Lorryday Unplugged

Tuesday morning I went into the office and was given the keys to another fleet vehicle , 54 reg Iveco Euro cargo .

It was very clean and had stickers everywhere inside the cab reminding me to keep it this way.

I plugged in my usual electronic equipment and nothing, I felt a dread in the bottom of my stomach as I realised that the socket wasn't working.

I didn't know how I would manage as I don't know my way around that well without my sat nav.

I have a map but it only covers main roads not A-Z of anywhere apart from London.

I didn't have much charge left in the tom tom because I had used it without plugging it in the day before on another truck and I was panicking.

I had to use one of those paper map thingies.

I found a box in the truck and dusted it off, It had lots of those paper thingies inside so I took the one marked WALES on it and tried to plan a route.

After a race with Honda and a small break for swans on the road I followed the google car into Wales.

It was a lovely day and I got around really easily considering I didn't have a clue where I was going.

I planned my routes instead of following the route.
I went deep into Wales and as I found my way around without the Sat Nav, my confidence grew.

I missed all the other things that I usually plug into the truck like my DAB radio and my ipod but listening to local radio was interesting.

I heard Michael Chopra saying he was feeling confident about breaking his 8 game goal drought for Swansea and when I got home I heard he scored 4 times.

I was back in time for my dentist appointment.

I had booked an evening visit.

The dentist sat me down and extracted a tooth. I wished I was still lost in the Valleys.

I spent my break periods looking for the fuse box in the truck and when I found it and also found out that nothing was wrong with the fuses I reported it to our workshop as a fault.

Now when I got back into the yard, I was expecting the team to swarm all over my truck like Lewis Hamiltons pit crew, fix me up and send me back out in the morning like a champion, but all I got was a trainee mechanic, with the wrong screw driver asking me where the manual to the truck was!

It was eventually checked over and I was told that since there was power going to the socket,they couldn't find anything wrong with it,even though it didn't work and since it was a part they didn't stock , it would have to stay broke.

Now I am usually in a truck for a day of two but this week lucky me, I am in this all week.

Here is a useless piece of plastic called a tom tom.

And here is where it used to live.

I was in the London for the rest of the week and making good use of my otherwise redundant A-Z.

One place I had to find was the tube station in Acton.

These guys couldnt count and had to unpack all the track and count each and every peice.

I found a van with the most immaculate bathroom facilities. yes I said bathroom facilities.

No matter what kind of day your having I find a good Polar bear picture can always lift your mood.

A car of the day wasn't going to make it on the road anytime soon.

Sat Nav mark two fails to live up to the challenge of Zero power in Reigate.

But then I find a tiny sanctuary in West London called Stockley Park , home of BP and other blue chip company's like Apple and Sharp,where I was heading to.




I couldn't believe it when I was in reception asking for the goods in office.

A breathless man rushed in, he was wearing a cycling helmet and all sorts of security paraphernalia on a massive belt.

He also wore the obligatory hi viz flashing crossing his body and an earpiece.

I panicked thinking it was the police and because he was breathlessly mouthing at me I assumed someone had been tampering with the lorry.

Eventually his red cheeks paled and he managed to speak.

"Your Parked on the grass" he said.

"pardon"

"Your Wheels , there on the grass" he said again.

"Oh" I thought it might of been on fire or something the way you way you rushed in like that " I told him.

"You can't park there" said Robo- Warden.

I smiled to myself, said sorry and reversed to where I had been directed.

You cant ever win so why compete?

A trip back up the motorway and a diversion to our Reading yard on the way home took me past a lot of military vehicles.




The reason I was sent to reading was, A factory near us in Leicester had a collection they needed bringing up to them that day urgently. I was finished in London so I picked it up around 1 pm.

It was going here where the road was closed. I eventually picked my way around the schoolkids and the parked cars on the diversion route and told the security office what I had.
"Oh great" he said "they been waiting for that"

"Park up on the left and they'll be with you" he said.

I parked up next to an empty arctic that was being loaded with empty pallets.

An hour later I was parked up next to a half empty arctic that was being loaded very slowly and very neatly with empty pallets.

I asked the forklift driver if I was in the right place to be tipped with the Reading stuff they had wanted.

"We've been waiting for that" he said.

Priceless.

I live about ten minutes drive from this factory and it was the one place that had held me up all day.

From London to reading, Thatcham and back home again.

Friday I was in Twikenham, after my dailey commute to Reigate and I was getting the hang of not using the sat nav, (well not on the straight bits, I just used it on the bendy roads)
and found this grand looking building.



I had to drop three pallets off just next door to the home of English Rugby. It looked very intimidating , all concrete and glass.

I couldnt resit this picture of a plane landing on the roof of this lorry as I made my way back home.

Up the M40 this time and past my car of the week.

Most cars have matching interior to the bodywork but this car has a matching driver to the interior !




But is he happy?

I think so YES.

I cleaned and polished the inside of the lorry of as per the instructions on the orange stickers before handing the keys back in to the transport office.

I am in the rented truck again next week and I just hope I never see that accoustic truck ever again.