My first class 1 job - my story

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hey everyone , we’ll I’ve just finished my first class 1 job and all in all went ok, big learning experience. My story thus far …

( bit of background, passed my class 1 on W&D in Feb , no previous commercial trucking experience except one class 2 night run with agency in April , fireman full time just doing trucking on an adhoc basis to get experience so I can emigrate to Canada and get out of this godforsaken country)

Agency rang yesterday… They have a job for me…
Class 1 hub run, take a load from a freight forwarders in Essex upto Palletline Hub next to NEC Birmingham then another load back to Essex… Sounds good, I’ll take it…

Arrived at depot at 07:30 this morning to be greeted by the transport manager,after introductions he took a photocopy of my licence, then gave me my paperwork & the keys to the cab and said off you go.

62 plate Mercedes Axor tractor unit with curtainsider trailer.

Did my drivers checks, checked load was secure and closed the curtains ( which I’d learnt how to do on this forum - thanks), inserted my digi Tacho ( I downloaded a tacho manual off the net) The gearbox was a weird one to me ’ its a trigger/lever unit protruding from an arm at the side of the seat, you could either have it full auto or manual by a touch of a couple of buttons … Totally foreign. Thought it best I’d ask another driver who was checking his truck, he was very helpful and showed me how to operate and wished me a good day. ( obviously just had it in auto for this one as had enough worries concentrating on everything else lol)

Drove up to Birmingham no probs, followed my sat Nav app ( nav free) on my iphone which I crosschecked for road weight limit/bridge heights etc with my Phillips truckers map. all ok.

Got to the hub and told the guard on the gate I’m new blah blah blah, very helpful and told me where to go, got off loaded in a warehouse by some jumped up little forklift driver with attitude who seem to just treat drivers like they’re the bottom of the pile , so I gave him some attitude back, then the bit I was dreading I was told to drive out and reverse into a loading bay…eek. Took me 4 shunts but it was quiet so no one was really about to take the ■■■■ out of me, I just remembered what I was told and took my time and eventually got it in a straight line on the bay! Lol …sigh of relief!
All loaded returned back to Essex with a 45min Tacho break enroute.

Arrived back at the yard which is pretty small and already had loads of trucks in for offloading and made a total hash of reversing, I could tell the old hand yard guy that was seeing me back giving me advice was getting p**sed off with my sheer incompetence probably thinking I can’t believe they let this little snot nosed beginner drive our trucks. Luck would have it the driver that showed me the gears in the morning pulled in , took pity on me and asked if I wanted him to do it… I sheepishly said yes please to which he said no problem , he said dont worry about it, it’s all a learning experience which eased my helplessness and confidence a little.

Undid the curtains for the truckers then got my stuff , got my time sheet signed and said thank you and bye.

So all in all, not too bad, some points I’ve noted already…

A. The attitude of some forklift /hub staff to drivers is disgusting
B. Some are very nice and appreciate everyone has to start somewhere.
C. other drivers seemed verry friendly and willing to give advice
D.I think I might go back to a school and have an hour or so practising reversing to put my kind at ease.

Really enjoyed my day though, I want more!

Thanks

2

Well done I know its a baptism of fire and now its just a learning process but you have that first run under your belt with no incidents and don’t worry about the reversing we’v all been there the more you do the better it gets :slight_smile:

3

A long time ago now I took the old mans S. Atki out the day after getting my licence, ( with my beloved Eaton twinsplit ) dropped a full tanker in a yard in Essex and went into East London to pick up another. After spending ten mins with trailer wheels locked up I discovered a (now illegal) valve with a round handle wedged tightly shut …and spent the next ten mins trying to find a pair of stilsons to undo it ! Before I got back to the yard I had a puncture, and since I grew up on a farm and as a kid learnt how to repair things/shunt / do maintenance I decided to swop it myself not being a complete novice.
When getting home dirty and late all I got from the Old Man was " I am buggered if you are getting paid extra for being late " …Christ why do I want to drive a truck went through my head that evening.
Yet now I cannot drive I miss it lots !!!

4

The Forky’s at the Hub are usually pretty good, it’s just that they get H&S Drummed into them, in fact, when they clock on in the morning, a Big Hammer Smacks them on the head with H&S stamped on it. Lol.

You have to play it by the book, standard PPE including Hard Hat, no standing in the vicinity of the trailer whilst being loaded (not even allowed out of the cab in the building) then every pallet has to be strapped (how the ‘F’ do you do that when they’ve loaded it up to the roof with 50 pallets ?)
I just tell 'em not to load it too high or they have to wait whilst I strap each pallet as they load it. They are always ok with me as I’m only doing my job & they are only doing theirs. It’s the management that make the decisions regarding H&S & if it slows things down a bit-‘so be it’

If you treat every site like this one- you won’t go too far wrong, try to have a good banter with Forkies & Security Staff (we all know some right Knobs) but it makes the job a lot less stressful & always/always take your time, reversing will come to you with practice.

Good Luck.

5

Cheers guys for the advice

Must have done ok as they’ve got me on a night hub run upto Burton on Trent with a double decker trailer!!! Little bit daunting

6

ACCENTP97:
don’t worry about the reversing we’v all been there the more you do the better it gets :slight_smile:

+1. We have all been there and come out the other side.

Well Done getting your first run.

7

You take your time Fireman Sam it will all come to you mate my advice is to listen to people and always ask questions because too much information can always be helpful I was lucky most of my family work or worked in road haulage so I picked up loads of tips and info my dad taught me to rope and sheet use chains and straps how to get out of problems one of the best pieces of advice I was given is if you ever go to a new delivery place and your not sure park up and walk in the yard and have a look around so you know you’ve got enough space to to drive in and swing around its saved me time on several occasions nowadays I work as a Shunter and I’m always patient when a new driver or a first time visiter comes onto our site I always try to show them the procedures and I’ve seen it when it takes a driver 3 or 4 shunts to back on a bay there’s no shame in that hey what’s the rush I always say take your time you’ll pick up your ways of doing things in time all the best

8

My first week on artic was a night of trunking to palletforce (burton on trent) and it was a massive learning curve parallel parking our rear steer long trailers! Enjoyed it though.
All the best and good luck.

9

You are not alone Fireman! I struggled with the reversing at first, listened to all the help and advice offered (everyone reverses differently, you’ll find you own technique). I’ve now been driving class 1 full time for 10 weeks and am now finding I can push the trailer through most challenges. One of my colleagues noticed I wasn’t lining the unit up correctly, prior to reversing, and then steering too much and cocking it all up. Use ALL the space available, position the tail of the trailer towards where you want it to go (viewed from drivers window/mirror) and push the trailer gently and slowly into place without oversteering…waiting for the trailer to react to your steering input. If you ■■■■ it up don’t try to correct it on that effort, pull forwards, keeping the target on drivers side where possible and do it again…slowly, gently and without oversteering…it works for me. I do still have regular reverses where I need a couple of shunts whereas the regulars flow it effortlessly in one, but it gets better the more you do it.

Best of luck bud…I love this job, really glad I changed careers…and I’m 52!!

Tazbug

10

Good for you, you,get attitude from all kinds of people from forties to tm’s to customers to other drivers. But mostly, in my limited experience, most people are more than willing to help when they realise your new at it…just be upfront about your lack of experience & don’t try to be cocky!

I noticed that you banged your digi card in after you’d done your checks. I’ve been told that VOSA want (like?)to see at least 15mins other work before your wheels roll, so I always put my card in before doing anything. If this isn’t correct, I’m sure someone else here will correct me.

Cheers & good luck m8

Nez

11

Not sure if it has been mentioned already but it is good practice to put your tachometer in before you do your checks, that way if stopped the plod or VOSA then you have at least some proof that you completed your check. Grats on your run :slight_smile:

Sent from my iPhone

12

Sam Millar:
Not sure if it has been mentioned already but it is good practice to put your tachometer in before you do your checks, that way if stopped the plod or VOSA then you have at least some proof that you completed your check. Grats on your run :slight_smile:

Sent from my iPhone

Sometimes you can insert your card only to find your vehicle is defective and have to remove / restart the whole process again. Not inserting your card is ok as long as you do a manual entry to show the time taken on your checks.
Hopefully you’ll get plenty more shifts and experience. One day it will all just ‘click’ together and it’ll become natural.

13

Thanks guys for all your advice , it really is appreciated by me and every newbie

14

Good for u mate I hope it all went well

15

Palletline bay 11 i still have trouble getting on to dunno why but its just one of those places i can’t seem to master.

16

What’s the score with securing the load? Was it all left to you or did anyone give you any help?

I’ve used fridges before but possibly might be lining a job up with curtainsiders going to palletforce hubs (I think).

Never had to secure my own load with straps or use curtains due to using bars and fridges.

17

MrMartyn1984:
What’s the score with securing the load? Was it all left to you or did anyone give you any help?

I’ve used fridges before but possibly might be lining a job up with curtainsiders going to palletforce hubs (I think).

Never had to secure my own load with straps or use curtains due to using bars and fridges.

You have to secure your own load usually with the internal straps, but sometimes you might need spansets/ratchet straps.

18

Don’t worry about the reversing. When I started (not that long ago), I was pish at it.

Couple of weeks ago I had to do a dog leg first blindside, before reversing up a ramp with trucks and forkies everywhere…

When I first started I would have been cacking it. It does get easier, plus you start to worry less if you do bugger up. Take your time and as soon as you realise it’s going wrong, stop and deal with it…

Try to avoid lots of lock as it’s best avoided if possible. Small corrections in good time is the way to go.

Best of luck, and keep smiling! :smiley:

19

I’m in a similar spot to you!
Struggling with reversing and trying to adjust to stroppy / arrogant guys and girls at drop sites
It’s only the bad ones you remember though, there are more good than bad (a particular spaniard who helped me reverse on to a bay springs to mind, all nods and hand signals as we couldn’t speak eachothers lingo)
With reversing I’m trying to copy others and do my own thing at the same time, practice will make things easier and try not to be too hard on yourself. I’m hoping it will start to click soon.

20

Tazbug:
You are not alone Fireman! I struggled with the reversing at first, listened to all the help and advice offered (everyone reverses differently, you’ll find you own technique). I’ve now been driving class 1 full time for 10 weeks and am now finding I can push the trailer through most challenges. One of my colleagues noticed I wasn’t lining the unit up correctly, prior to reversing, and then steering too much and cocking it all up. Use ALL the space available, position the tail of the trailer towards where you want it to go (viewed from drivers window/mirror) and push the trailer gently and slowly into place without oversteering…waiting for the trailer to react to your steering input. If you ■■■■ it up don’t try to correct it on that effort, pull forwards, keeping the target on drivers side where possible and do it again…slowly, gently and without oversteering…it works for me. I do still have regular reverses where I need a couple of shunts whereas the regulars flow it effortlessly in one, but it gets better the more you do it.

Best of luck bud…I love this job, really glad I changed careers…and I’m 52!!

Tazbug

Cheers bud, when you’re a newbie, you feel like you’re the only one on the planet, your post has given me a proper boost