truck driving jobs

[Troy711]

I feel sorry for truckers especially with dick head drivers on the road. Just 2 days ago I saw a Rav4 cut in front of. Loaded B Double on approach to some traffic lights. The only thing that saved the Rav was that the truck high beamed him which gave him warning to move forward about a car length. The truck ended up about 2 feet off the back of the Rav. I do t drive trucks (never have and I doubt I ever will) but it still pisses me off the amount of ignorant drivers on the road whilst in the vicinity of trucks.

 

[elmaso]

quite alot of my family have driven trucks all around vic, one of my great uncles tipped his on its side, forgot how, but he did. lol
my grandpa did alot of driving during the 70's-90's and met heaps of the big transport company owners. for example the owner of linfox is apparently a complete prick hahaha.

i've thought about getting behind one, but to young now, got many years to think about it!

EDIT: in my driving i am very considerate to trucks, after having been bought up around the drivers, so i've heard any stories of close calls.
sorta makes you think "i'll just let that gigantic slab of metal pass"

 

[drewVHSS]

Adelaide, I payed $3,500 of my own money from my previous job and pretty much threw myself in the deep end with NO road ranger experience at all, I must admit it is not easy and a few times I thought I should chuck it in, no confidence! but I stuck in there and got better with more hours behind the wheel now I have a job with a road ranger and everyday getting more and more confident with every hour in the truck.
I don't mind learning in an old crappy acco 2350, because I have come to realise if I master this I can drive anything!

p.s. S.A. is the only state/territory in australia that will allow someone to graduate from a car licence to a semi. and it is a giant leap.
also it must be done in a road ranger not a synchro or auto.

Ha ha ha, we palmed our old acco to the batemans bay depot for christmas.... I feel your pain as the ol acco was my daily truck too with no tacho, no working speedo (rely on gps for speedo only) the only thing i liked about it was the under dash fresh air vent you can aim straight up ur shorts to cool ur nuts!!!!

 

[jatsvl]

Ha ha ha, the only thing i liked about it was the under dash fresh air vent you can aim straight up ur shorts to cool ur nuts!!!!

and it works well too! also the air con (wind the window down) works just the same, pity the passenger side is jammed.
my fuel gauge doesn't work but all the rest do, I would find pretty hard to match engine revs to road speed if they didn't, crunch, crunch, crunch I better go back and pick up the pieces.

 

[drewVHSS]

and it works well too! also the air con (wind the window down) works just the same, pity the passenger side is jammed.
my fuel gauge doesn't work but all the rest do, I would find pretty hard to match engine revs to road speed if they didn't, crunch, crunch, crunch I better go back and pick up the pieces.

Jeez ur spoiled, our one was an ex garbo truck.
It's faults are: No functioning tacho (took me 3 10 hour days to be able to get perfect downshifts by feel) no speedo (gps isn't instant so you can't rely on it for accurate speed when downshifting.
8 spd crash box and the splitter switch leaks air so if you dont drop down to bottom box before you stop you'll have to force a 5th gear take off which isn't easy with 10-12 tonne of ice in the back.
on some of my routes, i have to stop and shift my load over the back axles to get up hilly roads like killcare or patonga
the turning circle is that bad that most average 2 lane roundabouts require a 3 pt turn if you're stupid enough to do a u-turn using a roundabout! Hell it's lucky to get around most smaller 2 lane roundabouts when turning right!
No AC
Gutless motor which is freshly rebuilt (cost the boss $10k when for an extra couple of thou he coulda dropped a bigger capicity cummins into it and it wouldn't be such a slug)
Feels like you need to shift gears with a lump hammer and the added bonus of having a cash safe right at your elbow (mounted on the risen section next to the drivers seat) so if you're not careful or if you're overzealous with the shifter you smack your elbow on the safe.
The seating position vs shifter and steering wheel with 53 kg little me at the wheel reminds onlookers of the guy in the indianna jones movie who was driving that tank (in the last cruisade)
The air ride seat is broken so you smack your head into the roof all the time
That horrible vinyl rooflining is falling to bits so the crumbling foam between it and the metal roof float around the cab and into your eye's
The rear brakes lock up when you've got no load onboard.
The dash looks like it's stolen from a 1960's leyland bus (sheet metal covered in fake woodgrain vinyl like old speakers, holesawed gauges)
and here's the kicker: it's a '96 2250D!!!!

 

[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.