1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200 
Truck drivers are human too
Page 66
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
When can reversing a 44-tonne artic into a lamppost be a good thing? When it shows the public that truck drivers are human after all, writes Simon Coulston
At last some good news. This month started off on a higher note than the last two with no hijackings or truck break-ins to report.
We heard that two big contracts that we had been waiting patiently for had been secured:one delivering sweets for a major confectioner into Ireland and the other a more local contract delivering wheelie bins.
It's going to be manic as Fit have to combine being out on the road with managing the phones, but I'm sure we'll cope.
The celebrations didn't last long, however; a few days later I reversed my truck into a lamppost. I went to see what damage had been done and found the trailer had survived but the lamppost was in a somewhat sorrier state having been torn completely out of the ground.
Did anyone come and help me? No they didn't. In typically British fashion everyone slowed down to gawp, catching flies as they drove merrily past.
However, when I got home I thought more about the incident and how some good could possibly come out of it.
I'm hoping that it showed onlookers that truck drivers are in fact human and that despite the preconceptions that people may have about us and the job that we do, reversing a 44-tonne artic is not a simple task.
Car park encounter
I had another similar experience when delivering to B&Q.
The car park was busy so had to park across a couple of spaces. The next thing I knew there was a young woman knocking on my cab." What are you doing parked here?she asked.
Slightly confused,! asked her what she was doing there.
"I'm shopping. I'm a valued customer so I should be here," she replied haughtily. Rattled,! asked her how she thought the goods got on the shelves in the first place. Did B&Q angels swoop down each night and gently place them in the stores for the good people of the town?
Unfortunately, the woman had no reply for my flight of fancy.
On a slightly lighter note (or should that be heavier?) my solution to the driver weight problem has come at the right time, if recent RDC queues are anything to go by.
Regular readers will remember my idea for the more rotund drivers out there to fix a punch bag in their trailers to keep fit and shed some of their weight.
Well, there could well be a lot of slimmer drivers out there doing battle with their punch bags while waiting in these interminable RDC queues. How better to fill your time? And it's lot cheaper and tastier than the Cabbage Soup, GI or South Beach diets, too...