To cut a long story short [zb] I started my supposed 3 day induction with Pawsons last Wednesday. It turned out to be a breif intro & thrown in the deep end - I did a 15 hour shift on Friday with a night out at Chippenham truck stop with no sleeping bag or night heater brrrrrrrrrr. Got a stinking cold - was in 2 minds whether to call in sick on Monday, didnt & at the very end of a miserable (still full of cold) 13 hour shift I pranged a nearly new Scania back at the yard & got fired on the spot
Sorry to hear that m8, but you have certainly helped me. I am soon going to do my class 2 then hopefully class 1 straight after and I was in two minds whether to try and get a job with a small family run firm like Pawsons or go for the big players. I currently work for Exel near Rotherham and we get Exel drivers from different depots ( mainly Bawtry) and from what they tell me, to work for Exel is nothing like what you’ve described - night out with no heater!! They tell me at Bawtry once i’ve got my Class 1 I should get in easy. Driver I was talking to other day is contracted to 52 hours a week - monday - friday days, no nights out and he’s on the topside of 20 grand.
I am also going to do my class 2 soon like scott79 and
as pawsons is close and I know people that work there
I was probably going to try there but I will have to look
round and have a think first now. I know they have a repation
as being firm but fired on the spot seems a bit harsh to me.
If you’ve got your class 1 why not give Exel at Bawtry a try, they have been known to take on drivers without much experience and they a first class firm to work for (in the warehouse at least). I know they want drivers there.
When you were previously deciding whether to go for Pawsons or a big firm alot of the advice you got was to choose the small family run firm because you didnt get treated like a number. I work for a massive firm and I have never felt or been treated like a number. To me, the upside of working for a big firm is that they have procedures in place for everything, and in my experience more often than not, this is to protect you, the worker as well as the firm. I know I could go into work on Monday, get in a VNA (a very large fork lift truck - lifts me up to the roof of the warehouse ) and take out a whole aisle and all its stock and be safe in the knowledge that I wont be fired for damaging something, i’ll just be retrained. My point is big firms spend alot of money on training people and have dedicated people for that, so if you do someting wrong - like pranging a scania, which would be worth around the same as what I drive at work - Exel at least, see this as they havent trained you properly which is partly their fault and they will seek to rectify it.
Sorry to hear this Paul. You could well be better off out of their. They sound like they’ve got a large pair of spurs stashed somewhere in the company. For what it’s worth, I was given an unplanned night out a couple of weeks ago. I booked into a Novotel and along with the extortinate night out fee, new socks, undies, shaving kit, toothpaste, biggest most expensive breakfast I could find etc, I billed them £128-00 for it (agency wallah) . I know it’s got a bunk in it, but it’s a bit rich expecting you to sleep in the thing if their’s no bedding and no night heater. I bet their regular drivers don’t do it . Someone better qualified than me would be able to advise you on the legal side - it sounds unfair, so I bet their’s some legislation in your favour somewhere. You must be feeling pretty low about it, but their are decent firms out their. Keep pluggin away at it and you’ll find one .
As luck would have it I already had a new job lined up anyway with Hanbury Davies so it’s not so bad. I have learned a couple of invaluable lessons though which I wont forget in a hurry!
no night heater no night out unless they put me up in a hotel on a company credit card.
as part of your morning checks just flick the heater on as your doing you bits nd bobs outside,if its not working when you get back in defect it ,if it is working you got a lovley warm cab to start with
unlucky about the scanny ,guess they can’t afford them off the road what with having that one nicked
) and take out a whole aisle and all its stock and be safe in the knowledge that I wont be fired for damaging something, i’ll just be retrained. My point is big firms spend alot of money on training people and have dedicated people for that, so if you do someting wrong - like pranging a scania, which would be worth around the same as what I drive at work - Exel at least, see this as they havent trained you properly which is partly their fault and they will seek to rectify it.
. I know it’s got a bunk in it, but it’s a bit rich expecting you to sleep in the thing if their’s no bedding and no night heater. I bet their regular drivers don’t do it 
. Someone better qualified than me would be able to advise you on the legal side - it sounds unfair, so I bet their’s some legislation in your favour somewhere. You must be feeling pretty low about it, but their are decent firms out their. Keep pluggin away at it and you’ll find one 
.
