6.00 AM

I arrive to work and get ready for the day. This involves getting changed into my PPE and putting on my helmet and radio.

6.30 AM

I attend pre-start with the maintenance workshop. They advise us of our schedules for the day and go over any EHS requirements. They also advise if a machine is offline for the day.

6.50 AM

I then head over to the truck dome (which is the massive workshop for our trucks, which happens to be shaped like a dome). Once I arrive here, I check in with my supervisor – the lead Diesel Mechanic and we start to plan our day and prioritize workload. We then start with our first action item for the day, which is servicing trailers. This involves me jacking up the trailers and releasing the brakes, by putting the air hoes (compressor) into the trailer – to release the brakes.

9.30 AM

The food truck arrives for the day, so I walk over to the front of the building from the dome and go buy myself a treat and something for lunch. I then put my food in the fridge in the ATB (the training building, which is also our staffroom. I then walk back over to the dome.

10.00 AM

I take my 20-minute morning break. I usually walk over to the ATB, remove my helmet and radio, then have something to eat and play on my phone.

10.20 AM

I put my phone away, put my helmet and radio back on and walk over to the dome. I then continue with my next task, which is going over the EHS safety checklist. This involves items such as housekeeping (which is cleaning up the working area) preparing scaffolding, getting tools ready, tidying up and inventory management. Our big task for today was to pull apart a Western Star truck and replace the main seals which were broken. We must have it back up to standard, as this truck is due to drive 15 hours to the Northwest.

1.00 PM

I take my 30-minute lunch break at the ATB.

1.30 PM

I spend the last hour of the day finishing up tasks and completing little jobs, this could be cleaning up oil, disposing of old filters and old parts and degreasing the engine bays to get them ready for the drivers.

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