Does anyone know what Parcel Force are like to work for? i.e. recruitment process, pay, hours, conditions, how they treat their drivers, holidays?
They have a Distribution Centre in Croydon which isn’t a million miles from me, but I haven’t seen any posts on here yet regarding them.
I’ve been to their national/international hub in Coventry a few times. And I’ve spoken to their drivers. If I was looking for a full time job they would be number one on my list.
Paid well. On parcelforce only one run and back or if local two runs. Decentish kit. No expectation to do anything else other than be a class 1 driver.
Staff mainly seemed happy and cheery. Which is rare. It’s the sort of place where people seem to appreciate the job.
All of that is just my opinion. And I might be totally wrong.
sammym:
I’ve been to their national/international hub in Coventry a few times. And I’ve spoken to their drivers. If I was looking for a full time job they would be number one on my list.Paid well. On parcelforce only one run and back or if local two runs. Decentish kit. No expectation to do anything else other than be a class 1 driver.
Staff mainly seemed happy and cheery. Which is rare. It’s the sort of place where people seem to appreciate the job.
All of that is just my opinion. And I might be totally wrong.
Thanks Sammym. A happy, chatty workforce is always a promising sign. I’m uncertain of the shift patterns though.
I work for them via an agency and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I do night trunking, which consists only of parking on bays and trailer swapping. agency night pay is £15.25/hr, and increases at Christmas to £18 I think. 8-12 hour shifts, fleet is all dafs 66, 67 plate, traffic office are very helpful and happy. All the other drivers I’ve met have praised it.
However I do know it’s extremely rare that they advertise externally. My depot in the west mids for example last advertised in 2010 lol. It’s a job for life.
my mate works at Crick depot…he does Exeter night trunk,mon-fri…doddle of a job.
HOP 2 IT:
I work for them via an agency and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I do night trunking, which consists only of parking on bays and trailer swapping. agency night pay is £15.25/hr, and increases at Christmas to £18 I think. 8-12 hour shifts, fleet is all dafs 66, 67 plate, traffic office are very helpful and happy. All the other drivers I’ve met have praised it.However I do know it’s extremely rare that they advertise externally. My depot in the west mids for example last advertised in 2010 lol. It’s a job for life.
I go past there most days - pertemps have a big sign outside saying up to £18 an hour or something.
It’s a job I’d fancy doing if I’m honest. But I don’t have two years experience which I’d guess they would demand.
Lovely depot - but wouldn’t want to walk to the bus stop after work in that area. The aldi across the road is gangsta special.
They don’t always want 2 years, it depends if they know you and you’ve done class 2 for them or come in that way.
I was told that when I passed my class 1 they would let me drive for them. I loved it there but I get bored and it can be a little same-y. Depends what you want in a job of course. Great money though. Some Sunday shifts can be up to £20 an hour
sammym:
HOP 2 IT:
I work for them via an agency and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I do night trunking, which consists only of parking on bays and trailer swapping. agency night pay is £15.25/hr, and increases at Christmas to £18 I think. 8-12 hour shifts, fleet is all dafs 66, 67 plate, traffic office are very helpful and happy. All the other drivers I’ve met have praised it.However I do know it’s extremely rare that they advertise externally. My depot in the west mids for example last advertised in 2010 lol. It’s a job for life.
I go past there most days - pertemps have a big sign outside saying up to £18 an hour or something.
It’s a job I’d fancy doing if I’m honest. But I don’t have two years experience which I’d guess they would demand.
Lovely depot - but wouldn’t want to walk to the bus stop after work in that area. The aldi across the road is gangsta special.
2 years experience isn’t necessary, I’ve only had my class 1 for 2 months lol.
carryfast-yeti:
he does Exeter night trunk
■■■■ that!
Repetitive cabbage syndrome according to a couple of mates that work direct for RM, same crap day in, day out…
And from what they call a day`s work, I can now see why 1st class stamps cost so much… 
And they NEVER stop moaning, but that`s the actual RM staff, it might be different on the agency 
The traffic office will love you if you don`t moan, and actually get the job done without hitting anything 
sammym:
If I was looking for a full time job they would be number one on my list.
If you were looking for a full time job then you’d better don your shorts get a decent pair of walking shoes and apply for a posties job, they do not employ Class 1 - Class 2 or even 7.5tonner or van drivers externally, you have to climb the ranks internally from shoe leather to steering leather. afaik It doesn’t even matter if you already have all your licences you’d still be back of the queue whilst another time-served postie that started before you got put through his tests, so you can’t even jump the queue.
The agencies do a semi-permanent placing but that has all the security of a ■■■■■ girlfriend on a hen-do in blackpool.
When they first opened up in Coventry they had no end of Drivers apply for the “good jobs” the only problem was you could only get a good job if one of the “old timers” pop his clogs,otherwise you had all the crap that they didnt want to do.A few drivers I knew went there but left after a month because the "good jobs" didnt really excist for the “newbie”
Parcel Force is more depot-depot trunking that Royal Mail driving represents.
I did one of the Coventry Duties in 2008. Nothing wrong with it.
Run into a local office, pick up a load of yorks, run to coventry, drop the trailer, park up cab for an hour, mosey on into office to get paperwork and trailer number to go back with, return to your local mail center, unload, back to base, re-fuel, chuck keys in, go home.
10 hour shift.
The “Bad” jobs would be the 14 hour shifts running yorks down to some small rural office that has you returning half-asleep around breakfast time.
The “Ugly” - at least to me - was a dozen local “York Re-patriation” runs, where the work is dull, and you keep getting your fingers pinched between the nested yorks when loading/unloading using your tail lift.
I like C+E trunking then, and I’m not so keen on the other stuff…
one of my ex work colleagues worked at royal mail Dorcan [Swindon]as an agency driver,they ran him ragged always nearly 14/15 hr shifts and it was only night work,you could not get days at all which I applied for,i was told by the agency ‘‘yeah no problem at all for days’’ so I registered,turned out to be a load of tosh,everytime they phoned it was for nights only which I don’t do,never heard from them again after about 3 weeks of turning down nights,typical agency,they lie to get you on their books.
Manpower in Crawley provide drivers to the Croydon depot.
You’ll be required to do a driving assessment, which can take a while to get sorted.
You will also want to ask about Parity Pay and how that works.
The Gatwick depot does not require you to have held your Class 1 licence for 2 years - I had only had mine a few months when I got a driving assessment with them- Not sure about Croydon. I believe they will also consider Class 2 drivers.
truckman020:
one of my ex work colleagues worked at royal mail Dorcan [Swindon]as an agency driver,they ran him ragged always nearly 14/15 hr shifts and it was only night work,you could not get days at all which I applied for,i was told by the agency ‘‘yeah no problem at all for days’’ so I registered,turned out to be a load of tosh,everytime they phoned it was for nights only which I don’t do,never heard from them again after about 3 weeks of turning down nights,typical agency,they lie to get you on their books.
Same here, I would only be interested in working days as I hate night driving (and I’ve also been on the receiving end of the agencies who constantly try to bring you into line with what THEY want or lump it)
I’d like to know what the day shifts are like and if they stagger the start times to keep it from getting monotonous.
tedb12:
truckman020:
one of my ex work colleagues worked at royal mail Dorcan [Swindon]as an agency driver,they ran him ragged always nearly 14/15 hr shifts and it was only night work,you could not get days at all which I applied for,i was told by the agency ‘‘yeah no problem at all for days’’ so I registered,turned out to be a load of tosh,everytime they phoned it was for nights only which I don’t do,never heard from them again after about 3 weeks of turning down nights,typical agency,they lie to get you on their books.Same here, I would only be interested in working days as I hate night driving (and I’ve also been on the receiving end of the agencies who constantly try to bring you into line with what THEY want or lump it)
I’d like to know what the day shifts are like and if they stagger the start times to keep it from getting monotonous.
I was out with three of my RM mates on Saturday night, two of them are shop stewards…their take on it is that you have zero chance of getting on “direct”, you will need to be wearing shorts in winter for a couple of years before you even get a sniff
And, your wellbeing regarding “monotony” doesn’t come into it, they have thousands who crave this life style [same ■■■■, different day], my mates paranoia regarding not getting back for their planned shift end is mind boggling…quite pathetic in fact 
HOP 2 IT:
sammym:
HOP 2 IT:
I work for them via an agency and it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I do night trunking, which consists only of parking on bays and trailer swapping. agency night pay is £15.25/hr, and increases at Christmas to £18 I think. 8-12 hour shifts, fleet is all dafs 66, 67 plate, traffic office are very helpful and happy. All the other drivers I’ve met have praised it.However I do know it’s extremely rare that they advertise externally. My depot in the west mids for example last advertised in 2010 lol. It’s a job for life.
I go past there most days - pertemps have a big sign outside saying up to £18 an hour or something.
It’s a job I’d fancy doing if I’m honest. But I don’t have two years experience which I’d guess they would demand.
Lovely depot - but wouldn’t want to walk to the bus stop after work in that area. The aldi across the road is gangsta special.
2 years experience isn’t necessary, I’ve only had my class 1 for 2 months lol.
Just got off the phone to Pertemps. I need to go to their driving academy as I’m not experienced enough. Unpaid - but I’m actually okay with that.
I don’t enjoy driving class 2 as much since I’ve started class 1. And I’d like to be a class 1 only man. But I lack some confidence especially blindside reversing. I can do it - but I take a long time. I probably get out and check about 15 times. So if they can help me nail blindsides then it will be a good day.
Then I’ve got an assessment.
Presuming I do all that and pass. I’ll shoot you a message. We’d be working at the same depot. I’d be weekend only - but I’m sure our paths will cross.
I’ve heard it said that there is “no more of this 8-12 weeks before getting parity pay” now. Is this true?
Reading the posts above, and it occurs to me that
“Night trunking work that includes weekends, with shifts upto 15 hours long all at a massive right-through hourly rate” - is just the sort of job I’m up for! 
So… Are all those boxes ticked with RM in my absence - or not?
If It is decent length shifts at decent hourly rates - I might even consider a “further afield” commute, such as Gatwick, Croydon, or ELDC… It it all just with Pertemps?