gogzy:
Lucy you work on containers, when your being unloaded/loaded you can go and sit in your truck and go to bed or do what you want really,
Not true. I’m on Short Sea work direct for a shipping line, it isn’t your standard container work by any stretch of the imagination, and we don’t sit about much at all. Plus I haven’t ALWAYS been on containers, I started on parcel work doing multidrop, then I did TANKERS (yes, that’s right Gogs, been there), long loads of fabricated steel, agricultural haulage on flats, and bog standard curtainside work. I’ve done a small amount of fridge work as well, and was sel-employed running 6 wagons whilst driving myself for a couple of years. 
the only times i can do that when unloading is when its a gravity feed as once the manlid is open and the pipes attached it just flows out on its own accord, if im unloading under pressure i have to sit and watch the tank just so i dont put too much air in and explode the tank.
when loading i have to be up there ontop of the tank so its not like ive got time to myself when having to take breaks.
As you can see above, I knopw, I’ve done ii. It takes 5 minutes to make a butty, and take it up there to eat it. Fruit fits in pockets. Cereal is even quicker and you can shovel it down whilst waiting at weighbridges etc.
if i do get a chance to sit in the cab or on the bunk then yes ill more than happily take my break, this is not the problem.
Good. Not that it takes a full break to sit and have a snack. I often do it on the docks, for example, or in queues.
as for not eating, when your stuck on a factory site for 2 days because an incompetent planner does not listen to you, containers dont get sent up to this place to unload, just to load but i got sent with one to unload and didnt have the correct equipment (trailers sealed so i cant check i have all the right bits to unload) i told my planner what at least every hour what i neeeded because he kept asking what was happening. i couldnt borrow pipes from any other drivers from other companies who were their because they had just had them cleaned and their trailer sealed for loading. end of my planners shift and i get a message from him.
I’m not seeing what that has to do with not eating. It’s just ■■■■ poor preparation for all eventualities on your part. If you were there for 2 days, surely you could’ve grabbed a stove and a pan and whipped outside the gate for 10 minutes to cook something up? I have all my “kitchen” in two easily carryable boxes for precisely that reason.
and basically it said at the end {zb} happens. the only way i got out of it was with the help of the place i was delivering to and 2 hungarians who were luckily unloading the same product helped me me out…not my planner. i mean how hard is it to organise 2 air hoses and an unloading hose to be brought to me? or just send me with the correct equipment in the first place lke a proper tank instead of a container
Every job has it’s cockups. As a driver - and I’m as guilty of this as anyone - it’s easy to forget that those at the other end have a lot more than just you to think about, and it’s therefore inevitable that stuff is going to go wrong. That’s why you need to be prepared, see above. They are. at the end of the day, transport planners, not babysitters, after all.
as for the dutch way of coupling well their is no tug test, their is no parking brakes on the majority of the trailers.
the only thing that i see from it being sensible is dropping the trailers suspension and raising the front of the trailer, only on the proper tanks so as to take pressure off the trailer legs.
There you go then, no problem. It’s just a belt and braces approach, and if it saves damage and hence cost to the company, then fair enough. When you’ve seen a bit more of what your average numpty driver is capable of, it’ll make more sense to you as well, I should think. There really are some bollock-brains out there! LOL!
I do a job i enjoy, or at least try to but get put downs by old hands like yourself and you seem to wonder why youngsters dont want to join the industry because its put down after put down after {zb}ing put down, you know how tough the last year has been for me so there is just no need for those comments ok lucy
It’s not putdowns, Gogsy, it’s teaching. It’s how we all learnt. The hard way and with tough love. We could all pat you on the head and say “There there, pet, let me go and buy you some chips to stop you starving”, but that wouldn’t actually help you. I’m giving you constructive solutions to your problems. Practical ways of living up the road effectively, and help learning the attitude you need to do this kind of job. If you think that’s putting you down, that’s your loss. I thought the same when people did it to me, but [zb] me am I grateful now, with hindsight.
,i could tell you to get a real job instead of being a container jockey, but im not because you seem to like it so who the hell am i top tell you what to do
Carry on, mate. It would’t bother me in the slightest. I have nothing to prove to anyone, not even myself. I’ve tried a bit of all sorts and found what suits me the best. As you will too, one day.
and as for mister experience as you say lucy, have i ever said that? i struggle for work back home because of where i live, i dont happen to live in that golden triangle where their is lots of work.
It’s the way you come across, Gogs. Sometimes you don’t have to explicitly say something for people to draw conclusions. It’s all about general attitude.
You could always have moved sooner, you know. Or taken the crap work to see you through those first 2 years, like the rest of us had to. No-one is going to hand you anything on a plate, you have to go out and grab it.
Take the advice that’s offered in the spirit with which it was intended, and you might gain something and make your own life easier. Or don’t Your choice.
look just off motorway junctions, you find some real gems there, petrol stations with little cafe’s near or lidls and some great restaurants depending which country you are in. Ask other drivers especially the dutch or french, they eat out most nights and will know some great places.
