The way I look at it I have two kinds of days, working days and non working days. What actual day of the week those happen to fall on make no difference to me, money wise or any other wise, I am either working or I am not as far as I am concerned.
Same goes for being at home, if I am home that’s fine but if I can’t get home that’s fine as well. It goes with the job and I chose to do it and if that stuff starts to bother me and become an issue I’ll just change job. I can honestly say I have never been bored when week ended, there is always something to do.
In the end though it’s different strokes for different folks, some are home birds, some aren’t and some start of as one and become the other.
Rikki-UK:
I was regularly “weekended” away in the UK when on the road planers, was away for as long as six weeks at a time… most weekly rest periods were taken during the week as a lot of work for the machines happened at the weekend.
Some weeks the truck didnt actually move at all but had to be on site incase a machiine broke down in the road, I spent a week in the central reservation on the Colchester to Harwich road. other weeks it was a matter of moving the machine a few 100 yards every shift waiting until it finsihed, then reloading it and moving a few 100 yards off the road again
Boring work at times but the money was good, and the kit top notch
just a word of caution, on modern trucks i.e those with computerissed mangement systems you can fry the computer by jump starting off another wagon/power pack, not reccomended unless you’ve got plenty of money.
Coffeeholic:
The way I look at it I have two kinds of days, working days and non working days. What actual day of the week those happen to fall on make no difference to me, money wise or any other wise, I am either working or I am not as far as I am concerned.
Same goes for being at home, if I am home that’s fine but if I can’t get home that’s fine as well. It goes with the job and I chose to do it and if that stuff starts to bother me and become an issue I’ll just change job. I can honestly say I have never been bored when week ended, there is always something to do.
In the end though it’s different strokes for different folks, some are home birds, some aren’t and some start of as one and become the other.
paul b:
just a word of caution, on modern trucks i.e those with computerissed mangement systems you can fry the computer by jump starting off another wagon/power pack, not reccomended unless you’ve got plenty of money.
Yet another downside of the modern world , so how does that work then Paul? What do you do if you have flat batteries now then, physically swop them over then?
Makes even more sense the old Macks then (can’t do the link because I can’t remember where I posted it ) which had air starters. If your air tanks had leaked in the night you just connected them to a tyre, started the motor, then blew the tyre back up again . Brilliant .
With the newer trucks it is down to the surge that goes through the system when you jump start it.
The way I used to get around it was to turn on every electrical items, lights, harards, fan, air con, wipers, stereo. That way the surge gets eaten up by the ancillary components rather than frying the ECU.
However, it does not guarantee that you won’t fry it, just being as cautious as can be possible.
Spardo:
Yet another downside of the modern world , so how does that work then Paul? What do you do if you have flat batteries now then, physically swop them over then?
Volvo’s recommended way of avoiding the risk of killing the ECUs when jump starting is to connect the red cable, + to + as normal. Then connect the black cable to the - terminal of the vehicle supplying the jump start and connect the other end to a point on the chassis as far away as possible from the batteries on the one requiring assistance.
to be honest ive been thinking about this subject alot and i still stand by what i said about not like being weekended but as someone who has not done a night in 3 years and has gone right off them and have upset people on here with my views on them… well just latley ive been toying with the idea of starting doing a few again but the big problem is you dont really get a choice of what you can do you either do no nights out or 5 nights out you dont really get a choice gaffers wont take kindley to telling them when you are loading in london that you wont be taking the load to scotland cos you have already done 2/3 that week.
Volvo’s recommended way of avoiding the risk of killing the ECUs when jump starting is to connect the red cable, + to + as normal. Then connect the black cable to the - terminal of the vehicle supplying the jump start and connect the other end to a point on the chassis as far away as possible from the batteries on the one requiring assistance.
It’s the recomended way of jumping a car too.
Normally you’d put the -ve lead onto the engine of the dead vehicle, so any surge goes directly to the starter and doesnt leak into other electrical circuits.
Volvo’s recommended way of avoiding the risk of killing the ECUs when jump starting is to connect the red cable, + to + as normal. Then connect the black cable to the - terminal of the vehicle supplying the jump start and connect the other end to a point on the chassis as far away as possible from the batteries on the one requiring assistance.
Bilgepump:
I have a PC running off my inverter and regularly do 3 - 4 hours on it a night without any problems. When not on the PC I watch my telly and digibox for the same amount of time. .
Do you really have a whole PC or a laptop? Do you go onto the web with that and a 3g phone or is it just games etc that you play?
Oh and how is the digital TV in a cab? Do you get good reception/most of the channels? Just curious
Weekending is’nt that bad, especially if your with the right crowd (people you get on with). Was weekended with my Dad in Rosyth not so long back, there was another motor there with us who was loading in the same place, he had a drivers mate with him aswell, so there was four of us in total.
Went into Edinburgh on the saturday spent all day there, which was great. Sunday was spent around the lorries, i polished all of my dads . Once finished that we went into local Hotel, got some grub and lazed about. Was a great weekend.
I had last weekend in Ashford, and met a few old mates and a few new ones.
every time anyone tried talking about work or wagons they got a slap round the head and were promptly despatched to the bar
, so how does that work then Paul? What do you do if you have flat batteries now then, physically swop them over then?
) which had air starters. If your air tanks had leaked in the night you just connected them to a tyre, started the motor, then blew the tyre back up again 
. Brilliant 
.
