RANT ALERT FOR NEW PASSES 🚨 When I passed my test I jumped straight into store deliveries and I’ll be completely honest I cried my first week. The stress of some of these places…city centres with a double decker at 9am, rush hour in full swing with no experience. It was so stressful. But my advice to anyone looking to drive is to go head first into it. Do the tight city centres, do the blindside revering into alleyways, have the arguments with people in cars and I guarantee you’ll become a better driver than most. Complacency is a terrible thing and I couldn’t imagine anything worse than driving up and down the same stretch of the M6 every day and knowing every pot hole delivering to the same place. 7 years into the job and every day is near different, worked for different companies (retail/supermarkets) and I’d advise new pass drivers to go into that sector. However, the pay has got a lot better but the planning hasn’t. And if planning send you to a place you’re unsure of and feel there’s some sinister motive behind it being kept from you, then speak to other drivers, union reps or have a look yourself on google for restrictions for time etc. Never be embarrassed or scared to say no to a job if you feel like you’re not safe to do it. And most importantly, know the route you’re going. If a diversion happens that’s unforeseeable but use your truck sat nav and use street view on Google to know exactly where a service yard is and how to get into it. Map instructions have often been done by some driver trainer who’s 30 years into his time at the place, just wants to retire and waltz’s up in a pool car and draws a sketch that’s inaccurate at best. So plan accordingly yourself. And finally in my rant, anyone who wants to do their HGV licence but is put off by the negativity, I say get your licence anyway. The same people moaning on KZfaq are the same people who moan before they even walk through the door into work before they even know what they’re doing for the day. The same people who moan about the job but have conveniently been at the same company for 20 years instead of going somewhere else. Make the job work for you, not the other way around. Do agency work and find what works for you. I’ve done Tuesday-Saturday for years, home every night and work no more than 48 hours a week. 44k a year. Earn more or less, do more or less, that’s the beauty of agency work. Don’t be put off, if it’s what you want to do… do it and good luck!

Most of these drops were not designed for artics, but they still get sent to them. It's only the skill of the drivers that get the dispatchers out of trouble with type of deliveries.

I do like your videos especially the way your showing yourself maneuvering etc I like it and just the general day really. Keep it up

Raul you are definitely an experienced driver. IMO what makes the driver a professional driver is not just the ability to get into tight spaces. It is to do it calmly, safely and with the confidence like you have. The self control is very impressive and this is what makes you a pro. Thanks for the videos.

Before I retired I did lock and drop for Iceland. When I asked if the store directions could be improved and made suggestions as to how I was told, "Well you know where it is now!" I pointed out that it wasn't for my benefit but for the next poor sod who was sent there! I suspect that most companies take a similar attitude...

You definitely earned your wages that day driving in that area !!! Well done 👍👍

Being from Lincoln, I know the pain. Even driving round in a car is terrible!

Just come across your channel. Surprisingly entertaining. I own a small furniture store and we get daily deliveries. We’ve found that the delivery guys are in a class of their own; sympathetic, calm and just plain nice people - in a world of so few.

I struggle reversing our caravan, you Sir are a genius! Your steering and visual awareness of space is amazing! You are a credit to your profession. Without guys like you doing what you do, we as consumers would not have products to buy, so from a very grateful customer, thank you ❤

Nice piece of driving Raul. I worked for a company who's maps were awful and we had lots of drivers who's first language wasn't English. I took some photo's of drop/collection points and landmarks nearby and a basic last mile Google maps ( I figured a sat nav would get them close enough ) . I then made an one page guide with arrows added for left and right to avoid written text. To my knowledge they still have them as I now work elsewhere.

Giving me anxiety just watching you! I had a couple of really bad turns and a dead end yesterday, I wasn’t even sure I could get out of one of them but it worked out with a bit of shunting and patience.

I always appreciate drivers in such big vehicles and when driving in my car if I'm behind them I will always give them way more room so just make their lives a little bit easier not sure if it actually does anything but just in case.

I used to work in a shopping centre. The front on the building, the public part, was one postcode, on a pedestrianised area. The delivery door, on the street, was another postcode. People always forgot to go give the delivery door postcode. Lots of angry delivery drivers.

Raul you crack me up mate. The way you laugh at the situations, I'd be shouting for England in a language unheard of. Well done, keep it up mate

Skilful driving, especially tight reversing by those cars, amazed that artics can go into those tight city centre streets, great job 👍🏻

You are the coolest, calmest trucker I've ever watched mate. Great driving.

Wow, tell me about it! There’s been so many occasions where I’ve shown up and shocked the people waiting for deliveries. Since they don’t read the delivery manifesto,they always expect a 3,5 ton white van and there I am in a 50 ton 17 meter’s and 4,3 meters high, they’re blown away! Not to mention the waste of time that isn’t theirs, causing stress for the rest of the day! Those city trailers follow nicely, but when reversing around corners they seem to oversteer and usually there’s a pole sitting nicely in the corner to wrap the trailer around! Nice video explaining and showing the daily troubles we face- it’s not just the highway and eating schnitzel at the truck stop as some are thinking and believing! Keep up the great work!

Always hated store deliveries. Never room to manoeuvre ,Cars everywhere .Traffic wardens waiting to pounce . Forget it .

4:15 feeling for you, son!

I'm just waiting to get my class one licence back. It's been 15 years since I last drove and I'm anxious about driving again, but watching your videos and remembering the sinking sensation when you see the place you need to be, then getting through it and the satisfaction afterwards is putting me in a much better mood.

I love the way you say fuck sake and it sometimes sounds like uck sake always makes me laugh 😂😂

So tight those areas and inches from cars. Impressive work maneouvering👍

People who design those shops should have to deliver themselves. 100% they would design better places!!!

Well done what a driver. You make it look so easy. Great videos REALY enjoying them

Those rear steer trailers look difficult to master. I imagine it would be like re learning all the basics that are ingrained into you already. A new challenge

Excellent! Love your energy!

The hell that is Lincoln city centre artic deliveries. Well done.

Love it, even some of the stuff we get in delivery van is almost impossible. Can't imagine how hard it is for you guys. Especially here, good job for the rear steer. Don't know if it would help you out. But what3words is sooo bloody useful for this stuff.

How Traffic Planners cant use more than one way of giving directions/instructions is beyond me, we have so many apps now, like what3words for a precise loading location etc, its not rocket science. I dont envy store delivery drivers one bit, ill stick to the tippers (8 wheeler) , plus in my area we get paid more than most class 1 drivers (West Yorkshire)

I have every admiration and respect for these drivers, they are expected on a daily basis to manipulate our pathetic congested road system with those huge trucks that carry everything the population needs. I’m not a trucker and could never do their job, they need everyone’s respect. A big 👏 for all truckers.

Love your vids Raul, but ditching the route card the office gave you and then using your satnav and blaming the instructions... good one. Before satnavs you wrote out your own route cards (written instructions) M6 - off at Jnc 18, follow the A8 until signpost for, at the 2nd roundabout, etc, etc... saved you having to look at a map every 10 mins. Usually rang the client on the best route in before I set of to complete the card...

I definitely don't have the temperament for your job at times like this. I'm bad enough when I'm driving a car in a strange town but driving an artic would totally infuriate me. Well Done on your perseverance. 👍🌟

I've delivered to this place a few times and it's an absolute joke ! Architects and planning officers need to be held accountable !!!!!

Stress! Nice job, your commentry is hilarious.

Just another day in paradise, or camion 😎. Well driven m8 ✌️

Well done for keeping your cool mate, I do store deliveries and we go to some crazy places as well, they really don't think about deliveries when they build these places.

Sometimes I wish places would have more restrictions. I went into a small village in Somerset and the locals made a chicane out of cones and a fake weight limit sign because they were sick of lorries getting stuck there.

Raul is magnificent. He has amazing skills and is super gorgeous handsome too.

Really impressive driving, never know the job was quite this tricky. See why you need the trailer steering!

Anxiety watching this ...I'm relatively new at class one and I think I would have freaked out in that situation haha ...well done mate I am in awe of your driving skills

Is this like an addiction? I wanna try this !!!!😂😂 well done,

The moment you said you was on store deliveries and you had a rear wheel steer trailer I knew you was going to encounter some challenging reverses as I've been in the exact same position. But you survived it and now have better knowledge for the next time.

I can feel your stress Raul, and you did the video too!!🏖️🏝️🌴🙈 How you did that mate, well done.

Nicely done! (drop 1)

Well done Raul, now you know the two shops in Lincoln.

When delivering somewhere new, I always go onto Google maps and zoom into the location to find the best way in. When I find the name of the street which leads to the delivery point, I find it on the satnav and set it as my destination. Post codes are okay for finding the general location but usually take you to the front door.

if all those cars weren't parked on the double yellows it would have been easy. town planning does put enought free parking in towns and this is what happens

here is a tip for you, when u turn with a city trailer with 1 - 2 - 3 axles stay close to the curb you are turn (fx when you are turning left stay to the left etc) and when reversing dont jack knife the truck so much that the steeraxle cant straighten up edit: and remember to check places you have not been before on google maps, so you are kinda prepared for where you are goin ps i drive groceys aswell in denmark copenhagen so i drive with a lot of city trailers in the city aswell as 3 axle trailers love your vids and keep up the good work

Absolute insanity hahaha - makes me feel like such a wimp when I complain about having to parallel park 😂

I dont miss that feeling of nervousness when going to new drops and not knowing the way in or out. Hung up my keys at 53 and live on less than a weeks wage for a month now and dont regret it one bit.

Love store work, not doing it at the moment but would love to again in the future, id say to any new pass throw yourself into store work, theres alot of weekend work but theres alot of different shift patterns and shifts are generally short and no day is the same 👍👍👍

Good on you, if in doubt get out!

hahaha that green group truck you passed was me :)

Had my HGV class 2 years ago, before all the extra red tape, sat Navs, did all sorts, multi drop, skips,dustcarts, timber, kitchens and bathrooms. Hated everymoment on the roads, . Went and got my Telescopic Licence. Been in construction for nearly 30 years. I earn £200 a day, Start at 8 finish 4.30ish.paid 10 hrs a day. And i can have a beer every night!! Management is shit everywhere you go! Just keep smiling lads and lasses. Buy a lottery Ticket!!😂

Some tough drops there, brilliant work though 👌🏼

Had a One Below store delivery into Luton centre last year.. absolute bastard nightmare...had to park up on double yellows.. luckily a traffic warden took pity and gave me time to pop into the actual shop, ended up asking a store employee to show me the way into the centre/pedestrianised section to deliver... nightmare

Was the same at B&M Long Eaton. We had a reputation as one of the worst tips. Didn't help that the idiots in transport would try and send the wagons down 2 or 3 hours early and then they'd have to sit and wait until the store was closed and the parking restrictions were over.

You are delightfully entertaining

It never ceases to amaze me at the mentality of the motorists who think because they pay road tax it entitles them to park wherever they please.🤣🤣

Raul is so good at squeezing it into tight places

I did distribution style jobs too, but instead of city/town centres I went to farms and terminals at the middle of nowhere, but these are just as "hard" as these local shops because at night you have no idea where is the entrance, where are your goods, where is the forklift, or even which building is the one where you supposed to go. Everybody went home and the clock is ticking. But once you managed to find everything then the next time it will be easy peasy.

wow well done mate

Crazy skills Raul. I have an easy job compared to you. Great to see how you 'navigate' through the abandoned cars 😂

Awesome driving this should all be done in class 2 trucks greedy companies

What a stressful job that is i would need my own bodywork team to put right all the panels and paint that I've ruined. Fair play to these drivers they never know what they're going to till they get there a lot of the time.

Have to admit I used to have to do 3 stores per day in some terrible town centres and I kinda miss it now. May go for it again!

WELL DONE Lincoln is very difficult to get around in an artic ( I know I’ve done it also I live there )I’m going to presume the trailer was an urban shortie and as you said rear steer the cars at the first drop should not of been there And with you being a euro guy it’s double difficult ( I did European work for several years ) you are always going to get stressed when manoeuvring in tight spaces with other vehicles about so well done again

The people who park on yellow lines, don't think....they are there for a reason. 😂

Sometimes do the park and walk can save a lot of time to check both where finally going +unsure with reverse get out of cab and look.

You're a brave man, I'd hate that job with a passion 👏👏

You are the best

Loved the video. But man this trucking is hard work

I like man because it's special design place for mobile phone 😂

Hey nice video bro iv been class 2 for a year and done class 1 for the last 2 months. I do shops and yeah I can say they defo don't do assessments on most of them. Dragging trollies of milk off a wagon and booting them up curbs on tight roads is defo a task haha I can say though it has defo made me learn very fast and hopefully my next job won't be as difficult 😂

Ironically youtube recommended me one of your vids earlier from 3 years ago titled ''STORE DELIVERY DRIVER? NOT FOR ME'' 😂

I do love a rear stear & don't get to drive one much these days Always remember though if they've given you one it's usually because you're going to need it like really tight you know lol x

You used to be able to get down that left turn at 2:38. They removed the main road and made it pedestrian only a year or so ago. Very annoying!

nice driving.

that drop looks more suited to a rigid

From a Trucker to a trucker thats the shit! i avoid to work mate. all the best. Hated it, co ops same situation. But good one mate highly skilled work that is,

It's a fun job this is. Mine is a bit more easy am on fridge trailers, but only do Aldi and Lidl RDCs, not multidrop or store delivery. But it does look fun. Would like to try it.

I do wish companies, when they do risk assessments on these stores, would let a experienced driver do the assessment, that way he/she would give the best & sarest way for delivery. I worked for Argos & was delighted when I got my 'delivery pack' & it contained a risk assessment of every delivery I had on, until another driver told me head of H R did all the assessments & had never driven an HGV.

lol how is it even allowed. Admire the patience sir, awful situation.

Marvelous driving. It's frightening how many things you've got to be watching. Shame the shops don't have someone to come out to keep pedestrians away & guide you in. Why don't drivers get given coordinates for the delivery gate? I assumed that would be standard. Post codes are so vague.

@Raul689 That just seemed like a nightmare to me, I have nothing but respect for you and other truck drivers. And I don't blame truckers from running away from that job, I would too. I've only ever driven in games such as ATS and ETS2, and even then I shy away from blind reversing and tight places, which of course are no where near as tight as real life.

We've got urban rear steer trailers where I work. Need them for some stores.

and im worried about my driving test maneuvers 😂

places like that are more suited for 7.5 tonnes and vans, not an artic. just putting more stress on the drivers and things around the rigs.

Thanks for reminding me never to work for Poundland. Good job tho.

What a stressful job!

I can feel the pain of the daily delivery drivers trying to deliver to stores that are located in small roads or if they are big roads, loadsss of weirdly parked cars.

great skill I like it

In my experience agency lads always got the s***y end of the stick, the regular drivers got the cream. I was tasked with a delivery in the centre of Chester on Saturday afternoon during easter weekend, it was so stressful I nearly abandoned the waggon where it was, turned out this delivery is normally done at 3am due to location but the load was delayed so they gave it to the agency driver as their own lads knew it was almost impossible. Thankfully got work with a reputable company where agency lads were treated with respect

Some of the worst considerations for delivery trucks. When they planned it they must have thought horse & cart were still the means by which goods are delivered.

Its not an air show....its a regular thing above Lincoln n, the Red Arrows are based just outside the city and practice regularly over the city. I totally sympathise with you delivering in Lincoln....its one of those places where, if you've never been, you'll struggle. Sat navs are virtually useless in the city as delivery points are rarely where you'd expect them

Hgv driving is like nursing - so mamy differemt companies and jobs. Best is to start and try diffeemt ones until you find the one you like. I use maps, i alwasy check around truck with own eyes . Eletronic aids are an aid and bo excuse in court when judge asks: have you checked? 😅

Lincoln is a nightmare for its 1 way streets.

Masterclass

Lincolns traffic problems are notorious lack of planning and foresight are to blame

MAN you got no fair Dealz on that one..