That is the only RDC I have been banned from, And bloody glad I was as well, Netto is a poxy company to work for / Deliver to. Remember watching the wharehouse bods, when they had a place in Reading, trying to convince a container driver that he had to unload a 20ft filled with 6packs of baked beans, You can imagine the reply that came back. They then told him to open the doors and back it onto the bay, As he backed up half the load came out all over the yard…Took me an hour to stop laughing, Netto don’t have a clue.
ive done that at south emsall with tinned beans they had pallets on end in the box so when i opened the doors out they fell so when i told wally on the bay to get them moved he told me to do it ha ha ha so i said your pallets you shift so he didnt then i reversed over them. so then i pulled forward a reversed back as fast as i could and told him to tip them ha ha ha which he thought i was doing the fool.
I have no problem offloading my own at Lidls or the other johnny foreigner outfitsit increases my wage by the time spent, but the best way to tick them off is to arrange the pallets at different angles in different lanes to make life hard for them. If they complain they arent straight, tell em, you said its “SELF TIP”, you are not there to rearrange the warehouse for them, thats is their job.
This really ticks them off. They will get the message if enough drivers do it, spread the word.
allrighty:
I have no problem offloading my own at Lidls or the other johnny foreigner outfitsit increases my wage by the time spent, but the best way to tick them off is to arrange the pallets at different angles in different lanes to make life hard for them. If they complain they arent straight, tell em, you said its “SELF TIP”, you are not there to rearrange the warehouse for them, thats is their job.
This really ticks them off. They will get the message if enough drivers do it, spread the word.
Thats what I do to. And those electric barras rip the arse out of a pallet just by pushing a button too. Then you can wriggle the barra out so the whole pallet lies over at an angle too
I picked up a load of wine in Bordeaux this week,Tuesday actually,for delivery to Aldi in Middleton.
I left Bordeaux just before 5pm with just over two and a half hours driving left,and was told I had a booking for unloading at 7am Thursday
now that’s just about 1,400km.
So I did my best and arrived at 8.20am expecting to be told “You’re late,you’ll have to wait”!
But they directed me straight to the bay where of course you have to unload yourself.
Now the thing that tickles me is that normally wherever you go in the UK everyone is obsessed with H&S and hi-viz jackets,safety boots etc.
Aldi? No. Now it’s lucky that I have quite a bit of experience on fork trucks,whether they be pedestrian,counter-balance or reach and it was no problem for me.
But there was a foreign driver turned up just after me and he hadn’t got a clue how to work an electric pallet truck and tipped a couple of pallets on the floor.
Did they assist him in any way?No. Just signed his CMR as goods damaged on arrival.
Most places scream ‘Insurance’ ‘liability’ ‘training’‘H&S’
How do these companies get away with this?
I know that Aldi is not alone in this practice,we deliver to Aldi in Germany and Lidl in France and it’s just the same,either unload it yourself or take the stuff back .
That’s obviously why they can sell the stuff so cheap,low overheads!
Mind you,there was row upon row upon row of reject goods awaiting to go back to suppliers,ranging from electric saws to lcd tv’s from computer bits to ironing boards!
I used to do Netto at South Elmsall and Daventry with Baylis Distribution and it was exactly the same. Either you tip it yourself or take it back. The electric pallet trucks, if you could find one that worked, were a pain. If you tipped at South Elmsall with a trailer over 14’6" they put you on bays where you had to blind in and then the unloading ramp would be at a sharp angle so that the pallets were chasing you off the trailer . It is so that these companies, Netto/Aldi/Lidl etc can keep there overheads down by using the drivers as cheap labour. what a joke.
penfold:
I used to do Netto at South Elmsall and Daventry with Baylis Distribution and it was exactly the same. Either you tip it yourself or take it back. The electric pallet trucks, if you could find one that worked, were a pain. If you tipped at South Elmsall with a trailer over 14’6" they put you on bays where you had to blind in and then the unloading ramp would be at a sharp angle so that the pallets were chasing you off the trailer . It is so that these companies, Netto/Aldi/Lidl etc can keep there overheads down by using the drivers as cheap labour. what a joke.
hahahaha, good bays them, left hand corner as u enter yard, hahaha…
now i remember why i don’t do lidl,as it’s a long way back to germany for the freight to travel.why should i do their job for them. the last time i was at lidl in livingston the guy asked me if i could operate a pallet barra ( electic) i said yes…he said ok sign this paperwork to confirm that you can operate one,i looked at it and asked why he said that you will need it to tip the pallets of trailer and you got to sign this paperwork i just laughed at him and handed the sheet of paper back to him and said your the warehouse man not me give me a shout when it’s done he then said we don’t tip your trl oh and you expect me to do it do you i don’t think so i’m paid to drive it mate end of story.he said you’ll need to go to the manager and tell him that your not tipping your trailer i said you bloody tell him i’m off back to depot with your freight he said we need that freight and my reply was well you had the chance now it’s away as i don’t do 2nd chances bye and drove away.he was not a happy bunny. done the same with safeways bellshill but thats another story.
One of our drivers (last summer) took 22 tonnes of Jerseys to March. They were in huge black sacks. a tonne a piece. Now although there is supposedly a ton in each bag, they don’t seem to count the dust etc. So quite often, those 20 sacks of spuds weigh a darn sight more than 22 tonnes.
When he got there, the bloke gave him a pump truck. He looked at him blankly and told him “I don’t do pump trucks”
He pointd out they had a ramp in the yard for running up into the trailer and he should use that. The bloke informed him that was for ‘foreign trucks’. The driver dragged the yard man round and pointed out his number plate. We run on Dutch plates . Told the guy that made him foreign and he best get the ramp out lolol
I think what we have here is a lack of communication.
I’m willing to bet that not many drivers delivering in to the above mentioned 3 continental supermarket depots (in whatever country) will be aware that an extra amount, pre negotiated and agreed, has been added to the haulage cost for each and every load to cover the ‘self - tipping’ operation. (i.e. Driver’s time and energy!)
Has your boss agreed to share the 30 or 40 quid or however much with you as some sort of ‘bonus’ ? … Thought not.
Knowing the pathetic margins in the transport game, that 30 or 40 quid might be the difference between profit and break even on that particular journey though…
That is the only RDC I have been banned from, And bloody glad I was as well, Netto is a poxy company to work for / Deliver to. Remember watching the wharehouse bods, when they had a place in Reading, trying to convince a container driver that he had to unload a 20ft filled with 6packs of baked beans, You can imagine the reply that came back. They then told him to open the doors and back it onto the bay, As he backed up half the load came out all over the yard…Took me an hour to stop laughing, Netto don’t have a clue.
i used to do aldi at middleton runcorn netto is terible driver have to wear hiviz jackets while the warehouse personel dont and you cant wear your own you have to wear one of theres with visitor on talk about discrimination
Aldi, Lidl and Netto have a policy of not directly employing more warehouse / goods - in staff than they need to.
Therefore they rely on the driver who actually brings the load into the RDC to offload by him or herself with the aid of a pedestrian / stand on type of forklift, (which they kindly provide )
After unloading, the checker comes to, er, … check, and signs note, or then sends driver with note back to office for gatehouse stamp,… whatever.
Naturally, a driver who has just been on the road for hours to get there at the appointed time is not too happy when told about this ‘self - tip’ procedure. (Especially the first time !! )
As well as the haulage charge, an additional itemised charge for the offloading operation has been pre agreed between the supplier whose goods are being delivered and the haulage company when the load details are confirmed.
Unfortunately the mug…er, sorry, driver who is the one ending up doing the extra graft is usually kept in the dark about this…
unless your an o/d then there ain’t much chance of an employed driver getting paid that 30-40 notes that they charge for the off loading of goods is their deesider.you make it sound as if these company’s like lidl etc are justified by telling the driver it’s self tipping.but one thing who’s insurrance does a driver claim from if injured whilst doing their job for them and on their premises
kitkat:
.but one thing who’s insurrance does a driver claim from if injured whilst doing their job for them and on their premises
Quite agree KK, Also they have to train you to use any of their equiptment and then issue you witha training record. I still refuse to do it. Under the normal contract of carriage the goods would become theirs as soon as they are loaded therefore they should unload them.
Just had another thought, You would have to have a “Risk Assesment” done of the site you were going to unload at. If that had not been done then you don’t have to unlaod there. I wonder how many companies have actually done a RA at any of the Netto/Lidl sites?
Sorry kitkat,
I’m just stating the facts, and I agree with you - there is no chance of the driver getting anything for his troubles, THAT was the point I was trying to put over !
As far as the insurance cover goes, I would think that all commercial premises would have comprehensive ‘public liability’ policies in place to cover all risks to any visitors (Inc. probably specifying all visiting drivers not employed by them at the time of the incident - I’m guessing at the exact wording here )You can bet your life that these huge supermarket firms will have covered all possible eventualities, and most certainly the offloading operation by novice operators of pedestrian fork lift trucks!
The point about making it sound like Lidl, etc. being justified in telling the driver to self - tip : well yes, they have agreed a price with the supplier to deliver, lets say 40,000 cases of rice pudding to their various sites in a certain timescale, in 26 pallet quantities and here’s the important bit “up to and including placement on our Warehouse floor” (again, I’m guessing on the exact wording of the contract here, but you get the idea…)The problem as I have tried my best to explain is this : The Rice Pudding manufacturer has told the haulier what is required - deliver to destination at a certain time and driver to be responsible for offloading goods in good condition into consignee’s premises. The problem is the driver’s boss (or traffic office) has not told the driver this because the driver would want some £incentive£. - That is all I meant by “lack of communication”
Hope this explains it better - I agree with you mate,…it ain’t right,and it ain’t fair and shouldn’t happen. But it does…thousands of times, each and every day at Aldi, Lidl and Netto RDC sites all over Europe.
No transport company here gets extra cash for the driver unloading,either you take it or leave it.
This all started years ago when these warehouses opened, 20 bays, 20 bods to tip, until 4bods were sick and 4 were on holidays leaving the drivers with “wait or do it yourself”,with such comments as “but i cant promise you if we can manage it today” effectivley “blackmailing” the driver to unload.
The manegment have seen this works,and took the other 11bods away leaving 1 bod and 20bays
I am also a strong objecter to this “blackmail” but having seen drivers sacked on the spot for refusing to unload ,one does not moan to loud
I admit when its “the boss gives a couple of quid if you unload” i am the first on the bay.
And with this “blackmail” i think this whole WTD farce has hit the wrong point they should be looking at Aldi,lidl and there likes
he said that you will need it to tip the pallets of trailer and you got to sign this paperwork 
i said you bloody tell him i’m off back to depot with your freight 
- there is no chance of the driver getting anything for his troubles, THAT was the point I was trying to put over !