I’m a shunter, and I’m a ■■■■■■■■
Never give drivers any hassle though, it’s my job to put it on the bay! I’m so laid back, I’ve just woken up from a zzz! No trucks in tonight, nothing for me to do. Life’s to short to hassle newbies, if they want to practice, I let them. If they want me to do it, I’ll happily oblige. If they want help or constructive criticism, no problem
Who’d o thought it? The auto censor even banned me from saying [zb]! Oh well, it’s 3am and I’m off home:-) good morning day shift drivers!
Nicolas all I can say is you got yourself in a tough spot, Best of luck pal, I have done some store deliveries and they are really tight some of them with an artic, A top tip I can give you is do not stress out and take as much time as it needed Goodluck. Just remember if you crack this store malarky up you will be a good reversing driver in my opinion Goodluck.
I did tesco avonmouth for years its a ■■■■ easy job once you relax. Some stores have tight and difficult reverses, just do it slow an the staff will help if you ask.
As for heavy cages you only have to get them to the end of the trailer an the staff do the rest. You have to chat to them and they will be more than helpfull, have an attitude an they will watch you struggle.
Adjust the air suspension so front is slightly higher then gravity moves the cages for you…
NicholasFromWidnes:
Ah guys I feel like crap at the moment. Have just finished a job and was told by a shunter to park the trailer up on the bay and because I was taking a while a shunter pulls in front of me and tells me to get it on or he will do it for me. I ended up panicking and lost my head. Had to park outside the goods out and wait for my trainer who had went inside to use the toilet. My confidence is shot now
Just to put you at ease Pal I blocked the whole yard where shunters were stood still watching me struggling like ■■, Just a Tip if you struggle to get it in on bay or anywhere you want to park your trailer then try it again from the beginning, Don’t forget after a week later you will be by yourself so keep calm and take things slow at a time,
Nobody fell out the womb with the ability to reverse a wagon (contrary to what some on here like to claim) 
. It takes practice.
I’ve been driving a few years now and still make an mess of it a couple of times a week. Usually when there’s plenty of space or an audience.
Why not ask for some further reversing practice with the driver trainer?
Thank you all so much for the nice words and advice guys. I wish I could say since I last updated this things have been better for me but they really haven’t.
My 2nd drop last night was to a really tight yard (something a lot of you warned me about) and when turning I hit a few cages in the yard with my tail swing. Lucky there was no damage to the trailer or the cages but the manager of the store was saying he would have to report it. My trainer said those cages shouldn’t be there as they’re not pointed out on the risk assessment and that if he wants to report it he can but we would be taking his delivery back to the rdc. He quickly changed his tune and dropped the talk of reporting me for causing no damage…
Today when starting my shift I had 8 drops around Manchester in a rigid. My god, it was the hardest drop I’ve had so far. Some stores were kerbside delivery but there are cars parked all the way along the street and designated drop points. The only option is to park further away from the store which made things take a lot longer.
Also with the rigids that have a mix of chilled and frozen how do they expect you to get stuff from the freezer on your very first drop? The first drop we had just had 1 frozen cage for delivery, we had to pull most of the chilled off the back just to get this stores single cage in the freezer and it took us nearly an hour because we were on a hill.
We got the rigid work done and then went back the yard, unloaded and parked up and had a 45. Our next drop was in an artic with… Gears! 4 over 4. It was a total s.head! Seats were falling apart and it smelt of sweat. What happened to stobarts only having new gear? I still haven’t got the hang of gears but it’s not that hard, just practice makes perfect.
After doing the drop we got back the yard and dumped the rsu and then was told to park up on a bay in the rdc. Again another d.head shunter having a go at me for no reason. I wasn’t blocking the yard or anything, I was just trying to get my trailer straight with the bay. It was lucky I had my trainer with me this time who told this shunter to f.off and that I’m a new driver. Sometimes I wonder if I’m on my own at one point what will these shunters say to me if I really do start losing my head with a reverse?
NicholasFromWidnes:
Hi everyoneI passed my test just last week and have a start with the challenge group agency working full time out of the Tesco rdc in Widnes.
I’ve been told to expect a single delivery per shift and I will only to be delivering to the big Tesco stores. The job sounds really easy but I’m open to disappointment.
NicholasFromWidnes:
Today when starting my shift I had 8 drops around Manchester in a rigid.
We got the rigid work done and then went back the yard, unloaded and parked up and had a 45. Our next drop was in an artic…
Shows how they sell you the job then completely change it once you’re there 
They told you to expect a single delivery per shift and within one day they’ve got you doing 8 drops in a rigid then backnout in a artic
NicholasFromWidnes:
Thank you all so much for the nice words and advice guys. I wish I could say since I last updated this things have been better for me but they really haven’t.My 2nd drop last night was to a really tight yard (something a lot of you warned me about) and when turning I hit a few cages in the yard with my tail swing. Lucky there was no damage to the trailer or the cages but the manager of the store was saying he would have to report it.[/color] My trainer said those cages shouldn’t be there as they’re not pointed out on the risk assessment and that if he wants to report it he can but we would be taking his delivery back to the rdc. He quickly changed his tune and dropped the talk of reporting me for causing no damage…
Today when starting my shift I had 8 drops around Manchester in a rigid. My god, it was the hardest drop I’ve had so far. Some stores were kerbside delivery but there are cars parked all the way along the street and designated drop points. The only option is to park further away from the store which made things take a lot longer.
Also with the rigids that have a mix of chilled and frozen how do they expect you to get stuff from the freezer on your very first drop? The first drop we had just had 1 frozen cage for delivery, we had to pull most of the chilled off the back just to get this stores single cage in the freezer and it took us nearly an hour because we were on a hill.
We got the rigid work done and then went back the yard, unloaded and parked up and had a 45. Our next drop was in an artic with… Gears! 4 over 4. It was a total s.head! Seats were falling apart and it smelt of sweat. What happened to stobarts only having new gear? I still haven’t got the hang of gears but it’s not that hard, just practice makes perfect.
After doing the drop we got back the yard and dumped the rsu and then was told to park up on a bay in the rdc. Again another d.head shunter having a go at me for no reason. I wasn’t blocking the yard or anything, I was just trying to get my trailer straight with the bay. It was lucky I had my trainer with me this time who told this shunter to f.off and that I’m a new driver. Sometimes I wonder if I’m on my own at one point what will these shunters say to me if I really do start losing my head with a reverse?
At this rate you will struggle to go out by yourself, if in doubt go out double check it. Just telling you from my own experience, and I only been driving for a Month or 2 only.
Pretty much everyone has the same tales to tell Nick. Don’t get downhearted, it’s a big leap from doing your test and passing to actually being let loose in the real world!
And you have that job because lads with a lot of experience have more chance of a better job, so this is what the new starts do. Get yourself a couple of months, by which time life will be a LOT easier and start looking for a different job, ie one that doesn’t deliver to shops.
I don’t drive anymore, I run a business and my best advice when you do go for a different job, is take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself do I look like the kind of person an employer would want? Being smart (don’t mean a suit, but clean and tidy) and just being pleasant goes a long way to getting taken on. You can have 20 years experience but if you rock up in stained joggers with a comb over and a belligerant attitude, I’ll take the clean, personable 6 months experience person every time.
As above down get downhearted…
I’ve done Tesco work for years although never at that depot. On day shifts all the little convenience store type shops and petrol stations with a Tesco shop attached, get done along with the mainline stores. On night shifts, only the mainline stores, no rigids running around, no kerbside tail-lift stuff. Some of the yards can be tight but most not too bad, if anything is in the way, cages, etc., just carefully work your way round them or get out and move them as you need to, more than once if you have to. Same applies to their Dot.com vans, if they are in the way, simply stop and ask them to move them. I’ve done many nights for Tesco, and the odd weekend day, the only time I ever did any multi-drop for them was on days, sometimes in rigid sometimes with a small rear steer trailer. Maybe nights would be better for you til you get up to speed / feel a bit more confident? And a few extra quid too…
Working nights has it’s good points and it’s bad. Road closures, the shunters are usually in even more of a rush and it’s harder to see what you’re doing.
A little trick that helped/helps me, steer from the bottom of the wheel. It comes with practice mate, hang on a couple of weeks and you’ll get it. You can always just use this job for experience and change in a few weeks time when you know what you’re doing. That being said, when you can do it you may decide that you like the job.
I’ll be honest with you mate, all the training in the world is great. It’s only when you’re out by yourself that you will learn.
Supermarket work is a doddle mate. Enjoy! You won’t want to do anything else after a few weeks.
Hey everyone. It has been some time since I last updated this so here it goes.
I decided to leave the job at tesco Widnes, I just couldn’t handle it. I have huge respect for the lads and girls that do that job but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t mind a bit of handball with a load but unloading 40 cages of stock, then reloading 40 cages with cardboard then taking that cardboard to the recycle centre and unloading before reloading with empty cages with no help what so ever is not easy.
You’re expected to do 15 hour shifts, the units are 6 year old manuals with no night heaters so if you want to get warm whilst on a break you need to run the engine which you then get done for idling.
As one stobart driver said to me “this place is the arse end of stobart” and he is right.
Thanks for all your help guys in this thread.
LostSomeWhere:
Around Glasgow city centre Tesco and Sainsbury’s & Gist ( M&S) drivers don’t leave the truck put cages on tail lift store staff take into store and put empties back on tail liftSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can imagine that, Rab C Nesbitt awa with the shopping
NicholasFromWidnes:
Hey everyone. It has been some time since I last updated this so here it goes.I decided to leave the job at tesco Widnes, I just couldn’t handle it. I have huge respect for the lads and girls that do that job but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t mind a bit of handball with a load but unloading 40 cages of stock, then reloading 40 cages with cardboard then taking that cardboard to the recycle centre and unloading before reloading with empty cages with no help what so ever is not easy.
You’re expected to do 15 hour shifts, the units are 6 year old manuals with no night heaters so if you want to get warm whilst on a break you need to run the engine which you then get done for idling.
As one stobart driver said to me “this place is the arse end of stobart” and he is right.
Thanks for all your help guys in this thread.
Sorry it didn’t work out, but at least you have a little bit of experience now. Good luck with finding something better.
albion:
NicholasFromWidnes:
Hey everyone. It has been some time since I last updated this so here it goes.I decided to leave the job at tesco Widnes, I just couldn’t handle it. I have huge respect for the lads and girls that do that job but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t mind a bit of handball with a load but unloading 40 cages of stock, then reloading 40 cages with cardboard then taking that cardboard to the recycle centre and unloading before reloading with empty cages with no help what so ever is not easy.
You’re expected to do 15 hour shifts, the units are 6 year old manuals with no night heaters so if you want to get warm whilst on a break you need to run the engine which you then get done for idling.
As one stobart driver said to me “this place is the arse end of stobart” and he is right.
Thanks for all your help guys in this thread.
Sorry it didn’t work out, but at least you have a little bit of experience now. Good luck with finding something better.
Thanks - there is huge demand for drivers around Runcorn and Warrington so I’ve been fortunate to be placed in general haulage doing trunks. I’ve found it very easy, no interaction with the load and better pay.
Hi Nicolas, are you self employed? and which company did you go for this Time. And do they take on New passes aswell? And do you get steady work?
