Drivers wanted @ Woodland Group

[Lennoxtown]

I seen this advert in the gents at Cherwell Valley services today. No depots near me but it'll
maybe help others who may be actively looking to change jobs or get a start on a new career.

[Beetlejuice]

Another offering salary no hourly rates? Be low rates and max hours imo...

[Daani]

IMG_20210722_121448.jpg

I seen this advert in the gents at Cherwell Valley services today. No depots near me but it'll
maybe help others who may be actively looking to change jobs or get a start on a new career.

You will change your mind after you read the Reviews about them from drivers

[ArcticMonkey]

Spoke to one of their drivers in Barnsley yesterday. He told me they had all had a £5000 rise on their annual salary

[Harry Monk]

The advertised salary is attractive but drivers like myself, 62 in a few months time, don't want to do 13+ hour days. This is the issue that the industry needs to address.

[mbax81]

Spoke to one of their drivers in Barnsley yesterday. He told me they had all had a £5000 rise on their annual salary

Heard the same. Couple left our spot last year to go there, and another lads leaving to start with them in couple of weeks.

[dozy]

At this rate it will only be a month or two before we have the 100,000 pa jobs

[Build5]

IMG_20210722_121448.jpg

I seen this advert in the gents at Cherwell Valley services today. No depots near me but it'll
maybe help others who may be actively looking to change jobs or get a start on a new career.

Up to this point in my career I've learnt one thing - Everyone lies in transport.

So casting my jaded eye over this advert this is what I see;

15 hours, 13 hours, 24 rest paid back at max 3 week. Tramping.

Basically, you're living in that truck.

No family life. No social life. No weekends.

I really hope I'm wrong and they're offering 60k for a 45 hour week that includes weekends off.

[DCPCFML]

The advertised salary is attractive but drivers like myself, 62 in a few months time, don't want to do 13+ hour days. This is the issue that the industry needs to address.

I dom't want more than 8 hours a day, never mind 13 ! Got the hump this week as my cushy 7hr job isn't available and only a 9hr one starting 7pm and finishing back in the yard for about 3.45 - 4am . Only agreed to do it because there's 2 and a quarter hours sleep time down at the hub . This truck-driving business is a hard life.

[Themoocher]

must be bad times and crap money if your advertising for drivers in services toilets.
Is the 5k a year pay rise on a basic 40 hours a week or on the 70 hours a week?
If you put an advert up for 90% of driving jobs. saying 30k basic for 40 hour week and time n half after 8 hours the transport managers phones wouldn't stop ringing all day I could bet my left bollock on it.
well see how long before the penny drops.

[LazyDriver]

IMG_20210722_121448.jpg

I seen this advert in the gents at Cherwell Valley services today. No depots near me but it'll
maybe help others who may be actively looking to change jobs or get a start on a new career.

SNAP!
I saw this at Pease Pottage last night and photo'd it to show our drivers. They were only concerned I was taking photos in a gents lavatory!

[Bigtruck3]

Think the question is what were they on before the 5000 rise, you can usually tell how a company respects it drivers by what they wanted to pay before they had to increase it to get drivers
A word of warning make sure you have it all signed and sealed with the big money before the Taliban comes back
You have been warned

[Harry Monk]

In some ways the advert is quite appealing although if I had written it I would have kept schtum about the Actros.

[dcgpx]

Contracts deals and pay is correct. I’m interested in the 4on4off and am waiting for things to be sorted.

Went through that contract with a toothcombe, and every query was fully answered by a telephone call back and followed up by an email to confirm

Couple of things in there I didn’t like at time but we discussed and quite happy with that .

Each person suppose interprets different but I can’t knock their comms over the job.

Personally I’m happy with terms and the actual job

If anyone’s doubt just ring them



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tailschwing]

At this rate it will only be a month or two before we have the 100,000 pa jobs

Would you come out of retirement at that point?

[DCPCFML]

In some ways the advert is quite appealing although if I had written it I would have kept schtum about the Actros.

Those that know will be giving the job a wide berth purely for that reason alone.

[Themoocher]

Contracts deals and pay is correct. I’m interested in the 4on4off and am waiting for things to be sorted.

Went through that contract with a toothcombe, and every query was fully answered by a telephone call back and followed up by an email to confirm

Couple of things in there I didn’t like at time but we discussed and quite happy with that .

Each person suppose interprets different but I can’t knock their comms over the job.

Personally I’m happy with terms and the actual job

If anyone’s doubt just ring them

so what's the hourly rate and overtime? or is it a secret?
what's the deal with 4 on 4 off what's the basic salary doing 4 on 4 off with no extra shifts



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dcgpx]

Contracts deals and pay is correct. I’m interested in the 4on4off and am waiting for things to be sorted.

Went through that contract with a toothcombe, and every query was fully answered by a telephone call back and followed up by an email to confirm

Couple of things in there I didn’t like at time but we discussed and quite happy with that .

Each person suppose interprets different but I can’t knock their comms over the job.

Personally I’m happy with terms and the actual job

If anyone’s doubt just ring them

so what's the hourly rate and overtime? or is it a secret?
what's the deal with 4 on 4 off what's the basic salary doing 4 on 4 off with no extra shifts



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They offered £34600 for 12hr shifts ( think I worked that out to be about £15.50 ish ). Plus the £1000 sign up.

Can’t find email for OT I got back but worked out 1.5 for weekday/Sat and double for Sun/Bank Hols.

Bear in mind that OT is for Extra shifts, not normal scheduled days

Some might say not got enough but it’s damn more than on now for literally exact work

As I said each to own and I’m happy with offer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Themoocher]

Contracts deals and pay is correct. I’m interested in the 4on4off and am waiting for things to be sorted.

Went through that contract with a toothcombe, and every query was fully answered by a telephone call back and followed up by an email to confirm

Couple of things in there I didn’t like at time but we discussed and quite happy with that .

Each person suppose interprets different but I can’t knock their comms over the job.

Personally I’m happy with terms and the actual job

If anyone’s doubt just ring them

so what's the hourly rate and overtime? or is it a secret?
what's the deal with 4 on 4 off what's the basic salary doing 4 on 4 off with no extra shifts



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They offered £34600 for 12hr shifts ( think I worked that out to be about £15.50 ish ). Plus the £1000 sign up.

Can’t find email for OT I got back but worked out 1.5 for weekday/Sat and double for Sun/Bank Hols.

Bear in mind that OT is for Extra shifts, not normal scheduled days

Some might say not got enough but it’s damn more than on now for literally exact work

As I said each to own and I’m happy with offer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

35k for 4 on 4 off is pretty tempting lol
Yeah just done quick calculation based on 12 hour speads
184 days a year it's nearly 16 a hour
Is that day work or tramping and is night out included in the 35k

[dcgpx]

Just for days - no idea what nights are and no there were no nights out, though obviously unforeseen circumstances mean may.

They said all work was planned for same day


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Conor]

The advertised salary is attractive but drivers like myself, 62 in a few months time, don't want to do 13+ hour days. This is the issue that the industry needs to address.

This. Howdens have just taken on around 15 drivers where I am and I'm not one of them despite this being my 7th year in a row there because I didn't put in an application and as I was easked by the manager why I hadn't I'm guessing I'd have been in. Reason why is it's a 54hr week - even that's more than I want to do week in, week out. Currently I do four nights a week with a night off midweek, somewhere between 36 and 42hrs and that's enough for me and works perfect because there's no getting to Wednesday and thinking "chuff I've another 2 days to go". Before Boris sacked off the Swedish Derogation of the AWR I'd have not thought twice about taking a job there as the wage difference was ridiculous but now we're on parity pay I'd rather keep the lower hours and also be able to take a day/days/week off as and when I want.

[Doggage]

I've been driving a Class 2 motor for Woodland out of their Chelmsford depot since October 2020, and I have to say that they are a pretty good company to work for. For one, the office bods actually know what they're doing.

Also, my basic salary was recently increased to that of the artic drivers, which makes me happy:)

[Carryfast]

In some ways the advert is quite appealing

Depends on the definition of 'flexible work' and 'full loads' and 4 on 4 off.
It could mean an enforced 2 or 4 shifts of days and two or 4 shifts of nights rota and 5 or 6 'full loads' in a shift without leaving Essex.
As opposed to have the choice of working days, or nights, full loads, or two bulk drops max, distance work only.
If it's the latter I would have happily taken it for 40k let alone 45.If it's the former not even for 60k.
Having said that it doesn't seem to say new passes welcome which might suggest something closer to the latter.

[Winseer]

Another offering salary no hourly rates? Be low rates and max hours imo...

Earnings 45k will likely be for 5-6-5-6 tramping, with 2 days off at home per fortnight (other short weekend spent in truck)
...OR an 84 hour week 5-6-5-6 "home every night" bragged.....

At the other end of the scale, those firms that used to be the top payers - try to limit your hours bookable with things like the 10 hour limit on night shifts, and 48 hour working week over the reference period, which is fine when you're doing it on agency, but sucks pretty quickly when you're trying to make ends meet towards the end of your reference period, and you're being stood down all the time, due to "lack of available WTD hours"...


The best possible "Knock Out" job ad then:

"Earnings £45k basic for 4 on 4 off shifts of 12 hours."
"Night premium available on top for those picking into permanent nights only."
(That's a good thing, because it means you'll be getting the 45k for permanent DAYS!)


Being 4-on-4-off means you'll be expected to work a lot of weekends, BUT you only need to spend 4 days holiday rather than 5 to take a full week off.

[ezydriver]

Being 4-on-4-off means you'll be expected to work a lot of weekends, BUT you only need to spend 4 days holiday rather than 5 to take a full week off.

When you take 4 days holiday, you get almost 2 weeks off.

[Winseer]

Being 4-on-4-off means you'll be expected to work a lot of weekends, BUT you only need to spend 4 days holiday rather than 5 to take a full week off.

When you take 4 days holiday, you get almost 2 weeks off.

True..True...

I've banged on for years with how good 4on4off is compared to the total pits of "any five from seven"....

What a supreme Irony it would be if the time comes when you can *only* get "four-on-four-off" on agency, and there are NO full time directly employer jobs that are NOT "Any five from seven"...

I took a full time "Temp to Perm" job @ Brakes Aylesford in 2015 for example, after I found I liked the artic trunking night job I was already covering on agency......
The other drivers there were working fixed Sunday-Wedneday nights starting around 19:00hrs, and I'd been covering the various jobs there, runs to Thetford, Reading, etc...

BUT on further examination of my contract, it was a Sunday-THURSDAY, and the basis was "Take it or leave it". My agency work was a bit bitty at the time, so I reluctantly took the job. After all, Five fixed shifts, was slightly better than ANY five - Right?

Then came the "Overtime" options of doing some C2 work, or maybe a run to Tamworth on the Friday....
At first, I got some overtime for working this 6th shift, which bumped up my money occasionally, as these fridays for the first year or so, were quite rare.
Then in the second year, some new managers started, and they starting asking me to come in every other friday, as per the 5-6-5-6 remit...
After a month went by of this, I didn't get any overtime pay on my month's end salary.
I put in a complaint, got told by more than one manager "It'll be corrected in next month's" but lo and behold, the second month came and went "no overtime pay".
In the third month, I suddenly got told that I wouldn't be paid for these fridays (I'd done 4 by this point) because "I was required to make up my only working 36 hours Sunday-Thursday" as an hours make-up, contracted to work 48 hours as I was. This never happened to anyone else on their contracts, and I considered it to be "Contractual Abuse" as I was the only one on this particular contract, already 5 days compared to everyone else's 4... I got lied to to get me to do this unpaid overtime of course, and then lied to again when I was told it was a glitch at wages, rather than the real reason - they'd not put me in for the hours I'd already worked, and covered it up for as long as they could, before I smelt the rat, and confronted them about it.

I eventually got laid off there before this dispute got resolved, but essentially I got at least 4 shifts of 12 hours overtime stolen from me by my corrupt managers who seemed to think highly of penny-pinching people's wages whenever they wanted, but didn't think anything of throwing company money away granting themselves paid sick for turning up to work half-cut on monday mornings, and going straight back home - just as I was handing in my keys from a long sunday night's drive. I could smell the acetone in the office air, and wading through the knee-deep hypocrisy - stunk rather more than *that*! I also took four days off extra to my paid holiday entitlement during the time I was there, didn't get paid for the one day's sickie, and was going to be disciplined for taking 3 days holiday off, after I'd been told I couldn't have it after I'd already bloody well booked it! People were also getting sacked all around me for any-old-reasons left,right-and center by that point as well, so I didn't take it so personally on the unpaid sick as I did on the overtime. Watch out for it in your contacts though people - I suspect that more and more "contracts" are going to omit "Paid Sick" and replace it with expressions like "Sick pay is at manager's discretion". Holidays too, even booked ones are "Paid at management's discretion too, and I've not heard of people risking getting sacked for taking UNPAID holiday at ANY time, but that's the new-look Yank-run Brakes for you. They've upped their C2 money to £37k now I see (directly employed) - they must indeed be struggling to get drivers that will put up with the office politik there. Otherwise, I might recommend this outfit as a good place for a "New C2 Pass" to cut their teeth - wouldn't I?

I'm more wary of such double-standards among managers now, and watch very carefully with my new highly-tuned Paranoia sense if I even suspect people are trying to f--- me over all the time.

Now, I won't ever take a full time contract again - unless and until it meets my rather fussy high standards.
Fortunately for me, I'm high enough up in pecking order with agency that I can take this stance, without being sent home "The phone doth never to ring" ever again....

Effectively, that makes me "Semi Retired" or "Willfully under-employed".

I've had 6 shifts cancelled in this past financial year, which are more than made up by the hourly rate uplift, and it is going to take a damned decent contract to ever get me to commit to working any 48 hour week (or more!) ever again by this point.

"I've found my niche" after a very bad first year of lockdown, when a larger agency cut me off at the knees, rather than either pay out furlough, or even get me a fresh assignment on the same money elsewhere... All I got offered was Sainsbury's Darftord for £12ph which required an assessment of me (unpaid) as well, so I told them to stick it, and I'd take my chances doing some directly-employed farm work instead, where at least I could pick my shifts for that same £12ph offer.





Brakes had been purchased by Sysco for around $500,000,000 more than they would have paid had they not been remainers impatient to close the deal...
(The purchase went through days before the pound dropped, which *would* have cheapened their purchase price already agreed in Sterling, had they thought it through, and considered there was a good risk of the pound dropping whichEVER way the Brexit Referendum vote went... People like George Soros like to bet with a 90%+ chance of winning a coin-flip set-up. He bet on "Remain" and the pound climbing, and cut his losses to <10% of his stake by getting out quick the moment Sunderland didn't vote as strongly "Remain" as was widely expected...

[chester1]

Another offering salary no hourly rates? Be low rates and max hours imo...

Earnings 45k will likely be for 5-6-5-6 tramping, with 2 days off at home per fortnight (other short weekend spent in truck)
...OR an 84 hour week 5-6-5-6 "home every night" bragged.....

At the other end of the scale, those firms that used to be the top payers - try to limit your hours bookable with things like the 10 hour limit on night shifts, and 48 hour working week over the reference period, which is fine when you're doing it on agency, but sucks pretty quickly when you're trying to make ends meet towards the end of your reference period, and you're being stood down all the time, due to "lack of available WTD hours"...


The best possible "Knock Out" job ad then:

"Earnings £45k basic for 4 on 4 off shifts of 12 hours."
"Night premium available on top for those picking into permanent nights only."
(That's a good thing, because it means you'll be getting the 45k for permanent DAYS!)


Being 4-on-4-off means you'll be expected to work a lot of weekends, BUT you only need to spend 4 days holiday rather than 5 to take a full week off.

Your holiday is pro rata you will get 4 weeks of 4 days paid holiday