ETS:
I was to then proceed to the hospital where the injured driver was taken to to pick him up and bring him back.
He had 3 cracked ribs and an internal bleeding, was in a lot of pain and groaned every time the car went over a bump.
Says more about the NHS in not keeping him in AAU at least for a couple of days under observation than the firm.Which hospital was it ?.
Pretty sure they can’t keep you in there against your will. I don’t remember the name of the hospital, it was in Reading, 5-6 months ago. They had morphine’d him up and discharged him but it took a while for the morphine to start acting apparently. Eventually he calmed down and fell asleep; I felt bad for the fella, he was 50 something probably took him a long time to fully recover. I later asked him if he had any advice for a new driver like myself and he said “Yes - keep your phone with you at all times, it might save your life”
Tbh mate - and now meaning to knock you. But I really hope you are not staying there long term.
As you drive out the DC you go past ocado - much better job. Go down and at the first roundabout is the VW dealer parts DC which is run by XPO, when I was there it was CEVA. Now that is a similar job in terms of given keys to open up. But they will send you out with an experienced driver for a couple of weeks to show you the ropes (plus generally you have your run rather than a new place each night). And you are not pushed as much at all. Still the same rubbish - but far fewer injuries. They don’t send you out in liveried trucks as they know automotive parts are popular with criminals. But if you want a decent job and to be treated right Sainsburys in Hams Hall is after class 1 drivers on agency. Top money, a bit boring if I’m honest - but you will always have back door staff to help tip the wagon.
Tesco in Fradley is another option. They take on new passes via agency. Tesco is like Sainsburys. In some ways better and in some ways worst. The supermarkets will not give you a flashy truck like ECP - but they do care about your safety. With a bit of common sense there is no reason for you to ever get hurt working for one.
If you want the number for the main agency bloke who gets drivers into Hams Sainsburys let me know. So far it was my favourite driving job and I miss it a lot. I’m working for the other supermarket a bit on agency down South now due to geography reasons. But I have to say I do realise how good it was looking back. Even the assessor there is a really top bloke. Office staff generally are fine (a few exceptions) - and the old full time staff there will go out of their wasy to help a new driver. I want to go back and say thanks to some of them. They spent hours going over the routes and giving my good advice. They had no need to do this - I was a young kid who didn’t know how much he didn’t know when I started. And that job got me to the point where I can get an artic anywhere it can fit (eventually) and I can do it without getting worried now.
sammym:
Tbh mate - and now meaning to knock you. But I really hope you are not staying there long term.
No worries, mate - they sacked me on my 5th day because DVSA stopped/fined me for driving with obscured rear lights because I had forgotten to lift the tail lift. Apparently it was not good for their bronze FORS badge.
I only have a class 2 license but thanks for the tips on local jobs. I’ll keep them in mind when I finally get that elusive class 1 ticket (soon )
years back there was often a driver + his mate in trucks . not now . id wager that the extra cost of having a mate/helper actually would end up working out cheaper when you balance injuries caused by doing risky stuff/ too much on your own.
sammym:
Tbh mate - and now meaning to knock you. But I really hope you are not staying there long term.
No worries, mate - they sacked me on my 5th day because DVSA stopped/fined me for driving with obscured rear lights because I had forgotten to lift the tail lift. Apparently it was not good for their bronze FORS badge.
I only have a class 2 license but thanks for the tips on local jobs. I’ll keep them in mind when I finally get that elusive class 1 ticket (soon )
No worries mate. They says everything about the firm. They are OCRS Blue so allegedly so good DVSA don’t need to stop them. I know more but am no grass so won’t say it on here.
As someone who was also sacked - it only gets better after working for them. Many drivers hurt (some for life), many drivers robbed and attacked. No back up or support. But you do get a flashy scania with a microwave and a fridge and lots of options ticked. I’ll take the tatty fleet spec merc for a decent firm any day of the week.
Not sure what agency you are with. But if you want a real top notch firm go and speak to Sean at samedaytransport in Tysely. Small firm. Old lorries many with manual boxes. No corporate rubbish. If he will have you in he might send you to Europe on a boat. I only went as far as Central london with them - but miss that work as well. Always different. Always interesting. And a really stand up bloke running a decent smallish firm. You could call them old school - they won’t lose their minds if you get a WTD infringement, and will expect you to change a bulb. But I really really enjoyed doing class 2 shifts for them.
I have no problem naming companies either, the bigger they are the less they care about safety or common sense.
I understand about the car dealerships and drivers having access codes and keys to drop a couple of boxes of oil filters and a wheel rim in the lock up, the problem comes when its a warranty part such as an engine or gearbox and they have to manhandle them alone. I used to try to go in early to help the driver if I was aware my engines were coming VOR.
Anyway my rant about this is DHL at East Midlands Airport. As a driver they don’t care about you as long as you leave the depot on time and arrive back on time. I worked as a “spare” driver covering holidays, illness or training so got to use different vehicles, drive different routes and different start times. For three months I wasn’t even allowed to enter the airlock because they hadn’t got my security pass sorted out. The airport are not interested in a driver pinching anything, they only care that you are not bringing anything into the airport that is restricted. I had to be escorted inside the compound and could not use a fork lift truck to load or unload myself, this caused major problems with the timing to leave the security gate on time.
However on a Saturday or Sunday this was all forgotten about. I could walk into the main shed. go into the main office and pick up documents etc, drive down to Heathrow, wander about unaccompanied and drive their forklift or drink free coffee. When I got back on my first run I had to drive the same forklift that I was not allowed near during the week. I could drive my lorry through the airlock and load my own vehicle for the second run to Heathrow. There may have been some customs officers working in X Ray but I never saw anyone until I arrived back on Sunday night when I had to be escorted on site, unloaded by other drivers and go home.
This is such a sad story and particularly poignant as I had an incident with a tailift, that could easily have stopped me being here today.
It was 14 years ago and i was agency working on the Woolworths contract out of castleton, I was paid exceptionally well at the time for it and I was young and keen to impress and not cause a fuss. If any guys know the joint at the time agency would kind of line up at the wall and traffic would offer the full timers the choice of runs and those drivers would state oooh thats a right ■■■■■ give to the agency, they were often not wrong.
However there was a further price to pay, I found quite a lot of the equipment was old and dire, and some of the locations were not meant for delivery by artics period. I was delivering with an ancient single axle trailer with a tailift when the heavy check plate floor gate was so old it just gave way and come off when I was lowering it place Crushing me to the ground from the knees down. No serious injuries but needed operations due to,cartilage damage It was a day time delivery and some one came out of the store and assisted. I got some compo but not a lot, mainly loss of earnings and would happily have given it up not to go through the ordeal.
It seems after all those years things have not changed or have actually got worse.
Just a further heads up, i have found and seen that overal the std of health and safety in canada is frankly appalling compared to uk, in my opinion its like the dark ages and not just trucking but throughout industries i,shudder sometimes when I see the risks workers are expected to take and they amount of deaths per capita occur.
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