Boxes, boxes everywhere. Few deliveries for a packaging company, all the way to W3 and if I'd have looked on a map instead of relying on the satnav I would have saved myself the bother of crawling along the M4 & the North Circular. The drop was just off the Hanger lane underpass so going up the M40 would have been much quicker, but oh no I had to do it the hard way. Then off to Slough and High Wycombe. Back in the yard within 4.29 driving hours and I thought, great time to go home a bit early. Oh how wrong I was, take a break and we'll get you reloaded for a quick drop in Petersfield, bummer, there goes my chance of sloping off home. Managed to get it all done by 15:30, no thanks to the A3 and the Farnham queue system, it seemed that everyone and their uncle was out on that road today, typical, just when I wanted to get home.

On the M1 today, Going through the roadwork’s I was overtaken by another artic who's driver decided that me doing 50mph (posted limit) was to slow, he then smartly pulled in ahead of me and slowed down to guess what, 50mph. Another artic in the other lane decided that he needed to get somewhere in a hurry and got so close to a car in front that the poor driver accelerated a bit, so did the artic driver. Kind of bullying to make the car driver go faster. Didn’t get him very far though as the traffic ahead ground to a halt and we in the inside lane sailed past him. Prats like that give us a bad name and so much for improving the public awareness of good lorry drivers. I had to drive on the A47 and have been doing the correct limit, sorry for the tailback but I have this thing of not loosing my license. Also people please have a good look in the Highway Code, I'm sure it tells you that when joining the motorway you have to give way to oncoming traffic, the amount of times I had to brake sharply today to avoid a car who suddenly shot into the inside lane was unreal.

Same job today, but it took a little longer getting to Leicester. What the heck is going on with those bloody roadworks on the M25 & M1, they’ve been there for ages and they just drag on for miles with those stupid 'Average Speed Cameras'. Why can't people understand what they are and instead of whizzing past me and then slamming on the brakes they just keep to a steady speed. If they did things would go much more smoothly. Also when they join the carriageway don't expect me to give way to you and move over when I have nowhere to go, and don't give me that flash of the headlights and an angry salute. Since you're joining a Motorway it is up to you to either join correctly or give way to traffic already on the carriageway, don't join that lane and then slow down to cause a jam and me having to slam my brakes on. Some drivers need to re do their tests or re read the Highway Code.

Good start to the week, have a 3 day booking with a large company, trunking runs to Leicester. Have to admit that I'm impressed with this Renault, engine & gearbox are from a Volvo so it pulls well and drives really good. Although the seats could be a bit more softer. Most of it is up the M1 with a few interesting things to liven things up. This morning some prat in a flat bed artic almost caused an accident. This dollop overtook the lorry in front of me and just as he passed the lorry he decided to cut in. The poor driver must have stood on his breaks as I saw the unit and trailer sway violently from side to side. Morons like that shouldn't be on the road and I bet he comes under an 'experienced' driver syndrome. Experienced moron more like.

Got to the depot and as usual, back on unload and wait as the staff are on a tea break, fair enough I'll take mine as well. Loaded up and on my way home, thinking that I'll be doing the M25 shuffle when I get to it but have to get there first. This time it was my turn to be cut up. Some prat decided that he needs to be on the inside lane and after overtaking me he swings in almost taking my front end of. Just carries on without a care in his world. Another idiot that should be re valuated.

Simples job today (or so I thought), just pop down to Downton to collect 13 pallets of magazines. No probs, nice and sunny day I don't mind driving down to Wiltshire and back. It seemed like an easy Friday. Got back at around 11:30 and parked up. Have a seat in the canteen we might have something for you local. Hour goes by and nothing, so I thought that would be it. How wrong can you be, 2 more drops in Slough and Reading and on a Friday afternoon to boot. Oh well in for a penny in for a pound. New lorry and trailer and off I go. Slough can be daunting at the best of times but today it just seemed to get worse, every man and his dog seemed to be out there.

Reading was just as bad, the constant roadwork’s are a pain and the road that I was supposed to turn has a width restriction. Oh well lets drive round the estate and see if there is another way in that they haven't told me about.

Guess what there is another entry, the warehouse man seemed to be enjoying himself bossing people about. You've got to park there in between the lines and have your hiviz vest on, etc etc. Let’s unload and get the heck out of there as I want to go home. Amazingly the M4 was OK, wish I could say the same for the M25, then again it was Friday afternoon.

Multi drops in an artic, well sort of. Had 5 drops and a collection. Got to the first one and oh brother, the gate and the yard were tight. Parked up and started to tip and this van parks up next to the trailer so I inform the driver politely that he might have to move the car if I can't spin the wagon round. The next thing I get is a torrent of verbal abuse, which kind of stumped me. Unload the stuff first and then take care of this prat. Decided to do it with a bit of decorum, complained to his manager and that was that. The other drops were easy except the hanging around for the paperwork at the end. Delivering to food service distribution companies and cash and carry’s is something else. Everything gets scrutinised and checked and rechecked.

The last drop was on a small Industrial Estate just off the A40, boy was it small and even smaller. Got in and then had a thought, 'how the hell am I going to get out'. A shunt or five and somehow I managed to pull the trailer round the other lorry without any mishaps. Then the collection and that was it. Turned up and no one seemed to know or understand what I was supposed to be collecting. After a lengthy pass the buck the stuff got sorted and loaded, that took almost 2 hours. Home to park up, uncouple, and hand in the paperwork and home.

This is starting to hack me of, had a confirmed booking for all of this week, so Monday was OK. Then a call late on Monday to tell me that Tuesday was a no go but the rest of the week is still confirmed. Turned up this morning and guess what, we've got no work for you, probably nothing for the rest of the week. This is hacking me of as I've turned down another booking for this. Got to check it out how I stand on this, I assume that as all was confirmed I should still get paid for this regardless.

Sort of a day off, had a call late last night to stay home. This damn ash cloud is starting to get on my wick. Loss of pay for one day and god knows when the airports will fully reopen, when they do however it should be manic for a time.

Love it, love it and again love it. Just 3 drops today, the last one being in Andover, on a day like this it was great driving down the M3 & A303. Nothing huge but it’s still a drive down. The best thing I reckon was finding a family owned bakery in Andover, cracking stuff, even home made cakes. Pity its such a long way to go, as I’d happily buy my bread from a place like this instead of a supermarket.

A jaunt to Eastbourne this morning, just to deliver 2 pallets of books and would you believe it some of the books I collected yesterday. Lovely countryside in East & West Sussex and something else sprang to my eye. Driving along the A27 I noticed that almost every lay-by had a Snack Wagon in it, 'all those bacon sarnies and so little time'.

Then back up almost the same road to Mitcham to drop of the remainder of the load and then back to the yard. I would have made it back within the driving/working timeframe except of the typical traffic, so pulled up in a side road to have a break and guess who comes driving along and conveniently blocks the junction. The VOSA man, there were 2 other cars just ahead of him so I assume that there must have been a fender bender and he was just checking they passed on the details.

Then on to the dreaded M25 and home, being on this road everything is possible and it almost happened. Trying to pass this Dutch artic who couldn't make up his mind whether to go slow or not, I was just in the middle of his trailer when he decides to slap on his indicator and start to move out. What the, quick blast on the horn and a 'wave' of my hand woke him up. Then things got really slow till J12, a car transporter and another lorry had a meeting and the transporter was being towed with his load down the ramp to the M3.

In the yard and on my way home by 14:00, not bad for Friday.

Definitely an interesting day, set of this morning to Havant to collect some Pharmaceutical stuff. Had to be there by 11:00 at the latest so when i arrived just after 9am I thought that a breakfast in the canteen would be just the ticket. Must admit that the price was just right £1.35 for a Full English, just as I’m tucking into the bacon the phone rings. The office, the collection is cancelled due to the Ash in the sky and the pharmaceuticals were supposed to be on a plane later on. Easy day I’m beginning to think, finish the breakfast and drive back, then the bombshell. Can you go to Basingstoke and collect some books, no probs. I arrive at the destination and the backdoor man explains where I have to go and load up. If I said that the slip road was tight then I would be making an understatement. Keep one eye on the offside to make sure the trailer doesn't bash any cars and the other eye on the end of the trailer as not to take out a post as it swings round behind the unit.

Drive down this alley between parked cars on one side and a fence on the other side. Can't move even half an inch either side as if I did something would be crunched. Back onto the bay and load up. The forklift delivers 36 pallets of books each weighing between half and three quarters of a tonne. This is a huge load, a few are double stacked and off we go at a snails crawl. Arrive in Ashford and hope for a speedy unload, yeah right, 2.5 hours it took those chaps to unload me. They kept disappearing somewhere and then there was the shift change and so on. Finally at 17:30 I’m all set to go back to the yard, park up and go home, another long day and now home for some well earned nosh.

Today was a sort of planned day of, had a call yesterday informing me that I won't be required to drive for the weekly booking so I thought have a day at home. The phone goes off and I'm asked if I fancy a days work, oh go on then why not. Few deliveries for a packaging company, one almost on my doorstep another in Sunbury and the remainder almost on the coast. Had to wait for the unit to arrive and then off we go. First drop done and driving up to a T junction a Warburtons wagon comes up and would you believe it one of the drivers whose route that I used to do slowly drives past. A quick wave of the old hand and time to turn left onto the main road. Down to the coast and for a change no serious hold ups.

Done and dusted, time for a break at services. This has got to be a serious rip off, £1.65 for a cup of coffee from Costa, could almost buy a bag of coffee for that. On the motorway going home and would you believe it, walking on the hard shoulder bold as brass a pheasant looking for food I assume. This bird wasn't bothered about the noise and the cars going past. This would have been good if I'd managed to get hold of it. Hang it for a few days and then a feast fit for a King.

Still can't understand why people overtake a lorry and then slow down almost to a crawl, this woman today made my life a misery for few miles.

Had an Iveco Stralis 450 today and to be frank its not that bad. Drove one of them once before and wasn't impressed but today it seemed to do all the right things. It was very quick of the mark, good handling and pretty comfortable with a good dash layout. The only weird thing is the steering wheel adjustment, it's a knob on the floor right by the steering column.

Oh boy what a day, Deliveries in North & North West London and having fought my way through the streets I turned up at my third drop and whoa, where am I, surely I haven't been driving for that long time. Hats, long dark coats, sideburns and beards. I just happen to be delivering to a predominantly Jewish area. The street was filled with Jewish men standing outside their houses discussing something or other. A school, which was very well maintained sadly behind a fence, looked really good. I thought that I must be in a wrong place as I couldn't see any businesses but after a call to the depot I was duly informed that I'm in the right place and the person works from home. Delivered and on my way to Wembley, had thoughts about going back to the Jewish area one day to sample some of their restaurant food. In a way it was an enjoyable day, sun shining, AC on to keep me cool and collected. The only thing that could be improved would be the London traffic, but I suppose you can't have everything. After all if you did where would you put it.

Absolutely cracking day, sunshine, light wind and I’m off to Poole and the surrounding area. Sweets for COOP and loads of leaflets for people to chuck away when they get them with their mail. Nice and almost relaxing drive down and when I stopped for my break the sun was so warm it would have been just perfect to lie down on the grass and sunbathe, not so sure if the grass was 'safe' to lie on being in a lay-by. So I sat in the cab munching away and enjoyed the glory of Dorset in full sunshine. The only slight snag was that the leaflet company decided to change their name and kind of forgot to tell us, so I ended up walking al over this trading estate looking for something that didn't exist.

Easy day today, one delivery to Calne, Wilts. Getting there I had to drive through Wooton Bassett and past RAF Lynaham. Loveley place Wooton but unfortunately it is associated with a sad part of the current times. This being the last place of repatriation for our Fallen and being taken home for final burial. On my way back few hours later I noticed that there were a lot more Police and people on the streets, also a large number of British Legion were present. I can only assume that today another soldier will be coming through to his home and the people were getting ready to pay their last respects. Got to be frank here, this left me with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

Much better day with the exception of a 4am start. Ended up in Hucknall and then in Nottingham, no Robin Hood though. Then back down the M1 to Hemel Hempstead and even though I arrived a few hours before the scheduled delivery time the kind forklift driver took pity on me and took the pallet. That made my day, faster then a speeding bullet (alright 56mph) down I went to the motorway and with one annoying slowdown on the M25 I was back in the yard, parked up, debriefed and on my way home by 2pm. Had a call to go back to the same client tomorrow but unfortunately another agency got me booked first.

Oh what fun, yesterday I had a kind of a day that would make anyone just go home from the start. Had to wait for ages till got loaded up and got on my way, first i had to do a job on the outskirts of London and then on to the others around the M1 area. Having said that things didn't go quite according to plan as I left the yard at a time when I should have been at a customers site, still got the stuff delivered but then a call came in and got redirected to do a collection that had to be in our depot that night. All plans seem to have been jumbled up yesterday, that was a day that I’m glad it is over.

Something has to be said for delivering in Central London, and all I can say is AARRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHH. Did some builder’s stuff today, not bad at the outskirts but when you get to the likes of SW1, W1, etc then the mind boggles. The traffic is horrendous, people jumping out in front of you, bikes darting everywhere and where would we be without the dubious buses and taxis. Ritual suicide that's what I call it. It was a pleasure to get to the likes of Acton with less of the hustle and then to be able to spend more time looking where I was going instead of what was happening behind and who was about to undercut me or do a stupidly similar stunt. Makes you wonder where the London drivers got their licences from, Corn Flakes packet springs to mind.

When I was waiting to be reassigned on Saturday I got a call from the place that I went to on Friday. You should be here as we have work for you, sorry but the booking was made for Friday. The agency specified Friday to me and the on call chappie checked the booking manifest to double check on the day. I think that you must have booked it wrongly or it was taken down incorrectly. Those were the explanations that I could offer. Then the question of 'can you get here today', sorry but no as I’m already doing something else. Then she hung up, I assume mightily peeved off. Called the agency and told them of the situation and lets hope that things haven't got really screwed up. Unfortunately it's not my fault as I was where I was supposed to be as per the booking, no doubt some things will be said on Tuesday about this booking.

Right, this is now getting a bit silly. Had a job booked for today and a text was sent I believe yesterday to see if I'd swap shifts. As I had the phone turned of yesterday I didn't see the message till today, and no I couldn't do it. So muggins turns up at the site and books in. In the office I'm told to clock in, fill in the agency sheet and then the girl behind the desks asks for my license and digicard. 'Where is your paper counterpart', haven't got it on me I says, you took a copy of it and all the other stuff a few weeks ago when I came here. Can't drive you have to go home. That got me pissed off, if they have a copy of it why the hell do they want to see it after a few weeks, nothing's changed and if you want me to bring it, tell me beforehand.

OK, how do you drive two wagons and do no more than 1 mile in the first 2 hours. Simples, do the job that I had today. Turned up at 07:30 and was duly assigned a duty to do, seemed simple enough. Go to Mount Royal DC and collect mail and then from Langley to J18 on the M1 to another DC to drop of some more mail. That was the plan but as plans go it kind of went a bit astray when I backed on to the bay and went inside to see how much I had to load. 'The next run to PRDC is at 11:30' nothing till then (and we are about 08:00), fair play, pulled up on to a parking bay and had 40 winks.

Then I decided to tell the Transport office as I was getting bored so they asked me to do a quick run to Cathay Pacific, the trailer is on the bay, when I checked there was also a unit coupled up to it. Hand in my unit and get the drivers pack for the other one and away I go, but before that just complete the coupling up as the driver who hitched up the unit just coupled up the Emergency line.

Going happily along the perimeter road when I was passed (in a serious hurry) by 2 wagons from another Haulage Company. There must have been a fire somewhere as they were doing some serious knots along the road. Had serious doubts about my waiting time at Cathay Pacific but would you believe it I was being tipped within 15 minutes. Wonders will never cease, reload with empty cages and back to Langley. Since I was back a bit early got sent to the canteen and then home. Not a bad day considering.

This was a short and sharp day, had a booking for a few hours driving so when I turned up at the site and found it all closed up I realised that someone had forgotten to either inform the agency or cancel the booking. Swift call to the agency and informed the on call chappie of the situation. Just in case I waited for 20 minutes and then on mutual agreement I went home. Quick trip to the shops and then whilst waiting at a set of traffic lights I saw something that I thought that I'd never see but this being Slough anything is possible. A Drive Through Kebab shop, whatever next.