I have a Class 2 licence but have been assessed and offered a start driving 7.5 ton trucks with Royal Mail via manpower, they also say that there may be possibilities to drive Class 2’s from time to time if anything comes available. I have to do a 12 week period on low pay (£8.50ph) before they tell me it will increase to over £13ph if they keep me on.
Has anybody had any experiences of this in the past and is it just a carrot dangling period and then no further work after the 12 weeks? Also is it a steady number even if I am kept on?
I may have a chance of work elsewhere but after reading through some old forum posts RM seems a decent enough working environment.
Just at a bit of a crossroads at the moment and hope that somebody can give me some honest advice
I got work off Manpower Warrington in 2015 for about 6 months. I didn’t do any RM shifts for them but I did a weeks cpc in their offices and the other drivers were mostly on RM, including the trainer. They were all happy enough and had no probs getting on the parity pay unlike some agencies that pull you off the job before 12 weeks. None of them got a full 5 shifts in a week though, seemed to be around 3 or 4 but the hourly rate made up for that. Oh and the cpc is free with manpower
The Royal Mail work down my way usually lays people off or keeps them on agency long term. BOC are worse, they have had agency drivers there for 4 years promising them a full time job and never delivering.
I do Royal Mail via Manpower.
There is a 12 week parity pay scheme, after the 12 weeks it goes up to normal. Around 6 weeks before Christmas, the rates go up and you’ll likely be offered anything up to 6 days a week if you want it.
To get around the first 12 weeks low pay rate, I did 1 shift a week at RM and the rest of the week at a different client of Manpower who paid more to keep the weekly take home reasonable - Perhaps your local office can arrange this for you ?
Of all the companies I’ve worked for via agency, Royal Mail is definitely one of the better when compared to plant deliveries, Hermes, DHL and general haulage… They wont rush you and wont expect you to work through your breaks etc. The trucks are road legal and the work really is easy, especially for the money but they do expect you to play by their rules. I’ve heard UPS and Fed Ex aren’t bad to work for either on Class 1 and 2.
Around this time of year, it isn’t really busy but beginning to gently pick up. At the moment, there seems to be a lot of CPC training going on where agency are covering those shifts so for now it’s not too bad. I expect Easter onwards will get busier as their permanent drivers take holiday.
The pay rates do change after 36.5 hours worked each week and go to Overtime rates which are typically higher than most day rates but lower than night rates. My local Manpower Office has 7 different pay tiers per class of vehicle at each RM site, depending on when you start and end your shift throughout the day (Then there’s Sunday tiers in addition) As an example the 7.5T at one local site ranges from £14.12 to £18.29 per hour throughout the week
It isn’t uncommon for you to be booked onto a 7.5T shift but when you turn up, they’ll ask if you can switch and do a Class 2 shift (And adjust the rates accordingly) if you’re ok with that. Or Vice Versa - Especially once you’ve got to know where most of the Delivery Offices are.
Hyh:
I do Royal Mail via Manpower.
There is a 12 week parity pay scheme, after the 12 weeks it goes up to normal. Around 6 weeks before Christmas, the rates go up and you’ll likely be offered anything up to 6 days a week if you want it.To get around the first 12 weeks low pay rate, I did 1 shift a week at RM and the rest of the week at a different client of Manpower who paid more to keep the weekly take home reasonable - Perhaps your local office can arrange this for you ?
Of all the companies I’ve worked for via agency, Royal Mail is definitely one of the better when compared to plant deliveries, Hermes, DHL and general haulage… They wont rush you and wont expect you to work through your breaks etc. The trucks are road legal and the work really is easy, especially for the money but they do expect you to play by their rules. I’ve heard UPS and Fed Ex aren’t bad to work for either on Class 1 and 2.
Around this time of year, it isn’t really busy but beginning to gently pick up. At the moment, there seems to be a lot of CPC training going on where agency are covering those shifts so for now it’s not too bad. I expect Easter onwards will get busier as their permanent drivers take holiday.
The pay rates do change after 36.5 hours worked each week and go to Overtime rates which are typically higher than most day rates but lower than night rates. My local Manpower Office has 7 different pay tiers per class of vehicle at each RM site, depending on when you start and end your shift throughout the day (Then there’s Sunday tiers in addition) As an example the 7.5T at one local site ranges from £14.12 to £18.29 per hour throughout the week
It isn’t uncommon for you to be booked onto a 7.5T shift but when you turn up, they’ll ask if you can switch and do a Class 2 shift (And adjust the rates accordingly) if you’re ok with that. Or Vice Versa - Especially once you’ve got to know where most of the Delivery Offices are.
Some superb info there mate and from the previous posts too, much appreciated 
I am certainly willing to be flexible with working days or evenings, weekends and whatever is required really. I’m happy to do the 7.5T for the time being but eventually want to do Class 2 shifts so I hope they do switch me occasionally with an aim to do them full time.
All in all it seems like there isn’t much to worry about really and there should be work after the 12 weeks is up
Apologies if you’ve already said, but have you passed a Class 2 assessment at a Royal Mail site yet?
If you have and want the Class 2 experience of reversing until you get more Class 2 shifts, when you finish a 7.5T shift early (Fairly uncommon to actually finish a shift on time or late unless you get held up in traffic from my experience - You’ll still get paid til the end of your booking time if you do finish early) You could ask to take one of the 18 tonners out around the yard to practice reversing onto a bay etc.
Generally I’ve found the majority of shift managers started out as drivers beforehand so might be more likely to let you have a go. Some of them have never been in a truck and it does become apparent when they ask you to do something that just isn’t possible.
It is you local Manpower office who allocates the shifts to agency staff. RM simply give them a list of shifts to be covered, so if you’re not given Class 2 - It is likely your local office doing that. You can remind them you are available over weekends and set you as “Available” so if the agency out of hours team need a driver, you’ll be on their list to pick from…
I’m down as a Class 1 driver on the agency but they still give me Class 2 and 7.5Ton work at RM, it just depends what work is available around the days/nights I want to work. As an example last week I did Tues-Fri on 7.5T and asked to work the Monday on Class 2. The difference between 7.5T and Class 2 is generally around £2.50 per hour ish looking at my previously paid rates but from my experience you aren’t likely to finish your shift much earlier than your booking time. So your £13 an hour on 7.5T is probably more likely to be £15.50 ish on Class 2. The parity pay is slightly more on Class 2 compared to 7.5T from memory but still low.
I have only done the 7.5T assessment but once I have been there a bit and hopefully got friendly with a manager or two I will ask if I can do the Class 2 assessment.
If I have been there a while and shown I am an ok driver with the 7.5T’s and they know I have Class 2, from your experience would the assessment be necessary if it was to cover somebody’s shift or a last minute job?
Remember…
That speed limits in roadworks don’t apply to any RM vehicles.
yourhavingalarf:
Remember…That speed limits in roadworks don’t apply to any RM vehicles.
Just roadworks■■? 
“We have been travelling through the galaxy now for three million years and there are many things we’ve discovered. The highest form of life in the universe is Man and the lowest is a man who works for the post office.”
Holly - Red Dwarf.
[quote=“NorthernApe”
If I have been there a while and shown I am an ok driver with the 7.5T’s and they know I have Class 2, from your experience would the assessment be necessary if it was to cover somebody’s shift or a last minute job?[/quote]
RM will generally only arrange a Class 2 or any assessment via agency unfortunately, so you’ll need to keep hounding your local office a couple times a week until they get fed up and arrange one for you.
They might be able to arrange one at a RM site further away if that is an option.
If you haven’t been assessed by RM to drive the Class 2 vehicles, they wont let you lose with them - Not even around the yard 
It’s only breaking a speed limit if you’re caught and proven beyond doubt 
NorthernApe:
yourhavingalarf:
Remember…That speed limits in roadworks don’t apply to any RM vehicles.
Just roadworks■■? [emoji38]
The only time I’ve ever had an RM overtake me is if I’ve been exiting off on to a short sliproad [emoji38]
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A recent open day was held to recruit new drivers and to see current RM drivers in action and the high standards of driving we all know and love.
Sign me up (for the £31 per hr that is)
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Reef:
Sign me up (for the £31 per hr that is)
Are they looking for a new chief executive already although it did forget to mention “bonuses” and “golden handshake after 6 months”. 
Just hope you don’t get one of these:
NorthernApe:
I have only done the 7.5T assessment but once I have been there a bit and hopefully got friendly with a manager or two I will ask if I can do the Class 2 assessment.
If I have been there a while and shown I am an ok driver with the 7.5T’s and they know I have Class 2, from your experience would the assessment be necessary if it was to cover somebody’s shift or a last minute job?
You won’t be let out in a vehicle you haven’t been assessed in, even if there’s a driver needed urgently.
Not all sites run different size fleets. Not sure where you’re located but some sites like Jubilee and Medway only have the small fleet (7.5) and the large fleet are run from other nearby VOC’s. Some mail centres like Gatwick and Croydon will have both small fleet and a VOC operating from the same site. Some drivers like Harry work predominantly from one site but occasionally travel to others.
Currently waiting for manpower to go live with the new DX booking system this week so there could be some last minute calls for agency drivers needing to be made if it all goes wrong.
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m1cks:
NorthernApe:
I have only done the 7.5T assessment but once I have been there a bit and hopefully got friendly with a manager or two I will ask if I can do the Class 2 assessment.
If I have been there a while and shown I am an ok driver with the 7.5T’s and they know I have Class 2, from your experience would the assessment be necessary if it was to cover somebody’s shift or a last minute job?You won’t be let out in a vehicle you haven’t been assessed in, even if there’s a driver needed urgently.
Not all sites run different size fleets. Not sure where you’re located but some sites like Jubilee and Medway only have the small fleet (7.5) and the large fleet are run from other nearby VOC’s. Some mail centres like Gatwick and Croydon will have both small fleet and a VOC operating from the same site. Some drivers like Harry work predominantly from one site but occasionally travel to others.
Currently waiting for manpower to go live with the new DX booking system this week so there could be some last minute calls for agency drivers needing to be made if it all goes wrong.Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Thanks for that. I haven’t heard anything about this new booking system yet, but like I say I’ve only just joined Manpower. I’ve mentioned to them that I am willing to do the odd bit of weekend work when I can, so some shifts may pop up if it does go wrong