Im in a dilema now… 
I had an interview yesterday with a company in Reading and today they left a message on my phone saying to call them back…
If it was a rejection, Im pretty sure they would have said as much on the message, so my thinking is it could be good news…
HOWEVER, the pay is slightly less than Im on now and is paid monthly as opposed to weekly Im on now.
That was the bad points, the good point is that its much much much closer to home and they seem to be a decent outfit and the kit doesnt seem to be too bad, either MAN TGAs (I know Ive posted that I dont like them but that was based on a 2 hour drive) and DAF XFs and it’ll give me another new experience of driving (loaded) double deck trailers and I’ll be saving in the long run as its costing me £50 a week in diesel for my car just to get to work…
I know the decision is ultimately mine but what would YOU do?
Does the the lower travel costs compensate for the drop in pay?
paulfromwire:
Does the the lower travel costs compensate for the drop in pay?
It does, I’d probably use a quarter of a tank a week 
DAF95XF:
paulfromwire:
Does the the lower travel costs compensate for the drop in pay?It does, I’d probably use a quarter of a tank a week
nuff said
and it will be driving a better truck, getting away from them scabby french piles of ■■■
You say that your prospective employer is a decent outfit, how big are they & what sort of work do they do? I only ask this because everyone needs car parts at some which you do & everyone needs to eat. (I work for the company that calls itself ‘the ambient grocery distribution specialist’)
go for it, if youre looking,applying for jobs your obviously not completely happy where you are, the only thing i would say is your best to look for a smallish firm where to me theres more of a personell touch, you get called by your first name, not SORT THAT GEEZER OUT WITH A JOB 
.best of luck
ady1:
go for it, if youre looking,applying for jobs your obviously not completely happy where you are, the only thing i would say is your best to look for a smallish firm where to me theres more of a personell touch, you get called by your first name, not SORT THAT GEEZER OUT WITH A JOB
Two sides of a coin on this one fella where I’ve worked for both small & large outfits. I agree with what ady’s saying however the advantage of a large firm is pension & possibly union recognition.
Typo corrected
Stu,
i know you arent happy at ND at the moment but are they really as bad as you think they are just now? i think you are just having a bad few weeks, especially about the bump on the trailer and letting things get on top of you. you might not think they are but from what you have said when we have met and reading between the lines of some of your posts it seems they are!
lets be real about it, you might join the smaller outfit and save money on petrol and travelling time (which is a good thing) but what are the smaller company like? how are they doing? are they coming to the end of any big contracts?
are they really doing well or just on the borderline of staying afloat at the moment. if you leave ND and join the new one and they need to get rid of a driver as they are losing money who is going to be the first out of the door? what are the chances of ND taking you back on if it all goes pete tonge at the new one? have you spoken to your manager about your feelings towards the job and your concerns?
im not trying to put you off, the decision is yours at the end of the day but is the grass really greener on the other side?
what ever you decide as long as you dont have any doubts then go for it and i wish you luck in what ever you decide.
go for it you don’t really want to drive for a foreign firm anyway do you
depends who the firm in reading is
Stu, you know what my current situation is mate, I think to be honest, we’re in a safe[hopefully] and secure job, and the company [hopefully] isn’t going to go under. You might move thinking it’s the right decision which it might be, but it might not be and then if you don’t like it or it doesn’t work out or they go under etc etc many possible outcomes, you’ve got no job and not much experience and could regret leaving.
Having said that you might move and it’s the best thing you’ve done, you’re lucky in that you’ve got no kids etc and age is on the right side of 25 in regards to people wanting over 25year olds and you’ve got you’ve previous larger vehicle experience from the buses on your cv if you need to get another job if it goes wrong. Worse case scenario no doubt you could get a job back on the buses to tide you over if needs be.
You can either stick out what you’ve got and put up with it, build up the time on your license and repay the faith they showed in you by giving you your start, you never know you might get moved over onto trunking doing not a lot of much from the looks of the guys at ours sometimes Or get out and see if the grass is greener on the other side, only you can make the decision mate
Mr B:
go for it you don’t really want to drive for a foreign firm anyway do you
No just drive a foreign truck!
You should really pm a few people on here with the firms name and ask if they know anything about them, I wouldn’t post it on the board as anyone looking for a job may take yours.
Lee G:
Stu,i know you arent happy at ND at the moment but are they really as bad as you think they are just now? i think you are just having a bad few weeks, especially about the bump on the trailer and letting things get on top of you. you might not think they are but from what you have said when we have met and reading between the lines of some of your posts it seems they are!
lets be real about it, you might join the smaller outfit and save money on petrol and travelling time (which is a good thing) but what are the smaller company like? how are they doing? are they coming to the end of any big contracts?
are they really doing well or just on the borderline of staying afloat at the moment. if you leave ND and join the new one and they need to get rid of a driver as they are losing money who is going to be the first out of the door? what are the chances of ND taking you back on if it all goes pete tonge at the new one? have you spoken to your manager about your feelings towards the job and your concerns?
im not trying to put you off, the decision is yours at the end of the day but is the grass really greener on the other side?
what ever you decide as long as you dont have any doubts then go for it and i wish you luck in what ever you decide.
Wise words.
If the new outfit are big enough, have been going long enough and running decent kit then I would lean toward them. Double deckers are a piece of ■■■■ job as long as you take it easy on the roundabouts/cambers and corners.
Having said that ND probably won’t lay you off, unless someone from ND reads all your posts on this board. lol!
You could also do a credit check yourself on the new firm and see how solvent they are.
shuttlespanker:
nuff saidand it will be driving a better truck, getting away from them scabby french piles of ■■■
Unfortunately I built my hopes up a bit - they phoned me yesterday so I phoned them back thinking "great my notice will be in soon 
) when in actual fact they’d spoken to the insurance company and the only thing they can insure me on is a 7.5 tonner - erm no thanks 
Was looking forward to driving a decent truck… 
garnerlives:
you never know you might get moved over onto trunking doing not a lot of much from the looks of the guys at ours sometimes
What and have the office calling every 5 minutes to find out where you are because theres a shed load of drivers waiting for one little box
DAF95XF:
the only thing they can insure me on is a 7.5 tonner
For how long until they can get you onto the bigger ones 
ROG:
DAF95XF:
the only thing they can insure me on is a 7.5 tonnerFor how long until they can get you onto the bigger ones
Until a class 2 then a 1 vacancy comes up… 
DAF95XF:
ROG:
DAF95XF:
the only thing they can insure me on is a 7.5 tonnerFor how long until they can get you onto the bigger ones
Until a class 2 then a 1 vacancy comes up…
This is my twisted mind at work, I think they thought get a C&E driver to drive 7.5 tonne on 7.5 tonne wage then, oh no look we need someone to cover C&E run for a while, but we only took you on on 7.5 contract and wage, drive it for peanuts or get the boot…or do I just always look for the worse possible outcome in things?
DAF95XF:
ROG:
DAF95XF:
the only thing they can insure me on is a 7.5 tonnerFor how long until they can get you onto the bigger ones
Until a class 2 then a 1 vacancy comes up…
What time scale did they mention