The Day The Police man got his say ,

Well I escaped "The Argos Triangle" at around 11 am and drove to Daventry. I was looking for Netto and following Sat Nav proved to the wrong thing to do.
#The Postcode was sending me nearly 4 miles the wrong way , its not the sat nav fault, that will send you were you ask it to send you.
I realised I was near another drop I go to at Poundland and Netto was next door . I guessed it would be the same place and it was , Lucky me , Until I saw the line of Lorry's in front of me. I have one pallet of Pickled Onions and I will have to sit here for untold hours again.

I followed the Lorry's up the drive towards the gatehouse and pissed off the security guard by parking on the Zebra crossing , whoops !! .

I went in to hand over my paperwork and noticed that this delivery was timed at 8 am !! oh dear , I phoned the office and they had already changed it .So they do actually know whats going on sometimes then !

I was told to wait in the yard and given the number plate of a truck that was in front of me. When I saw that truck move on to a bay I was to go on the next available one. Its a bit like my Doctors when every one is wondering what number the other person has and the really confident patient will canvass the room asking each person who is number 9 ? .Well I never ask, I just try and peak , and I always leave my number showing just in case the crazy lady in front of me thinks about asking me anything.

So my number plate found me and he started up a conversation . well it was one sided actually. He told me he wasn't in a rush and he was going to finish his sandwich , I told him I was on a few timed delivery's and he was really cool and dropped straight onto a bay for me.
I went into the" goods in" alleyway (Its not an office) and approached the man sitting at the window.
he was very cheerful and asked me to sign in , and then I had to sign to say I been trained by Netto to use an electric pallet truck
In Netto they have a strange system where they employ people to tell you ,(who isn't employed by them) what to do.
This means that they have someone to open the door of the loading bay for you and then they leave you to unload all your pallets , but put them where they say !! good system isn't it !!

I had one pallet and it took me nearly 2 hours to get out of there.

Some of the big wagons were tipping 18 or 22 pallets. Netto are basically getting me and other drivers to run there goods in department.

judging by the levels of resentment that the drivers felt toward the staff, I think if it has saved money it is a false economy because it seems to create resentment.

I was signing out and the crush of drivers in the tiny alleyway to sign in and out was ridiculous , I was glad to get out of there.
Between that Netto store and the Argos drop earlier I was seriously behind schedule by now so I had to forgo my break . The lorry was on rest so I was legal but I had not brought any food with me thinking I would get to a marks and sparks on the motorway.


My next job was a collection from a crane company in a place called Gowcott near Buckingham.
I was meant to be there to collect for a forwarder in our home town. I was on route when I got a message to carry on to my collection . I was so long at Netto in the back of the lorry I had missed my message to leave the crane company collection as a van would pick it up.

Well the van went in to get it and the pallet was over a tone and a half and wouldn't fit through the doors. Work had told me to forget it and then reassigned me it again. All this through the computer in the cab that hadn't bleeped to tell me it had incoming messages. Stupid thing.

So I had my collection and I was 5 hours behind almost and on my way to Stratford . I knew where I was going. It was a Europeon Forwarding Plant. I had a load of colgate toothpaste for Irleand.
It was an easy drop and It went without incident which is always nice.


I set off for the last drop and noticed it was right in the middle of Hinckley. I was unsure were exactly so followed the sat nav but I was aware it might take me up some small streets.
I found my road but it was a Pedestrian zone, only open until 10 am. I rang the customer and she was really rude and said why were we always so late in the day. Turns out they order a pallet of pickles every , wait for it Year !!!!! . I was on the phone with her at the top of her street which just happened to be a pelican crossing with a zig zag that I was parked on. She was telling me how to get to the rear of the store, a fruit and veg shop. I was motioned to move by a police man in a traffic car. I was on the phone to the lady from the shop and I told him , "I'll move in a minute"
"Just getting directions" He went sick and told me He was more important than some delivery time and I was parked Illegally and BLAH , BLAH, BLAH . I got told , in the street, everyone looking , He even made me get out the lorry with him and look at where I had parked !!. I wasn't parked up I had just stopped , the entrance to the pedestrian part had small bollards and I hadn't seen them until I was almost on them . He was going on about how I was meant to be a professional driver and more Blah , Blah, Blah. He told me I was going to be summoned and Endorsed with 3 points." What should he do"? he said . "I would appreciate," I had to grovel , "If you were to let me off this time with a warning and bear in mind I have learned a valuable lesson , and I wont be doing it again. " I had to say without a smile or a snicker . "Well I am finishing work in a minute so Ill let you off this time" he said .

I couldn't resit a little cheeky something, so I asked him directions to their shop!!! he was very helpful ......

I got to where the shop is and had another nightmare. the street was tiny, I was finished with pictures by now, I had had enough and just wanted to go home. I went into the store and they were packing away. I couldn't get the pickles off with the pallet truck because those stupid crane parts I had picked up were dropped in the middle of the truck.

I was going to start off loading them by hand when the lady decided she didn't want to stay open any later than 5 , I phoned the yard and asked if it could come back tomorrow . ?
Result it could , I was out of there so fast that the traffic warden that was trying to squeeze past my illegally parked (again) truck to put a ticket on it was disappointed because I was gone !!!!!


I got back to the Yard and was loaded up for tomorrow Kent and Reading . !! So I'm going to have a rest .