Day 5 of 5 Day In The Life Of A HGV Tramper

My alarm went off at 0420hrs, good job it's Friday!

Managed to get a really good nights sleep, I did wake a couple of times, but did not hear the two trucks pulling away that were parked either side of me!

I was due on the docks in Southampton at 0700hrs, but wanted to get back to the yard and refuel.

This I managed to do and was on the docks bang on 0700hrs. It was quiet, and I was given two destinations to go to, one to get my box taken off, and another to get a full box put on.

I was on the docks for a little over 1 1/2hrs, I had hit shift change which slows things down a bit!

It was lovely watching the sun come up though.

Once I had my box on, I headed off to Milton Keynes, I had plenty of time to get there so I had a quick break at Rownhams for porridge, then it was off up the M3, M25 and M1.

No real hold ups and got there with plenty of time to spare. I went on into the site to see if I could get unloaded early and they let me in.

Parking on a bay in this location was a bit tricky as they do not give you much room to play with!

As you can see, not much room for error! You get the thickness of the yellow line on both sides and that's it. You can also see from the yellow tube, those that didn't get it quite right!

It's not like you had a great deal of room in front of the truck either as it was full of pallets!

The life of a truck driver can be a little boring sometimes, those pallets are stacked approx 20 high and 2 deep, which gives you an idea of how many there are. (sad as I counted them).

It was a quick unload, then a drive back to Southampton and home and finish for the week.

I got back and pulled my card at 1605hrs, driving 489km and with a drive time for the day of 7hrs and 18 mins.

So ends my week, 2085kms driven. That in all honesty was a fairly easy week. I spent 4 nights away which is good as you get paid extra for doing that.

I was glad to finish though, bring on the weekend!

Till later............

Day 4 of 5 Day In The Life Of A HGV Tramper

My alarm went off at 0430hrs and after an extremely long day yesterday I struggled to get up.

But after a brew and vehicle checks I was ready to go.

I had been left a key to the yard gates, so once opened replaced the key and slowly negotiated my way out of Dover.

It was just as tricky getting out, lots of parked cars to squeeze past but managed to get out without any wing mirror removal!

Now to Felixstowe where I took a break and swapped trailers. Mine was preloaded and due to be in Hungerford for 1400hrs.

Whilst on my break it was porridge time!

No problems going around the top of the M25 and out on the M4, a clean and easy run to just outside of Hungerford where the delivery point was easy to find with a nice big yard. An easy reverse onto a ramp and they set about unloading me.

It took just under 2hrs and as I was almost at 12hrs since I started decided to call it a day at Chievley Services and run in, in the morning. 

Stats for today were card out 1638 - 524km Driven total driving time 7hr 50mins

Paid to park £30.00 which is a bit steep considering the facilities are pretty poor.

Wasn't that hungry so grabbed a cheese and onion sandwich out of Mark's Spencer's for £2.00 (bargain) and decided to try out the method of toasting it in my Ridge Monkey pan.

It worked a treat! The Ridge Monkey is definitely versatile!

I read for a bit then got my head down as I was still tired

And so ends another day in the life of a Tramper!

Stats for the day - Card Out 1638 - 524km driven with 7hrs 50mins of driving time.

Till later....

Day 3 of 5 Day In The Life Of A HGV Tramper

Alarm went off at 0320hrs, managed to get a good night's sleep for a change - at least 6 hours! I was lucky that I did not hear any of the trucks going in and out of the yard.

Brew and vehicle checks then off onto Felixstowe Quay to have my 2 empty boxes taken off and 1 box put on.

The 2 boxes came off with no problems but when the crane tried placing my 40ft box on to my trailer it was snagging on my rear pin. 

So a bit of maneuvering and it dropped on to all 4 locator pins and I was off.

Destination Gillingham Kent, not to be confused with Gillingham Dorset!

Arrived at location, but still shut so it's now a question of waiting till they open up!

As I am right on the waters edge I took a picture.

I'm in an industrial part of town so no amusement arcades or candy floss here!

I did have time for my porridge whilst I was being unloaded, another stunning view!

I finished unloading around 1030hrs and had a reload in Dover booked for 1300hrs, so I got out of Gillingham and pulled over for a brew.

Off again and arrived at my location in Dover via some very narrow streets. It's not a nice place to drive an artic around.

The place I had to get into looked tight to say the least but it soon became obvious that no matter what angle I took it just wasn't going to work.

So plan be was to park at the top of the hill and they would fork lift the goods up to me.

The flaw to this plan was that the 7 ton forklift (not a tiny one)! Could not get the goods up the hill!

So I tried again, but with no luck. I wasnt going to risk damaging the truck as it was extremely narrow, it was on a bad camber and I ran the risk of either getting stuck, tipping over, or damaging body panels!

So plan C was to get a smaller truck, load it, drive it up the hill, unload and load onto my truck.

Matthew who owns Coombe Valley Transport in Dover turned up with an old DAF they use for shunting with a small trailer.

He also said my truck wouldn't of got in so I did feel vindicated and it wasn't my lack of ability that stopped me!

Trouble was, this all took time, which as a truck driver is something you cannot afford to loose to much of.

It was touch and go a couple of times that I even got loaded, it was a bit haphazard to say the least.

But eventually I did get loaded but was out of time!

This is where Matthew without hesitation said no problems you can park up in our yard overnight!

Anyone who knows Dover will know that it is virtually impossible to park a truck, so this really was a life saver.

What a total star and Gentleman,  not many of his like about these days!

I pinged a Macaroni Cheese in the microwave and wolfed that down, had a brew, spoke to Kiera and promptly fell asleep!

Stats for the day - Card out 1911, 239km driven with a total driving time of just 4hrs 16 mins.

Sounds an easy day, but it wasn't! 

Another day done! Till later...

Day 2 of 5 Day In The Life Of A HGV Tramper

The day started at 0420hrs when my alarm went off, but prior to that I woke at midnight and again at 0300hrs.

For me that was a good night's sleep!

After a brew and a check round the truck to make sure everything was working I managed to pull out of the truck stop at 0500hrs.

A quick 30 minutes later and I had arrived at my destination. Took a while to work out how to get into the complex, but once in I was backed onto a bay and they got on with unloading me, whilst I used their facilities and then snoozed for an hour.

I woke to a tap on the door, they had unloaded quicker than expected, I hadn't had time to even sort out a brew!

Paper work completed and made time for a quick brew and I sorted out where I was going next.

Over night the plan had changed. I was now going to a container company in Irlam where my box was coming off and a 20ft box was going on. 

I was then off to Felixstowe!

However due to high winds Health and Safety had kicked in and the place was shut down. I was told till roughly 1100hrs but that could change!

So I sat and drank coffee and watched YouTube. Nothing else I could do!

Eventually got in just after 1000hrs and found that I had 2 x 20ft boxes going on.

Loaded them on and once I had removed all the mud and debris off the boxes made my way South, heading to Felixstowe. 

You can see how muddy the site was, it's all dried but will set about cleaning it up later.

Currently sat on A421 in a layby on a break, once more looking at the rubbish. As you can see, bins have been provided but they are no good at all unless they are emptied!

Looks like these boxes I have on will be going on the quay tomorrow morning as I will of done over 12hrs once I get to Felixstowe. 

Well, I arrived in Felixstowe, fuelled up and parking in the yard was a nightmare! I was not in an ideal spot at all - right by the gate. Hopefully as I'm tired I'll sleep through all the trucks going in and out!

Made a cuppa with my new kettle, so much easier than gas and writing up this blog!

For tea tonight its Tesco's Corned Beef Hash which to be honest is rather nice!

I'll watch a bit of iplayer later and talk with Kiera who I miss terribly and then off to bed! Another day done!

Today's stats ended up as Card Out 1717hrs 462km driving time of 6hrs 27mins.

For a change a relatively easy day!

Till later........

Day 1 of 5 - Day In The Life Of A HGV Tramper

I was told on Friday that due to delays with the boats, there were no jobs first thing and to come into the yard for 0800hrs.

I arrived at 0730hrs so that I could unload all my kit and get a brew going before I start the day and put my card in.

Once I was sorted, my card went in at 0757. The clock is now ticking! Maximum working hours is 15.

Had a chat with a few of the other drivers and had a brew.

At 0900hrs I was given a job, down to the docks with my empty box to be off loaded, then a full box to be loaded onto my truck.

For a change it was lovely and quiet on the docks, as soon as I pulled onto a slot, the straddler was behind me waiting to lift off my box, Brilliant, first part done in less than 5 mins!

Onto another area of the docks for a full box, this time it took a little longer, just over 10 mins which again is a record time.

So all in all I was done on the docks in under an hour.

I decided to pull into Rownhams Services on the M27 to sort myself out and plan where I was going to stop for the night.

The delivery time was Tuesday at 0600hrs so I had plenty of time and didn't have to rush at all.

Had 1/2hr break, and headed up the road, I got to Cherwell Valley Services on the M40 and stopped again, as I would not of made it all the way to my nights destination before running out of time.

Had another 1/2hr which reset my tacho and I was off up North.

I had looked on the map and decided that my nights destination would be Lymm Truck Services just off the M6, a massive truck park, secure ish and easy to get in and out of.

I arrived around 1530hrs, went and paid for my parking £24.50 and signed off for the day.

Card came out at 1542hrs, I had driven 371km and a total driving time of 5hrs 17mins.

An easy day!

Its always good to get into a truck stop early as they fill up rapidly from around 1600hrs, by 1900hrs tonight this place will be rammed to the rafters!

Tonight I have left over Chinese Takeaway from Saturday night reheated in the microwave.

I'm going to watch a bit of TV on my ipad via BBC iplayer, possibly read a bit and that will be it!

An early night, and hopefully a good nights sleep with the alarm set for 0430hrs

I aim to be away by 0500hrs which gives me a full hour to get to my location. It should only take me 30 mins to get there so plenty of time in hand.

That's Monday done and dusted,

Till later........

Out With The Old - In With The New!

So I said farewell to my DAF XF truck - It was my first proper big truck and although it was probably the oldest on the fleet it did not let me down once.

But, it was time to say good bye as I was being lined up for a newer truck.

The new truck is a 67 plate (2017) Mercedes Benz Actros. As it's a newer truck it comes with a better specification than the DAF but essentially does the same thing.

For me personally the cab is the biggest improvement. Much more room than the DAF, and with more storage space which is always a bonus.

The other major improvement is that it has a microwave fitted that runs off a 1000w inverter.

I enjoy cooking, but sometimes, especially after a 15hr day it's just nice to chuck a pre cooked meal in and 4 mins later I'm eating. That is a real bonus.

It also means I can have a milky coffee first thing in the morning to kick start my body into action!

The bed is comfortable, which when you spend 4 to 5 nights a week in it is essential.

I have found that the black out curtains are not as good as the DAF, they let in the light around the folds at the top, so need to look into that.

The night heater is better and works off of a thermostat, not sure that the DAF had one, you could set the heat, but it was then either on to the temperature you had it set at constantly or you had it off!

The seat in the Mercedes is more comfortable as well, with lumber and back support, it did take me a little while to sort out the seat to get it right, and the first few days I ended up with back ache. But I've now got it sorted out.

I'll have to take some pictures of the cab, just haven't got around to it yet.

The gearbox on the Mercedes is not as good as the DAF, it does tend to need more time to think about which gear to select when at a junction.

Not brilliant for an automatic!

Sometimes it just goes into Neutral which makes life interesting when you put your foot down to go and there is nothing there!

Apparently this is a common fault with the Mercs, there is a knack to it which I've now got the hang of, you sort of trick it by feathering the accelerator just enough for it to select a gear.

The cab is also just slightly taller than the DAF with 5 steps to climb into instead of 4, but still has an overall height of 14ft 6in.

Overall I am pleased with it, just as well as I've got it for the foreseeable future!

I'm going to attempt to do a "week in the life of" type of blog, not sure how it will pan out, but as it is Sunday today, I'm going to give it a go of doing a day by day account of what I get up to and where I go, not sure how many pictures I can include as all the ports and some of the places I go are a bit iffy about photographs.

We shall see. Till later..................  

Long Over Due Update! Do People Still Read Blogs In 2019 ??

It's been a while hasn't it!

I really do not know where the time goes.

I have been incredibly busy, and taken on new challenges and regrettably had to let others pass me by.

So what have I been up to?

I guess there are two bits of major news, firstly my Lands End to John O'Groats is not happening!

It's not even been put on hold, it just is not happening. Time and money I'm afraid have put paid to that little escapade, which I am bitterly disappointed about, but what can you do - you need money to pay the bills!

Swanning off for a month with no income to back me up was just not acceptable, so the decision was made to call it off.

Those of you who have donated, rest assured, your donation went directly to my chosen charity "Pilgrims Bandits" but if you want the money back, after all I did not complete let alone even start then I completely understand and will repay you back myself.

My 2nd bit of news, and I'm sure most of you all ready know this but I have retrained and taken not just my HGV Class 2 licence but also my HGV Class 1.

I now drive articulated lorries long distance all over the UK. I work for a company that does nothing but containers from Ports around the UK.

The main ports I operate from are Southampton, London Gateway and Felixstowe.

I leave home on a Sunday night and usually arrive home, tired, dishevelled and a tad grubby on a Friday night, sometimes even Saturday!

So during the week I live in a truck with about as much living space as two average kitchen tables pushed together!

However, it is cosy and comfy and I nearly always manage to get a good sleep when I'm away.

Above is a picture of my truck with a rather fetching bright pink 40ft container.

I get to travel around the UK, spending my nights either parked up at our depots at the ports mentioned earlier or in service stations/truck stops.

Some places are better than others!

Cycling, well being away from home so much leaves little time to do anything, other than catch your breath, get ready for the next week and sleep.

To be honest I have not had the enthusiasm for it either, which is a real shame as I put loads of effort into getting fitter.

Being a trucker is not the most healthiest of lifestyles!

I'm really not sure what to do with this blog now, I could carry on documenting my travels of being a long distance lorry driver, what I see, where I go, but most of it can be seen either on my Facebook Page or via Instagram.

Do people read blogs anymore? Or is it more Vlogs? - video blogs where the content is recorded, and not written down.

Are blogs like this a thing of the past?

Who knows even how long the platform of blogger will actually operate for?

The other issue is time, when I started my other blog about living in a caravan full time - I had loads of time to dedicate to it.

Now, once I have parked up, I eat and almost immediately I go to bed, spending an hour writing really isn't going to happen.

But, by writing a blog it does create a diary for me, a log of what I have done and what I do over a period of time, and that for me personally is important.

So who knows, it's not like I am short of content, what with the places I travel, clocking an average of 1500 miles weekly.

Plus there is all the kit that I use and could review, one pot meals that I cook etc.

Content is really not the issue, it's time!