Hi there all,I have been scouting round for a while now for a class 1 job in the North East,as I’m moving in with me fiancee.I got a call today from Excel at Stockton which runs the transport for Safeway/ Morrisons.They have given me an interview for Friday week,and I just thought I’d get in and ask if anyone has worked for them and generally what they are like?
I was told on the phone that the start times are 12pm,usually with an 8 or 10 hour day(short) and that it is every weekend working with two days off in the week I didn’t like that bit.Motors are Scania and Volvos I believe.Pay seemed ok for the area and there is overtime available .Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Also,I wonder how I will be treated,as I’m a cockney Spurs supporter! I spose I will get crap runs when I mention that!
I wondered if its true that you don’t touch the loads,and that its either drop and swap trailers,or you back onto a bay and get tipped? Sounds good if this is the case! Also no nights out,I presume? Cheers,Glenn
Don’t have any info for you, I’m afraid…but I would be interested in what happens and how you go on with them.
Desperately wishing for a day (as in not doing nights out) job myself right now, am even seriously considering going in the office somewhere… …a simple case of having a huge amount on my plate and not enough time or energy to do any of it justice.
Hi glenn, Not Worked For them Directly on this contract but have worked for both Exel and Safeway.
when i worked for Safeway i was in the stores and all the drivers that delivered to us were very happy with them an were earning some real good money in fact this was one of the reasons i decided to swap careers and get out on the road
I now work for Exel on the somerfield/kwiksave contract out of Sherburn and i think its and excellent job. No nights out, very easy days and usually just one or two drops a day. The one advantage of the safeway/Morrison contract cis that the sores are bigger so not so many of the access problems that we have.
Other than that all i can say is the deliveries are pallet stock through the back doors so no curtains etc and the driver is or was just to get the stock onto the tail lift after that its the stores job.
The money is certainly there and overtime is available When you want it. i work the afternoon shift so start usually 12-14 and finish by 22-23 and i work Tuesday to saturday. cant really comment any further as all the contract are different Even the other exel depots for Somerfield operate different!
Glad to see you have finally got the chance of a Job up here. You are correct with the motors although they also run Mercs as well. I was told by Independent agency that the unloading system as now changed. You pull up at the store and then you are told to go to the canteen/cafe and they will shout you when you are tipped, so that means no loading or unloading. The shifts you mention are the ones the regular drivers don’t want but at least once you get in you may get to change shifts. Money is ok from what I have heard.
If you have no luck with them you could try my old firm, AV Dawson. The motors are all decent spec scania’s and very few if any nights out. Downside, it is boring and wage is £6.18 per hour and time and half after 40 hours.
Just to echo what Bones said - Exel is a decent firm to work for. I am also on the Somerfield contract and run out of Huntingdon and Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire.
Exel look after you if you keep your head down and get on with the job in a professional manner. They don’t want ‘test pilots’ who damage vehicles and upset the store staff.
There’s excellent pension and ShareSave schemes if that interests you.
Everything is done properly, and there is no stress to the job whatsoever. Can’t remember the last time I drove over 48mph in a truck.
As part of a deal including 120 Safeway stores, Somerfield have just taken over the old Safeway chilled depot at Welwyn Garden City, and most of the drivers also came with the depot. Having spoken to the lads down there when I’ve done a trunk, I can say that 100% preferred working for Safeway than Somerfield / Kwik Save.
So with that in mind, and my own experience of Exel, I can easily imagine that a job on Exel / Safeway - Morrisons would be well cushty
Bones:
The one advantage of the safeway/Morrison contract cis that the sores are bigger so not so many of the access problems that we have.
Good luck.
sounds very painful!!!
ive done morrison’s work and its dead easy no nights out inter depot shunts and if you deliver to a store you just back on a bay and then do nothing while the warehouse staff open your trailer tip it then seal give you back your notes and your off again…
i know in wakefield they had a massive payrise last year and i also know that they are trying to reserve hoildays for 2007
you arent allowed holiday between oct and march and no more than 6 drivers off at one time
plus really daft start times plus lots of standing around.
in wakefield they dont let you go home till you’ve done 400k’s or 10 hrs.
Thanks for the replies everyone.I will let you know how I get on,should I get the job.It sounds cushdy so I’m pleased by that.Also to Lucy.Are you really that cheesed off that you’re now considering supermarket work? An experienced container bod like you I will keep you informed.Take care all.
I’m on the Morrison’s job in Northampton. Wincantons not Excel though.
The yard at Stockton is pokey, but ok. The job is really really easy; like someone said though the weight does pile on … I’ve gained about a stone since November!
If Excel is like wincantons for Morrisons, speeding is discouraged - time is never really an issue. Usually a morning run is 1 shop then back, then maybe a 1 or 2 shop run in the afternoon. Starting at 12 I think you’ll probably have a bit of hanging around, waiting for trailers to be loaded!
I don’t know about the stores up there, but they are generally easy to find. Only tip really is, when you go to a ‘new’ store you haven’t been to before, don’t ‘nose up’ to the gates. Just park a little distance away, cos its not that unusual to have to spin round outside the gates then back in… oh and if you ever go to Coalville (unlikely from up there lol), spin round outside the DIY store yard and back all the way round the corner…
I didn’t like that bit.Motors are Scania and Volvos I believe.Pay seemed ok for the area and there is overtime available .Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Also,I wonder how I will be treated,as I’m a cockney Spurs supporter! I spose I will get crap runs when I mention that!
