So the above companies are based near me and also looking for drivers.
Pay seems to be above 32k per year. It’s multi drop work, being class 2.
Is multi drop a real nightmare? Are you driving around like a madman on a mission to achieve your deliveries? Is parking a nightmare? Was this work mainly weekdays?
Anyone worked for any of the above companies?
Brakes at Grantham…
I’ve only done trunking work for them but I’ve seen the multi-drop boys come and go. The routes aren’t pre-planned as such but, the drops are similar every day so you’ll get to know the route you’re given easily enough.
The trucks are already loaded for you in the morning. When you get back to Grantham you de-kit, fill up, park up, do any paperwork upstairs and go home.
The delivery drivers are usually back by 3 (and that includes a snooze in a lay-by somewhere) every day.
It’s Mon to Fri work.
Some of the drivers have been there for years so that might tell you something.
I assume that most multi-drop firms operate in the same manner.
c&p from a previous thread
If I had to pick any of the 3 jobs you have mentioned it would be palletline . I did 11 years on pallex same type as work as palletline much easier work being kerb side deliveries or as close to the property you could get much easier than doing food deliveries with having to handball all the goods in to store rooms or up and down flights and stairs no thanks
Remember the pallet network lie when you turn up at a yard having driven past everyone in the queue, “it’s only one pallet Guv”
That’s good advice about Palletline work, kerbside only so no going up and down stairs. Although I’d imagine some residential roads are pretty tight, and blocking roads is never popular. Do you think the company check out the delivery address in advance?
Bidfood I believe deliver to schools and hospitals amounts others, where as Brakes is shops including corner shops. I’d guessing Bidfood
is more for larger commercial places?
RogerOut:
Do you think the company check out the delivery address in advance?
No…
They don’t. It’s up to you to organise the drop. If it means starting WW3 on a busy A road in town, it’s your problem. Keep in kind that if it all goes wrong, the first thing they’ll say is ‘you should have called us to organise something’.
Nobody should be “…driving around like a madman on a mission to achieve your deliveries” right now.
I understand why those who fear losing their job may feel compelled to achieve a 100% delivery/collection rate, but right now is the time to bring back those undelivered loads without fear of being out of work for an extended period.
Use this time to force companies into accepting only a reasonable day’s work from us.
RogerOut:
So the above companies are based near me and also looking for drivers.Pay seems to be above 32k per year. It’s multi drop work, being class 2.
Is multi drop a real nightmare? Are you driving around like a madman on a mission to achieve your deliveries? Is parking a nightmare? Was this work mainly weekdays?Anyone worked for any of the above companies?
Pallet network isn’t actually that bad. After a while you learn the routes as it tends to be the same places you deliver to and collect from with the odd one off thrown in. Almost all of it is fork truck off the back of the wagon and on industrial estates etc. Typically you’ll have maybe 5-6 drops and a few collections.
Brakes/Bidfood though, entirely different story. It’s usually things like cafes, restaurants, schools, the odd small shop and it’s handball, often city centre and you can be doing dozens of drops a day.
Confucius say…if you can eat it,or drink it…DON’T deliver it 
Baggie:
Confucius say…if you can eat it,or drink it…DON’T deliver it
Yep pallet network is the best of the worst 
No slipping on ice in the door way of your freezer compartment on a rainy day 
Brakes/bid-vest/3663. You will be delivering schools, barracks, fast food out let’s, restaurant, works kitchens, Lots of free tea-coffee etc, start at about 0500, finished by 1500, lots of overtime options, £both pay well, start at around £30k.
Sack barrow and cages, keeps ya fit.
O and pretty laydees at some delivery points… Bonus
Regarding multi drop- I think whats off putting is finding a space to unload, in a village, town centre. I know from 8 years experience as a bus driver what selfish pricks there are out there who just park where they want. On a bus, if someone’s parked in a stop we just serve it as best we can, and then get out.
Obviously delivering to a shop or restaurant, you have to find somewhere to unload, potentially for a longish time.
At Bidfood your described as a labourer that can drive an HGV.
Did 8 weeks with Brakes out of Hemsworth. The only time of that I enjoyed was the 5 days training course at the depot.
I did 3 different runs, Leeds city centre, Filey/Scarboro, and Huddersfield/Halifax. All 3 a nightmare for different reasons. The Leeds city centre horrendous for parking and having to sack barrow stuff sometimes a quarter of a mile through pedestrianised areas of town. The Filey was easier for parking but you were working 5am to at least 5-6pm minimum for the same pay rate as the drivers on cushy runs finishing at 3pm (and one lad while i was there was finishing at 8pm daily, dont know how he stayed legal). The Huddersfield run was a mixture of the two, some nightmare drops taking an hour, plus finishing around 4-5pm.
One other thing that was bad, whilst doing my run with a supervisor, he actually said at one drop, this will take us an hour, so put it on break while we do the drop else we wont get done before 5pm!
Very hard work, lots of 25kg sacks of spuds to deliver and other awkward stuff.
Worst job Ive ever had, would never do it again. Some people obviously like it, but the majority of their drivers walk round the depot with limps and hunched backs from all the hard work!!
What sort of times do these companies work? Palletline and Bidfood says mainly Mon- Friday work.
Baggie:
Confucius say…if you can eat it,or drink it…DON’T deliver it
That made me laugh…so true though!
Swordsy:
One other thing that was bad, whilst doing my run with a supervisor, he actually said at one drop, this will take us an hour, so put it on break while we do the drop else we wont get done before 5pm!/quote]I hope you told him to ■■■■ right off
RogerOut:
What sort of times do these companies work? Palletline and Bidfood says mainly Mon- Friday work.
Palletline is usually 7am to 5pm but you are expected to do overtime and can sometimes finish at 7pm.
I work for a similar firm and my latest finish was 7.45pm , there is too much work and not enough drivers or trucks to do the work, but like somone else said its kerbside or forklift, they also give you an electric pallet truck as you’ll be delivering pallets over 1000kg, Palletline do residential, so you’ll get the odd person trying to get you to take in the house, politely refuse. I had one say i need these tiles in my bathroom, sorry no its kerbside delivery.
Bristol Brakes have gone up to 36.5k and a non-sick attendance. Just under 40k with a day a month ot.
I did pallet work for a while. It can vary massively depending on what you are delivering. And as you can deliver anything on a pallet, it keeps it interesting. If you are tail-lifting the drops, you need to keep to the planned route as much as possible or you’re moving pallets to get to others. Also, you need to ensure you strap and re-strap your load securely, which if you’ve ice-cream cones along side reconditioned engines, can be tricky.
The company I worked for didn’t have electric pallet trucks, so you need to be able to pull 1000kg.
As for start/finish times, most of the pallets arrive and depart the depot from night trunkers. So your start/finish times are fairly controlled by the needs of when they have to roll. So 7am to 6pm is pretty much the window you’d be working in. Hths
