truck driving jobs

[Reaper]

I have only had 1 truck driving job because I have had my licence for 10weeks, I applied for so many jobs to no avail and all came down to "not what you know but WHO you know".
so I am now driving a HR cement mixer for a small concrete company, and gain experiance driving those god awful road ranger gearboxes.
I went from a car licence to a HC which is a giant step, my goal is to get experiance then work for a bigger company for the bigger $$$$'s

I'm driving the biggest piece of sh!t in ther fleet, if I get a flat tyre I have to change it, I also have to repair my truck with assistance if it breaks down, I don't mind it is all experience.
my career change is on track..

Wow - didn't realize you could go from car to HC in one step. Had to have HR for at least a year back when I got a truck license. Thus never went beyond HR. Road rangers are the bomb though. managed to get thru the test and never driven one since. Would probably struggle bigtime now lol.

Reaper

[jatsvl]

I have no gps, my street directory is five yrs old with no cover,
9 spd crash box with a transfer case and an extra drive shaft to turn the mixer bowl.
I don't have the luxury of being able to shift my load, it is wet cement.
my turning circle, I can live with.
NO AC, just wind the only window that works down.
gutless motor, tell me about it 0-60 in about 2.5kms fully loaded. 7th gear, top speed 85kms/hr, I piss B-doubles of on the expressway.
seating position V's gear shift absolutely sucks, but your description is just funny.
my seat works, But I didn't realise until 2 weeks after I started driving it, so I was bottoming out all the time and using my left leg as a shocker.
my roof is holding up, my plastic dash has no screws in it and nothing lines up any where.
my rear brakes locked up 2 days ago for about 25mtrs, I was pretty impressed, looked better than when I used to bag up my vl.
I haven't check the year on mine, but I'm pretty sure it is not as old as I think it is 2350G.
funny as hell to know there is somebody who shares the same sentiment and quite possibly is worse of than me.

[MikeCuzzy]

I have no gps, my street directory is five yrs old with no cover,
9 spd crash box with a transfer case and an extra drive shaft to turn the mixer bowl.
I don't have the luxury of being able to shift my load, it is wet cement.
my turning circle, I can live with.
NO AC, just wind the only window that works down.
gutless motor, tell me about it 0-60 in about 2.5kms fully loaded. 7th gear, top speed 85kms/hr, I piss B-doubles of on the expressway.
seating position V's gear shift absolutely sucks, but your description is just funny.
my seat works, But I didn't realise until 2 weeks after I started driving it, so I was bottoming out all the time and using my left leg as a shocker.
my roof is holding up, my plastic dash has no screws in it and nothing lines up any where.
my rear brakes locked up 2 days ago for about 25mtrs, I was pretty impressed, looked better than when I used to bag up my vl.
I haven't check the year on mine, but I'm pretty sure it is not as old as I think it is 2350G.
funny as hell to know there is somebody who shares the same sentiment and quite possibly is worse of than me.

And that is why whenever I am near trucks (which is most of the time in my area), give the driver as much room and time as I can. Those things would be crazy difficult to drive, I've no idea why people in Hyundai Getz's decide that a) they can take on a truck and b) they are better drivers because their car is the size of a bar fridge.

[jatsvl]

Wow - didn't realize you could go from car to HC in one step. Had to have HR for at least a year back when I got a truck license. Thus never went beyond HR. Road rangers are the bomb though. managed to get thru the test and never driven one since. Would probably struggle bigtime now lol.

Reaper

in S.A. you can, you must do a 2 day 19hr mostly theory course Training In Lieu of Experience (T.I.L.E.) when I did it we had 1 bloke from N.T. and 2 from N.S.W. came here and spent a couple of weeks, they do thier course, training and get there licence, then go home sit on it for a month then transfer it to there local licence. thats how you get 20/21yr old semi drivers.

[DAZ60L]

And here I was thinking about complaining about my job......in the late 90's I did my HR in an acco......the worst truck and funniest story was when I first started at a big red and white freighter company lol......they game me the yard slut truck an old s line freightliner.... It had taken me two days to realise there is another gear hiding back over to the left. So when I went from bottom box to top it would just die in the arse..... Now the funniest part is that they let me take it home and one night got a knock on the door from firefighters asking me if the pile of ash in the street was mine or not......apparently a bunch of kids stole the foam fire extinguisher off the truck and set fire to the curtains in the bunk.... But the proceeded to terrorize the neighborhood setting things on fire and putting it out with the fire extinguisher.... After that no more take trick home.

[drewVHSS]

And here I was thinking about complaining about my job......in the late 90's I did my HR in an acco......the worst truck and funniest story was when I first started at a big red and white freighter company lol......they game me the yard slut truck an old s line freightliner.... It had taken me two days to realise there is another gear hiding back over to the left. So when I went from bottom box to top it would just die in the arse..... Now the funniest part is that they let me take it home and one night got a knock on the door from firefighters asking me if the pile of ash in the street was mine or not......apparently a bunch of kids stole the foam fire extinguisher off the truck and set fire to the curtains in the bunk.... But the proceeded to terrorize the neighborhood setting things on fire and putting it out with the fire extinguisher.... After that no more take trick home.

I would've paid to have seen that LOL, the only trucks i dont like are the all plastic/fibreglass semi's like western star's.
I was 100m behind one that hit the wall on the F3 last year and after the fire was put out, only things left were the chassis rails and the exhaust stack... the engine landed 250m up the road! No thanks.. I want metal around me!!!!

[DAZ60L]

Yeah for sure

[sporty custom]

currently do farm milk pick up around western district driving singles 19 mtrs and 25 mtrs best job ever pump it on pump it off no tarps blow a tyre pick up the phone and lay the seat back and wait. pull in to tanker bay go have your break come out tanker washes have washed it .end of your shift wipe floors over wash floor mat leave it the way you find it which is spotless. fuel it up fill ice chest refill sample bottles clock off not to much hard about that. cant see myself leaving that job anytime soon.$75.000to $80.000 a year not to bad either

[sporty custom]

most trucks have fibreglass gaurds and bonnetts not to sure how most drivers would feel about trying to pull all steel bonnett and gaurds open to do there daily checks even some of the fibrelass one are heavy enough western stars kenworths s lines volvos all have fibrelass fronts on them all except cab overs of caurse . so unless ya talking bedfords or leylands ya not gunna find to much steel all around ya. and if ya did wont do you any good 45.5 ton single 57ton 19 mtr 68ton 25mtr all mass manage figures there . the impact would kill you anyway .just saying.

[DAZ60L]

Sounds like a great job.....there definitely good work out there. Just gotta get lucky and take your chances.... Biggest problem I have found is that people stay at jobs they can't stand and just become poisonous people to be around. I'm a big believer of if your not happy leave. And most of the time the next jobs usually better cause you have learned. If your a good operator there is always work.

[markbaja]

I drove a lot of shit trucks in my time, and currently drive a nice truck. I do all melbourne work, with the occasional trip to the borders. It's v8 mercedes actros, fully automated, the whole lot. It's like driving a nintendo with all the buttons screens etc. The thing absolutely hammers too. 560 horse power and the note this thing makes puts some of our v8s to shame. Love the adaptive cruise, the fact it'll brake itself down hills, which is especially useful coming back on western highway from adelaide, down the pentlands. Oh, and those accos, I shudder when I see one. I drove one when I started, it was a rigid flat top that just carried 20ft boxes, and it was the worst ever shit box known to man. Even empty, the thing would barely do 75, it leaked in the rain, overheated in the summer, which made the cab 10 times hotter, but you'd freeze in the winter. I'm glad I blew the motor, because they scrapped it after that.

Sent from my Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk

[DAZ60L]

Awesome..... The mercs are pretty comfy machines hey...I don't mind the iveco stralis with the 550hp auto

[jatsvl]

so how was your truck driving job today? mine was as follows.



I found this manhole even though it was completely covered in dirt and gravel. 1 blown tyre cross member stopped it going in any further.

[DAZ60L]

The councils probably been looking for that hole and couldn't find it.

[I8.A4.RE]

@ jatsvl - Hope you informed council. Hope you pay for it too, cowboy.

[jatsvl]

@ jatsvl - Hope you informed council. Hope you pay for it too, cowboy.

NO! and NO WAY!
I made the hole visible for all other drivers and the council, now they know where it is they can fix it at their own expense.

[DAZ60L]

Yeah cowboy.... Lol another troll this forum is getting bad.

[drewVHSS]

so how was your truck driving job today? mine was as follows.



I found this manhole even though it was completely covered in dirt and gravel. 1 blown tyre cross member stopped it going in any further.

My friday was like this:[IMG][/IMG]

[DAZ60L]

Definitely need diff locks for that

[jatsvl]

as we know I now have only 4mths exp, my lob is going well, Ihad a blow out rear inner tyre a couple of weeks ago, 85kms/hr middle of no where, it can only be described as a bomb blast, unbeliveable amount of damage e.g. rear gaurd, taillights, number plate, my broom, my chute scraper in a million pieces all of the road all rear wiring for the taillights and mixer control blown apart. after clearing the road and zip tying my numberplate back on I was able to travel the remaining 10kms to the job, had to operate the mixer from inside the cab, by then support had arrived with a new tyre and I did the change but couldn't get the old tyre tread out from the inner hub it was wrapped up tight, so drove the 50ks back to the plant with the support vehicle behind me, with it dragging under the truck, arrived back without incident.

[jatsvl]

if someone can help with a little info PLEASE, maybe one of the more experianced drivers here like DAZ60L.

ok, so I have made a pretty good immpression at work with the bosses and other drivers, I have been driving other trucks there when mine is out of service,
hino 500 series, isuzu's, mitsubishi (shocker) and of course the inter acco,

they have a hino 700 series 8X4 16 spd syncro with double H pattern and splitter,
how do you operate the gearbox in this thing?
I may get the chance to drive it, I may not too, But I would like a little know how if the oportunity arises.
so if you can help please do. thanks in advance.

[drewVHSS]

is it a fuller eaton road ranger 16spd? if so, no diferent than the 8 spd in the acco mate just more gears in teh pattern

[jatsvl]

is it a fuller eaton road ranger 16spd? if so, no diferent than the 8 spd in the acco mate just more gears in teh pattern

no mate, I wish, it is a ZF 16spd double HH pattern with a splitter full syncromesh.
double H as in 8 gear positions then split for another 8 gear positions,
I think the truck is a 2007/8 model euro 4, imported from ireland.

[I8.A4.RE]

Yeah cowboy.... Lol another troll this forum is getting bad.

Another bad driver?

Not only did he recklessly destroy the Telstra pit lid, he failed to inform Telstra and posed a severe risk to pedestrians and other motorist.
I guess if you or a family member were walking, put your leg down the hole and broke it, you'd be ok with it?

Pffft.

[I8.A4.RE]

if someone can help with a little info PLEASE, maybe one of the more experianced drivers here like DAZ60L.

ok, so I have made a pretty good immpression at work with the bosses and other drivers, I have been driving other trucks there when mine is out of service,
hino 500 series, isuzu's, mitsubishi (shocker) and of course the inter acco,

they have a hino 700 series 8X4 16 spd syncro with double H pattern and splitter,
how do you operate the gearbox in this thing?
I may get the chance to drive it, I may not too, But I would like a little know how if the oportunity arises.
so if you can help please do. thanks in advance.

Why not ask the driver of the truck at your depot? Perhaps you should just ask to drive it to familiarise yourself with it rather than waiting for an opportunity.
They're pretty basic. You get to know which gears to use and what gears aren't really needed when laden or un-laden