Now I’m no great fan of RDC type places but I was in Waitrose Milton Keynes earlier and had several head shaking moments.
So it’s the run up to Christmas, I’m fairly confident most of them will take a bit longer because its busier, but the way some drivers spoke to some of the staff in there today just left me feeling embarrassed. Some need to realise that their little bubble world isn’t the most important thing.
For clarity there was nothing downright abusive said, it was more the tone which was clearly heard because nobody spoke as they fairly unanimously all had their heads stuck in their phone. I wasnt doing cartwheels about being there for 2.5hrs but it’s one of them so why get jumpy. Pressure?
Way I see it. If i go someware and have wait hours on end no skin off my nose. Am hourly paid and .And all brings me.closer to home time or running put of hours for the day.
Bloke in the office is probably pulling.his hair out having to rearrange jobs while im.sat waiting.
But that’s his problem . Can only do what you can do.
edd1974:
Way I see it. If i go someware and have wait hours on end no skin off my nose. Am hourly paid and .And all brings me.closer to home time or running put of hours for the day.
Bloke in the office is probably pulling.his hair out having to rearrange jobs while im.sat waiting.
But that’s his problem . Can only do what you can do.
Exactly.
I knew I’d be there waiting when I seen my next drop was timed one hour after this one, I warned my lot before I left this morning and let them know again. That’s my job done. The next job got refused, again not my problem.
It’s why these places have a bad attitude towards drivers and like to keep us at arms length. You just have to accept the fact that the bods behind the counter don’t give a monkeys & are totally powerless to whats going on in the warehouse anyway.
I have made the odd enquiry after 2.5/3 hrs waiting, but showing that you don’t give a monkeys yourself is normally the most effective policy.
They’re incompetent.
Swan valley on Monday…run up to Xmas,and 2 operational bays.
More(gormless)management than workers…and total gridlock.
Supermarket rdc’s are a total ■■■■ take.
I vividly recall being in Tesco Southampton one morning. I was tipped and sitting in the office area for the interminable wait for paperwork when a big fat driver came in, clearly in a temper about something. His face was red and there was a vein throbbing away on his forehead; a clear candidate for a heart attack.
His problem was that he had another delivery at Tesco Didcot and he expected to be tipped and on his way fast so that he could make his booking time. The young girl behind the desk tried to explain that there was nothing she could do, but he went off on a rant about incompetent staff and how he had been promised and he was running out of hours, etc etc; saying that he was going to pull off the bay and drive off anyway. A manager appeared and eventually, he was escorted outside so I don’t know what happened to him after, but the girl was in tears and with the state he was in, I really thought that the driver should not have been allowed to get in a cab lest he killed someone.
When I first went back to driving in the early 90s, I used to worry about deadlines and bookings and all that. It didn’t take me long to realise that it’s all nonsense and if they could keep me waiting for hours after my booking time to suit themselves, I was certainly not going to break my neck (or the law) to meet them. I also went out of my way to be friendly and polite to the office staff, even if it wasn’t reciprocated. In the long run, it did mean that I wasn’t the one who got the really awkward bays at Sainsbury Basingstoke, and Asda Dartford were usually happy to leave my notes for the next driver (they did make some wait).
As long as you turn up on time at the first one, what’s the problem? Office staff are there to sort out the problems that they’ve probably caused in the first place.
Some drivers take it upon themselves to be a hero to the planners or manager so then when they are delayed they take it personally rather than just going ■■■■ it, not my problem nothing I can do about it, it’s up to the office to sort out
Rowley010:
Some drivers take it upon themselves to be a hero to the planners or manager so then when they are delayed they take it personally rather than just going [zb] it, not my problem nothing I can do about it, it’s up to the office to sort out
Yep…
‘‘Look at me boss, I can do this job faster than ‘so and so’ and get all the drops off in record time’’ (thus ■■■■ ing the job up for everybody else )
‘‘Oh! Ok, I wasn’t expecting you to be tipped as quick, so here’s another job to do… but it means you’ll be out Fri night I’m afraid’’
■■■■ Clowns of the highest order. (many of which work for my lot)
As for attitude, …I tend to give back the same attitude (whether good or bad) that is dished out to me, in any walk of life, but I always go in with a friendly attitude, I find people tend to relate to you better, and help you more if you do.
Be nice, polite, smile and be in a a jovial mood when you pull up to the barrier/gatehouse etc. A simple “Good morning young lady” to the woman that’s speaking to you on the tannoy is likely to set a positive tone with Her when you when you walk in the office. Likewise smiling and saying good morning fella to the power hungry guy in the gatehouse, will set the tone. Joking that my hair on my bald head will get wet or blown around as I walk in the gatehouse defuses their anti Driver attitude
peirre:
Be nice, polite, smile and be in a a jovial mood when you pull up to the barrier/gatehouse etc. A simple “Good morning young lady” to the woman that’s speaking to you on the tannoy is likely to set a positive tone with Her when you when you walk in the office. Likewise smiling and saying good morning fella to the power hungry guy in the gatehouse, will set the tone. Joking that my hair on my bald head will get wet or blown around as I walk in the gatehouse defuses their anti Driver attitude
This is spot on, but when (as it will sometimes) it doesn’t work, and the underpaid, overworked goods-in clerk says you are not going to get tipped because you are late/early/not booked in/too scruffy/foreign/not foreign, then ask them for their name. “What do you want that for,” they will say. “So I can tell my boss who rejected the load…” It’s amazing how, when it becomes personal, attitudes can change. They know that your boss will call their boss who will call them…
peirre:
Be nice, polite, smile and be in a a jovial mood when you pull up to the barrier/gatehouse etc. A simple “Good morning young lady” to the woman that’s speaking to you on the tannoy is likely to set a positive tone with Her when you when you walk in the office. Likewise smiling and saying good morning fella to the power hungry guy in the gatehouse, will set the tone. Joking that my hair on my bald head will get wet or blown around as I walk in the gatehouse defuses their anti Driver attitude
Way to go everytime, works wonders. Even when someone gave me attitude nine times out of ten I would just smile and pretend to not be bothered. Had a far better effect than if they thought they had wound you up. However in general attitudes stink these days and definitely more so in the UK than here in Holland.
edd1974:
Way I see it. If i go someware and have wait hours on end no skin off my nose. Am hourly paid and .And all brings me.closer to home time or running put of hours for the day.
Bloke in the office is probably pulling.his hair out having to rearrange jobs while im.sat waiting.
But that’s his problem . Can only do what you can do.
^^^^^ What he said.
Actually, I love running into this particular depot. Always easy to park up and find space to take a 45 there, bags of space to move about, trailers often free-standing and ready-to-go when I’m there for a pick-up… And I’m hourly paid of course, so there’s no need or desire to have some manager’s whip cracking at me, because I’ve taken more than the designated 4 minutes to take a trailer off the bay, like you get at some depots I’ve worked at in the past…
It’s a while since I’ve been in an RCD, but being pleasant with everyone is the way to go. If you’re on time and you get delayed at the tip, it’s not a problem, you’re not delivering a heart for the surgeons to do a transplant, it’s stuff and nobody dies if it doesn’t get there on the time some muppet decided it should.
Reverse psychology is amazing… If you get “attitude” from the on-site staff stay calm, adopt a relaxed polite persona and ask is there a toilet and a coffee machine nearby that you can use, as say you think you are likely to be there for a while and you may as well get comfy and have a brew.
A mate of mine used to walk in with a copy of War and Peace in his hand, and if told he wouldn’t be seen for ■■■ hours, would indicate said volume and say: “It’s OK, I’ve been meaning to read this for years.”
Even got a smile out of some ‘goods inwards’ for that.
Driver attitude■■? What about the goods in pointy shoes. I was 1 hour late for a tip in Speke, I backed onto bay went to book in and he refused the load because i was late, Now, the warhouse lads are very fast there and when i got back to lorry they had taken all ten pallets off, happy days i thought, so i go back to goods in and say they have already took them off mate…he says…i dont care, theyre going back on…NOW THATS A BAD ATTITUDE
shullbit:
Driver attitude■■? What about the goods in pointy shoes. I was 1 hour late for a tip in Speke, I backed onto bay went to book in and he refused the load because i was late, Now, the warhouse lads are very fast there and when i got back to lorry they had taken all ten pallets off, happy days i thought, so i go back to goods in and say they have already took them off mate…he says…i dont care, theyre going back on…NOW THATS A BAD ATTITUDE
As much as it feels like they are being tossers when your late/early, I really don’t mind B&M’s strict policy on booking times because when you do turn up on time they keep their end of the bargain and tip you pronto.
Been there many times. Some.of the office staff are dicks. Some are ok. I think it’s also a case of a load of people working in two industries that actually mostly hate their jobs.
Tbf many driver’s attitudes would be better if the rdc.s supplied civilised waiting conditions for them, instead of minimal bog standard ■■■■ poor facilities.
I ain’t asking for a bar and a pool table, but ffs…some of em.
)
(many of which work for my lot)
