HGV Training

[alastairq]

10 hours ago, SamThomas said:

there are Class I & Class II drivers & that will never change

 The Problem With that is [aside from being bullshyte from the industry] is that there is no evidence' proveable that one is a 'class 1' or a 'class 2', or a 'class 3' driver.

In other words it is meaningless rubbish...[professional elitism is the academic term for it]  

 

Personally, I could drive an artic, a drawbar trailer, and a turntable drawbar trailer. Aside from having C+E, I had nothing to prove it.

Of all three types of trailer,  the artic is by far the easiest to manoeuver in reverse.

Of the three so-called 'classes', class 3, with a long wheelbase, is by far the most difficult to manoeuver in traffic.

 

As I've mentioned, a driver most familiar with artic trailers would be lost if suddenly having to manoeuver a Milk Marque tank & [turntable] trailer! [Ask any driver who happened to be in Leeds Co-op dairy, an was asked to move something?]

 

Doing things ''properly?'

Or doing things the cowboy way?

In the end, a waggin driver is OK as long as they don't rock the boat. As long as they don't 'complain'...

 

Sorry, but I have been disappointed and dismayed far too many times when out & about, witnessing what wagon drivers get up to on the roads....to have any sort of 'respect' for the rubbish behaviour I see, time & again. 

 

By they way, if the lorry industry can be stuck in the mud over terminology, what about your reference to PCV drivers? PSV drivers, perlease!

 

[I'm not sure what sort of terminologies the military change, as you mention it?]

[SamThomas]

Alastair.

 

The MOD is a worlds difference away from day to day logistics. The MOD can do things "by the book" & do not have to make a profit. They do have to work withing  budgets but if it cannot be done within budget then it is simply not done. This is my opinion based on working as a contractor on MOD sites (& knowing many people who actually work for the MOD) anyway.

 

There are (unfortunatly) very few companies in the logistics industry that work to the standard you (& myself for that matter) would like are in the minority.

For the majority the terminology will be on the lines of Class I & II - talk to many people about "C" & "C+E" & they won't know  what you are on about.

 

I can drive & reverse/couple up/uncouple a Class I/C + E but am not qualified to do so. On the subject of reversing Ihave seen many a Class I/C + E driver make a total hash of reversing a Class II/C onto a loading dock.

 

We beg to differ on many points, but we do both agree that there should be more "by the book" logistics. Currently, I'm working part time in the food distribution sector & my line manager wished my first name was Dave - so he could call me "Defect Dave". There are something like 10 drivers who operate from my depot & I make out more defect reports than the rest of them combined. They know I will simply not take out a vehicle with a defect (even something like the interior cab lights not working).

To up the standards then costs would rise, the costs being reflected on shelf prices.

I too am appaled by some of the things I see, to the point that I will only double man with a few drivers. I get a fair amount of stick from other drivers (especially about the slower speeds I drive & the defects) but I don't care, I have a clear consious that if anything happens the finger will not point towards me.

TBH, I'm surprised that I have not been shown the door by now, although at the end of the day I may take an hour or so longer on a given route but the wombles will not catch me unloading with my Tachometer set on "break".

 

Unfortunatly, you are quite correct about "As long as they don't 'complain'..." - those, like myself are few & far between in the "cowboy sector".

 

BTW, I have seen drivers reverse turntable (I call them A Frame) trailers in a sort of S with little space in one without the need for even a small shunt - these are, IMHO the best of the best.