Radar.
first of all welcome to the wonderful world of trucking, this job is all about learning from your mistakes and if you are unsure ask other drivers. You can also buy truck magazines which will give you info on various topics as well as legal.
Good luck with everything. : :
Sir LANs-a-lot:
Agree with this 100%. I also think learners should have to use a tacho disc (or card, but I’m not sure you can hold a card without a full LGV licence■■?) each day they spend in a training vehicle too. Simply to ensure they have some idea what to do when they’re released out into the real world.
All drivers with grandfather rights who just drive 7.5 tonners (like me) managed to get a digicard just by applying. Think it was £38 and a filled-out form and probably the most important bit of info they look at is your licence, I would have thought. Came back very quickly, too!
Have to agree with having to use one in a training vehicle, or being shown by a mentor, etc. I’d watched videos on YouTube, read the online instructions, been told what to do, but sometimes, you need to DO something to learn it, cos not everyone is an auditory or a visual learner.
I done removals on and off over the years,and the one thing that allways bothered me was you worked harder than the crew,they took it easy on the way there[sleep]then when you arrived after say 2 or 3 hours driving you are then expected to help load,after when loaded you then carry on driving while again they sleep,you then help them unload when you get to the next address,all for say 50 pence extra on your hourly rate,but the plus side is if you get a good crew you do have a good laugh along the way,which I did 90% of the time but as someone else pointed out,it was hard graft
I must admit after originally passing my class 2 I got some work self employed with dhl button 7.5t. My first day, I did not have a clue how to use a tacho. Other than the bits and bats I remembered from theory test. Thankfully the tm was understanding and helped me hugely. Admittedly wtd and all that still makes me nervous and question it constantly now but as I’ve been out of driving trucks for 6 years I suppose I’m a newbie again.
htfc1984:
I must admit after originally passing my class 2 I got some work self employed with dhl button 7.5t. My first day, I did not have a clue how to use a tacho. Other than the bits and bats I remembered from theory test. Thankfully the tm was understanding and helped me hugely. Admittedly wtd and all that still makes me nervous and question it constantly now but as I’ve been out of driving trucks for 6 years I suppose I’m a newbie again.
I guess I need someone to sit down and go through it with me. I’m struggling to get my head round it.
Have a read of this, it should help
Sumsmeister:
Sir LANs-a-lot:
Agree with this 100%. I also think learners should have to use a tacho disc (or card, but I’m not sure you can hold a card without a full LGV licence■■?) each day they spend in a training vehicle too. Simply to ensure they have some idea what to do when they’re released out into the real world.All drivers with grandfather rights who just drive 7.5 tonners (like me) managed to get a digicard just by applying. Think it was £38 and a filled-out form and probably the most important bit of info they look at is your licence, I would have thought. Came back very quickly, too!
Have to agree with having to use one in a training vehicle, or being shown by a mentor, etc. I’d watched videos on YouTube, read the online instructions, been told what to do, but sometimes, you need to DO something to learn it, cos not everyone is an auditory or a visual learner.
Weirdly it doesn’t seem to matter if you have a licence, I got my digi before even passing my C (and didn’t have g/f rights), intended to use it during C+E training just for the experience (didn’t in the end as had enough to worry about) but yes, part of the Mods 2/4 should include a fully comprehensive session in how to complete and use charts and digicard/readers/head units.
Even though I knew about charts I’d never been faced with a truck with the tacho head behind the speedo, took me forever to find the unit and ended up with chart wrong way up (turned out to have fault anyway so wouldn’t have mattered if I’d gotten it right).
Radar - don’t write off removals altogether, the right firms can be good to work for and usually drivers are on a much better rate than porters to reflect the additional responsibilities. Usually the driver is the man in charge and so can delegate more of the worst tasks, course via an agency you just have to manage with it, which you did.
First driving job I ever had was on general haulage in Central London. All week I did all kinds of ‘normal’ work, and Friday evening it was “See you tomorrow at 6am sharp.”
Saturdays - it was all removals. As a newbie I was not driving, just a porter in a three man team. We grafted all day and it was the hardest work I had ever done. I did learn a lot of useful skills though, like how to lift without hurting my back (get someone else to do it) and ‘never pick something up, if you don’t have a place to put it down’; how to get sofas through doors and grand pianos upstairs. If the team was good, and they usually were, the job was ok. It’s amazing how much work you can do if there is a good craik going on.