i have managed to wangle an assessment on saturday for Fowler welch as a casual driver and was wondering what sort of thing they look for on the drive part of it. i know i am a safe driver and quite an economical driver (cos i am with the car, im a tight git). iknow we have a test on driving hours which i feel i should be ok with, and a test on a few other things but shouldnt see any problems to be honest, its just the drive bit.
my reversing is ok and getting better, slow and steady and get out and look if not sure and all that. just what sort of thing will they be looking for. apparent;y me and a few others are going for it so want to try and be the best there if i can.
dont know what the money is like and i dont really care to be honest to start with cos a foot in the door of a company is a better than a seat in the dole office!
I am in there a lot, Gib cos we do a lot for them. I was on the phone to one of their Office bods yesterday and he told me that among the South Coast depots which covers Pompey, Southampton and Bournemouth they have just ONE Slovak.
Asked him about the driving assesment and he said as long as you can go backwards and forwards without hitting anything and can reverse on a bay, you’ll be ok. Guy called Chris takes the assesments.
All info greatly received and noted for this morning.
had the assessment, first off it was fill the application form in, do a tacho/drivers hours test, at this point we had a little ‘discussion’ about the WTD 6 hours 15 or 30 minute break thing they said it was 30 minutes I said it was 15 minutes (as per Trucknet Guru’s), which was quite light hearted to be honest, then on to the dreaded health and safety brief and a walk round the set up. Talked about how to fuel (using the pumps and so on) what to look for when filling out damage reports on start of day and so on.
Then down to the assessment drive. there was a unit that was in front of a trailer that I had to do my checks on so did all that and then coupled up to the trailer, did it all properly, just treated it as a retake of the driving test to be honest. Even had a look underneath to make sure the kingpin was in properly and did it all fine and then Chris said if you pull it off the bay I will check your lights for you went to pull forward and didn’t move. Checked I had D selected (it was a daf xf with the auto box) it was in D and tried again, still nothing. Then realised I was a plum of the first order. Jumped out the cab and sheepishly went to release the park brake. Luckily Chris just laughed. set off on the drive which was pretty uneventful and got back and now comes the bit I was dreading, the reversing on the bay, even though the yard is quite open I still seem to mess it up when I have been collecting things in there while working for another firm on the agency. pull up ready for the reverse, select R (with the tortoise symbol) and off we go slowly reversing, I get it in two, just a tiny shunt forwards so I know I am clear of the wheel guides on both sides. Ya beauty, the best reverse I have done in a very long time.
At the end he said it was a very good safe drive and he was more than happy with it, one of the better ones he had done in fact, which I was quite chuffed with.
Then into the office for the final bits of paperwork and a brief on the paperwork they use for collections and deliveries.
I start at 0800 tomorrow, I have no idea where I am going yet but we will see.
To be honest the guy who was doing the assessment, Chris, seems a very professional bloke who likes things done properly which I see as a good thing. Very helpful and also with a good sense humour. I think I will be quite happy working there. I know it will only be a few days a week to start with but it’s a start and a foot in the door. The basic wages aren’t brilliant but not bad either. Its better than the dole anyway and if you put the hours in the wages match!
So if you see a fowler Welch wagon with a ‘Lee G’ nameplate in the window come and say hello and have a brew.
Very well done mate like you said a foot in the door. also gaining experiance for the future. as has been said many many times if in doubt ask/get out and check and never take another drivers word about vehicles checks ,do it yourself.
Congratulations. Glad everything went ok. Good to hear some good news.
