First Week in!

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Well I finished my first week of work yesterday, and as glad as I am to see the end of the week I can’t wait for Monday to come along…well I can but I can’t :laughing:

Monday was a bit of a naff day as they sent me home in the morning but when I asked them later in the day about when I will actually be working they asked me to go in for half 1 and that I would get paid for 6 hours (Even though I only worked 3!) Then again the pay isn’t the best, but it isn’t all about the money for me :slight_smile:

Tuesday, was the first test of how well I would cope with the work. Being on the trays packing them with the tubs needless to say it got boring very fast and by the end of the day I struggled to even stand up :open_mouth: and walking well it wasn’t the most pleasant things I’ve ever had to do! But at least I had a laugh in the day with work collegues and I alone (With a bit of help :blush: ) managed to stack up 42 pallets on that day :grimacing: But doing this coming off of my break I was met with 100+ tubs that were still coming in fast to be packed :open_mouth: and to be honest as much as I struggled to get this done on my own the help I was given was very greatful and if anything it was probably working as fast as I did that messed my back up :open_mouth:

Wednesday, started with the same again but with the warehouse manager coming in and barking orders at everyone. I thought ‘Great here goes he’s going to have a pop at me’ and that he did :unamused: I was either working too fast or too slow, and with my back hurting the last thing I was wanting to do was be lifting and dropping trays of sweets so they got slid across the table behind me. Needless to say he didn’t like that and started on me for it, in the end I told him he doesn’t pay me enough to work ‘too fast’ and if he wants it doing faster the trays are there (Pointing at the trays) and the tubs are there (Pointing at the tubs) and you can crack on and give me a hand other wise let me crack on doing my job. He went off in a huff but I still have a job because I think he could gather I wasn’t 100% :laughing: :laughing: They started a new lad on though that day to work on the trays with me, I asked if they could take me off of the packing of the tubs and put me onto something else as I couldn’t take anymore with my back in absolute agony. They took me off of that and put me onto stacking the tubs for the people who pack the sweets into the tubs. So now my current job here is to get the tubs from the packaging, label the arse of the tubs and stack them up :laughing: I was even let loose with a pump truck to move the pallets around in the warehouse :laughing: :open_mouth: So getting plenty of experience in this week :laughing: :laughing: On the lunch break the lads that were doing the job I got took off of, one was on their break and knowing what it’s like doing them on your own they soon stack up, and they were stacking up and me supposed to be on my lunch break I decided to pitch in and help him out with the tubs and packaging the trays to be put onto the pallet. And no I was not thinking of the children while sacrificing my lunch break to help out :laughing: Again 46 pallets were completed on this day :smiley:

Thursday, I had the day off because they ■■■■■■ up an order of lids for the tubs (Isn’t that the warehouse managers job? To ensure products are in and out the warehouse on time? ) But it gave me time to rest my back up and get some house work done :slight_smile:

Yesterday, same again as wednesday working on the tubs but this time I was first paired with a new lad and showing him what to do (even though I was clueless myself :open_mouth: ) but he was put onto the lids to put on the tubs and then I was paired with a nice looking girl who after 2 hours of working with me turned around and said I was flinging the tubs too hard at her. :laughing: :laughing: I asked if she said that to all the lads, she didn’t find it too funny :laughing: But she weren’t half a bossy ■■■■■ ! Telling me to do this, do that and the other :open_mouth: But I suppose I should get used to it :laughing: But the day didn’t half go by fast :open_mouth: But I think the job I am doing now, helps time go by fast because it’s fast paced and you’re never doing the same thing in an hours time. A variety of labeling, stacking or putting the lids down ready to be labeled :slight_smile:

So all in all, I have had a cracking week I think and have enjoyed every bit of it. Even the back ache :laughing: But it’s a great experience and I’m getting used to working life. :smiley: And the work isn’t as hard as many made it out to be :unamused: The good part to next week is I finish at 12 on Friday so I can go spend my first wage in the afternoon :laughing: :grimacing: Mind you I shall be saving some of the money for the new year and to add on the wage the week after :smiley: Also I won’t be returning to work until the 3rd January after friday. :smiley: Although I have let my boss know if I’m needed in on boxing day then I can come in I don’t mind :slight_smile: :slight_smile: Although I don’t think they’ll take me up on that offer :laughing: So the pros and cons of working to being in college

Pros:
Getting paid a decent whack each week
The work varies and isn’t the same ■■■■ day in day out.
I’m a lot happier working than I am in college.
I’ve met some great people at work as well as having some of the best laughs this week :laughing: :laughing:
I don’t have to scrimp and scrape anymore to get by.
I can afford to take my driving lessons etc!
I’m showing that I am not work shy and I am a hard working fella! :grimacing:
I get along well with my boss and work colleagues and have heard some very juicy gossip this week :open_mouth:
I’m not at college behind a desk worrying my arse off about deadlines and other stuff as such :open_mouth:
The longer I work and the time I have this job I’m gaining experience and getting closer to that ‘2 year experience’ mark where it seems everywhere wants you to have.
I can save money for my hgv training when it comes round to it :slight_smile:
And most of all my parents are better off considering I’m giving them more money than they were getting with me being in college.
Oh and no longer having to live on £10 a week :open_mouth: :grimacing:

Cons:
The work is hard and can get stressful and painful if doing the same thing constantly!
Work can get boring if it isn’t a busy time.
The warehouse manager who seems to try find faults in everything :unamused:
I am missing some aspects of college life, e.g photography.
Not being paid enough for the job i’m doing :laughing:

So all in all, working life compared to education life. I am enjoying much much more :smiley: and even though I am working next week that I would have had off at college I’m not really too bothered. I enjoy having my independence and it’s made me a much happier person at that :smiley: It’s already noticed at home at least :smiley: Anyway Just wanted to let you all know how it went :laughing:

Cheers

Jonny :smiley:

2

Well done , but ■■■■ that! :open_mouth:

3

Glad you enjoyed it matey.

But do you really fancy that every day for maybe the next 7 or 8 years…? Realistically you’re gonna need to be closer to 25 than 20 to get a class 1 job driving. And if you work class 2 to start you may well be driving and doing all that ■■■■■■■ stuff around as well… :smiley:

Anyhow, best of luck with what you decide - you did well 'cos I know a few teenage lads that would have been back at college by Wednesday lunchtime… :wink:

4

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Well it isn’t what I want to be doing for the next 30 years but it’ll do for the time being! Always told to make the best of every situation. And that is what I am doing, I think I’m going to speak nicely with my boss to see if they can put me through my forklift training :slight_smile: That way I’ll have more variety for the jobs I can do :smiley:

Cheers

Jonny :smiley:

5

Truckulent:
Glad you enjoyed it matey.

But do you really fancy that every day for maybe the next 7 or 8 years…? Realistically you’re gonna need to be closer to 25 than 20 to get a class 1 job driving. And if you work class 2 to start you may well be driving and doing all that ■■■■■■■ stuff around as well… :smiley:

Anyhow, best of luck with what you decide - you did well 'cos I know a few teenage lads that would have been back at college by Wednesday lunchtime… :wink:

■■■■■■■■ to that :open_mouth: 12 months of this is enough for me and in that time I want to have my license and be on my way to getting my hgv training. As thankfully my dad’s mate who has his own firm said he would give me a job when I get my hgv license. Just making the best of what I have at the moment in time :smiley:

Cheers

Jonny :smiley:

6

quote… you did well 'cos I know a few teenage lads that would have been back at college by Wednesday lunchtime…

don’t speak too soon :wink:

7

tubs and lids, lids and tubs

8

jonnytruckfest:
then I was paired with a nice looking girl

photographic evidence of this? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

9

Good going, within three days you had upset the only tasty female you mention and the warehouse manager, who is next on your list? and you asked to be moved to an easier job cos your back ached. Ummm!

10

raymundo:
Good going, within three days you had upset the only tasty female you mention and the warehouse manager, who is next on your list? and you asked to be moved to an easier job cos your back ached. Ummm!

There is more than one female working there :unamused: And she knew it was just for a laugh nothing meant by it, infact I had an interesting conversation with her on the way back to the bus station, so hardly upset her did i? :unamused: The warehouse manager was picking at niggling little things that wouldn’t make any difference if you changed them or not and I told him in polite words what I thought of it and more or less said if he wanted things doing faster he could stop ■■■■■■■■ and start helping, hardly the crime of the century? and considering I’m still in a job I can hardly say I upset him that much. And I didn’t get asked to be put onto an ‘easier’ job, I asked if I could be taken off of the job I was doing for a short while because i was struggling to cope due to my back, but if you read all of the OP you would have seen that I did go back onto it through my lunch break to help a colleague out because I saw he was struggling. So it’s hardly like I am upsetting anybody other than the warehouse manager for talking the truth :unamused: And it isn’t as though I don’t pitch in anywhere I can to help because I actually enjoy the work even if it does get boring at times it’s still enjoyable for what it is.

Cheers

Jonny :sunglasses:

11

I still think it’s a big mistake leaving college. It’s good that you want to work and earn your way but a part time job around college would be better.
The place where you’re working doesn’t sound up to much, sent home on Monday because of a mix up and a day off on Thursday because of another mix up? I hope you get paid for the Thursday you had off as it was nothing tondo with you but I’ll be surprised.
If you’d left college for an apprenticeship of a job with a few prospects I’d say go for it, but this place seems to be extracting the urine out of you.
If I were you I’d get on the phone to my tutor, get back to college and look for a part time job.

12

bigvern1:
Well done , but [zb] that! :open_mouth:

ditto, minus the well done. Giving up college for a bum job, you need your head looking at. Do yourself a favour and go back to college while you still can.

13

MikeCunn:
I still think it’s a big mistake leaving college. It’s good that you want to work and earn your way but a part time job around college would be better.
The place where you’re working doesn’t sound up to much, sent home on Monday because of a mix up and a day off on Thursday because of another mix up? I hope you get paid for the Thursday you had off as it was nothing tondo with you but I’ll be surprised.
If you’d left college for an apprenticeship of a job with a few prospects I’d say go for it, but this place seems to be extracting the urine out of you.
If I were you I’d get on the phone to my tutor, get back to college and look for a part time job.

Go back to college Jonny!!!,I am 36 years old in 3 days,i earn ok money but i have to live in a tin box all week for it and i have myself and 2 kids to look after!!!.. i would have done anything to go back to living with my parents and going back to college but now i just cant afford to…at 18 i got back from South Africa and started working in a fridge factory in Bognor Regis on the agency £3:50 an hour,after 3 months i got taken on by LEC and my money went up,after 2 years got a job on nights as a CNC Press Brake setter/operator,money pretty much doubled,did that for a year,got made redundant,week or so later got offered a job as a Steel Erectors mate,same money pretty much…learnt the job and was good at it,eventually i then had my own mate and through time i became a foreman,running 2,3 or so gangs on the particular site i was running,more moneyagain!!!..in the end i got fed up with my back being ■■■■■■,driving to London or wherever everyday,gangs that didnt want to do ■■■■ all,welding fumes,grinding dust so i did my HGV and the rest is history at this time my son was born,2 years later along came my daughter.
in the end you become a victim of money,as you progress through life your standard of living adjusts to your wages and as an unskilled worker your wage will never rise above a certain level,you’ll get a girlfriend/wife,move out of your parents,maybe have kids and thats when all the pressure starts!!!..get yourself TRAINED at college boy,I would do anything to be able to do something else,dont get me wrong i love driving trucks,but im missing out on LIFE,cause my life entails living in the tin box having very little spare time to actually LIVE my LIFE and see my kids…you are still young,take some good advice and do something for yourself cause youll possibly regret it if/when you start to get some responsibilites.
you can still do your HGV,but do something else that you can fall back on!! :wink:
in the 90s there was still a bit of factory work and industry before it all went to China so there was some work for the unskilled as we’d just come out of the last recession,but nowadays it is few and far between and most of the unskilled work is agency with virtually no prospect of being taken on by the company permanently,i would hate to be leaving school nowadays with no qualifications!!!
take some advice,there are a lot of people advising you on here to go back to college so think about it,cause you may regret it in 10/15 years. :wink:
All the best.

14

Thank you all folks, I know it seems like a big mistake. But it’s only for the time being, I will be applying for apprenticeships so I can get myself trained up and actually having the bog standard qualifications now I actually have a chance at getting something :smiley: Also it will get me trained on something, but going to college for qualifications for something that hasn’t got anything to do with what I want to do other than the photography part. The only reason I did business at school and in college was I was always stuck in the mind frame of wanting to own my own lorry but the stuff I learnt had nothing to do with that anyway and seemed stuck in a dead hole of being unhappy.

As when I apply for apprenticeships preferably mechanics it will get me qualified for something that I am interested in, and still have something that has me a trade for life, whether im fixing cars or trucks it makes no difference. :slight_smile: But for the time being, i’ll stick with the boring arse job for as long as possible. But right now I’m just recovering from having my drink spiked last night, so the last thing i’m wanting to talk about is work, trucks or anything of the above :laughing: :laughing:

Merry Christmas Folks :smiley:

Cheers

Jonny :slight_smile: