Nervous lorry driving!

[Tinsel Trouble]

I need some help!

I passed my lorry test about a month ago, I've just had my lorry mot'd and the first time I'll have driven it will be when I go pick it up. I have regionals on Sunday.

I am terrified of driving it. I wasn't confident driving the lorry I learned in, somehow managed to pass first time but the thought of driving my lorry is making me feel sick and shakey!

Has anyone got any tips? I don't have anyone who'll sit with me and I don't want to put the horse off loading with my nerves!

All help will be very much appreciated!!

 

[iconique]

I suggest talking to Rog, he has the answers to nearly everything lorry related!
Also might be worth doing short round the blocks without the horse in to build a little bit of confidence first?

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

Thank you! It's ridiculous, I've now started driving round petrol station forecourts to see how scary the HGV route is!!

Actually bricking it!!

 

[Jola]

Don't worry I'm exactly the same with my new motorbike. Deep breath, no one will get in your way. Take it slow and know that you passed coz you can drive one. It's all about practice practice practice

 

[turnbuckle]

You probably will be terrified for the first ten hours of driving or so. May be worth asking around (local haulage firms?) to see if there is an experienced lorry driver who will come and sit next to you and give advice and say soothing things for that first trip in exchange for beer money.

You'll get used to it soon and want to drive nowt else!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Practise driving the lorry without the horse until you feel confident enough to drive with the horse, take a 'co-pilot', who can keep an eye on the nearside for you until you learn how wide/long the lorry is.

 

[luckyoldme]

. Is there any way you can get yourself onto an industrial estate in the evening and just have a little drive round to get the hang of it? I did long distance trucking for a while and sometimes when i got a truck i wasn t familiar with i would spend a little bit of time on a quiet industrial estate. Might just make you feel a little bit more confident. Before long you will be throwing it round like a car.

 

[kzb]

I just passed my trailer test, my first drive with the trailer post-test was solo with my horse in the back. I was terrified beforehand but as soon as I got out there and was concentrating I was absolutely fine.
Just focus on what you are doing and I'm sure you'll be alright. You passed your test so you are capable!

 

[npage123]

Get into a habit of being very OTT with all the checks which has to be done prior to the journey.
Until you're experienced at the travelling thing - make two lists - one to do with all the lorry checks and one to do with all the horsey gear to load up.
Systematically go through each item on the checklists and finish it off well before the journey. Do as much as possible the day before.
Definitely fill it up with fuel prior to the journey, the day before if poss, as you don't want to load the horse only to stop shortly afterwards at the garage.
If you don't know the route to the venue by heart, don't leave it until the last minute to decide on the best route to drive. If possible, use the GPS on your mobile or take a sat nav, (and maybe to be extra safe an old-fashioned map/book or at least a print-out from the PC of google maps, just for that rare occasion where your mobile goes flat and the sat nav doesn't work).
Always allow PLENTY of time to get to where you want to go. You have to allow for traffic jams, the journey taking longer as you'll be driving slowly and carefully and not to get there asap.
You have got to check both side mirrors very very regularly, every few seconds. Not only to stay aware of other road users behind you, but also to constantly make sure your positioning in the road is what is should be. Nicely placed in your lane. A lot of new lorry drivers make the mistake of not being aware of the size of their lorry and trying to make themselves smaller by driving e.g. too far over to the left side of the lane/as close to the curb as possible as they just want to stay away from the centre of the road. This however can cause problems as you could then end up dangerously close to the curb and get too close to nearby obstacles on the pavement/overhanging hedges/lampposts/walkers etc. You can't make your vehicle any smaller than what it is and you're going to need as much room as is necessary.
Always and constantly observe the road conditions and potential hazards in front (and to the sides) of you. Be prepared to slow down well in advance of e.g. a parked car on the side of the road if it's a single lane road and there are traffic approaching from the front. In most cases on single carriageways you will have to slow down, indicate with the indicator that you intend to pass the parked car when it is possible to do so, wait for a long enough gap in traffic approaching from the opposite side towards you and start the passing manoeuvre when safe to do so. Keep that safety bubble around all sides of your lorry at all times so give hazards/parked cars etc a wide enough berth.
It doesn't matter how slowly you think you should go around a roundabout - always do it even slower than you thought would be a good speed. Of all the manoeuvres, horses find it most difficult to balance themselves when crossing a roundabout (apart from probably the controlled stop/equivalent of an emergency stop with cars).
Hope this was the sort of tips you were looking for and that it's somewhat helpful.

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

Thank you all so much! I'm going to try and get the garage to drop it off then I'll sneak out at a quiet time and practise... I'm not a nervous driver normally, I'm just very intimidated by the size of the thing!

 

[supsup]

I also just got a box (small one though), and driving it around without horses in is definitely the way to go. That way you can get familiar with it without the extra worry of passengers if you need to stomp on the brakes after all, or if you fumble the gears a little. I had no problem adjusting to the new wider width (not that different to my car in a 3.5t), but what still catches me out now and then is how much longer the brake distances are with the additional weight. With the horses in, I try to brake as little as possible anyway, but driving the van empty I had a few bad moments when I realized that momentum just keeps on carrying you towards a junction much faster even with the foot off the gas compared to my small car, which immediately decelerates with the foot off the pedal. It's a lesson that still needs to sink in a bit more and become automatic.

 

[mastermax]

My husband bought our lorry off ebay an we had an 800 mile round trip to collect her, went up on the train and drove her home through the night. He loved her from the minute he saw her. I will point out he has a class 1 C & E 42 ton artic HGV license.
After a month he thought it time I should start driving it, so he drove us down to our local cattle market carpark and got me to drive it home, I had driven a lorry many times before. Easy?.....NO!!!
Before we left the carpark he pointed out just some of her quirks.

1 The drivers seat had been changed to a car seat because it was more comfortable, sadly though you can no longer raise it up and down. He is 6'4" so no problem there then, I am 5'1" slight problem there.

2 Because the seat was so much higher, the gear stick appeared to be in the depths of the footwell with no chance of me reaching it.

3 He then advised me that the spring in the gear select had gone so when you attempted to go for 3rd or 4th gear, the whole bloody lever shoots over to the right and would have smacked you in the leg had some muppet not changed the seat. He said and I quote "just nurse the gear stick over and feel for it".

4 There is a little bit of "play" in the steering.

All of the above taken on board, we set off for home. Because of the supid seat, I had to almost stand up to reach the clutch and quickly realised I needed considerably more leg muscle to engage said clutch.
By some miracle of the good lord Jesus, I found a gear and to be honest I was getting to the point where I didnt care what gear it was just that I had found one.

As we shuddered and jerked to the entrance it quickly dawned on me I was about to proceed along a public highway and that obviously meant....other traffic, so I applied the brake! After husband had removed his head off the windscreen, he pointed out that he forgot to tell me about quirk No. 5,sensitive brakes.

I pulled out onto the highway and encountered my first obsticle of a roundabout, husband was now at shouting point and was bellowing "theres nothing coming, for the love of god woman, dont change gear, just keep going". I certainly wasnt going to argue and put my faith and trust in a now purple faced, angry man that underneath was showing a hint of fear.

Now on the open road, quirk number 4 really showed its true colours. The steering had become possesed! A little bit of play in the steering was in actual fact a 12 inch wander on either side. As I struggled helplessly to keep her on my own side of the road, all he could do was scream at me "the hedge woman, your hitting the hedge" that quickly changed to "the car woman,your going to hit the car" depending on wether I was in a left hand or right hand wander.

We did eventually make it home. I have never been so scared in my whole life.

We very nearly got divorced

He will NEVER allow me to drive it again

I NEVER want to drive it again.

Trust me... you will be asolutely fine in your lorry. I am envious of all the lovely, independant times you will hve.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I need some help!

I passed my lorry test about a month ago, I've just had my lorry mot'd and the first time I'll have driven it will be when I go pick it up. I have regionals on Sunday.

I am terrified of driving it. I wasn't confident driving the lorry I learned in, somehow managed to pass first time but the thought of driving my lorry is making me feel sick and shakey!

Has anyone got any tips? I don't have anyone who'll sit with me and I don't want to put the horse off loading with my nerves!

All help will be very much appreciated!!

Take an experience horse box driver with you OR get them to drive it back and leave you to get used to it on home ground.

 

[cowgirl16]

My husband bought our lorry off ebay an we had an 800 mile round trip to collect her, went up on the train and drove her home through the night. He loved her from the minute he saw her. I will point out he has a class 1 C & E 42 ton artic HGV license.
After a month he thought it time I should start driving it, so he drove us down to our local cattle market carpark and got me to drive it home, I had driven a lorry many times before. Easy?.....NO!!!
Before we left the carpark he pointed out just some of her quirks.

1 The drivers seat had been changed to a car seat because it was more comfortable, sadly though you can no longer raise it up and down. He is 6'4" so no problem there then, I am 5'1" slight problem there.

2 Because the seat was so much higher, the gear stick appeared to be in the depths of the footwell with no chance of me reaching it.

3 He then advised me that the spring in the gear select had gone so when you attempted to go for 3rd or 4th gear, the whole bloody lever shoots over to the right and would have smacked you in the leg had some muppet not changed the seat. He said and I quote "just nurse the gear stick over and feel for it".

4 There is a little bit of "play" in the steering.

All of the above taken on board, we set off for home. Because of the supid seat, I had to almost stand up to reach the clutch and quickly realised I needed considerably more leg muscle to engage said clutch.
By some miracle of the good lord Jesus, I found a gear and to be honest I was getting to the point where I didnt care what gear it was just that I had found one.

As we shuddered and jerked to the entrance it quickly dawned on me I was about to proceed along a public highway and that obviously meant....other traffic, so I applied the brake! After husband had removed his head off the windscreen, he pointed out that he forgot to tell me about quirk No. 5,sensitive brakes.

I pulled out onto the highway and encountered my first obsticle of a roundabout, husband was now at shouting point and was bellowing "theres nothing coming, for the love of god woman, dont change gear, just keep going". I certainly wasnt going to argue and put my faith and trust in a now purple faced, angry man that underneath was showing a hint of fear.

Now on the open road, quirk number 4 really showed its true colours. The steering had become possesed! A little bit of play in the steering was in actual fact a 12 inch wander on either side. As I struggled helplessly to keep her on my own side of the road, all he could do was scream at me "the hedge woman, your hitting the hedge" that quickly changed to "the car woman,your going to hit the car" depending on wether I was in a left hand or right hand wander.

We did eventually make it home. I have never been so scared in my whole life.

We very nearly got divorced

He will NEVER allow me to drive it again

I NEVER want to drive it again.

Trust me... you will be asolutely fine in your lorry. I am envious of all the lovely, independant times you will hve.

Laughed my head off when I read this!!! My OH is also a truck driver, he comes out with very similar comments to these - (and some rather more colourful ones!!) They are a bloody nightmare aren't they?!!

 

[DragonSlayer]

Get into a habit of being very OTT with all the checks which has to be done prior to the journey.
Until you're experienced at the travelling thing - make two lists - one to do with all the lorry checks and one to do with all the horsey gear to load up.
Systematically go through each item on the checklists and finish it off well before the journey. Do as much as possible the day before.
Definitely fill it up with fuel prior to the journey, the day before if poss, as you don't want to load the horse only to stop shortly afterwards at the garage.
If you don't know the route to the venue by heart, don't leave it until the last minute to decide on the best route to drive. If possible, use the GPS on your mobile or take a sat nav, (and maybe to be extra safe an old-fashioned map/book or at least a print-out from the PC of google maps, just for that rare occasion where your mobile goes flat and the sat nav doesn't work).
Always allow PLENTY of time to get to where you want to go. You have to allow for traffic jams, the journey taking longer as you'll be driving slowly and carefully and not to get there asap.
You have got to check both side mirrors very very regularly, every few seconds. Not only to stay aware of other road users behind you, but also to constantly make sure your positioning in the road is what is should be. Nicely placed in your lane. A lot of new lorry drivers make the mistake of not being aware of the size of their lorry and trying to make themselves smaller by driving e.g. too far over to the left side of the lane/as close to the curb as possible as they just want to stay away from the centre of the road. This however can cause problems as you could then end up dangerously close to the curb and get too close to nearby obstacles on the pavement/overhanging hedges/lampposts/walkers etc. You can't make your vehicle any smaller than what it is and you're going to need as much room as is necessary.
Always and constantly observe the road conditions and potential hazards in front (and to the sides) of you. Be prepared to slow down well in advance of e.g. a parked car on the side of the road if it's a single lane road and there are traffic approaching from the front. In most cases on single carriageways you will have to slow down, indicate with the indicator that you intend to pass the parked car when it is possible to do so, wait for a long enough gap in traffic approaching from the opposite side towards you and start the passing manoeuvre when safe to do so. Keep that safety bubble around all sides of your lorry at all times so give hazards/parked cars etc a wide enough berth.
It doesn't matter how slowly you think you should go around a roundabout - always do it even slower than you thought would be a good speed. Of all the manoeuvres, horses find it most difficult to balance themselves when crossing a roundabout (apart from probably the controlled stop/equivalent of an emergency stop with cars).
Hope this was the sort of tips you were looking for and that it's somewhat helpful.

This info is very useful.

Before any trip we take the lorry we have gotten into the habit of a virtual 'check-list' (was written at first) to help get you into the right frame of mind!

Incidentally since our lorry passed it's MOT in May it's not been anywhere much at all because I've been grounded! Going to a Trec training event on Saturday but going to take it for a spin tonight after work 'just the make sure' all is well. OH is off today so when he's ridden this morning, he is checking all the water, oil etc etc and the wheel nuts and tyre pressures. We shall just bez down the bypass tonight, do a good 20 miles or so.

You'll be OK, I felt the same the first time, had nightmares.....

 

[YorksG]

When we bought our lorry from a local garage, we rather foolishly picked it up late afternoon! Had to drive it through the village on narrow steep roads. We had a friend drop me and sis to pick it up, so I had a co-pilot. We hadn't had a test drive, as it wasn't plated or taxed till just before we picked it up. I did ask the chap we bought it from if it was a clutch I would have to stand on, (you know the ones where you hang on to the steering wheel with you right arm while stamping on the clutch with your left leg) "oh no" said the 6'4" garage chap, well until I got used to it, 5'6" 9 stone me DID have to stand up a bit . The gears were a bit interesting to start with, I did hit reverse instead of second a couple of times The other thing to be sure of is to use first, or crawler gear for slower manouvers, it isn't where first is on a car and easy to forget about! Do a few miles without horses on board and you will be fine. I have used ours to bring our two youngsters home when we bought them and various other shortish journeys and then the was the epic 300 mile round trip to take a friends three (one was a mini shetland) horses, to their new home. We were close to the top weight, but still ok legally and we were fine Plenty of miles without horses and then you will be fine

 

[Goldenstar]

You just have to do it I remember the sick feeling well.
I went out with a friend who has a haulage company he made me drive about taking me through everything including telling a was looking in the right places at the right time .
We drove for say forty five minutes he then said I need to go to the off licence and made me drive into out local market town park on the Main Street ,do a three point turn in front of the what seemed to me like the whole town and drive back out again I never looked back.
I used my lorry almost everyday because it was a busy horsey time in my life so I quickly got through it .

 

[ljohnsonsj]

I have no advice but congrats on passing
I'm just in the process of getting my provisional and sorting my medical, so i'll be coming back to this for advice!

 

[Dazed'n'confused]

We've all been there, don't worry!!
Just drive it - empty - everywhere!! If you can go out in it every day, even just round the block, then do so! Go longer journeys (that are familiar) when you can and eventually it'll become familiar. I prefer to go on my own as there isn't the pressure of someone else "judging" (even tho they're not!) - also any silly mistakes (gear clashes, etc) & involuntary panic swearing aren't witnessed!!!
Drive as if you've got a horse on - slow braking & watching all traffic in front & behind to see what mad manoeuvres the drivers are going to attempt so that they don't get stuck behind a horsebox (god forbid)!
Go to venues you're familiar with at first so you know the route & parking.
You'll soon get the hang of it! Happy trucking...

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

Is this the bit where I admit my other half is a horse transporter... He would be very useful to have in the other seat except for

1) I would recreate Mastermax's experience and add some

2) he would offer 'helpful' suggestions...

3) he's dropping horses off in Belgium or Holland and will probably be stuck in Calais

4) I've banned him from coming near me when im doing anything he's 'helpfully' suggested his (professional eventing/ racing) ex-girlfriends did really well. This also includes riding (that's a whole other story!)

Hence why I'm on my own and very nervous.

Thank you for your help though. It's being really useful!

 

[turnbuckle]

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Pigeon]

I agree, go out in it and drive until you feel happy. The main thing I guess is braking time.

But you will be fine Just go slow and think ahead. If a queue builds up we tend to pull in to let them past, but if there's no passing place they just have to suck it up

 

[OWLIE185]

Well done on passing your test.
As above take it out without a horse on board to get used to all the controls etc.
Make sure that you have breakdown recovery for horse and lorry with a reputable company and I always keep two spare wheels/tyres on board just in case a wheel goes flat so that the wheels can be changed straight away in the event of a puncture.

 

[MyBoyChe]

One of the best bits of advise I was given was to drive as if you have a cup of hot coffee in your lap. I have a little 3.5 but had never driven anything with a horse on board before. Remembering the coffee tip makes sure I dont get too close to anything in front, take corners and roundabouts very slowly and dont generally throw it around. I love the freedom it gives me, would love a bigger one but dont really need it with just 1 horse. Just take it steady, do all your basic checks, allow plenty of time, do not rush about and start flapping, you will be absolutely fine and before long you'll be sailing along x

 

[Clannad48]

One of the best bits of advise I was given was to drive as if you have a cup of hot coffee in your lap. I have a little 3.5 but had never driven anything with a horse on board before. Remembering the coffee tip makes sure I dont get too close to anything in front, take corners and roundabouts very slowly and dont generally throw it around. I love the freedom it gives me, would love a bigger one but dont really need it with just 1 horse. Just take it steady, do all your basic checks, allow plenty of time, do not rush about and start flapping, you will be absolutely fine and before long you'll be sailing along x

Same advice I was given years ago - I used to be able to throw big huge articulated lorries around, reversing not an issue - and I'm just a little over 5ft - yet I go to pieces towing the trailer and god forbid I have to reverse the thing anywhere - I've been driving since 1972 as well

 

[npage123]

OP - sorry for hijacking your thread...

Clannad48 - if you are struggling with the reversing of a trailer in terms of it's not going where you are trying to make it go, and you're unsure of which way to turn the steering wheel of the car at the time of reversing, then I can suggest something to maybe try out next time you're practising reversing:

I apologise in advance for the long post - it would have been much easier for me to just show you IRL.

Don't try and work out the physics/technicalities behind the following - just follow the 'rules':

Whilst sat in the driver's seat of your car, turn your body/head to look behind your car and trailer and whilst still looking behind, decide if you want the trailer to go towards the LEFT or towards the RIGHT. (The following is the crucial bit which I'll try and explain clearly, and I hope I'm going to make sense.) As you are still look behind your vehicle (whilst turned around), the LEFT side is the side which is on the left side as you are looking behind your car, i.e. the driver's side of your car. And the RIGHT side will be towards the RIGHT as you are still looking behind the car/trailer, i.e. the passenger side of your car.

Once you've established whether you want LEFT or RIGHT
turn back into normal driving position (look forward/in the direction of over the nose of your car)
place both hands on the steering wheel
place your left hand on the left side of the steering wheel
place your right hand on the right side of the steering wheel

If you've previously decided on LEFT (when you were looking behind you), then slowly start reversing and it's LEFT HAND DOWN with the steering wheel
(as in grip the steering wheel with your left hand and pull it down with your left hand, and push up with your right hand, in other words you are turning the steering wheel anti-clockwise)

If you've previously decided on RIGHT, then it's RIGHT HAND DOWN with the steering wheel (i.e. turn it clockwise)

As you look behind you, you'll see that the trailer will soon start going into the direction of where you wanted to make it to go.

As soon as the back end of the trailer is pointed into/towards the 'gap' where you wanted it to go, then straighten up the car (as in turn the steering wheel back into neutral position so that your front wheels are aligned straight with the body of the car) and then the car will push the trailer in a nice straight line into the area that you wanted the trailer to go.

You've got to do the straightening up bit of the steering wheel when reversing or you'll just end up jack-knifing.

If necessary, drive forward to align the car and trailer once more and start again with the reversing.

 

[frostyfingers]

It comes down to practice and persistence.....I was terrified of our 7.5T lorry for about the first two months of driving it. My DH made me go out every evening and we'd go up the road for about 5 miles, round a roundabout and back again, nothing fancy involved, just getting used to it. On my first outing I squeaked with delight that I'd reached 40, until husband pointed out that it was 40Kph not Mph!
I also stood in the back without holding on to anything (I know you're not supposed to....) while my husband drove so I could get a feel for the movement of the lorry.

We invented circuits for me to go on which didn't involve reversing for a while and then we went to an industrial estate for an evening and practised reversing there. I used to go out and get the newspaper in it as well!

One of the most stressful things I found initially was the queue of cars behind me - I've now learnt places where I can pull over safely to let them pass (although a large percentage of the drivers round here seem to be incapable of working out that you're trying to let them past) which I do regularly.

Don't let other road users hassle you into going faster than you want, give yourself plenty of time to get everywhere, I'm still regularly 15 minutes earlier than I need to be and make everything as smooth as you can.

Good luck, I'm much happier and more confident now with the lorry than I ever was with a trailer.

 

[Clannad48]

npage123 - this may come across rude but trust me I genuinely don't mean it to - I understand how to reverse, have been doing it for years but given all the training, practise and knowing what to do I am still (or would be if I still had my HGV1 licence) happier reversing an articulated lorry than the trailer. My family find it hysterically funny that I find it so ridiculously hard. I am ok when no-one is watching me, but as soon as I know someone is watching I just totally muck it up. We always go to competitions early so that I can find a parking spot that doesn't require me to have to reverse. Still my daughter will be hopefully taking her trailer test soon and then I can see how she does (she is the one who always yells at me when I muck it up)

 

[linperrie]

Just wanted to say that I'm impressed you are doing the whole lorry thing and I'm sure after all the fab advice you'll be fine!! I am going through a slightly similar thing. Swapped my tiny punto for a huge 4x4 in order to tow my trailer. Terrified of parking it as can't get used to it. It's not even me towing the trailer although now we aren't using my husband's 40 year old landrover to tow which I refused to use, I suspect he may start to insist I drive my own car with the trailer. Then I'll be more terrified than I am already!!! But good luck, I'm sure you'll ace it. But the feelings of terror are not alone!!

 

[madmav]

Fabulous advice here. Nothing to add useful. But wanted to wish you good vibes. Sure you will be amazing at that wheel!