Mojo re charged

The week I had last week has been pushed out of my mind and I managed to get through this week without much trouble.

The week started with a trip out to Manchester and the East lands stadium.

I was at an Asda there that had left this pallet of nappies out in the rain all morning.

I know pampers are meant to keep you dry but these were not looking so good after a few hours in the North West rain.


I was in a business park called Heywood, It was very posh and had its own lorry park.


look at the entrance.
I saw this on the way back down from the North West and wondered how the makers of the most iconic camper van in the world could design something so ugly in the 21st Century.

I have spent time down south in the countryside as well with a few national landmarks for company.




Then I was sent to Plymouth and couldn't resit taking a picture of this van, a real VW.




I saw this elephant trying to catch cars on the M5 but he missed me, just.


Today's job was penguin books to Amazon , sounds easy and only 50 miles separates the two company's but there worlds apart when it comes to Driver comfort.

Penguin is this ...Coffee, free and a warm room to sit in and Amazon is this...
row after row of Lorry's waiting for the right to wait on a bay. It took me three hours to get out of here and meant I didn't get home until 8 pm tonight.

I'm out early tomorrow so I better go.

Ill post what I get up to on Friday later.

Lost my lorry driving mojo

I am writing this blog at the end of another mammoth week of early starts and late finishes, of rude and unpleasant warehouse staff and filthy service stations and motorway rest stops .

Congested roads and unrealistic planners who expect the roads to open up like the Red Sea whenever our firm needs to get through.

I have been to small farms that even tractors struggle to get to, building sites that don't even exist on their own paperwork, let alone on maps or sat navs.

This load was sent back by the dick looking at his phone because there wasn't a digger in the container with the dumper truck. He wanted both to arrive together.


I have had enough of sitting around waiting for morons to acknowledge me and then eventually un load me and find myself being grateful when I'm left waiting less than two hours. This clown in the JCB had left me sitting outside this building site from 8 am until 10 because he could basically.

I'm also sick of trudging around the motorway behind shopping trolleys that leave you stuck behind them at 54 MPH and then when you try to get past, they leave you out and coast past you on any downhill stretch hill until you have to start overtaking all over again.

These same shopping trolleys sit at 40 on the A road and then shoot up to 55 on the dual carriageway so you cant get past , then back to 40 again.

I'm pretty laid back about speed usually and don't really rush around but when your left out in the middle of the motorway while some dick rolls past you down hill a few times and then, when about three miles later you finally get past they want to flash you in.

I have loved this job for three years but I have to admit. I have had enough.

I was at a Sainsburys the other day and they had a system I had never seen before.

Ill post the picture up when I get the camera back but it was another piece of evidence to prove that they don't want us drivers anywhere near them.

The bay door had a tube outside and a piece of wire with a hook through it.

The driver has to attach their keys to the hook and then press the button to turn the light red.

The keys disappear up the tube and then a voice bellows down the tunnel to wait in your cab, after a while the keys re-appear and the voice bellows at you again and tells you to go to the office for your paperwork.

Its like going to see the Wizard of Oz, and just as disappointing.

I have no idea how you veterans manage to stay in the game so long. I admire you and respect you for that.

Anyway enough moaning, here come the pictures


I was behind my colleague here waiting while he filled up his two fuel tanks, his ad blue tank and his Moffet with red diesel. Twenty minutes! I only wanted 50 litres in the Iveco.

This was a Homebase depot in Wellingborough and there MPG targets .


The woman on the desk at this was a real cow, she had a face like she had been chasing parked cars and a personality to match her looks. Horrible.

I had a collection to make and she made it seem like I committed the crime of the century, just for arriving.

She told me, when I offered her the reference number I had received through the cab computer

"It means fuck all to me driver" they were her exact words.

I was told I couldn't leave the office to go back to my truck even though they didn't even know what they were meant to be putting on me yet.

Another poor sod turned up with five cartons of Osram bulbs and she wouldn't accept them because they were not on pallets.

I know lots of company's do this but I think its pathetic, its a waste of time,money, fuel and human resources, as well as being demoralising for the driver, but it was the glee and the satisfaction that she seemed to get from telling him this news that annoyed me the most.

You will never be able to rid that sort of behaviour from this Industry.

Its a mind set.

I also went up to Liverpool a few times this week, to the docks and these are the random pictures I took.


If you look carefully my load in the background of this picture, no prizes for guessing what it was.

I also went over the tunnels and this is what that looks from above.

I got caught out by the Digital Tacho again this week and ended up doing a 10 hour 37 minute Friday!" Shit , Ill get a telling off for that in a few weeks when they download my card.

Well I saw a silver lining around these clouds and it looked a lot brighter for a few minutes...
but not for long.

Another even longer week

The weeks seems to be getting longer with all these nights out and I am unable to even write the blog these days. I wrote some of this on the bay but most of it on Saturday watching England being taught a lesson ion football by Brazil OOpps but Brazil just missed a penalty!!!!

My last drop and its only 11 am , well done you might think , but ...

I have been in the Asda line at Doncaster for 20 minutes and not even got through the gate yet, even worse luck, I'm not booked in until 2pm So I might get pushed to the back again when I finally get to the gatekeeper. I arrived at the gate and after another ten minutes looking for my secure delivery on their paperwork ( it was that secure even they couldn't find it) I was in.

Now, in only means you are allowed to wait inside instead of outside but I have struck lucky because I am being allowed to wait on a bay.

I will let you know how long it takes to unload these two pallets of very important goods .

I was out in around an hour which is pretty good for this Asda.


I was on Wood delivery duty and this meant delivering to tiny farms and lumber yards around the Oxfordshire countryside.



The last place was tucked away but I found it and it turned out to be massive.

What I didn't expect to find was an abandoned boat.

I found an old red bull truck tucked away.


I was out for a few nights this week and all the places I have been seem to of blended into one.

This is the truck when converted into my home.


I was asked to deliver here in Melton, the poshest drivers room you have ever seen.

Its a shame they were the rudest as well.

I made the comment that there was a lot of signs telling you what Not to do but none actually telling you where to go and what To do.
It didn't go down to well and I sat for a lot longer than I would of done If I had of kept my mouth shut.

This polish truck had been there so long he had dropped his beer can.

They did have some really nice kit though. Old classic stuff,even the shunters were well kept.




I started and finished at our Thatham depot twice this week and had to make my way to Harwich once as well.

I found this car of the week at the customers.
Scrap tractors and heavy haulage were the best things I saw on a boring drive back to Base and then.Probably the easiest drop in the world...


I was back to base on Friday morning and was doing a few local pickups when I found this transporter and wondered how it misses the roof of the car underneath.


As I sat waiting to be loaded for my last days delivery's I watched this bin lorry at work,

A little while later a man came over and asked me if I had seen anyone hit the down pipe on his building?

It was pulled off when he lifted the other bin up next to me, I said "no mate, sorry" !