Dilemma

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Good morning everyone,

My names Jack and i’m a newbie, i’ve been lurking on the forum taking in all the fantastic advice people have on here and a lot of it has helped me with CPC tests and what not.

Here’s my dilemma and I would like peoples honest opinions on what they would do in this situation.

So i got my cat C in September last year and spent months looking for a job whilst working night shift at sainsbury’s, having previously worked for them and having a good working relationship with management and HR, my store manager did promise me he’d look into seeing if there would be any possibility of moving over to the Basingstoke distribution centre either full time or just to get some experience, after speaking to a driver he said they only take on C+E drivers which makes sense, so I shelved that idea.

Eventually after reading more advice on here I looked up companies around where I live on the VOSA website for O Licences and found one about 1 mile away, so one sunny Thursday morning decided to print off my CV and walked in and asked to speak to the Transport Manager, who as it turned out lived down my road as well, after being called back for a chat, he gave me a job! It’s a food delivery company like Brakes and 3663. Great I thought, my big break, anyway, 4 months down the line and i’m still only driving 5T vans with the odd trip out in a 7.5 tonner and very rarely an 18 tonner, which don’t get me wrong is great because i’m still getting experience using tacho’s and doing vehicle checks and what not but it’s not doing what I want, plus there are downsides like having to work every saturday which isn’t a massive problem but I have to deliver in central london to various cafes/restaurants/bars/hotels etc and it’s a nightmare, and to be quite honest i dread going in on a saturday, the rest of the week is fine but saturdays are the worst by far because I know i’m going to be thrown in at the deep end with 20 odd random drops in central london without a clue as to where any of them are.

Now the good points to this job are, It’s job and finish, so often finish before 2/3pm, and the money is decent enough at £18k basic and £3k attendance bonus, so I just have to turn up, great, because I always turn up so it’s easy money.

Now getting to my Dilemma, on Sunday I applied to a company in Reading that does Pallet work, fairly big company, don’t want to say just yet because i’ve used my full name and if they’re reading may get funny, perhaps I should have used a different username! So I had an interview yesterday and they’ve offered me the job!

Bad points first: It’s less money, £175 less basic per month, it’s also a 48 mile round trip too which will cost between £150-£200 pm in fuel, so i’m already about £350 down each month, money isn’t everything but it helps!

Good points: I will be driving a proper sized rigid truck rather than a van, so more experience, there seems to be more opportunity in this company with regards to moving to different parts like long distance and also if/when I get my C+E I could possibly move up to artics, it’s Mon-Fri with every other saturday optional for overtime which i’m quite happy to do so could recoup some of the money that way.

Overall i’m just happy that they are willing to take a newbie like me on and feel that maybe i’m just in a bit of a pickle because of the unknown of starting a new job.

If anyone has any advice/opinions/stories they want to share, good or bad, I will take it all on board.

Thanks for reading my poorly written essay, writing was and will never be my strong point.

Jack

2

Most jobs have their downsides so the proposed new one is likely to as well - not just the money side

I would stay in the current job until you get a better all round break where you are not losing out financially

3

Thanks for the advice ROG I’m just concerned it’s going to take months to find something better as there doesn’t seem to be much in my area and whilst I don’t have any big financial commitments yet it might be best to get the experience in wherever I can, I’d still be making enough money to see me through. Ahhh decisions decisions!

4

Are there possibilities of nights out? Would save you money on fuel going to work & back, I imagine you would end up working more hrs than you currently do so the shortfall may not be as big as you are expecting :slight_smile:

If you can manage on the wage drop, personally I would go for it. Gives you the experience & in a year or so your CV will look good as you’ve progressed from vans & 7.5t. Plus you have the option of putting your current job down as 18t driver & with the latest job being the same you’ll look better on paper for experience if you decided to move upwards & onwards from this firm in 12mths.

5

I suggest you do something like…Go talk to your existing TM and tell him you want to get off the van for good and move up to something else. gauge his reaction and if necessary add in …“i dont want to leave but i need to expand my skills and move up to bigger things” …and see what he says.
Any good TM or Manager will not let good staff go, it may just be what he wants to hear , someone with a bit of get up and go attitude rather than a whiney ■■■■■■■■
If he says tough ■■■■ or similar then leave as he is not who you should be working for.
By not doing anything nothing will change.
You have to MAKE things happen.

6

They do do nights out but only in the artics I think, they pay for your MSA parking as they don’t want you parked on the road plus £22 night out money but I’m not sure if they send rigids on any long distance runs.

Over time is paid after 10 hours but your not paid for breaks so it would be after 11 hours when overtime kicks in and there is a daily bonus scheme which is based around keeping truck clean and paperwork in order etc and I think £1 per drop so potentially up to around £15 a day extra.

I need to give it a good think today as I’d probably hand my notice in tomorrow so better get my thinking cap on. Thanks for the advice Boo9729

7

3 wheeler:
I suggest you do something like…Go talk to your existing TM and tell him you want to get off the van for good and move up to something else. gauge his reaction and if necessary add in …“i dont want to leave but i need to expand my skills and move up to bigger things” …and see what he says.
Any good TM or Manager will not let good staff go, it may just be what he wants to hear , someone with a bit of get up and go attitude rather than a whiney [zb].
If he says tough [zb] or similar then leave as he is not who you should be working for.
By not doing anything nothing will change.
You have to MAKE things happen.

It’s quite obvious they have no intention of putting me on 18t as there are probably 20 other drivers all with the same licence waiting to get on them and the existing drivers don’t look like they’re going anywhere too soon. But I understand what your saying, don’t ask don’t get and all that.

8

jackseymour:

3 wheeler:
I suggest you do something like…Go talk to your existing TM and tell him you want to get off the van for good and move up to something else. gauge his reaction and if necessary add in …“i dont want to leave but i need to expand my skills and move up to bigger things” …and see what he says.
Any good TM or Manager will not let good staff go, it may just be what he wants to hear , someone with a bit of get up and go attitude rather than a whiney [zb].
If he says tough [zb] or similar then leave as he is not who you should be working for.
By not doing anything nothing will change.
You have to MAKE things happen.

It’s quite obvious they have no intention of putting me on 18t as there are probably 20 other drivers all with the same licence waiting to get on them and the existing drivers don’t look like they’re going anywhere too soon. But I understand what your saying, don’t ask don’t get and all that.

Having read that and other bit…Quit and take the new job , simple.

9

U thought about saving up and doing class 1? Stick at it where u are, save up as u say u have no commitments? (Lot easier now than when u have kids and a ball n chain). Short term pain turns to long term gain. You need to look at it from a longer term perspective, sure your not driving 18t trucks but u are, and have got your foot in a door.

10

Andygreen:
U thought about saving up and doing class 1? Stick at it where u are, save up as u say u have no commitments? (Lot easier now than when u have kids and a ball n chain). Short term pain turns to long term gain. You need to look at it from a longer term perspective, sure your not driving 18t trucks but u are, and have got your foot in a door.

Thats an idea …being an old git I dont know how much it costs nowadays to do that.
It would not take long if you worked hard at saving I suppose.

11

At some point I would like to get my C+E but I would like to get a bit of experience under my belt first and I think driving vans is getting me no where at the moment so perhaps taking a pay cut is a sacrifice I will have to make in order to get the experience I need.

I appreciate everyones opinions and have taken all on board and will mull it over tonight

12

If you can afford the pay drop, then go for it. Experience is hard gained but will be will you for years.

Also, as ROG said, there are downsides to most jobs - so no rose-tinted glasses!

All the best with your tricky decision. Pete :laughing: :laughing:

13

Hi Jack, how’s the dilemma working out? Have you made a decision on what your going to do?

14

jackseymour:
Overall i’m just happy that they are willing to take a newbie like me on and feel that maybe i’m just in a bit of a pickle because of the unknown of starting a new job.

Firstly, don’t be thinking that you’re so much of a ‘newbie’. You’ve been delivering into London and multi-dropping for five months. I know Class 1 drivers of 20-30 years that wouldn’t be able to do that job in a million years. I’d been driving artics for 7 years when I got a job that involved some van, 7.5 Tonne and Class 2 multi-dropping and that was an eye opener!

Secondly, I personally think you should stay where you are and get your Class 1 with the money you’d save by not taking the new job.

If it was me, I’d probably take the new job and end up regretting it. I’m 34 and have been driving for nearly 9 years. I had a few agency jobs at the beginning then took a job that I stayed at for nearly 6 years before I stupidly left for something ‘better’. Since then, (2 years ago) until three weeks ago I’ve been bouncing around on agencies and bits and bats. I’ve got a job now that I have no intention of leaving but only through painful experience have I found that its better to stay where you are a lot of the time.

15

Just an update.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to give advice/opinions, it’s all been taken on board.

I did decide to take the job in the end as although it’s less money I feel the experience I will gain will be worth it. My current TM was quite good about it and did say there was no guarantee of me getting on the 18tonners but was disappointed I was leaving, but did also say that should it all go ■■■■ up then he wouldn’t have a problem taking me back which is nice to hear really but I do hope it doesn’t come to that and I’m sure it won’t.

So I start on the 9th at QTR Transport in reading, if anyone knows of them and has any horror stories then please don’t hesitate to keep them to yourself but if it’s good then I’m all ears :wink:

Thanks

Jack

16

In my opinion youve made the right decision for moving forward & experience.

Best of luck for when you start & let us know how you get on.

17

All the best with the new job. Pete :laughing: :laughing:

18

Good Luck with the new job chap, seems like you’re plenty keen enough and that counts for a lot.

Remember the speed limits and now that you’re on bigger stuff keep an eye out for weight limits.

19

Thanks for the support guys, quite looking forward to it now.

Any good tips for curtainsiders? Any do’s and don’ts etc would be much appreciated and of course I will update this thread when I start

20

Best of Luck with the new job It looks as if you have made the right decision !