Good morning gents
I have passed my class 2 in November and this is the first time i have been invited to driver assessment/induction day its with dhl Alfreton.
Iam kinda feeling uncomfortable as this is first time since I have been around calss 2 since November. Can you please let me know what should I expect on Monday? Are there any written tests involved? Obviously i will refresh on my driving/working hours and print out daily check card so I don’t ■■■■ it up but still my tacho card is still a virgin haha
Also I currently work in dead end job its secure £1400 per month doing not much is this a good time to go to work via agency for dhl? If i get fortunate to pass the assessment… I just can’t deal with m work anymore but its money on the account after all… is it a good move? The agency told me its contract at least untill the end of the march… How bad is it with work after that?
Thank you for any sort of information and encouragement
Ondrej
Ondrej:
Good morning gents
I have passed my class 2 in November and this is the first time i have been invited to driver assessment/induction day its with dhl Alfreton.
Iam kinda feeling uncomfortable as this is first time since I have been around calss 2 since November. Can you please let me know what should I expect on Monday? Are there any written tests involved? Obviously i will refresh on my driving/working hours and print out daily check card so I don’t ■■■■ it up but still my tacho card is still a virgin haha
Also I currently work in dead end job its secure £1400 per month doing not much is this a good time to go to work via agency for dhl? If i get fortunate to pass the assessment… I just can’t deal with m work anymore but its money on the account after all… is it a good move? The agency told me its contract at least untill the end of the march… How bad is it with work after that?
Thank you for any sort of information and encouragement
Ondrej
Let’s get the bad stuff outta the way:
“A verbal contract ain`t worth the paper it’s written on”.
If you’ve got a written contract, great, if not be very cautious. January is normally a slack period in many, but not all, sectors.
But you’ve got your ticket out of your current job now, good. Go to this assessment with a positive attitude, at the very least it’ll be a drive round in a truck and you’ll know what to expect in any future tests. If it goes well and you’re offered a job you aren’t obligated to accept. Think carefully about chucking a permanent job for a promise.
If you’re close to walking from current job, then maybe go for it. If needing to pay bills regularly maybe wait a coupla months?
Go for it, I came via Staffline or driving plus for DHL Fradley in December, and at the moment I am really happy, assessment easy, and to be honest just one shift I had cancelled because of the VOR, (light on upper cab didn’t work) and had to wait for repair.
Can’t give specifics on DHL although have heard they are more thorough than some on who they take on, but then that might depend on the site.
Suspect there won’t be any written tests and it’ll be more about making sure you can drive a class 2, checking your licence is valid (take your national insurance number to all agency jobs), and if they need people then showing you round the depot and saying here’s the keys. Just make sure they know you’re a new pass so they might give you pointers a least as to anything you miss.
One thing I would mention is sometimes agencies will send lots of people to a job for assessments just so later they’ve got plenty of options when work comes in at 4am and they need to ring someone. A lot depends if your agency are the main contractor for that DHL site or just one of the “call when no one else has drivers” agencies they use.
I would be careful about jumping from a job in Jan to March as agencies tend to be slower around now, so make sure you can afford to run on 3 days a week or less just incase. As mentioned above, agency promises are worthless partly because the client (DHL) can drop you like a stone depending on work required. Getting your foot in the door is often the harder part in this job and a painful part although its worth it longer term as long as you enjoy the job.
COOP sometimes take on new passes and I wouldn’t be surprised if NHS Supply Chain would too. UPS might be worth contacting as they have a depot in that area just down from NHS. COOP run on a lot of agencies, but they use ADR agency as the main one - admittedly they might only take you on LTD instead of PAYE and it also helps if you understand “Polskie Sklep” but I’ve gotten in there with other better agencies too.
Out of interest, which agency are you with?
Go see what they say but just take anything the agency say with a pinch of salt. Plus remember, if they are sending you for assessments then you’re likely losing money on your current job and it’s all for their benefit. A decent agency should be able to find you something especially with a pallet company for example. Actually they might send you to Taylors - that’s an eye opener especially as at least one agency wagon is manual gearbox.
Should just a simple test on the highway code, driver’s hours, etc, followed by a drive around the block, and maybe a reverse onto a bay.
Don’t forget to fill in an OPS13 (vehicle checklist) form, and have at least 15 minutes (DHL policy) on other work after you put your card in before you turn a wheel.
And also, you should get a “passport” which covers all DHL sites in the UK.
I wish you the very best of luck, and hopefully, you should cream it with no problems at all.
Thank you for the kind words Gents
The agency is Best Connection and its for DHL supply chain for NHS. I have been told by the agency that they are looking for night drivers ( i do night shifts at my current job for past 5 years so no problem for me there ) and they are sending only 4 people down tomorrow ( I am from Sheffield ).
The reason why I am so desperate to leave m current job is I work in the Casino and I have just had enough of drunken people shouting to my face and dealing with politics on a daily basis. I was comfortable at my current job for way too long and I finally got my phone call from this agency so definitely looking forward to go and try this assessment. It’s not costing me anything apart of 20 miles worth of petrol and 3 hours in the bed with my wife
I am just hoping that ill pass and I will nail this job even for a few months - hopefully, that would be enough to get my foot in the door.
Now I am obviously bit confused with the driving hours so is he going to ask me a question like how many hours Can I drive before I need a break or the 56hrs/week but 90hr/in any two week period or is he going to give me some real-world scenario like on theory cpc test…
I am sorry to bother you all with this but obviously Its all new to me
There will be a written multiple choice test on highway code and drivers hours (and hygiene if handling food). Similar to your theory test, pretty basic.
Walkaround checks on the vehicle followed by a drive on the road around 15 mins. Then a reverse back at the depot.
Just like a mini driving test really. Drive like you did on your test and you will be fine. Good luck
just the quick follow up
The assessment drive by itself is no joke you are getting scored like on the test so definitely had my nerves going off a little bit but the drive itself was absolutely awesome I have had a really good time and I have managed to pass as well not bad given the fact I have been driving lorry 5 months ago on m test day.
Thank you all LAds for information
what vehicles do they have ? still DAFs with sleeper cab ?
my assessment was a big joke, examiner said to me “do what you need to do” so I did it, and when we drove back to the yard he told me “ok, your driving was ok with clean sheet for me, but in case Ill put one minor somewhere”, and ready to go
They have daf but not sleepers cabs at all also most of them are new so cant complain at all. Definitely looking forward to gain some experience with them.
GajnyH1:
what vehicles do they have ? still DAFs with sleeper cab ?
my assessment was a big joke, examiner said to me “do what you need to do” so I did it, and when we drove back to the yard he told me “ok, your driving was ok with clean sheet for me, but in case Ill put one minor somewhere”, and ready to go
I thought that they have a mix of DAF CFs (high roofs), supermarket-spec Scanias (15-plates) and Merc Actros. When I worked at their Billingham depot, they ran several LWB Sprinters for delivering incontinence pads to nursing homes, etc. They got trunked from Crick every night. They also run fridges for medications, etc.
