hi all . i’m new to the forum . after a bit of info . agency have managed to get me an assessment on monday morning . have read various different stories about whats involved . some saying its less than an hours driving with reversing others say you go out and do a delivery. just wondering who is correct?
next thing i wanted to know was what would a class 2 driver be expected to do during a night shift , store multi drop or trunking /mixture of both? told agency i only want to do nights but have seen people say its shift work so would i be expected to do days one week and nights the following? hoping i can find out before monday morning as id rather not go for an assessment unpaid and waste my time if jobs not what agency sold it to me as. cheers .
Now I can only tell you about Gist Bristol (who our deliveries come from) and the M&S drop and Birmingham Airport (where I work).
I think the only people who run rigids at Gist do the coffee drops (Starbucks I think (Yeah it’s Starbucks)). Very occasionally they’ll deliver to a store (such as M&S). If you’re doing stores it’ll be the really tight drops that they simply can’t get an artic into. We always had the urban trailer deliver to us because they needed the rear-steer for the next drop (Warwick, looks bloody tight from google maps). But apparently before they started using the urban (before we opened) they used the rigids.
Now if Gist Thatcham are anything like Gist Bristol, they will ■■■■ anything and everything up. But I’m sure that’s what most bosses are like (I’m sure that will get a round of approval).
But, if you read all that and learned nothing useful, I’m sorry. If anyone is interested in the M&S work, I’ve working for M&S for over 5 months now (doesn’t sound long does it), on pretty much solid delivery shifts. So I hear a lot off the blokes.
ok cheers for the info, so i’t be multi drop round town center shopping malls then and ■■■■■■ service stations and i’ll expect they want 15 drops in a night done over a stupid area. doubt be any trunk runs at all then as thats what class 1 boys will be doing… usual agency b/s to get you signed on the books.
whizza:
ok cheers for the info, so i’t be multi drop round town center shopping malls then and [zb] service stations and i’ll expect they want 15 drops in a night done over a stupid area. doubt be any trunk runs at all then as thats what class 1 boys will be doing… usual agency b/s to get you signed on the books.
Yeah couple of drops a day usually. If you’re doing the shops (M&S and maybe whoever else Gist supply), you may be expected to load up with “empties”. All the food will come in in trays on “wheels”, of which half will be absolutely ■■■■■■. Also be VERY careful around half-trays. They will fall apart even if they are wrapped up (they won’t be), on a flat surface with no wind. ■■■■■■■■ they are.
Basically. Get a spotter if you’re reversing up to something (like a low roof you need to stop before (one bloke the other day reversed straight into the wall and broke the hydraulic pipe inside the trailer body. We didn’t get our stuff till 08:30 (thank god I wasn’t working that day :L))). They will read the temperature (inside the cab on rigids, on the corner on artics, but you know this). Give them their paperwork. Open up (using the tail lift depending on location) and give them anything that’s got their tags on. Tags have the name of the place (E.G- Birmingham Airport SF, Warwick SF, Cheltham, The Cafe Cheltham). Then take some empties (big places will have someone come for that purpose), if they want you too. Strap up. Carry on. And don’t forget to switch the fridge back on if you’re still carrying cold.
Stacks of empty trays have to go in the ambient section (14 degrees C). Steels/cages will go wherever (7 across is the usual. Fits just right. Stick on a bar. Boom). Milk dollies just wherever.
Your depot may make you sort out all the empties. Might now. At Bristol they have people to do that for them (make nice stacks of wheels, trays, collapsible boxes etc). Hemel Hempstead don’t (threw some wheels in a milk dolly and the guy looked uncomfortable. Then his face lit up “Oh yeah, we don’t have to unload ourselves at Bristol!” (He was on loan from Hemel. Bristol had a crazy shortage recently)). Thatcham I have no idea. Never met any drivers from there.
But yeah. Let us know what you’ll be on! Like to know what sort of work you’re doing. And if you decide to go for your C+E (if they won’t train you :L), apparently you can do worse than work for Gist.
i slacked the job interview off as i’ve heard nowt but bad feedback about the job . i got call from translux international this morning and had interview there and start tomorrow. no diver assessments or any of that b/s . easy work. worked on there for agency last year and loved it.