Hi
Can anyone tell me what culina at market Drayton pay for the 4 on / 4 off day shift and what are they like to work for. I have been offered an interview. Living on a narrow boat down sharpness at the moment but willing to relocate if the job is okay. They will only do interviews m -f so trying to get some info before I take the plunge.
Thanx
A mate of mine left Stobart at Stoke to work at Culina Market Drayton, he lives in Market Drayton too, so it was a win win for him.
He’s back at Stobart Stoke after less than three months (he’s a good lad too, plenty of experience been doing the job years)
Make of that what you will!
It would be interesting to know why it was so bad there to make him leave so quick.
lesrollins:
It would be interesting to know why it was so bad there to make him leave so quick.
Maybe he wanted nights out and didn’t get them or didn’t want them and got them, maybe he didn’t like being monitored for his driving prowess. I had 7 yrs with them they’re ok to work for.
Well bald bloke I went for the interview at the Avonmouth depot but all they had on offer was a 4 on / 2 off shift with either midnight -3am or midday -3pm start. Had driving assessment with a blond lady. Spent about 4 hours in total there. I see what you mean about driving prowess I have to drive my truck like I stole it so the adjustment in driving would take some work.
Looking for a 4 on / 4 off day shift but can’t seem to find any tried buffaload, yearsley, samworth brothers, forfarmers the ones that I heard might do the 4 on / 4 off shift. Then culina market Drayton were advertising on the indeed website so perhaps will have to move the boat up there I have got an interview on Tuesday at 14.00pm and already sourced a mooring just in case.
I was speaking with a guy on Stafford services today but all he could say was that the salary for that shift was a lot lower and all start times were from midnight to midday so a fairly big window he did say that MD like to push for 15 hour days but I can’t see them getting to many of those on a 4 on / 4 off shift. He had been there 14 years and said the work was easy but because he refused to start midnight they stopped is nights out and have been giving him start times of bang on midnight for the last 2 or 3 weeks. So I don’t know what to make of it.
There is a lot of midnight starts as its chilled work and you’re supplying the rdc’s who in turn supply their own shops, let’s face you’ll only be working 4 days out of 8 so no hardship really is it, saying that my start time was round about 06.00 and yes very easy work.
Culina in themselves are not that bad a company I’ve worked for better but also worse, it would seem that the big outfits like them tend to follow a pattern in that they have a foremost desire to be as “Squeaky clean” with regards to Vosa/Police etc as possible. Culina are also very hot on driver efficiency and use the microlise system and a “them (office staff) and us (drivers)” scenario always prevails along with the little hitlers and jobsworth brigade that seem to enjoy that little bit of power given to them .
That said the work is very easy and the kit is very good (you will be running 100% legal) but some of the shift start times can be a killer, Avonmouth operate a 3 hour start time window with the option of being able to move an hour either side of that so in theory this becomes a 5 hour window forget any social life if you’re on a midnight to 03-00 start window and with the exception of Xmas day no other bank holidays are recognised so if its part of your shift pattern you will work it for no extra pay this will suit some people but not others, if you keep your head down and say yes to anything asked of you, you will be fine again, this suits some people but not others (myself included in the latter) hence why I no longer work for them 
Coxer
Coxer:
Culina in themselves are not that bad a company I’ve worked for better but also worse, it would seem that the big outfits like them tend to follow a pattern in that they have a foremost desire to be as “Squeaky clean” with regards to Vosa/Police etc as possible. Culina are also very hot on driver efficiency and use the microlise system and a “them (office staff) and us (drivers)” scenario always prevails along with the little hitlers and jobsworth brigade that seem to enjoy that little bit of power given to them .That said the work is very easy and the kit is very good (you will be running 100% legal) but some of the shift start times can be a killer, Avonmouth operate a 3 hour start time window with the option of being able to move an hour either side of that so in theory this becomes a 5 hour window forget any social life if you’re on a midnight to 03-00 start window and with the exception of Xmas day no other bank holidays are recognised so if its part of your shift pattern you will work it for no extra pay this will suit some people but not others, if you keep your head down and say yes to anything asked of you, you will be fine again, this suits some people but not others (myself included in the latter) hence why I no longer work for them
Coxer
Well worded Coxer, what depot did you run out of ?
Actually thinking about with 5 posts in 7 years I won’t hold my breath for an answer
Well worded Coxer, what depot did you run out of ?
Actually thinking about with 5 posts in 7 years I won’t hold my breath for an answer
Yeah tend to read rather than post Bald Bloke, I was at Avonmouth like yourself on 00.00hrs - 03.00hrs the afore mentioned killer shift 
Coxer
I just wouldn’t be able to get my head around starting at midnight!
Plenty of work (and narrowboat moorings) around the North Oxford canal, Rugby, Coventry, Atherstone, Crick etc. When it all goes ■■■■-up with my truck I’m going to move onto my narrowboat and work from there, I saw somebody paying £26 an hour for Sunday work on a jobs website recently around there, one day a week of that would do me!
Coxer:
Well worded Coxer, what depot did you run out of ?Actually thinking about with 5 posts in 7 years I won’t hold my breath for an answer
Yeah tend to read rather than post Bald Bloke, I was at Avonmouth like yourself on 00.00hrs - 03.00hrs the afore mentioned killer shift
Coxer
Graham ■■
You’ve sussed me Bald Bloke 
Coxer:
You’ve sussed me Bald Bloke
The Bulgaria connection gave it away, how are you anyway ? I know why you left because you told me all about it once but hopefully things worked out ok for you and you’re enduring happy days.
I’m Steve C by the way.
I haven’t worked for Culina, but with all these jobs requiring shifts it’s likely to be a case of having to start on an unpopular shift, then as other shifts become available you can apply for them and move within to get what you do want.
Thats the case where i work, its one of the better jobs out there and worth the ‘investment’ of starting on a shift you may not want in order to get one that you do, took me over 12 months it took some others 2 years.
This is the sort of question to ask before or at interview stage, if you make it clear you are happy to do whatever you have to to get your feet under the table but would eventually want permanent days for example (only once in a rare blue moon do we start before 4am), then you put the ball in their court, they can either say (as my now boss did when i knocked on the door) that you can apply for other shifts as they become available after a set time eg 12 months, or he could have told me to bugger off…that way no one is wasting anyone else’s time, if he’d told me to bugger off i would have know the shift i started on would have been it take it or leave it.
I’ve worked there and at Stafford,on agencies,been offered a job at both,it’s salaried and they will max out your hours so you end up with a low hourly rate, as well as the odd start times you will work most bank holidays and weekends.a lot of drivers like it for the security of employment but it’s not for me,my current job has many ex Culina drivers and they all are in agreement about not going back.
Isn’t the salary paid for a 48 hour week, so in effect they can give you 4 x 12 hour shifts, with presumably anything over the 48 hours overtime…yes we all know OT should be on a daily basis but increasingly people have agreed to waive that.
bald bloke:
Coxer:
You’ve sussed me Bald BlokeThe Bulgaria connection gave it away, how are you anyway ? I know why you left because you told me all about it once but hopefully things worked out ok for you and you’re enduring happy days.
I’m Steve C by the way.
Hi Steve still trying to picture your face never was very good at remembering names faces yes, did you train me on the long trailers as a driving assessor ? and did you look at a possible move to a firm in Yate ?.
Yes things have worked out with regards to my other half she has now been given the all clear after two years a very big sigh of relief was given by us both,
Her Kidney function is still very low but the cancer has not returned
Coxer
Isn’t the salary paid for a 48 hour week, so in effect they can give you 4 x 12 hour shifts, with presumably anything over the 48 hours overtime…yes we all know OT should be on a daily basis but increasingly people have agreed to waive that.
When I was there you could quite easily do 11 to 12 hour shifts every day on a 5 day week but as this includes your breaks and any poa it will calculate down to a 48 hr week the only way to earn overtime is to do an extra shift on a rest day not so bad if your on 5 on 3 off or 4 on 4 off but I was on 5 on 2 off and due to my other half having health issues it wasn’t for me 
Coxer
Coxer:
Hi Steve still trying to picture your face never was very good at remembering names faces yes, did you train me on the long trailers as a driving assessor ? and did you look at a possible move to a firm in Yate ?.
Yes and yes.
Coxer:
Yes things have worked out with regards to my other half she has now been given the all clear after two years a very big sigh of relief was given by us both,
Her Kidney function is still very low but the cancer has not returned
Coxer
Brilliant news I’m so pleased for you all.
Coxer:
Isn’t the salary paid for a 48 hour week, so in effect they can give you 4 x 12 hour shifts, with presumably anything over the 48 hours overtime…yes we all know OT should be on a daily basis but increasingly people have agreed to waive that.When I was there you could quite easily do 11 to 12 hour shifts every day on a 5 day week but as this includes your breaks and any poa it will calculate down to a 48 hr week the only way to earn overtime is to do an extra shift on a rest day not so bad if your on 5 on 3 off or 4 on 4 off but I was on 5 on 2 off and due to my other half having health issues it wasn’t for me
Coxer
Yes salaried for 48 hrs but you’d be unlucky to do 5 x 12 hr shifts in a week, I was on 5x3 so some weeks were only a 4 day week so well under my 48 hrs sometimes.