AA recovery driver

Hi All,

Frist post but been reading for sometime now and seems like there’s a lot of genuine people on here.

I got made redundant from my office job which i was doing for 14 years so wanted a career change so opted for HGV as i always loved driving. Been doing it for the past 6 months and love being out on the road. I have taken a 10-12k hit in wages but that was my choice (at the time). I currently have a multi drop role (usually 7 deliveries on average) and most of the time its the same customers. Im on £10.08ph and from ive read on here, its average. I initially took this role to gain experience and as it was a temp to perm position, it offered me secruity but now feel the pinch a little so need to move on and find something which pays better.

I recently came across an AA advertisment for the position of a recovery patrol so i applied and passed the telephone interview. Im now just waiting to hear back to be invited to their recruitment day but wanted to ask a few questions to people who have had experience from working with the AA as a recovery patrol or people who work in this sector.

Ive read a lot that AA have changed the rota’s i think in novemeber which have lead to a number of patrols leaving and also increasing selling targets. I also read that they make you work overtime at the end of each shift (which you habe no say in).

Questions i have are: whats it like working for the AA?
Is recovery good to get into and boost future prospects in regards to career and pay?
Is the overtime at the end of each shift paid time and half as any overtime i do at my current work place isnt?
Are the shifts had to get use to as currently i start at 4am every morning and see no traffic and im usually done by 1pm.
What are the targets like and how much are you expected to sell per month? I have no problems with targets as i had them in my office role.

Any questions that can be answered genuinly, id appreciate it.

P.S apologies in advance for any spelling mistakes, im texting off my phone and cant see the screen in full

Thanks

This guy works or worked for them very recently looking at his posts,maybe drop him a pm.

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=13655

Thanks mate, I’ll send him a PM now but still interested in others views too.

Where is it based?

Following

The one I applied for was in bham.

Walk away I left at end of December

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I’ve recently gone through the process. Don’t waste your time.

How come you guys left? It’ll be nice if you could put some context behind your reasons for doing so. Thanks

Cheemap:
How come you guys left? It’ll be nice if you could put some context behind your reasons for doing so. Thanks

Pm mate

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Sent you a PM dude

Dazeruk:

Cheemap:
How come you guys left? It’ll be nice if you could put some context behind your reasons for doing so. Thanks

Pm mate

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here please!!!

Can’t you just share your experiences here for everyone instead of using PM?
Might help other people who have the same question as the OP.

adam277:
Can’t you just share your experiences here for everyone instead of using PM?
Might help other people who have the same question as the OP.

Depends if what they are saying breaks forum rules… :laughing:

Questions i have are:
whats it like working for the AA? - Due to the changes that have taken place the job of a recovery driver is not as good as it was.

Is recovery good to get into and boost future prospects in regards to career and pay? - No. Pay is better on trunking to be honest

Is the overtime at the end of each shift paid time and half as any overtime i do at my current work place isnt? - It is, unless it’s the ‘contractual overtime’ which is prepaid and you have to fit it in.

Are the shifts had to get use to as currently i start at 4am every morning and see no traffic and im usually done by 1pm. - I used to work only night shifts, hated the days. Way more angry people.

What are the targets like and how much are you expected to sell per month? I have no problems with targets as i had them in my office role. - There are no targets, you are not expected to sell anything. I don’t know where that comes from. Some people will ask if they can join with you and you’re trained to handle that, but you’re not a salesperson.

Hope that helps

Edit - just to say sorry for the delay, I was on hols

Thanks for your reply Harry.

You say there’re no targets but I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that they have productivity targets where by they measure you on how many customers you service or it’s worked out on mileage? I can’t remember exactly what it was related to but I’m sure a few people were moaning about if they were locally it was ok you woul meet these targets but if you went far to drop someone off and didn’t have a load to bring back then these would be counted against you??

I’m still waiting to be called in for the recruitment day which is direct with the company but I’ve since seen agencies advertise for the same job role and are getting people interviews for this month.

I was also going to ask how long after joining do they train you up in class 1 as that was one of the reasons I was attracted to this job as well as getting into a well known company.

Thanks again for answering my questions

Cheemap:
Thanks for your reply Harry.

You say there’re no targets but I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that they have productivity targets where by they measure you on how many customers you service or it’s worked out on mileage? I can’t remember exactly what it was related to but I’m sure a few people were moaning about if they were locally it was ok you woul meet these targets but if you went far to drop someone off and didn’t have a load to bring back then these would be counted against you??

I’m still waiting to be called in for the recruitment day which is direct with the company but I’ve since seen agencies advertise for the same job role and are getting people interviews for this month.

I was also going to ask how long after joining do they train you up in class 1 as that was one of the reasons I was attracted to this job as well as getting into a well known company.

Thanks again for answering my questions

Contract states within 6 months rubbish mine was a year

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Cheemap:
Thanks for your reply Harry.

You say there’re no targets but I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that they have productivity targets where by they measure you on how many customers you service or it’s worked out on mileage? I can’t remember exactly what it was related to but I’m sure a few people were moaning about if they were locally it was ok you woul meet these targets but if you went far to drop someone off and didn’t have a load to bring back then these would be counted against you??

I’m still waiting to be called in for the recruitment day which is direct with the company but I’ve since seen agencies advertise for the same job role and are getting people interviews for this month.

I was also going to ask how long after joining do they train you up in class 1 as that was one of the reasons I was attracted to this job as well as getting into a well known company.

Thanks again for answering my questions

There are no targets… I’ve been driving for over five years on recovery so trust me on that. We used to get paid a bonus but it all went south, no-one forces or expects you to sign up new members, you’re a driver. Running empty means nothing at all, you can sit in the yard all day when there is no work or no trucks. No penalties.

Until very recently it took 2 years to get CE, but now they can’t get any pretrained so they are speeding it up. It did get cancelled for a while.

Have they stopped the bonus altogether or just reduced it? If there’re no targets, what did they base the bonus on? By having no targets, it definitely reduces the need to rush around and allows you to take care whilst out on the road. I would do so regardless but you do see those maniacs on the road and don’t give a ■■■■■ about others!

Do they still do that incentive if you work overtime called rapid response?

I also hear that they keep patrols on roads and contract out motorway jobs?

I can’t think of any other questions ATM but just want to get a feel for what the job involves and if the package that they give is good. Thanks

Cheemap:
Have they stopped the bonus altogether or just reduced it? If there’re no targets, what did they base the bonus on? By having no targets, it definitely reduces the need to rush around and allows you to take care whilst out on the road. I would do so regardless but you do see those maniacs on the road and don’t give a [zb] about others!

Do they still do that incentive if you work overtime called rapid response?

I also hear that they keep patrols on roads and contract out motorway jobs?

I can’t think of any other questions ATM but just want to get a feel for what the job involves and if the package that they give is good. Thanks

Bonuses used to be paid on ‘one shot’ jobs ie taking the member all the way if long distance. Also on ‘two car’ ie one on the back and one in the spec lift. Then there was towing mileage for trailers and caravans (my favourite), all of that has gone. We use garaging (outsourced) because we have more jobs than trucks, trucks aren’t kept off the motorway in the way you suggest. Garaging is based on other factors like the need for equipment we don’t carry.

No rapid response (PPJ), though I will ask drivers to come in earlier if there is a job waiting and a truck free. No driver is asked to rush, ever, they aren’t even asked to run at top on the motorways because member security and safety comes first.

As I’ve said elsewhere, the job itself is great and I miss being on the road. Changes in the last year or so have put unnecessary pressure on drivers but it may all settle down once the new managers sort themselves out. Who knows?

If I was coming into the job new I’d probably stick to trunking.