Do they do driving assessments?
And also,can you work plenty of overtime?
Very strange company DPD.
Done a shift in Liverpool a few weeks back,quick license check and given keys and sent to the hub at Hinckley.
Arrives to be told I need an induction and a tacho test, which I need to get at least 80% right.
All this after almost 2 hours 30 of driving their vehicle.
Odd.
halewood:
Very strange company DPD.
Done a shift in Liverpool a few weeks back,quick license check and given keys and sent to the hub at Hinckley.
Arrives to be told I need an induction and a tacho test, which I need to get at least 80% right.
All this after almost 2 hours 30 of driving their vehicle.
Odd.
Exactly the…
Same thing happened to me with them. After driving for them for 6 weeks on nights, they randomly said I needed to take an assessment drive.
Next time it happens, take the test drive, fail it miserably by climbing a kerb or messing up a simple reverse. Then ask them who’s going to be driving you and the lorry back to the depot whence you came?
■■■■■ eejits.
Agency no assessment just induction
Perm assessment and yes plenty of overtime
Hot on infringement, also no stopping at all unless you need to at the very last resort you keep stopping you will get pulled in
I’m happy I left here actually felt a danger to the public now I work for a different company can have a power nap coffee and all that sometime 4hr drive and couldn’t stop literally weaving in and the lane marker buzzer going off
TruckDriverBen:
Agency no assessment just inductionPerm assessment and yes plenty of overtimealso no stopping at all unless you need to at the very last resort you keep stopping you will get pulled in
sometime 4hr drive and couldn’t stop literally weaving in and the lane marker buzzer going off
Never understood how and why drivers have accepted this. If Im tired I pull over its as simple as that!
Thanks for the replies.I cant understand making someone drive on if they are tired.I found if I get 3 hours sleep immediatley before the first nightshift,tgat carries me through the shift
Sploom:
Do they do driving assessments?
And also,can you work plenty of overtime?
Not sure,depend from shift…y friend work there.Can t see who he work long shift.
Given they seem to always be looking for drivers and always have multiple agencies involved I’d say chances of overtime are quite high
Hub based drivers tend to get random runs every day, though start time is usually roughly the same. Outbased drivers get a set route and do the same run/hours every day usually.
Hours can vary, some drivers get 8-9 hours, some do 14 hours a day. Its pretty flexible as far as I can see, you wont be ‘forced’ into the long days unless you want them. You may however be ‘forced’ into shorter shifts if the work isn’t there.
If you get set on, wear a stab vest. Drivers notorious for dobbing colleagues in for minor petty infringements. Also certain traffic office staff do like to talk down to drivers.
It is a strange place to work, I’ve read several times on here that they micro manage their drivers, which is true to some extent. However the rest of the time you’re very much on your own. Calls into traffic offices rarely get answered except Hub 1 (Smethwick), but the dedicated accident and breakdown line is manned most of the time.
They have some very odd rules (too many to list). On the first shift I did for them an employed driver told me “this company are trying to sack you from day one so watch your back”.
He wasn’t wrong!
I’ve probably spent 85% of my time over the last 2.5 years driving for them but need to take time away periodically as it can be an infuriating place to work. Fortunately I’m agency and have the choice, the employed drivers just get stuck with what they’re given or have to leave permanently.
But I keep coming back because I only do pm start times and the money is good once you go over 8 hours, plus my commute time is only 18mins.
I had three weeks away over New Year and into January and my next break from them starts at the end of tomorrows shift.
But why would a company take a driver on, train them on a week long induction, to try to sack them from day one?
Yes they are very strict, but its only following the legal rules that some companies let their drivers ‘bend’ if it suits them.
Im coming up for 2 years there now, not had any major grief, 1 infringement in 2 years, and i keep my head down and get on with it, and do everything by the book. If any drivers there are getting grief Id wager its because of their own actions.
Agree with sword if you do your job correctly they don’t bother you at all however the no stopping is a big no for me. If you read the solosheet or sheet to go out on the back it even says don’t stop for police if blue lighted ignore and drive to the nearest police station instead
On a side note the traffic office lady hinckley has a nice rack on her, the short polish one 
Maybe you’ve taken what was said to me too literally.
But they do have lots of rules that are above and beyond what was is legal.
I’m no maverick, quite happy to do as I’m told provided they keep paying me.
However no amount of money would persuade me to be employed by them, they have asked several times.
I was employed at TNT for 3 years and can’t believe how bureaucratic DPD are in comparison. They just seem to make everything over complicated.
TNT didn’t even have traffic offices in their hubs (I left in 2017) they just had a couple of screens in the canteen.
Why on earth do they keep checking my cards at least twice every week and recording it on paper? They all expire next year so the same cards have been inspected approx 250 times!
Must agree though that the Polish lady at Hub4 traffic office is a stunner.
They are just over mad on compliance. Yes I agree its ■■■■, and gets annoying. But, at the end of the day its no big deal, I just put up with it as the job is very easy, and the pay is great. If you follow the rules you get left alone, I usually go to the traffic office twice a week, once to download my card and once to just ‘check in’ to see if I have any briefings! (there is very little paperwork involved with the job anyway, as its all done on microlise tablet).
And when i do go to the office, i always veer to the window with the very nice polish girls! (there are actually 3 of them who are nice)
This pressure to not stop but instead keep driving lark…which i wouldn’t take a blind bit of notice of anyway, not as such a company would want me.
Isn’t there the danger that if some poor sod tired beyond staying awake, but terrfied of the repercussions, causes a massive accident due even in part to tiredness, that a company have invited themselves straight into a world of trouble?
I think that’s one of the reasons most drivers runs tend to give them a decent break. I get nearly 3 hours break every day between my 2 drives, so plenty of time to rest, toilet, eat, nap etc…and my drive is 2hrs 30 so no need to stop. And you can stop if you really need to, you just have to stop at a services and ring them. If you desperately need a pee or ■■■ or dont feel well they arent going to make you carry on regardless!! This no stopping rule is over exaggerated. They would rather you not stop, that’s all.
Swordsy:
I think that’s one of the reasons most drivers runs tend to give them a decent break. I get nearly 3 hours break every day between my 2 drives, so plenty of time to rest, toilet, eat, nap etc…and my drive is 2hrs 30 so no need to stop. And you can stop if you really need to, you just have to stop at a services and ring them. If you desperately need a pee or ■■■ or dont feel well they arent going to make you carry on regardless!! This no stopping rule is over exaggerated. They would rather you not stop, that’s all.
Even when i’ve done Newcastle or south coast, 4 hour plus drive I’ve
called in and said having 15 - 30 minute break, not a problem. It’s when drivers pull in a layby without calling in. Told at induction, your health and safety comes first. Along with tacho regs.
And you are not asking for permission to stop 
Thanks for the replies.
TruckDriverBen:
Agree with sword if you do your job correctly they don’t bother you at all however the no stopping is a big no for me.
No such rule exists. They expect you to get there in one hit but if you need to stop, such as needing to go to the toilet, then you can. Same with deviating from the route you’re supposed to take. The only thing you need to do is to phone up the traffic office to get a number to record on your sheet so they’ve got a log of why the vehicle stopped or deviated en-route.
After all it makes sense. You can be carrying hundreds of thousands of pounds of stuff on the back, much of it in small packages easily moved and concealed and stuff that’s likely to be easily shifted on Facebook etc by anyone who nicks it, unlike say 26 one tonne sacks of choc crumb which are no use to anyone other than a food manufacturer, so as such you’re a prime target for having your load stolen. For all they know when you stop or you go off route you could be getting hi-jacked so it’s as much for your own protection as anything.