AussieGarbo
Gearbox Fail
I was in this squeezy one-way street with a side loader, had just finished emptying the bins and had to make this tight right turn around a corner to get out. The victimised car was conveniently parked partially into the no stopping zone beside this corner, taking up room to manoeuvre the truck, although the task was still manageable with a bit of back and forth movement. I also had a helpful offsider who assisted with guiding me back towards the car and would signal to stop. I reversed back towards the car 3 times to get the right exit angle and the first 2 times I successfully engaged the forward gears. On the third attempt where I would finally drive around and out, I didn't hit the "D" button hard enough, resulting in the truck jumping back after releasing the footbrake. Although the truck went backwards only a short distance, it covered crucial airspace, with the light bar on the tailgate contacting the rear windscreen of the car. As soon as I felt the truck lurch, I slammed the footbrake as quickly as I reacted, but I was on a slight decline with the engine powering in the wrong direction, so it jumped back very quickly in that short moment. First thing I said to myself was a four letter word beginning with “f” and then I checked my side mirror to see my offsider, with a look on his face telling me that things weren’t too good. After walking to the back to see the damage for myself, a large variety of swear words became audible.
When this happened, I was more shattered than the windscreen was. As soon as you realise things have not gone as they should, you get that gut wrenching feeling wondering how bad the damage is. In the case of this fail, the cause of the pictured aftermath was due to a button on the gear selector not being pressed hard enough. What didn’t help was not checking the gearbox status on the selector console, although a lot of drivers out there can appreciate that you don’t always look to see if the truck has gone into gear. On some older trucks there have been a few where you need to give a button a bit of a firmer hit, such as this one with drive and even on the one I operate at present with reverse selection. The car being parked within a no stopping zone didn’t help the situation either, but unfortunately reality is that they were stationary and I was moving, so there isn’t really any defence there. Probably should’ve gotten the ranger to come and book the dick for parking there, but maybe the shattered window is enough of a message. Another annoying thing was being in this big truck when I should’ve been in the little rear loader, which would’ve gotten around in a single swing. Having an accident sucks in general, but it’s even worse when it happens due to some little bullshit reason or simple stuff up like this.
Gearbox Fail
I was in this squeezy one-way street with a side loader, had just finished emptying the bins and had to make this tight right turn around a corner to get out. The victimised car was conveniently parked partially into the no stopping zone beside this corner, taking up room to manoeuvre the truck, although the task was still manageable with a bit of back and forth movement. I also had a helpful offsider who assisted with guiding me back towards the car and would signal to stop. I reversed back towards the car 3 times to get the right exit angle and the first 2 times I successfully engaged the forward gears. On the third attempt where I would finally drive around and out, I didn't hit the "D" button hard enough, resulting in the truck jumping back after releasing the footbrake. Although the truck went backwards only a short distance, it covered crucial airspace, with the light bar on the tailgate contacting the rear windscreen of the car. As soon as I felt the truck lurch, I slammed the footbrake as quickly as I reacted, but I was on a slight decline with the engine powering in the wrong direction, so it jumped back very quickly in that short moment. First thing I said to myself was a four letter word beginning with “f” and then I checked my side mirror to see my offsider, with a look on his face telling me that things weren’t too good. After walking to the back to see the damage for myself, a large variety of swear words became audible.
When this happened, I was more shattered than the windscreen was. As soon as you realise things have not gone as they should, you get that gut wrenching feeling wondering how bad the damage is. In the case of this fail, the cause of the pictured aftermath was due to a button on the gear selector not being pressed hard enough. What didn’t help was not checking the gearbox status on the selector console, although a lot of drivers out there can appreciate that you don’t always look to see if the truck has gone into gear. On some older trucks there have been a few where you need to give a button a bit of a firmer hit, such as this one with drive and even on the one I operate at present with reverse selection. The car being parked within a no stopping zone didn’t help the situation either, but unfortunately reality is that they were stationary and I was moving, so there isn’t really any defence there. Probably should’ve gotten the ranger to come and book the dick for parking there, but maybe the shattered window is enough of a message. Another annoying thing was being in this big truck when I should’ve been in the little rear loader, which would’ve gotten around in a single swing. Having an accident sucks in general, but it’s even worse when it happens due to some little bullshit reason or simple stuff up like this.