newmercman:
First I would expect to sit in the passenger seat while the ‘assessor’ showed me that they knew what they were talking about, if I was satisfied that they were in a position to judge ME then I would go & show them that I know what I’m doing
I had worked for a firm for over a year & they said I had to go for an assessment, I asked why & was told it was a new ‘policy’ I asked whether it was because of my accident record (none) my lorry always being in the workshop with ‘driver abuse’ defects (none) then asked again, never did get ‘assessed’
For a new starter it does make sense, after all you wouldn’t lend your car to somebody that you didn’t know so why should employers trust someone with £100k worth of lorry & trailer, you never know if everyone did it you might get some of the idiots off the road
Good point about the assessor doing a very short demo first
Yea but we live in the real world right!!!
You start an assessment by telling the assessor that you expect to be allowed to assess him/her first, I imagine in most cases there would be a two word response, and the second word would be “OFF”.
Sorry mate but we don’t live in the real world, we live in a world full of stupid regulations, thought up by people who’s only role is to think up more stupid regulations so that they can stay in their job
The one thing that is missing from the world today is COMMON SENSE, I would NEVER work for a PLC with all it’s stupid rules, you’re bound to be worrying about breaking the rules all the time instead of concentrating on ACTUALLY being safe.
Sorry mate but we don’t live in the real world, we live in a world full of stupid regulations, thought up by people who’s only role is to think up more stupid regulations so that they can stay in their job
I agree, but but unfortunately that is the state of the world today, and the one most of us have to deal with.
I’ve done a couple of assessments, and I think I can safely say that had I told the assessors that they had to prove their ability to me before we continued with my assessment, I wouldn’t have worked at either of those firms.
Had a few assessments over the years, one of the most memorable being for kwik save/wincanton, basically we only went round the industrial estate at Wellingborough as the assessor said he could usually tell a driver from the way they went round a couple of rounabouts and junctions and more importatly whether they could connect up properly and reverse the thing (very important on that job), made sense to me.
One of the drivers ( he was a brickie by trade, that makes good sense) at newsfast was trained up as the assessor and he loved it, so one night following a road closure we (3 in convoy) took him over ‘hardwater crossing’ near wollaston, we didnt see him for ages cos he got it wedged on the hump back bridge on the bend…oh well.
(if the budgens assessor is reading this, he was my oppo then and i seem to remember he was in front, so i’m blaming you John).
To be fair most of the assessors i’ve met have been looking for the right things and couldn’t care less about the bull manure.
What gets me is - how can someone assess another LGV driver if they cannot do it themselves - how do they KNOW what is right or wrong if they themselves have no idea how to do it - I’d like to see the assesor SHOW the failed candidate HOW it should have been done
ROG:
What gets me is - how can someone assess another LGV driver if they cannot do it themselves - how do they KNOW what is right or wrong if they themselves have no idea how to do it - I’d like to see the assesor SHOW the failed candidate HOW it should have been done
Another good point Rog, you talk a lot of sense, ever thought about taking up training for a living
GerryT:
Just for the sake of it why dont we do a form to check the assessor and get them to sign it after the driver , it might just get them thinking
Sort of turn the tables a bit
Hi GerryT, I think that’s a great idea mate.
We have that kind of thing at the end of the courses that I teach, it’s called a Feedback Form, on which the candidates write their comments about how the training was conducted etc, etc.
IMHO, with a couple of tweaks, such a form could be used as you suggested.
However, I think ROG also has a great point with this:
ROG:
I’d like to see the assesor SHOW the failed candidate HOW it should have been done
I’d modify it slightly, and suggest that if the candidate isn’t doing what the company expects, then the assessor should tell/show the candiate AT THAT POINT what is expected. If the candidate can’t then do as they’re told, that would constitute a “fail.” This is due to the fact that different companies have different procedures, so how could the candidate be expected to know in advance
I’ve only suggested that because I can’t see the point of telling a candidate that they’d failed, they’re not being employed, and then telling them why. That’s a bit pointless IMHO, because of variance in procedures between different companies.
Fairness isn’t difficult to achieve, because it’s not rocket science after all…
ROG:
What gets me is - how can someone assess another LGV driver if they cannot do it themselves - how do they KNOW what is right or wrong if they themselves have no idea how to do it - I’d like to see the assesor SHOW the failed candidate HOW it should have been done
Another good point Rog, you talk a lot of sense, ever thought about taking up training for a living
I had an assesment maybe 2-3 weeks ago, only a little firm, but they werent happy that I had 3 points for speeding from 4 years ago
He (the fleet manager) jumped in the cab whilst I did all the checks i needed to. I then told him I wouldn’t drive the vehicle on various points, air sprung seat broken, wipers shot, washer tubes perished, some running lights blown, bits cut out of rear wheel arches to allow ratchets to hook on body etc. etc.etc.
He looked at me like I was joking, I packed up my clobber at climbed out of cab, he asked me to wait for a minute, then came out and said “i’ll assess you on the way to the garage”!!!
Our firm assessed all the truck drivers recently…the “assessor” was a bloke from the office (nothing to do with the transport dept). He’s a nice enough lad, but when the truck drivers asked him what qualified him to do driver assessments it turned out he doesn’t even have an LGV licence! He’s something to do with H & S, so he was the most qualified of 'em all! Laughable as he was assessing blokes with 20 odd years worth of wool on their backs…one of 'em is an ex C+E driving instructor!
They missed me out fortunately…I’d have told him to sit quietly in the passenger seat and learn something from me!
- how do they KNOW what is right or wrong if they themselves have no idea how to do it 
or am I being unbelievably thick today?
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