i kind of agree juddian - the trouble is everyone of the larger places seem to do more and more HR/PR ■■■■■■■■ which I guess ticks the box for the PR machine.
I have to admit I get the whole keep test relevant but I also guess with truck driving being a somewhat solitary existence nowadays (shame as it never used to be), they want to know can you speak once you get to the end of the line or do you just grunt thing is some of the best drivers I have are the ones where asking for availability is about as much of a conversation we have!
I agree on the whole attitude mind a good attitude would make me explain the answers and have a chat rather than dismiss someone.
It is the banality of some of these questions that gets on peoples’ wick. The regulations and traffic related questions are obviously paramount, but the general ‘Team player’ and ‘benefit to the company’ ones just bring up a picture of the H&R suits sticking a pin in a list of possible questions and deciding to have that one too. For goodness sake put a little effort into it and make the questions more relevant and interesting. Go fishing to find out how the applicant would deal with an upset customer, let the traffic office know that he’s held up by a motorway crash, thinks that the job he’s been handed by a planner
looks impossible etc. What did he find he enjoyed in a previous driving/non driving job. The team players and the ones who bring additional abilities to the company will become clearer.
Again put some effort into the process, show applicants individually the hazard perception videos, but don’t just rely on them pressing enter, ask them to say what they see and have a tape recorder running or the driver training assessor present.
The results of this may well save time and fuel later in the selection.
lolipop:
Been around for quite sometime,it depends who the Company is I suppose,a “good” Company who requires good Drivers.
Not so much as some tinpot outfit who has a change of Drivers more times than most change their underpants.
Last one I did was years ago,they wanted to know how to get from Lutterworth to Carlisle without using a motorway.
Juddian:
^^^Jesus wept Axletramp, were you applying for some office non job?, what a load of ■■■■■■■■.
Gives you an inkling how and why these places end up with utter idiots who bash bridges, rip gates out, overshoot pins, ram each other up the arse or turn the bloody lot over on a straight road…but no worries he’s a team player and can tick boxes with the best of 'em that’s if they’re not on the sick, which if you think about it might be better for everyone when they are on the sick
clue offer the right terms and conditions and the better drivers will be hammering the door down, and they’ll know others etc etc and you won’t need all this college/HR ■■■■■■■■ and the money saved on worthless crap like this helps pay for proper staff
I can vouch for this, we seem to have cornered the market we must have the highest percentage of idiots and layabouts of any depot in the country, where else would you have a “driver” leave a unit and trailer in a bus stop not tell anyone, have their 2 days off, then go on the sick.
war1974:
to be honest I see both side juddian - as I run a driving desk on an agency we get obviously quite a lot of drivers coming in - this year alone I have had one driver argue a 30mph sign meant minimum speed limit several who think you take a 30min break then a 15 if you split it, a fair few who think a bridge sign of 15’2 is a minimum height warning (this may explain the amount of bridge bash threads on here), when I try to explain I get either one of the 2 - oh I know it I just rushed it or an argument/discussion about how I am wrong and the test is wrong.
A great many tests are wrong, or at least hopelessly ambiguous - although god help the guy who didn’t recognise a speed limit sign!
I’ve seen questions like “what is the maximum daily driving time?” (is the answer 10 hours, or 10 hours twice a week, or 9 hours normally?). Or “how long is a daily rest?” (is the answer a normal daily rest of 11 hours, 12 hours if split as 3+9, or a reduced daily rest of 9 hours up to three times a week, or is the answer simply “at least 9 hours”).
I’ve even seen multiple choice questions where there were no correct answers!
Perhaps you should post your questions here for vetting!
now these are multi choice questions and a lot of the guys who come to me are after a specific contract rather than regular changes, most to be fair are ok but why not answer a question?
how do you work in a team - basically are you going to be an arrogant [zb] when you get to the customer? will you help out?
even things such as what extra could you bring - an unblemished driving record / experience of untold years is a better answer than what you on about willis??
I agree a “wrong test” could be a disguised way of testing attitude.
This test might sound familiar to some people or at least might fit with who they work for:
You are put in a room with nothing but an atlas.
If you can find your arse with the atlas you become a driver
If you cant find your arse you become a manager
If you cant find the atlas you become a senior manager
scanny77:
This test might sound familiar to some people or at least might fit with who they work for:
You are put in a room with nothing but an atlas.
If you can find your arse with the atlas you become a driver
If you cant find your arse you become a manager
If you cant find the atlas you become a senior manager
scanny77:
This test might sound familiar to some people or at least might fit with who they work for:
You are put in a room with nothing but an atlas.
If you can find your arse with the atlas you become a driver
If you cant find your arse you become a manager
If you cant find the atlas you become a senior manager
Or if you can find the arse using said atlas but have absolutely no idear how long it will take to find your arse you become a planner or as i prefer to refer to 90% of them an allocator as they have no planning skills
Instead of all this modern management buzz word bull crap, send the candidate out with a proper driver for 2 hours, after the nerves are calm after half an hour, start asessing him.
If it was me I would know in half an hour if he was a driver or a screwdriver as would most of us.
robroy:
Instead of all this modern management buzz word bull crap, send the candidate out with a proper driver for 2 hours, after the nerves are calm after half an hour, start asessing him.
If it was me I would know in half an hour if he was a driver or a screwdriver as would most of us.
I’ve never been a fan of driving assessors. They’re usually some ■■■■ trying to make a name for themselves with management, or an old boy who wants some extra money with less actual work to do. I prefer firms that do it ad hoc. Just collar a reliable driver and ask them to take the bloke out
robroy:
Instead of all this modern management buzz word bull crap, send the candidate out with a proper driver for 2 hours, after the nerves are calm after half an hour, start asessing him.
If it was me I would know in half an hour if he was a driver or a screwdriver as would most of us.
I’ve never been a fan of driving assessors. They’re usually some [zb] trying to make a name for themselves with management, or an old boy who wants some extra money with less actual work to do. I prefer firms that do it ad hoc. Just collar a reliable driver and ask them to take the bloke out
Yeh, I wasn’t specifically meaning a designated assesor, I meant a random driver, …but one that was a decent driver.
An ex Middle East driver came to our place for an interview, this guy had done it all. Our lot in their infinite wisdom sent him out for an ‘‘asessment’’ with the guy who happened to be in the yard at the time. Problem was this guy had done more damage in the past than Rommel.
thing is some of the best drivers I have are the ones where asking for availability is about as much of a conversation we have!
Where and where?
that’s if they’re not on the sick, which if you think about it might be better for everyone when they are on the sick 
offer the right terms and conditions and the better drivers will be hammering the door down, and they’ll know others etc etc and you won’t need all this college/HR ■■■■■■■■ and the money saved on worthless crap like this helps pay for proper staff
