Lorry Day

Lorryday Won't go Away

2015-04-23T11:47:00.001+02:00

I have been away from this blog for a while, Stopped driving lorrys, let my CPC run out and lost all enthusiasm for anything , especially writing.

I lost my Mum just over a year ago now and it seems like yesterday.

We all feel like grown ups and think we are independant and ok on our own but losing a parent, even at this age changes your life forever.

I am trying and hoping to make her proud and part of starting the blog again is to hopefully move on and try and get back to normal.

Normal is different now though.

I have started driving a truck again though. On Recovery No CPC as yet Tacho free as well.
My Recovery company is called The Car Collector and has an advert on Gumtree here

I've also picked up another one to sell but it seems not many operators like the double deckers.

As if that wasnt enough.
Ive also started a new company called The Drinks Bus with this.

More details on the bus later but please take a look at www.thedrinksbus.com when you get a minute.

Looks like I will have plenty more Lorrydays ahead of me and I look forward to sharing them with you all.

The Legend of Greystoke

2014-01-12T20:54:00.000+01:00

I was feeling pretty disillusioned by my job and "The Job" in general and after weeks and weeks and weeks of mundane delivery's, I was finally given something to get my teeth into.

After days and days without even looking at my camera, I used it until the battery died yesterday and it saw some wonderful and interesting things.

The cyclists have priority in the Lake district, have you seen the size of this cycle lane?

First to Greystoke, but I wasn't returning a lost boy, raised by apes deep in the jungle, No I was bringing drainage pipes to the owner of Barclow Hall, a magnificent looking building in its own right.

After my brief dip into Legend, I made my way to The lakes.

I have never seen such beauty through the windows of this truck. The mountains looked so bright and the water was just stunning. So flat and crisp , it was like watching HD.!

It was a little hazardous though because it was also teeming with civilians, obviously on their holidays and lots of them look like they have lost their skis and are walking around with just the poles.

It made my job a little harder because they have stand in the middle of the road,usually on a bend,in groups and just stare at the trucks, an innate grin on their faces as if we shouldn't be there.

The lakes delivery was a complex , made up of holiday cottages all scattered around Lake Windemereand I have to say it was magnificent.

The actual cottage I was delivering too was at the bottom of a tiny shingle track and the door of the cottage actually opened up onto the lake.

I was taking whole heating system down to it and had to travel very carefully.
When you looked through the building you could see the lake on the other side,lapping at the patio.
It reminded me of The boat house in Godfather, I didn't want to go swimming with the fishes like Frank so I set off to another part of the lake district,Heysham, near Morcambe.

I had collections and delivery to make still and I knew I wasn't going to get back home so I worked on getting to the M6 and finding somewhere to stop , as near to home as possible.

I thought Lymm would be good as I had an hour left after my lost drop in Preston but the office wanted me a little nearer.

I filled up at Knutsford and that's where the first annoyance of the day occurred and started to tinge,what had been a brilliant day.

I have a small fuel tank on the Iveco and it needs filling twice a day on a long run so I decided to nip in to the BP at knutsford.

There was a long queue as usual so I had to pull up behind what I thought was next in line, I waited and waited and no one in the three trucks in front appeared.

Ten minutes passed and with a long line of trucks behind me and the exit being blocked, patience was running thin.

I hadn't seen any one fill the trucks or even appear so when one moved along it was a great relief to pull up to a pump.
Disaster. the pump is a key fuels , so even though its a BP station , I cant use that particular pump with my card, out of all those pumps I drew the blank.

With my exit blocked by an army of irate truckers I was forced to squeeze back through and join another queue at another pump.

This pump had an empty lorry parked at it for over twenty minutes and it was obvious he was taking a break while he ate BP donuts and drank BP coffee.

I was finally parked at a pump and then had to join another queue, a human one this time, just to hand my fuel card in before I could even fill up.

The new garages are now coffee shops that also provide fuel, so while your trying pay for the fuel and get on your way, the cashier will ask the person in front, "Fancy a Coffee? and before you know it, they are stood at a cappuccino machine for another ten minutes asking them if they want chocolate sprinkles..

I had been to the garage and filled up ,but were still not finished, the office reckon I can make Sandbach services, a very poor services on the M6 just outside Stoke.

I made it with 3 minutes of driving time left and pulled onto my 25 foot by 10 foot of concrete and took out the digi card.

I went in to pay for the parking and was horrified to find out they wanted £25 with a £10 food voucher or £21 without a voucher.

I opted for the one with a voucher, thinking a free meal was a bargain.

How wrong could I have been, I would of rather of not eaten than experienced what Roadcheff had to offer that night.

First impressions of the restaurant were, it was closed because I couldn't see any food. They had nothing out on show in the front and didn't even have a picture of any items they offered.

My first two choices were not available and when I say choices I use the term very lightly, I didn't even want to order anything but the lady that sold me the coupon said It would run out tomorrow and I was leaving at 4 am and wouldn't have time for breakfast so I felt compelled to at least get my moneys worth.

I finally settled on bangers and mash and was told it would be ten minutes.

It actually took 15 minutes and when it arrived, it took me all my self control to not send it back.

It actually looked like a dogs dinner, the sausages were dry and split and shriveled at the ends and the mash looked grey and flat, the gravy was swirling around it like a river of grease that looked more like pollution than food and the actual portion size wouldn't of filled a child, if it had of been edible.
Add to this the fact that this meal should of cost £9.10 with the flat sprite that accompanied ,and its no wonder that nobody else was in there.

I have been to some great service stations and some great canteens, where the food on show looks and smells incredible and people queue up to buy it, I think Roadchef need a field of dreams mentality,

Build it and they will come. Well cook it and charge a fair price and the people will buy it, but don't even bother, and why should we?

These are some of my neighbours on the M6.

This is how I spent the night in the truck.

London and a bloody long day.

2013-12-15T18:49:00.001+01:00

London 5 days a week is a little bit like ground hog day without the fluffy little creature.

I usually get to my truck at 4.30 am and arrive at my load destination for 5.00 am.

After watching the shunters and loaders, loading empty lorries for a few hours they eventually load me with 20 tonnes for central and southern london.
Twenty tonnes is about 24 pallets on my truck and that will all need fork lifting off at various London stores with varying degrees of access ranging from virtually none to very, very tight. Take into account pedestrians, motorcycles and the cyclists that insist of appearing at practically every corner of the truck whenever I find myself still enough to attempt to unload, and it makes for a very, very long day.

The Job would be easier if we were loaded at roughly the time we arrived but since we are at the bottom of the pecking order, ( a nice bit of information handed to me by one of the loaders) we will have to make do with crossing our fingers and saying hail mary's when ever we pull into the company's yard.

I had a long run the other day and it set me back at least a day and resulted in an unscheduled night out at Toddington. 6 stores in London , starting at Forest Hill and ending at Enfield , via Highgate, Wapping, Vauxhall and Mile End. It was dark when I arrived at Enfield and he was shutting the store and I was just 4 minutes shy of a 9 hour drive. I arrived at Toddington with a minute to spare and £9 worth of meal vouchers to spend. The problem with having a £9 meal voucher at Toddington is that nothing is edible that can be purchased with one. The food in the cafe is awful and the staff just wander around ignoring any one that comes into eye contact with them, the food is all out of sight and everything you see on the menu boards that looks about half decent is not available. The burger king offers a HGV menu but only up to the value of £3.99 so you lose out on half of your voucher and are restricted to King meals with awful over cooked onion rings and fizzy drinks.

I wasn't able to load back in Leicester until 7 am the next morning but to be honest , it didn't make much difference

Lorry Days, I love Em !!

2013-11-16T11:12:00.001+01:00

The week was a good one really, no difficult deliveries and nice long days being left alone by the office.
Ran out of hours in Lymm and had a really long sleep from 5 pm until about 2 am before I realised and then woke to the sound of the rain thundering down on the tin roof of the scania.

The wind picked up and that slowed me down going over the M62 to Huddersfield where I had the trickiest 1 pallet collection of my life !
A tiny engineering place in the middle of a town called Honley. It would be easy if you knew it but finding it for the first time was a nightmare, I found it and then the lift truck driver told me that usually the bigger trucks park up and ring them and they bring the goods over to them, "your lot usually send a 7 1/2" he shouted out to me while i was busy fending off the school run mums and the doctors daily line up of poorly pensioners !
I escaped with my dignity, just, and set off back home with my 1 precious pallet to Brush, home of the electric motor and an amazing engineering complex. Its a funny old place, a bit like a time warp, jobs that just seem to be for one bloke,
I mean if you have a pallet for a certain part or division then nobody else apart from that one man can take it off, the tricky part being that you're not allowed to know who that person is until the last one has come and looked and tutted and grimaced and then went away again. I got the name of the man I wanted after a few had inspected the pallet.
he;s on break mate, ill send him over after!
Lorrydays , I love em !!

New App launch

2013-11-14T23:31:00.002+01:00

I have been busy with the APp world again and finally released the long awaited ( by me anyway ) secret diary App.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/secret-diary-adrian-mole/id732711749?mt=8

Along with my other Apps , this one will hopefully start rising up the App store charts and keep me busy promoting it and writing for it.

In the mean time I will drive my 32 tonne scania to Norwich with 7 tonne of Class 8 Hazardous goods on board.

Lorry Driving, forums & all that Crap!

2013-11-02T15:16:00.001+01:00

As a Lorry driver I get to see a lot of the country.
Mostly its the arse end of the country to be honest , and it can make you cynical and pessimistic.
As an antidote to all that cynicism and pessimism I write this blog and I now also publish Apps.

This gives me some hope that I wont be driving lorries for the rest of my life, and it gives me something to look forward to.

Even though I know I will be driving lorries for the rest of my life, I can at least pretend I wont be when I'm dragging my tired body out of my warm bed at 3.30 in the morning to head down to london in a 32 tonne wagon to moffett 20 tonne of tiles into spaces that were never designed to be accessed.

It pays the bills and it isn't as hard as being a coal miner or as dangerous as being fireman but its not the best job in the world.

Its also not a difficult job to do either as some would have you believe.

I do however reserve the right to complain about my job.
I have just as much right as the next person to moan.

I used to post on the Truckenet UK forum, I even used to write a small piece for them each month.
This blog used to be posted up on the Truck & Driver website so I know a bit about having an online presence.

The sad thing now is that anywhere you write an opinion about anything these days, others jump down your throat and line up to insult you.

If you mention that work gets you down, "Give it up then" , "muppet" they type, or "stop complaining and get another job fool" they post.

If you mention things you see out on the road ," wannabee copper" they put, "get back to your sad blog , ( as if anyone reads it)" they put.

Before you can even get a decent discussion going ,the keyboard warriors pile in and spoil every thread.

I write because I like to write and I like to share what I see out and about and I like to find out that others have the same experience's as me .

Its good to find out that others feel the same way as you and that you're not alone.
Basically I write and I publish Apps, I also drive a truck and I don't care admitting that most days, I hate it.

One day I might be able to sit at home and get paid for it ,using my brain instead of my driving licence and thats what inspires me to get up and go out to work every day. It's called ambition and some of us have it and some of us don't, a bit like class really.

Here's some pictures and the links to the APPS. thanks for reading

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.examples.ratmyride

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rust_in_piece

http://www.appstore.com/ratmyride

http://www.appstore.com/rustinpiece

The Capital of the UK

2013-10-06T10:56:00.002+02:00

I'm in the Capital of the UK most days now and after a lot of initial reservations about being down in the middle of traffic mayhem I am finally getting used to it.

My Day starts out here though at 4 am, watching them load driverless trucks for Tamworth and Coventry, even though I'm sitting in mine waiting to be live loaded for the Capitol.

I will not be paying for this ticket though as other than bringing it all back, I had nowhere else to unload.

lovely example of a classic beetle

The back of this truck is like a magnet, as soon as I take the moffett off, people swarm around it like flies and cars flock to park behind it.

Once you've seen one big wheel , you've seen them all Officer!

I don't think this tyre is going much further

A picture of a big clock

Whitechapel really does look creepy in the daylight as well.

Photo Edited with Rat My Ride.

Not Much Room

This is where you are supposed to deliverer 10 Tonnes of tiles with a Moffett!

At last I have a new tyre on the moffitt, grip at last !

App Release Day , two new apps released on Android tonight

2013-09-28T01:03:00.001+02:00

I have written two Apps and released them on Android today

Rust In Piece allows you to take a picture of anything you see out on the road, add an effect or a caption or a slogan and send it direct to me at lorryday to share on the rust in piece page of this blog or share directly with friends or social media.

Its perfect for capturing those hidden or abandoned relics such as tractors, old trucks , cars that have seen better days, anything that you think needs sharing or better still saving.

When we know where they all are we can see if we can give them a new lease of life.

Download the app here for android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rust_in_piece

The 2nd App is called Rat My Ride.

This App allows you to Rat Look your ride , or truck or whatever you like.

You can take a picture or select one from you gallery, then choose what items you want to add,

you can choose from over 50 Rims, roof Racks, barrels, jerry cans, stickers and skateboards.

you can choose to add a speach bubble or even a clever thought cloud to caption your image and share the look with your friends.

See what looks you can create and download Rat My Ride for Free now
.https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.examples.ratmyride

London! Is it all that ?

2013-09-12T23:20:00.002+02:00

I have had the misfortune of having to drive a 32 tonne truck around central London, complete with M3 Moffett.

It's a long day and a long struggle to complete a full day within your hours and without getting into any trouble.

Its also extremely difficult just to get through all the jobs given to me without damaging anything.

There is so many things that can go wrong,

Parking the truck at the destinations is the first hazzard I come across, weight limits, red routes,ridiculous access points, bus lanes all conspire to ruin your day.

If I'm lucky enough to get anywhere near the door I have the next problem.

Pedestrian's.

They are all made of metal surely because they just swarm around the truck the minute I park it and get the moffett off. I'm sitting on a 2 tonne machine with spikes pointing out of it over 2 metres long and they just step out in front of you or worse , behind you.

Cyclists don't bother me in London though because I just assume they are all mad. You would have to be to risk death so many times in a day. Every day.

I'm wrapped up in 12 tonnes of truck and I'm terrified. Imagine being a scrap of Lycra away from certain death.

A2 closed , I was doing really well until then.

Last drop was just off Tower bridge.

Weight limit means we have to go the long way round.

Shard is everywhere you look.

What an earth have I done ? Work load increased!!

2013-09-07T18:40:00.001+02:00

After passing the test for lorry mounted fork lift. I've bitten off a lot more than I bargained for.

The work has increased by around 50 %

but the wages by around 5%.

Lots of work and very little play, thats the story of my new role at work.

We run out of a well known national tile company and they just happen to be situated in the countrys most inaccessible locations.

As well as awkward pallet sizes and shop locations , its also a full time job just getting loaded and getting out of there in the mornings.

This is my new piece of kit and yes I think its loaded on wrong as well. This picture was taken on my first day and I was told to keep the chains slack.

I have since been told to keep the truck level and the chains tight.

I arrive at the drop after a three hour drive, then work for an hour, taking off tiles, putting empty pallets back on, then I drive for another hour and do it all again and again and again.

Then I drive home. Another three hours.

I have a bunk in the truck, a rather nice 32 tonne scania, but I never get to lay on it.

The odd night out will be a welcome event rather than a chore now.

Enjoy the small post on here and then can anyone spot the classic at the bottom of the page.

2013-09-01T13:11:00.003+02:00

Since being back full time I have been finding it hard to update the blog as much as I would like but with the help of a few mobile devices and 45 minutes of statutory rest time I am going to be uploading a little every few days.

I am also building Apps for the iphone, Ipad and Android devices as well as delivering ridiculous sized pallets on the Palletways network for very little reward, other than the joy of seeing a job well done and a very happy customer of course.

Rust in Piece is the first release and is featured on its own page next to this blog post. I will work on the presentation of this page in the next few days.

Rat My Ride is another release due soon and also has its own page here on the blog.

Another App I am working on is a Secret Diary of Adrian Mole App.

Its a password protected diary and calendar with photo, music and notetaking included, as well as exclusive Adrian Mole content.
Users will also be sent Adrian Mole news and comment via in App notifications.

The Tool

2013-07-03T00:17:00.001+02:00

Being self employed is frightening.

Every thing about being the only person between you and the breadline is terrifying. Sleepless nights, cold sweats, knotts in your stomach when you suddenly remember a direct debits hitting the bank in the morning.

It's a ridiculous way to live and try to raise a young family.

But it's such an incredible feeling being in charge of your own time.

It's liberating knowing your going to make the school play, parents evening, the doctors appointment it took weeks to arrange.

You just don't realise how valuable being in charge of your own time really is until your not.

Circumstances dictate I'm no longer in charge of mine and I can tell you I hate it.

I would like to think its the same for every one in this profession but I know it's not.

Lots of regular day drivers will be at home right now after doing there 10 hours in their own comfy truck.

It's got another mans name down the side of it in massive letters , but they act Like its theirs. Stamping their feet and refusing to do collections , never letting other drivers drive it, refusing point blank to drive anything else. I've seen it all.

It's why I'm sitting on a bay in a stinker of a wagon after just doing 12 hours in a van and no doubt 3 more in this.

I should of learned my lesson really but like I said before. Circumstances dictated that I sold my time. It's all I had left

Lots of pictures , very few words.It's been emotional

2013-07-02T01:13:00.001+02:00

This is my first lunch

And this is my 2nd

Guess which one tasted better ?

My first delivery in Bosley up near Macclesfield. 7 am and not a sole in sight.

Bored and playing with the phones Apps

On the way out back to civilisation

The longest Day

2013-06-22T11:36:00.001+02:00

Yesterday was summer solstice,the longest day and very apt for me as I was thrown a surprise job that few drivers would of been happy with and even fewer would of accepted.

12:30 pm. Call from planner.

"Get out of your truck and jump into this blokes truck who's pulling in the yard in a minute. Pick up 1 item from Rugby and a 2nd man and head to Cardiff."

Fridge delivery up on the 10th floor of a private address and bring the old fridge back was the actual job. Unhappy customer trying to be placated was the reason a £500 delivery job was scheduled for a Friday afternoon with a two man crew in an otherwise empty truck.

Fair play to the manufacturer for going the extra miles, or 140 in this case but poor me for having to be the saviour of their weekend gathering with friends.

The pictures are not of the actual job or truck as I'm very discreet and any private customers and business practices will be respected. This blog is my own personal views and a record of my travels.

The big stuff !

2013-06-21T00:05:00.001+02:00

The nice thing about driving a big truck is not having to do many multi drops.

For those of you Eddie TV fans don't panic. The multi drop is not as dangerous or as difficult as the show makes out but they are a drag, especially when your tailifting in town centres.

Having a truck capable of carrying 20 tonnes means you don't do many mult drops and that's good.

I do get to see lots of heavy industry on my routes and today was a very sad day when I came across one particular industry.

It's a book graveyard.

People's musings, deepest thoughts, personal experiences , love story's , true crimes , every possible celebrity kiss and tell. They all end up here. Stacked and then pulped , piles and piles of words some in the right order, most in the wrong.

Being from a family that has benefited from someone's talent for getting them in the right order , it sends a shiver down my spine being around so many examples of people getting it wrong.

Other industry's involved in my day include the car industry and its an industry thriving at the minute in this country.

I do not however have any idea which part of the car industry these are intended for.

These classics were at the collection point.

Another lorryday done.

"An App for that" HGV Driving

2013-06-19T00:33:00.001+02:00

This App is called icar connect and you wouldn't believe the press release that accompanied its release.

While it makes some pretty bold claims , it is actually pretty useful while using the phones music features. I wouldn't use it for texting under any circumstances while driving though and I'm pretty surprised they are even allowed to refer to making texting easy while driving.

Here is a part of the review on App picker.com

Many features in this app are designed so as to be easy to use while you’re driving, making texting friends and using online features much safer and more convenient.

Because of this, many of the icons and keys are presented in an extra large format so you can easily tap them without having to take your eyes off of the road for too long. iCarConnect uses a very generic visual interface which, while not the prettiest thing ever to grace your iPhone, does definitely serve its purpose of being easy to use.

I'm back !!

2013-06-18T15:26:00.001+02:00

The lorry day blog is coming back with a new vigour and hopefully some locations.

I've been away for a while and things haven't gone exactly how I'd planned but I've got a new truck and a new enthusiasm for lorry driving that I thought I had lost.

Ill see you around hopefully

Leeds for a delivery to ever build earlier.

The day the freelancer dies

2013-06-14T19:15:00.001+02:00

These are all taken on the road in my truck.

I drive for pleasure and I drive for a living but that living is getting increasingly hard to make.

With the work drying up for lorries all across the country and contracts being lost. Blue chip businesses now favour sub standard pallet networks over a dedicated haulier. It's a blessing if I get three days work in a row these days.

That was fine in the days when you were paid a weeks wage after a weeks work but in these days of corporate greed and giants of industry vs the underdog it's us, the under dog who suffers. 30 and 60 days to wait for a weeks pay is blatant exploitation and pretty unsustainable, especially in a climate of austerity and cut backs.

Store groups and large companies screw us down in a hundred different ways and hitting is where it hurts I think is below the belt.

Roll on August.

The "Booby" tells me off

2013-03-29T15:07:00.001+01:00

There are many things in my driving life I thought I'd never see but a container driving tipping his self at an RDC wasn't one of them.

Roll up magna park then on Wednesday and at 7:15 am and faced with a long wait or the use of the warehouses pallet truck me and a three of my European cousins
disgraced our profession by unloading our trailers and contributing to the downfall of our industry.

I watched as grown men , me include. struggled with double stacked pallets of Jvc Tv s and pc monitors. Pallet after pallet came off these trucks and each one tapped the nail in the coffin that little bit further.
The death knoll sounded as we crushed our own pride into the dust of the warehouse floor.

I was further humiliated on Thursday morning by a member of the public , all be it a few times removed.

The booby is a woman known to some ad a down trodden

Eat My Shorts !

2013-03-17T13:47:00.000+01:00

I have been a driver of Hgv's for over 5 years now and it has dug me out of more than a few holes.

When I have been out of ideas and up against the wall , I have been lucky enough to be able to grab a few shifts and earn a decent living for the family.

I was driving full time and was ties to the company, every early start and late night was less time at home and less time away from my wife and kids so I decided to try something else and become more of a husband and father and less of a lorry driver.

It went OK for a while but as the weeks past, I was earning less and less and eventually I had to admit defeat and go back to driving again.

I only do it on my terms now and that means being able to say no to certain shifts if something important is happening , like a child's birthday or a school sports day, or a parents evening, stuff I was previously missing.
It doesn't always make financial sense to miss these shifts but it makes sense for our home life, My wife gets help with the kids, I get to see them more and they get to find out that I am really that grumpy all the time. Its sort of a win win !

Eat My Shorts !

After a lot of snow I was delivering here and hoping it wouldn't get any worse.

Trying to get unloaded after a long shift has got to be one of the worst things ever. watching a forklift going back and forwards to the bins isn't helping my mood either !!

Hazardous loads are my thing! but I had to be creative with my security tags when this sign failed !

Customer wanted truck to garage service.

Heathrow, in fact any airport, has always fascinated me.

Working trucker

2013-01-25T16:29:00.001+01:00

I am back at work.
After a good few heart stopping weeks without any work and a lot of sleepless nights I am finally back in the world of the working trucker.

Three days this week and three next is enough to keep the kids in school dinners and new shoes for the next few weeks at least.
Even though I've come to a juddering stop in the pride of the fleet ( not ) on the ring road in Northampton, I am confident I will still be employed to drive another one and hopefully a better one.

It's been an hour since I rang in and no sign of the rescue party yet but I'm confident that ill still be driver number 1 come Monday.

Baron month shows no sign of recovery

2013-01-20T18:38:00.001+01:00

After an awful start to the month of December which included three funerals and a jobless 28 days, I can see no sign of a recovery.

With no rise in output over the Christmas period and no expected Christmas rush arriving , things were and still are , pretty dire.

My regular customer usually has me in one of their trucks at least three times a week but I've had one day since December 7 th
Until last Friday.

Then just as the whole county were getting ready to climb back under the duvet after spying a 2 cm covering of white stuff out of the window, I dragged myself out of mine and set off up the motorway towards Liverpool.

It was a long day and I really appreciated the chance to earn a few quid but when I got back we had had a visitor and I really wish i could of been there to see him.

The lights are on, but no one is home !

2012-12-04T13:49:00.000+01:00

I haven't had many shifts these last few weeks so I decided to write a couple of weeks worth of blogs with all the subjects that have jumped into my mind along my travels.

First stop East Midlands airport and a sad sight. An empty office and a deserted car park, one that was once full of people's or more accurately , workers cars. All you can see now is a empty office and lots of lights left on.

As the Christmas season approaches and the usually busy period is supposedly upon us my work seems to of dried up.

My usual customer has gone from needing me 3 -4 days a week to just 1 or 2.
I'm trying to diversify but I have never really got on with agency's.

I love this VW scrap yard in the West Midlands. I have always been fascinated by the VW beetle and Camper and often stop here after collecting my hazardous load and just admire the view.

I suppose this is another site we will lose from the high street and retail parks. It will probably survive in the on line world though but at what cost to the humans that used to work for them.

One reason for me wanting to take my class on, was to one day drive things like this in the above picture.

I have still never taken my class 1 and with the wage gap paid to all class's of HGV driver shrinking all the time, I now dont think its worth the extra effort and expense to take it.

This was Colwyn Bay at about 7 am, A nice early delivery of timber to a joiners yard just around the corner from this wonderful view.

Well worth the 45 minutes I paid to the Tachograph for this.

Self explanatory picture really, I was in Wales so obviously I saw Sheep.

I've done lots of London delivery's in the last few weeks and the same policy always applies. Get in and get out. As fast as possible, but I was in the fortunate position to be on Oxford Street at 6 am the other morning as it was incredible seeing the lights with very little traffic on the road.

I was sadly without my camera due to a few technical issues with the iPhone.

This brings me on to my next topic, its Technology and how much we rely on technology without realising it.

My iPhone crashed just before I went to bed for an early start in the morning. countless restarts and reboots and all other of processes didn't bring the iPhone back to life so I booked an appointment with the Apple store on line and finally went to bed.

The earliest appointment was in two days time so as well as having to have a day off work to have it fixed,

I was also going to incommunicado for two days.

As I work for myself it is the only number most people have for me and also being an iPhone , it also carries every number I own.

Its not just the phone I was going to miss, most deliverys I make are difficult to find and the iPhone is instrumental in getting me to most of them with its easy internet access letting me find the businesses phone numbers or proper post codes.

In the morning I had to resurrect an old Nokia handset, mangle a way of getting the iPhones new mini sim into it and set off into the information wilderness.

It was a bleak cold feeling to start with and drivers room seemed an even lonelier place than usual without my own tiny screen to stare into but after a while, I began to feel free, I looked up and even caught a few eyes and exchanged a few tiny nods with other drivers.

When it came to ringing the office I simply rang the land line and was put through rather than ringing the planners mobile.

It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and after the 2nd day I can honestly say I didn't really miss it.

I came out of Apple with another new iPhone as my phone had indeed died and I put the old Nokia back in the drawer and looked at it with a new found respect and slid the drawer shut with a heavy heart clutching my new phone. and wondering would I ever need it again.

I write this blog on my iPhone and use it for taking all my photos now so I doubt it, I also hope not but if I do now I know it wont be the end of the world.

Card trouble

2012-10-26T12:54:00.001+02:00

I've not picked up many shifts last week so I was glad to Jump into a nice new truck on Friday morning. The firm wanted me away nice and early as usual so I got myself settled in the truck, inserted the digi card in the tachograph and apart from a very loud whirring sound, not a lot else happened until it came out again.
After repeating the process countless more times I finally accepted that the card that was only a few months old, was knackered.
This brings up a whole new set of problems and having just been the subject of a random vosa stop check in Manchester last week, I wasn't best pleased.
Driving with a malfunctioning card is legal provided you take vehicle readouts before and after your shift, inform the DVLA as soon as is physically possible and no longer than 15 calendar days from the fault occurring. Easier said than done when you think about the unsociable hours that most of us work.
So I have to send my defective card off(done) and they agree to send me a new one in 5 days for free. Seems ok to me so long as everything goes smoothly and the postal system works'!
I was in Maidstone today and still driving on printouts which is a little off putting with the tacho sign flashing all day but I am getting used to it.
I'm still waiting for my last collection now and the clocks going back have made it pitch black here in the yard

I made it back at 7:30 tonight but luckily I'm not starting until the same time tomorrow.

Rough with the smooth

2012-10-16T14:19:00.001+02:00

I talk a lot in this blog about the long hours, the early starts and the shifts that go wrong.

Sometimes you can get a lot of these shifts in a row, it's called a working week. Day after day of early starts, late nights and hard to deliver loads.

I was looking at one of those weeks yesterday, when I started at 5 and was due in Bridgetown for 9.
I was on schedule but with 12 miles to go on the M5, I hit traffic, due to an accident and everything stopped.
My delivery time came and went and I was eventually held up for over three hours at the RDC.

With severn more deliverys in and around Bristol still to make, I was fighting an uphill struggle.

I managed to get everything delivered by 5 pm and headed back up the M5, eventually arriving back at base at 7.30 pm.

On the way back I was given my run and truck number for the next day.
My old 12 tonner and a 9 am start, one drop fradley and a collection at 2 pm.
That a nice, relaxing day. The only thing I have to worry about is not falling asleep for to long and miss my 2 pm arrival time.
Well I got here nice and early and since the last time I was here they have built a macdonalds. Nothing for me though I ate out last night. ( see pics).

In this job you have to take the rough with the smooth, it's just a shame that there is usually a lot more rough than smooth.

Lorry Day

Lorryday Won't go Away

The Legend of Greystoke

London and a bloody long day.

Lorry Days, I love Em !!

New App launch

Lorry Driving, forums & all that Crap!

The Capital of the UK

I'm in the Capital of the UK most days now and after a lot of initial reservations about being down in the middle of traffic mayhem I am finally getting used to it.

App Release Day , two new apps released on Android tonight

London! Is it all that ?

What an earth have I done ? Work load increased!!

Another App I am working on is a Secret Diary of Adrian Mole App.

Its a password protected diary and calendar with photo, music and notetaking included, as well as exclusive Adrian Mole content.Users will also be sent Adrian Mole news and comment via in App notifications.

The Tool

Lots of pictures , very few words.It's been emotional

The longest Day

The big stuff !

"An App for that" HGV Driving

I'm back !!

The day the freelancer dies

The "Booby" tells me off

Eat My Shorts !

Working trucker

Baron month shows no sign of recovery

The lights are on, but no one is home !

Card trouble

Rough with the smooth

Its a password protected diary and calendar with photo, music and notetaking included, as well as exclusive Adrian Mole content.
Users will also be sent Adrian Mole news and comment via in App notifications.