Well today was the day, my first 'Live' drive in an Artic. Turned up at the site and almost had kittens, the trailer was a Double Decker, something that I wasn't expecting. Nothing to worry about I thought, reported to the office and got the details of the trip and the keys.
The Lorry was MAN TGX 26.440, on a 08 plate. 16ft 3in in height with a 50ft trailer. The vehicle checks carried out (one new thing, the cable housing is on a floating bracket instead in a fixed position), I went and explored the cab, very spacious and well laid out with all the controls at hand. Full A/C, Auto gearbox with D, Dm, R & Rm selections, very comfy seat and a sleeper cab just in case. As soon as the loader finished I set off.
Here's where the additional surprise came in, the Lorry was so quiet and comfy to drive, very responsive to controls. On the motorway it felt like the lorry was gliding. Negotiating the bends and roundabouts was pretty simple and even a few tight places were taken comfortably.
Arrived at destination 2 hours later and made a slight mess reversing but I got it in on the second attempt, once offloaded it was time to set off back.
Quick stop at South Mimms to fill up and take my 30 min Tacho break and off on the A1, M25 & M3 to get home, this process was slow as the usual Friday afternoon traffic and a serious accident on the other side at J14 caused serious tailbacks.
The other side tailed back to J9 according to the radio. Back at the depot another 'small' hash with reversing as someone parked their car in the wrong place and I had to squeeze the trailer between it and a forklift without pushing them out of the way with the trailer.
Locked up, keys in time sheet signed and that is is. I'm chuffed with myself as a first live trip went well without any problems. Here's to many more of the same.....................
Unfortunately I can't comment on any burger vans en route as I didn't manage to find any.
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