Hi, I am currently working for DHl on the Tesco contract at DIRFT and have done for almost 12 years, BUT, It is nothing like the job that it was when I 1st started so I have been looking for something different possible ADR, I applied for a job at BOC in Thame through Pertemps and went for an interview and driving assessment on Tuesday, I am 99% confident I will be offered the job this Friday. Its on a paye contract with the rates being £14 M-F £21 Sat and £28 Sun, I have been told the regular Pertemp lads do 50 hours a week and are pulling in around £800 a week. I would welcome any comments from anybody that has worked for BOC at Thame or Pertemps at Didcot or both…I am uncertain if I will accept and any information that could help me decide would be appreciated.
£800 a week…£800 a week…£800 a week…legal hours plobbing around…£800 a week…id be tempted to drink whats in the tanker for £800 a week…be bored with the job for a year.its still £800 a legal week…go for the dosh.
dieseldog999:
£800 a week…£800 a week…£800 a week…legal hours plobbing around…£800 a week…id be tempted to drink whats in the tanker for £800 a week…be bored with the job for a year.its still £800 a legal week…go for the dosh.
Nothing more to say if T&C’s pan out…
I worked for BOC for 20yrs at another branch in the South. I got out in 2012 after having a belly full, plus a big pay out was on offer. We used agency drivers from Pertemps but I would get more info from them regarding the expected hours you’ll be working. You will probably end up with mostly short shifts as BOC won’t want to pay the agency when they have their own drivers on a salary…so don’t expect £800 p/week. In our branch they would be in for a couple of days then nothing for the rest of the week or they’d get a couple of days then have a day or two off and then be expected to pick up a night shift. You may get some continuous weeks in now up until the year end as a lot of the guys will either have holidays to use or they would have worked their annual hours and be taking their banked hours off. Come the New Year and the work could dry right up for the agency. Generally they were buggered about with the talk of…“If a job comes up blah, blah, blah”. That hasn’t happened to any agency driver for years and not likely to happen now. Remember, Pertemps is an agency and they will spin you any old yarn that you want to hear to get you on their books.
The job itself was a doddle but we were taught by proper Transport Training Officers (TTO’s) but they done away with them. The training was very thorough. Nowadays the training is done by muppets called Driver Trainers who are nothing more than individuals (drivers) who crawl up the managements rear ends and think they’re better than their colleagues. The so called manager at Thame is ok as far as idiots go but stay away from the Area Manager who is based there, he is a complete and utter tool who knows less about the job than the waiter in the local Chinese. The company are ott with Health & Safety and you’ll spend many hours watching boring videos. They spout it all the time unless it is going to cost money then they’ll suddenly go quiet.
It was a good job when it was BOC owned it but they sold it to Linde (Germans) and it’s gone downhill since. Most of the old time BOC managers were dispensed with and they brought in a load of third party logistic monkeys as the aim of the Germans is to get it outsourced one way or another. A very high percentage of these new managers including senior managers knew nothing about ADR Regs or the transportation of Dangerous Goods by Road. In fact the way the National Transport Manager at the time spoke at a meeting you’d have thought we carried boxes of Cornflakes around! Disciplinaries are handed out left, right and centre just as a means to push the drivers too far and some have jacked in as a result. Don’t believe any talk of possible jobs coming up because the latest issues in the UK Steel Industry have had an impact on their business and there are currently reviews going on regarding driver numbers.
Good luck if you decide to go there but what once was a happy workplace is now a thing of the past, most of the blokes around the country…and I do stay in contact with quite a few, are now thoroughly fed up with the pettiness of the Company.
Thanks Mike I appreciate the info, i’m in a similar position in that when I joined the Tesco contract it was with Power Logistics & a cracking job then Dhl brought Power & it is now a poor job all about how much money they can make, Dhl uses Pertemps on all its sites so I know how they treat their staff. I am not bothered about working directly for Boc & the Transport manager was fairly honest in what he said, he did ask weather I would be prepared to work from other sites & that entailed a company car with hotel accommodation with expenses paid & also night out money. I think now all the decent jobs are either gone or the only way in is through an agency 1st & prove yourself. I’m 60/40 not going to take the job & pursue other ones.
to be fair I have 3 guys locally who work full time at boc. its not in the south so maybe regional variation but doubt you will be on a day or 2 a week.
war1974:
to be fair I have 3 guys locally who work full time at boc. its not in the south so maybe regional variation but doubt you will be on a day or 2 a week.
Well, I’ve painted an honest picture what it was like down here. Note that I did say at this time of year it may be busier due to holidays to be taken and annual hours reached hence taking banked hours as time off. After that…who knows but in the 20yrs I was there it always went quiet in the New Year.
LisasGuy…sent you a PM mate.
I thought BOC was bought out by a South African mob then Linde ? I have a deferred pension from Linde as I too usd to work for BOC Transhield then went into the gas side,also down south & left after a reasonable payout ,from both Lol. I always thought them to be a good firm to work for , the up them selves managers used to think they were Man at CA the way they dressed etc & lots of meeetings , H&S plus they wanted us all to take the advanced HGV rospa things , helped there insurance apparently, it was a free course & crap but have to say it did seem to help me get a job later a few times, just goes to show how much these desk jockeys really know ! Good company, with at the time a good share option scheme back then…