The West Midlands Run ....... and run and run and run

I was fed up today , the day started badly and just got worse, It was all sorts of little things that just conspired against me and built up to ruin my day.

I wasn't in work Yesterday (Thursday) and got a call saying I was needed to run some pallets down to Halfords at Redditch and then loads of collections and same day delivery's .The Booking was for 10 am but my lot wanted me in early so asked me to get in there for 8 !!!!.

About 5 pm I was told it was all loaded onto another lorry, mine was in the shop having a 6 weekly check. I had all my gear in my truck including last months Tacho's and my lovely HI VIZ gear. After ringing around I arranged to meet the mechanic at the garage at 6.30.
I got to the lorry and set off to the garage at around 6 ish. I turned the radio on and it was locked..... it needed the code. I was fuming , I didn't fancy driving around the west midlands in a draughty old knacker without a stereo. I drove of to the mechanics and grabbed my gear out of my lorry, I keep it all in a box so it was all pretty easy to get.

I decided to get my radio from home, it was only a 15 minute drive home and I couldn't spend all day without my news link, I very rarely listen to music at work , I just have five live and talk sport on all day, I use a DAB Radio in my own lorry but I couldn't because it uses the cab system and this one was locked !!!! I have a portable one at home that's rechargeable. It actually a brilliant bit of kit and it worked a treat today and saved my sanity. I was still pissed off , in the wack wagon , and crap runs but it made it a lot more bearable.
The Drop at Halfords went ok , they took it straight off at 8 am and I was on my way to Stourbridge for a collection. It was on a derelict site ........ I couldn't find any sign of life for ages until I drove around for a bit and looked a little deeper in the squalor


I found it on the left of this place up the street a bit.
This is the place.
I had to collect a pallet for Ireland but I had to get the Forkie to load it on the Headboard for me and move the stuff on the headboard to the back !!!! complicated I know but I had a drop at Selfridges in Coleshill and they tip off the back, so it had to be moved. I found out the day was getting worse and worse when I tried to move the stuff with the Pallet truck and found out it was broken. The stuff was stuck in place solid , heavy pallets ., That's why the forkie helped out , I don't usually like asking for any help but I didn't have much choice.
The next drop was Stafford shire University in Stoke city centre. An absolute nightmare to get to no parking , Zig Zag's everywhere , plus the pallet was definitely going to a handball job. I could just feel it, They wouldn't have a forklift that's for sure.
What I didn't count on, was them not even having a door or a loading area, just a very busy and narrow street.
I rang the bell and straight away someone answered and in a few minutes we had it all off and I was on my way to a food warehouse near the M6. This lot was for Dublin and was en route to the same place as the other collection. This is good because it means less work for me and its also a lot easier on the mountain of paperwork I have to do as well.
The computer was beeping away with a new message when I jumped back in , It wasn't good news, The new collection was now going to somewhere else, and had to be there by 4 pm, Shit!!!
I had the whole day planned out and now it was a spanner in the works.
A few reasons why I hate my plans changed are

1) you know where the drop is and you don't have to look around trying to find an invisible street with a non existent sign on it that has absolutely no connection to the company name you have been given,
2) Every new delivery/collection is a potential problem waiting to happen, unhelpful forkie or silly goods in procedures to contend with.

3) I Usually plan my stops for after all my drops are done and so that means I am going to be Hungary and dying for the toilet for longer.

The new drop off is In Melton Mowbry , So after all my drops, I will have to drive over there, its all on 40 mph roads.

I was due in Colesill first though and it was looking like I was going to be late, not much but 30 minutes, they are a bit fussy here So I was going to have to be very polite to the gateman , (who is usually a right wanker)


This is the wagon on the bay with a green light. I can go !!!!














The Transport office is on the left and through those doors is everything Selfridges .

I was not long in at DHL and the foreman lent me his Pallet truck to move the heavy blue food tubs on the left over to the headboard to keep them from tipping.
It was these two that were going over to Melton next.

I had had enough by now , it was getting on for another 12 hour day and I had been up since 5 am

The new drop was actually trouble free and it seems that we might be doing a bit more with them.


I have no more work on Monday as yet but Ill be back when the work is .

Some Random Pictures of the day

This sign is were I started to see signs for the M5

What a great Job (sometimes)

This is the twisted tree
I took this picture after a full day's work on the way back to base on the A44 and realised what a brilliant job I have , sometimes.
I say sometimes because as we all know in this business, we have a lot of really crap days.
Today though, driving down these amazing roads with the sun just setting and the view spreading out before me it was just great.
I had only been out since 11 am , a nice late start , two drops.
the first one was in a place called Corse Lawn. It was off the M50 but right in weight limit territory near Tweksbury. I got the six pallets they were having off straight away and set off for my next stop. It was near Hereford.
It was an massive delivery of wooden floor. 55 boxes, around 2 tonnes.
I found the address straight away and the builders who took the delivery were really friendly



They helped to take the floor off the truck and wouldn't let me carry any inside," just leave it drive , we will sort it" they told me."Even the radio was good today. I listened to Ian Wright and his Sidekick Durham. They were Talking about Frank Bruno and Jimmy Saville meeting the Killer Peter Suttcliffe , and the picture of them shaking his hand in the sun today. It was a very heated debate. Wrighty was saying he would shake Ronnie and Reggie's hands, but not the Rippers.He lost it for a bit with his mate and they went off air for an "extended" Ad break. I finished my drive at 7 pm , just in time to turn off Danny Kelly !!!
All in all a good day.
Enjoy some more random pictures of the day.

Slow Day

It was a slow day yesterday , I started at 11 am and washed the truck.
A few collections around the town and loaded up for today's run.

I am sitting outside my first drop now in Birmingham, waiting till 9 am when they open.
2 pallets here and then over to Halesowen .
That drop is meant to be a 9 am but there is no chance of that now.

I went to a few drops in Birmingham and then went over to Oxford to a tiny little lane called Jack Straw Lane . I had to deliver a load of heavy floooring here are some pictures.

The Runaway Pallet truck

My customer finally arrived at 7 am and we hand balled 7 pallets off and into a tiny hole in Central London . See left..
This is a shop in Central London just off the A4 next to Harrods . We take 6-11 pallets a week in to here and it all goes down that hatch , 8 boxes at a time like the picture. We have to arrive at the shop usually around 5.30 to assure parking is available. The parking bays start charging at 8.30 and the shop keeper usually opens up for the delivery at 7 so we don't have long and it means you don't get a chance to have a rest after because the wardens are on you like vultures.



An example of the Traffic
Wardens stupidity is this.

Marks & Spencer have a store across the road and obviously have a delivery every day. They have to park on the opposite side of the road with the back doors adjacent to the delivery doors of the store. There are no parking bays on this side, only double yellow lines.
They tailfift every thing down in cages with the store manager watching the road as a health & safety procedure.

Every morning at 8 am the warden arrives on a scooter parks in front of the M&S lorry, takes a photo, puts a ticket on the lorry, takes a photo of the parking restriction sign and then drives off.
He never speaks to any one from the store, or the driver.
He never try's to help with the traffic , which is horrendous at that time of the day , with our lorry the bin wagon every day and the M&S truck as well. We are legally parked though until 8.30.
This is the street taken at around 7.30 ish but it was half term so not as busy.

And this is another picture of the doorway. I hate this doorway !!!!
When I got here yesterday The hole was taped off because an elderly employee had fallen down the hatch !!! imagaine that ? We still made the delivery but had to finish early before any other employees came in. The rest of the Stuff came in through the shop.
I was given a load of stuff to return to base with from the shop .


When I had finished the London drop I had to get over to Croydon with 4 metre lead screw and a 4 metre long pallet.
It took me over an hour to get over Vauxhall Bridge and through Brixton but I was still on schedule. Phoned the site contact and went to drop off the Pallet and the lead screw. Bad news was that the pallet stayed on, along with all the packaging because they didn't have a forklift on the job so the lad took everything off this massive pallet and left all the crap with me. I
He was sending a 5 metre screw back !! shit this meant that my last few pallets on the headboard would be trapped in , they were both handball jobs and needed the pallet truck. So far I had collected more than i was delivering !!

I set off from Croydon more like a bin lorry than a goods truck.
I went over to Lewes for a regular drop we do that has to be a Taillift. Its always simple just a little bit tight to get into.
It took a little bit longer than usual to get their pallet off because of the crap in the back but I was back on the road in 8 minutes.
I was going to Uckfield next along the A22 i think it was.

I had 36 bamboo floor packs and some underlay. It weighed about 1.2 tonnes and is always a crap job,usually because most customers don't appreciate how heavy a wood floor is or how much is going to arrive, usually to a domestic address in a 18 tonne lorry.

I saw the size of the street and think Oh Crist . it was tiny and it wiggled like a snake. Plus the parked cars were strategically placed to daze and confuse and sometimes bewilder. My heart sank when I realised that number 23 was at the end of a succession of bends , twists and two cul-de-sacs.
The neighbours were out the minute they heard the beeping of my reverse gear. When the grass verges were touched I was sure I could even hear them muttering . I was also getting distracted by the slight twitching of the curtains.
I pulled up and found the home owner, its always easier to get someone to share the burden. I asked him to move his car and explained that I needed to drop the tail lift onto his drive and then empty some stuff out of the way to get his floor out.
His house was at the bottom of a hill that ended in a cul-de-sac but luckily it was fairly level just outside and the truck sat flat.

I started pulling all my collection out into his drive here is one pic


I had 5 blue pallets , 5 lots of shrink wrap from said pallets. My wheels, a 5 metre lead screw ,( on the other side of the truck) a 4 metre long pallet with heavy plastic attached , a pallet of coffee machines
Several boxes of spares for machines and an old Christmas display case with loads of burst coffee capsules on it , they were tipping and pouring all over his drive, whoops !!.

Any way I got the pallet ready for the tail fit and I dropped to the ground, well it dropped me actually.
It was around 1.2 tonne and the lift takes 1.5 but that's with me and the pallet truck as well.

I eased the pallet truck off the lift and the pallets creaked and groaned. It was a very steep hill dropping down to the back of the house where they wanted the delivery so I started to gently ease the pallet down , yeah right,
I gently eased it and it took off like a rocket I tried to drop it but it had built up momentum and was heading for the wall!! The lad who was taking the delivery was the wrong side of the pallet and he looked a bit pale running backwards. .
It hit the floor and the load just managed to stay on. It was at an angle and needed straightening up. This drive was steep, easily 20% gradient and it was bendy as well.

The lad called his dad and they pushed the pallet up slightly as I turned it. Some people will think , including them that it would be easier to just carry it.
Well I carry them every day and trust me , its heavy . I wasn't going to be carrying this anywhere if I could help it.
We got it straight again and got ready for the 2nd attempt . I started to raise the pallet truck and as it inched off the ground it started to groan again and ease forward then it left the floor and, whoosh it was off again. I had told them NOT to stand behind it , but the young lads dad was insisting it would be OK , he didn't think it could be so heavy so he stayed put.
Ha, and they say white men cant jump !!! well old white men in Uckfield can, as this pallet of bamboo flooring came at him he flew up in the air and landed like a cat, feet first I'm glad to say.

The pallet stopped again and I suggested we all hang on the end, and lower it together, bit by bit.
The young lads dad said "No your alright lad well take it from here".
ha ha ha .
I noticed they were taking them in one at a time between the two of them , one on either end. I tidied up all my stuff and set off , the three and three quarter hours back to Leicester. A long day.
Got back arond 6 pm and seeing as I had left the Yard at around 3 am I felt shattered.
I was told due my hours I would be off on Friday . That suited me and I went home .
I couldnt post yesterday so here it is.

The first part was Tuesday , then Today sorry for mix up been early starts

My first drop was over the Dartford Bridge to a mail shot warehouse in Orpington for 8 am but managed to get there 1 hour, late They were all wankers . They all stood outside the shutter doors and watch me reverse up to them around a steel bin and a parked car , It was
A tricky reverse as the place was really tight.
When I finished and jumped down they said , its over there mate in the other shed near the yellow line ! , The other shed had no markings and no body there , nothing to suggest it was part of the same business. As usual . Then they asked me for the paper work. I gave them my stuff and the Prick said word for word “ Not interested in this shit you got here,. the delivery paperwork “.
I was pissed off but I thought it wasn’t to me personally but the customer who hadn’t sent the paperwork. I was still annoyed though.
“Maybe its on the pallets “I said.
“Yeah right, was his reply anyway I jumped up on the deck and on the last pallet was a delivery note . It listed every pallet , Saab and Vauxhall dealer brochures.
“This is shit” he said
Its all handwritten !! What can you say ?? They just want to complain.
I was glad to get out of there.

Then over to cranleigh in surrey for a bamboo floor delivery . It was in a beautiful farm , in a tiny lane with a tiny drive , and they wanted , yes you guessed it ,. Right to the door. “What about your trees ?” I asked him . “Fuck em “ he said. This was the Builder not the owner so I said I couldn’t damage any property to make a delivery.

We took a look and he directed me in here( in the picture). He had his labourers carry them up to the house.
Then into a company near heathrow for paramount pictures to Ireland . This went without drama.
Then back in time for a drop at a hotel in reading then back to base , listening Ian Wright on the Radio .

Up at 3 am for a drop in Welwyn garden city for the Hertfordshire council
A booking time of 6.30 am but when I arrived they said it wasn’t able to be dropped until 7 am ! I asked him to sign for the pallet if I used the Tailift to get it off and he grudgingly agreed.
That meant I was off to Harlow on time because that was a 8.30 booking time at 3663 foodservice.
I have to confess, I hate the food Industry delivery’s , I don’t know why they are so horrible and so slow to tip your load but Its always a nightmare I have been to some terrible places in London for instance where they seem to treat you like shit.

I visited a catering company in Walthamstow after the food place in Harlow and it was memorable for a few reasons.
The traffic on the way was horrendous , it took over an hour to get from the end on the M11 to the place on Priestley way.

I arrived and it was mayhem , there were foreign trucks jostling for places inside this tiny yard that doubles as a cash and carry as well. This means you have to dodge white vans and estate cars leaving with seeded burger buns and pickled onions.

Then you come to the fork loft drivers , I was directed around to the rear of the building and came across an artic fridge pulled up on the side, he was having a “conversation” with a rather angry looking car owner and he kept rubbing the bumper of his car , I don’t think it was going to straighten it just by rubbing ,but I didn’t like to say !.

I pulled in and over to the side of the yard and saw the fattest man I ever saw on the back end of a fridge. He was pulling pallets to the rear and the crazy fork lift drivers were taking them.

Now these fork lift drivers were different to most others that you come across. They actually took the pallets off for you? Imagine that , they didn’t ignore you , or tut or um an arr about tipping you or check your paperwork three times. They just took the pallets off, and then worried about it later . They were mad in their own way , driving around the yard like they were in a demolition derby. And shouting at each other all the time , in Turkish mostly but some times broken English Insults mainly. I was practically on 4.30 hours driving time so I asked if I good take a 30 minute break in the yard . He was brilliant and said yeah no problem , just open the side and ill empty you now . He took all 7 off and I still had my 30 minutes So I just relaxed and watched the mayhem unfold. My 30 minutes were almost up when the fattest Driver (in Walthamstow at least this morning) got on the forklift the a lift down off the back ha ha ha I wanted a picture sooooo bad !!!!! But I couldn’t cos I was to close and didn’t want him to see me.
This is what he was driving !!








I then ended up in DPC in Chelmsford and it was a struggle to get close to the yard , I had to park in the street and walk down past all the other fridges again . This time though it was true to form , One forkie and ten trucks!

I went into the office and it was full of signs , Drivers must not do this , and Drivers must not do that !! , most of you will no what I mean, One sign read Visiting Drivers will by NO means use the Toilet under ANY circumstances!!! . Toilets are availalable on the BP Services at the boreham roundabout.. Now, I wasn’t at the bleeding boreham roundabout. I was at their depot delivering their goods. And being made to wait in the road for over an hour by their Forkie to tip ONE pallet. GRRR .

I read this notice on the building outside it read DPC . Service for the new century what a load of Bullshit,
I was finished after that drop and took the m11 and A14 home , stopped at the Cambridge services for a break and got a call for a collection on the way back home.
I got that on now as I write this , its 6 am and I got here ion London for my 7 am tip a while ago and then off to Croydon , then Lewes. Ill post it all later.


This picture is my first drop Thursday
that hole is where they go!!!

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 .

Monday Back @ Work

The first time the alarm went off at 6 am I hit the snooze button. I have been spoiling myself with late nights and 7.30 am starts . 6 am felt like the middle of the night.
I had a 9 am drop at Argos at Magna Park today so I decided to get in early and sort the truck out , settle back in check the fuel etc and get to Argos nice and early. When I got to our yard I was a little early so I washed my own car , then looked for my Truck. I was blocked in by the 7.5 t Daf and had to search the office for the keys.
As I have had a week away from my own wagon I wanted to see if there was any defects or damage that I would maybe get the blame for. I had a look around and then moved my stuff my back , Sat nav, Maps and my box of stuff that I think I need but very rarely use but still lug around with me from vehicle to vehicle if I ever use a van or a smaller lorry. It like my comfort blanket , my just in case box ill call it. If I end up being here much longer ill end up itemising it..
:-)

I have been here for an hour. I got here at 8am . I was told to go and sign in , So I went to the goods in office and stood at an open window and looked in at several people looking at computer screens, they must of been very busy because they didn't take any notice of me. I coughed , rustled my delivery notes, I even whistled to my self a little bit. 5 minutes later I was finally spotted. He took my paper work and allocated me to bay 11 , "when the bay becomes empty drop on to it" he said. that was at 8.10 am

I have to be honest and say its not just Argos , its every large distribution warehouse whatever company your visiting.
It seems to be part of the procedure,
Turn up on time or early and wait for untold hours in a sort of no mans land , not knowing what time your being unloaded - or loaded , not knowing who is in charge , where to go , who to see , who to ask , it is just a massive void of nothing .
I often have my boss ringing me asking me whats going on , why are you still there and the answer I have to give every time is " I don't Know" .

I got onto the bay at 9.30 am and I am now watching a red light in my mirror , I now no longer have any keys to my truck because Argos World have them. You have to hand in your keys to most distribution centres for health and Safety .


I am always waiting for Red light on the bay I am backed on to to go out and the Green light to come on , then I can go to find someone who wants to pretend they know whats happening.

As I sit here in Argos I am able to type this blog and look around their yard. They have a lot of signs in the facility marked profit protection !! They ask you to turn off lights, turn off screens, and turn of engines,on every sign is the words Profit Protection on the bottom left corner.. It is all to help save energy and money .
Then you go into the goods in office and you are told to take a pair of earplugs to wear due to health and safety..
All around the yard over the floor are hundreds of worn and discarded earplugs.



I have 4 more delivery's today around the Milton Keyes area and the last one is an AM !!! Its nearly ten now and I still just sitting here. Ill add to this post when I finish if I ever return from "The Argos Triangle"

Trying to be clever

I started something here, I registered the website and now its time to design it.
I think the blog will be here for a while. Im back at work next week so Ill be bac.k on my travels hopefully.

I am off all week so I might not have much to say heres some pictures from the phone

The Day The Roles Reversed

I had a late start today because I thought I was taking a sprinter out for a few local collections.
When I got in I was told to get in my usual truck and collect a load of air condition units. I had spoken to my dad the night before and mentioned I might be able to take him out with me. I picked him up from the corner and set off to Melton . He used to drive Lorry's , only 7.5t but he had a flat bed and had to rope and sheet every load. He told me about tales of missing loads, run ins with the police, stroppy goods in departments and terrible weather.
so nothing changed then

I remembered riding with him when I was very little and looking out the window lying on the floor in a turf lorry. The lorry had these big glass windows on the floor like eyes and I remember the road flashing by in a blur, I'd watch that for ages , I wouldn't sleep, even on a long journey.

I suppose I always wanted to drive a lorry after that , I have the chance of a HGV 1 assessment soon and I talked about that with him as well.

We finished the Melton drops and went back into town and I dropped him back off on the corner near his house, It was nice to have him out with me and I think he was a little bit proud as well .

Anyway , I was wanted back at the yard , A few collections in Leicester for same day to Birmingham.
It was DHL at Colesill and I took a sprinter with a coffee delivery for Selfridges London.

The System at DHL is you back on a bay and then sign in, tell them what bay your on and they tip you . In a van they send a forklift out , and they put your pallet on , and when the forklift is broken (yeah a multinational like DHL with ONE forklift) you split the pallet and rebuild it on the bay on another pallet.

I signed off the DHL delivery and headed off to Home.
I got a new collection out of Hinkley and Ibstock to take back to home and arrived in the yard about 4 PM.

I have a Week off so Lorry Day will be Lorry Week I think.

I'll Twitter and I might blog what stuff I been up to but without , strees , conflict, letdowns and dramas its not as much fun to write .

Dig yourself out Mate !!!!

Well I am a Trucker , I know then that I have to put up with shit for a living , its as simple as that.
I am sort of used to it now even though I only been driving two years.
It still gets to me though every now and then.
I am not the sort of driver to be stubborn and rude and refuse to do lift a finger or help out . Ill often be found in the back of the truck restacking or handballing or whatever needs doing to get that P.O.D. signed.
Some days though people just piss you off. I wonder why they do it but I dont think ill ever really know. Ill tell you what made me think this after I have written abouthow the day started.

I set of this morning in the worst conditions I have ever driven in , going up to the M1 on the A 50 it was down to one lane but we were having to straggle the white line because the sides of the road couldnt be made out.

The motorway was pretty bad but passable and I made my way slowly . I was going to Garforth in Leeds for an 8 am .

I was having to stop at every services because the heated mirrors had packed up and they were carrying loads of ice and it was impossibloe to see in.

I was worrying about making the time because we were averaging 35 MPH but I got a message through from the boss saying Please all drivers take care , safety first. that made me feel different I was pleased they were not putting any pressure on. They are a good firm and it makes it easier to concentrate when you dont have to worry.
So I got to the drop just off the M1 and pulled into the yard of the customer.

They unloaded 4 of my 6 pallets and then the forkie dissapeared ! I wondered were he had gone , looked around and noticed it was tea break , no way I had two rotten pallets left and he just pissed off.
Fifteen minutes later he was back and took the last two off.

I went back down the Motorway towards Nottingham @ an engineering works.
I drove in and looked around for a "Goods In" sign , the ground was covered in a blanket of deep fresh snow. I looked around for somewhere to go and didnt see any were obvious to go.
Its usually like that , but in these conditions ,I didnt fancy driving all round the site in 7 inches of snow loooking for a jobsworth to send me the other way again.
Well I was looking around from the cab and saw these hands in the window beckoning me toward them, it said Goods In obove the door they were directing me to so I headed that way. It was deep fresh snow , nothing else had passed through so I took it slow and made slow progress.

I had to reverse up the steep hill and around the corner as well so took my time, I saw a guy walking towards me and thought , cool some one to help ! No , he moved his car out the way , wanker !!! . I was on my own .

I was no where near hitting his car , (although he was lucky he moved it enough away because I would of wanted to then )
I found a bod to talk to and he sent me all the way back down the hill and back round the corner and back to the doors where I had just been .

I opened up the sides and then found out they didn't have a forklift.

I was getting a bit pissed off by now but I swear I didn't show it (honest)

I had to back onto there doors and drop it inside the factory on the tail-lift .

I moved forward into more virgin snow and then attempted to go backwards onto the door,

The truck just span , both wheels stuck fast , , I looked around and saw no one , I was alone .

I jumped down and went to get the shovel I had brought with me that morning .
I started digging , thinking they would be back but I saw no one still , I was expected to drop this stupid pallet no one seemed to want , on my own .
I dug and dug and it refused to budge ..

Eventually it rocked onto a patch I had made and got purchase on the tarmac.
Battery going ill be back

Brighton and Back

Well, today I actually got time to play with my Daughter in the snow because I had a late start . We made a snowman and then she decided to smash it . She enjoyed that . When she got cold we went indoors and I got ready to go into work. I sat in the truck until 4 pm when I had a Collection.
It was my job for Tomorrow buts Its today that I'm writing it. I had to go to Brighton for 8.30 am.
I decided to take a proper meal to work because I hate stuffing my face with junk or going hungry after 12 hour shift and no where decent to stop. I bought a new flask and picked up some cup a soups , 2 for a £ at Asda , All you do then is take a flask of hot water and no dirty flask to wash up. I got on to the M1 at around 5 .30 this morning and Just as we reached the M25 the traffic started to slow . I noticed the snow and realised how bad they must of had down there. The fields and the verges were piled high and it was still covering some of the third lanes , I'm writing this while getting loaded and they are calling me so Ill post the rest of the day later . Its now 5.30 pm and still need to be loaded ...... back in a bit

Well I dropped the Brighton stuff off the back with the tail-lift and then headed into Kingston upon Thames. The motorways were running really smooth and it didn't take me to long until I was squeezing through the town centre trying to find my next drop.
It was tricky because everyone seemed to see me and then do whatever they could to get ion front of me ... I had a few near misses today because of the low sun and the salt all over the windows but I made it and dropped off the three boxes.

My next drop was SW7, it was Imperial Collage right next to the V&A museum , I met security at the gate and he told me to park up and see the Lady in reception. She was a lot of help NOT !!
I had a pallet of Sample bricks and 100 kg of clay with me , in the middle of central London in an 18 tonne truck and she was saying she knew nothing about it. If I wasn't as persistent as I was , I would never of gotten it delivered. I had the name of the person who had ordered the goods , I had the company who she worked for, and I had the address, .
The receptionist said she had never heard of them. It was the usual story , sorry , don't know anything ! sorry cant help you .
I rang work and they tracked the customer down to the next floor , I was looking for EWB -UK , the customer worked for Environmental Water Boundary's UK errrrr the clue is in title . I was very polite and just smiled.
I had to take the customer out to the lorry to show her what I was trying to deliver to her because she was asking for it to be taken up to her locker.
I settled on drooping at the goods in lift and got her to sign for it. I could see her Lecturer helping her in with in as I left.
I headed for the A4 Compton rd and then up the M4 and onto the M25 and then homeward bound M1 . I stopped at the Services and had my 2nd Cuppa Soup and set up my Twitter account after hearing about it on 5 live. I had turned off the radio earlier on and put a tape of The Hobbit on but it had finished by then and Simon Mayo was setting up an account on air. Me and Wifey had signed up a while ago but we hadn't really used it , it seems you cant move for twittering this week with all the celebs doing it. I added the twitter link here but I might remove it if it gets too long or I cant edit it.

Ill post some more pics when I find the lead to the laptop , I got them in the internal memory on the camera ,not on a card ! .

Doomsday (the day the world stood still) or so they would have you beleive

had been prepared for the snow this morning , even going out Sunday afternoon to buy a new flask. It was filled this morning with steaming hot coffee and I was ready, Got into my car and dropped it straight out of my bag and smashed it on the floor , gutted , I was actually really pissed off, I felt like it was a real blow , the snow started falling faster and I thought i was in for a real hard day .

I was dreading my deliverys this morning because all the news channels were predicting the end of the world today. I set out at around 5 am to get to an old RAF base in North Lincolnshire called Donna Knook. Its usually home to seals and a team of serco engineers and ocasionally NATO use its beach to run practice bombing raids. I took a few pictures of the roads out there and the beach , if you zoom in you will see the dummy jeeps and some helicoptors.





A lot of the roads were passable but I still had to show a lot of care. I made hard work off it and it took me 4 hours driving time to get there.

I took a 45 minute break and hung out with the guys at the range , they were great and made me a lovely cup of coffee. I

Well I felt better after the break so I set off to the next drop in Sheffield , only it wasn't sheffield it was Worksop, I took the backroads again but they had cleared up a lot by now. It was 12 ish and I started running into heavy snow on the M180 , I carried on to the M18 then M1 down to worksop and found my drop , The Pallets went off easy and the people were freindly , always a nice change.
This was the drop at Worksop, Furniss & White



I had to find a customer in Sheffield next , A wood floor , all 35 packs , offloaded by hand and upstairs . I also had to take the truck into a tiny carpark (see pic)


The Wood took over an hour to get off and then I was to go over to Derby for my last drop.


The Last drop was easy to find but took about two hours to get to .
Derby was gridlocked. My drop was @ the RTC business park , its a train builder in Derby and was right next to the side of the railway
I cant get the last picture to post Ill try to do an edit.
Im not in until 12 noon tomorrow , Ill post if I go anywhere.