’ into an industry generally bring with them. Put the blame for any decline where it is due; over zealous regulators, foreign competition, excessive taxation, oil moguls or irresponsible bankers…I don’t claim to know whom is to blame. What I do know however, is that it most definitely is NOT the enthusiastic youngster dreaming of driving a ‘big rig’, or the ‘old ■■■■’, like myself that, serendipitously, got a job driving a 7.5 tonner, fell in love with it and decided to devote the remainder of his career to being a ‘Lorryist’!!

Recessions, depressions, credit crunches…call them what you like…don’t last forever! When (not if) things pick up again; newbies and wannabes will be part of the solution; not part of the problem!!

Rant over…LOL…Normal ‘dippy’ service resumed!..LOL

So…With y’alls forebearance and continuing kindness… I will continue to blog my way through the steep learning curve of becoming a ‘Lorryist’…complete with lack of grammar, punctuation and good sentence structure; but also, I hope, with self deprecating humour…

'Coz that’s who I am!!!..

[rog]

spd0121:
So…With y’alls forebearance and continuing kindness… I will continue to blog my way through the steep learning curve of becoming a ‘Lorryist’…complete with lack of grammar, punctuation and good sentence structure; but also, I hope, with self deprecating humour…

Who cares about the grammar - If it was ‘perfect’ then it would not be personal.

If the likes of T&D publish it then I would imagine that they would just do a spellcheck but not change the ‘way’ it is written.

[chris_ni]

Hi mate, just wanna say as a wannabe driver i love reading your entries. You really have a way with words, ur discriptions of things put me in the frame of mind that i feel im there too lol its great, cant wait til im in the driving seat. Good luck to ya mate, just make sure u dont put a dent in that tidy MAN lol

[spd0121]

Chris_NI:
Hi mate, just wanna say as a wannabe driver i love reading your entries. You really have a way with words, ur discriptions of things put me in the frame of mind that i feel im there too lol its great, cant wait til im in the driving seat. Good luck to ya mate, just make sure u dont put a dent in that tidy MAN lol

Thanks Chris,

As mentioned above; That is exactly why I write these ‘ramblings’.

Therefore, as I am so fond of saying in said ‘ramblings’…Result!!

LOL

Hang in there…with enough determination and persistence, you will make it!

Best of British to you,

Simon

[data_academy]

Keep up the good work your descriptions of your day’s will remind every driver (if they are honest) what it was like when they first started out, and take some of the fear away for new drivers thinking they are the only one evr to make a mistake.

This industry needs enthusiastic new drivers.

I don’t think there is a driver on the road who hasn’t forgot to open the bl***y doors.

Or jumps in a rigid pops it in reverse sticks it on opposite lock and thinks where the F**** this going.

[gogzy]

great read spd, the iveco eurocargo is a pile of garbage, ive spent many nights out in one, not a low roof but a high roofed one.

everything about it is rubbish, the steering wheel cant be lowered, the seat is garbage, the dashboard OMG trying to reach the switch to lower the window arghhhh why cant you put the switch next to the window instead of in the middle of the truck■■?

and the gearbox is pants and the engine is totally gutless

[dieseldave]

Data Academy:
I don’t think there is a driver on the road who hasn’t forgot to open the bl***y doors.

Agreed. I’ll own up to that one…

Data Academy:
Or jumps in a rigid pops it in reverse sticks it on opposite lock and thinks where the F**** this going.

And that one…

And things far worse too…

This puts me in mind of the saying that he who hasn’t made a mistake hasn’t made anything.