The premise is a must: Italy entrusts a huge percentage of activities at no cost to volunteering, but towards the same operators there seems to be a great indifference.
Among the various tasks there is the driver ...
Being a driver is not improvised and often the colleagues of the Tpl - local public transport - or freight transport who choose to carry out an extra-work voluntary activity, are engaged in the professional role of driver. In fact, think of the responsibility of driving an ambulance, a medical bus, a truck, a fire engine or a 4x4 ... all situations which, in strong conditions operational / emotional stress, are certainly more controllable by those who daily juggles with a heavy means in the urban jungle and highway where it must follow very precise rules and too penalizing. The competence of the manager of the management of volunteers within associations, therefore, assumes an important role in identifying and enhancing these people, even taking into account the meritocratic aspect.
Attention for everyone
The accident is always possible even for the most complete and prepared conductor however when you voluntarily work as a driver and with the security of an "institutional logo" of some important association behind it that is able to protect any lack parando the bottom back - with public money of course - the unfortunate, perhaps the preparation goes into the background.
Bus and truck drivers under the strict regulations are used to predict and plan any logistical shift or simple parking maneuver, but nevertheless these sectors are increasingly in the eye of the storm often due to excessive zeal in the controls which are often interpreted as a method of safe box and not as a preventive method towards the improprieties of companies and drivers. To lose the job is in fact too easy and scarcely protected when the points on the license are canceled.
In all the countries of Europe the road shortages of a vehicle used for a service of public utility, are sanctioned without going too much for the thin and without too many mitigating factors. Here we can still observe the annoying method of two weights and two measures and that in many cases guarantees to get away with those who wear some uniform.
Call back in service
In this context one can understand the motivated perplexities of a company towards the granting of a clearance to serve as a driver in a voluntary organization. In fact, excluding the public bodies that provide for the issue of their driving license - art 138 / 05 CdS - in other realities the volunteer uses their driving license - as in civil protection - with all the associated risks once the period of voluntary service.
However, both in the Army starting from Vfp4 and in public voluntary organizations, the trend is oriented towards the employment of their employees for the most delicate tasks, but it must always be remembered that it is the road traveled every day by bus or truck that refines the characteristics of the conductor e not driving a Daily or a truck occasionally for a trip.
One of my senior instructor told me, thanks to the experience of his thirty years as a bus driver, that no one is good but you always learn on the road.
On the field
During a recent civil voluntary activity I observed that, despite the bad weather conditions and the wet ground, we persevered in stopping the articulated lorries - in a field for the unloading of the container while being able to dispose in case of need of a paved road to the boundary of the field, where the discharge could take place more easily regulating perhaps with a single alternating direction the limited local traffic.
The result was not long in coming, especially with the peaks: from the first to the last they were "planted" in the mud at least until the heat of the sun has recompiled the ground. Thanks to the Manitou, it was possible to re-establish the activities, even if some embarrassing damage has occurred. Me, not being part of the management staff, I watched the powerful Manitou at work in towing from the front of the bogged means. I had noticed that the mud wedge blocking the vehicles had developed on the front part of the driving wheels of the lorries and, with some embarrassment, I suggested to the chief on duty to tow the vehicles rearwards, given the lack of grip even for the big lifts .
I was also warned if, after a quarter of an hour of trying, my idea seemed to be giving the desired results.
In the face of sometimes embarrassing situations, I noticed with pleasure a great attention to the 81 / 08 anti-accident regulations, even if, in my opinion, in some situations theory and practice are somewhat contradictory.
Some satisfaction
However, this voluntary activity gave me a short trip, just over 200 kilometers, with a load under the 15 tons between Appennine curves and tunnels observed by an imposing driving position at 2 meters from the ground.
We are talking about the BM version ofAstra ACTL 6X6, a series that we could define still "analog" as less rich in electronics compared to the SM series. The transmission is posterior and only the conductor can choose the passage of the motion to the front axle and the transversal blocks of the distribution differentials. It is about the BM 309 with engine Cursor 6 cylinder 10300 cc that delivers 400 hp. There was a certain embarrassment, if we consider that I mainly drive buses, lower and arranged differently in the cabin, but the thrill of using the ZF slap gearbox and feeling the power of the engine immediately captured me, especially after unloading with gusto several shotguns, perceiving the sound of its six cylinders in pleasant symbiosis with my instinct.
And some disappointments
The adrenaline of the journey remained high once arrived in the deployment area, where a colleague, also a volunteer and bus driver, asked me to help him clean the filters of a Renault Magnum, including the one hidden under the pump of the injection pump. The mesh filter was previously not handmade, made us exclaim some colorful imprecation, at least until we have had the best with the tools available.
Immediately after, however, I was touched by a cazziatone by a manager who asked me to find wedges on a semi-trailer, tools that in the transport field are beams to be placed under the internal twin wheels or the legs of the semi-trailers. In reality, the misunderstanding depended on the fact that the manager was looking for wheel-stop wedges among other things of the same color of the frame and therefore camouflaged. I noticed on the part of the young coordinator an excessively authoritarian and at times intimidating attitude, at least in terms of tone, a method in my opinion that aroused embarrassment and uncertainty during the delicate work of the staff.
Iveco 190
I had chosen not to give too much attention to the skilled workers, but I was instructed to bring an Iveco 190 trailer tractor to a remote parking area and who knows the evolution of Iveco trucks knows that, even if exceeded, the 190 is and remains an icon of the Fiat Veicoli Industriali production. A 13.000 cc 6 cylinder with 330 horsepower and Zf Ecosplit gearbox to 16 ratios. The slowdowns I managed them with climbs and engine braking, given the absence of the retarder, and I was conquered kilometer after kilometer both by direct and precise mechanics and by its maneuverability.
Reverseers with trailer are those who need specific experience which made me decide to park him head in a stall to avoid wasting time, even if I admit I wanted to.
Scania P 94
Very widespread in the armies of northern Europe, I have also had the opportunity to move the King of the road, I believe a Scania P94 with 280 cv, a 5 cylinder in truck version with semi-automatic gearbox, a system that changes gear by pressing only the clutch pedal. I'm not a fan of these changes that are a bit 'a middle ground between manual and automatic and on the bus a similar system I had tried with the Mercedes 450 on a tricky line to San Pellegrino Terme. This change is not very instinctive and suitable for the highway, while in difficult contexts the robotized, the automatic but above all the manual are obviously the most popular.
However the driving position is of the automotive type with steering wheel inclined towards the conductor and with comfort and reliability above the average, but to become familiar with its particular ergonomics it is necessary to make the road and experience. It should be said that those who are used to Scania hardly change vehicle and remain lost.
A coordination that enhances
It is a simple idea about the role of coordination of the works that could perhaps be set differently, also to safeguard the same coordinator, however, constantly under the spotlight of the leaders.
If you have capable and autonomous people in the management of vehicles, materials, etc., maybe a quote briefing it could be the answer after having listened to the opinions of the insiders and their perplexities in certain maneuvers. In fact, sometimes a dispersive and contradictory environment is generated and the generated frenzy does not always help.
The days pass under sun and rain ...
Despite some delays in logistics, we worked hard with the spirit of adaptation that must always prevail in training / operational situations. I met really prepared and smart volunteers and I too have adapted to all the tasks necessary for the camp. I was very impressed by the container with the washing machines and dryers inside, a module already used by the US Army during the Second World War. In fact, a peculiarity of the US Army is to shelter a bit of everything thanks to the large number of trucks and men.
In the evening, after dinner, fatigue took over and in my bunk bed inside the sleeping bag I let myself be captured effortlessly by a deep regenerating sleep.
To the volunteers
Admirable women and men who, for praiseworthy ideals in all sectors, offer their work every day, very often to those who suffer; heroes in no uncertain terms often underestimated to whom the word "thank you" is not always taken for granted nor sought.
THANKS to you all!
(photo: author / web)
