Well I got the phone call. Not quiet what I was expecting but it was a start. My trainer had got most of the way back to come and get me when they decided to divert him west. So instead of one of these. (or a Freightliner)
Day cab duty... In probably the oldest nineteen nought blob truck on the fleet. starting at 0230 in the morning …..good job im used to getting up at that time in a morning. I have driven some sheds in my time but this …well im lost for words. But if I was the management, I would have put me in that one first anyway, knowing full well that us European truckers are used to driving modern technology and not something with a crash box my dad learned to drive with. Anyway I got there a little early (there I go again, on time) I got the truck took it down the yard and hooked up, all by my myself double clutching and everything. I was well impressed till the driver that was going with me turned up, Mark, then I went all to pot. Our first drop was in Oromocto at 5am got there bang on time. Dropped the trailer then normally Mark would do some shunting round the yard , but we did not need to so just stood chatting to the other Ayr Motor trucks while we all got off loaded.
Tim Hortons Drive Thru 6am
I started to get the hang of going up the gearbox by the second coffee run but going back down the gearbox is such a pig. You normally go down the box when coming to a stop. In order to stop you have to brake, in order to come down the box, you have to blip the throttle on every gear change. You need the same foot for both, so after pealing Mark off the windshield a few times, I still have not got the hang of it. I never spilt his coffee down him though….I must try harder next time. Once we got our trailer back, I had a play at backing up and parking between trailers in the yard. I thought backing onto the bay first time was a fluke, but no, turns out im a wiz kid at that. Must be all that practice of backing onto awkward Woolworth loading bays that helped me as its no different been sat on the other side of the truck. After the other boys that was on the bays went for there next load we could go and get ours so it was down to Nackawick for a load going back to the yard ready to go on. We finally got back to the yard and done for 3pm. Now I get the weekend off then im back doing this till middle of next week. Hopefully my trainer will be back by then so I can start earning and learning. But the good thing about day cab town work, I do get to have lots of practice at going up and down the gearbox all day polishing up the only thing im bad at. One of the trainees did Mark a favour last week by blowing up the old banger he was driving before. Now if I go and drop a gearbox out of this one, Maybe then, they will have to give us something proper to play with.
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