Interview driving assessment?

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Ok so one takes a day off to attend an interview. Usually one has a driving assessment for 30-60 mins and they ask one to put in one’s tacho card.

Hmm… but when one is back at work - and data downloaded. The question one hopes is not asked “how come on your day off you were driving vehicle so-and-so?” [No doubt look up which company from the registration]. If one is not popular then it would seem likely one gets the sack!

So what can one do to avoid this? The tacho card is DVLA property so one cannot avoid the outcome as I see it. Neither can one forget one’s tacho card for the day. With analogue the situation didn’t arise. So what can one do? I would expect a firm to have a workshop tacho card or some other provision for such an instance.

A driving assessment is ‘not work’ so one should not ‘have to’ put the card in. The reason I believe from an assessor’s point of view is to see what companies one has worked for over the last two years (I think I am right in saying that the data is kept for downloading for two years). If that’s the case they can be open about it, read the card, but not insist that one puts it in for the assessment which could result in one getting the sack from one’s employer.

I’d be grateful for clarification. Thanks

2

While most of us would probably agree that a driving assessment should not be classed as work and should be exempt from using a tachograph card, I’m afraid it’s not exempt and therefore legally you need to use your driver card

jessejazza:
I would expect a firm to have a workshop tacho card or some other provision for such an instance

It would not be legal to use a company tachograph card for a driving assessment.

3

A company cannot legally stop you from looking for other work. While it may make you unpopular with the office if they decided to bring it up but if you’re looking to leave anyway it shouldn’t make that much of a difference. While the official rules and regs treat it as “other work/driving”, you have not been paid for it so it would not foul many companies work policies, the ones that stop you from working for an agency during your time off etc.

4

Radar19:
(1) A company cannot legally stop you from looking for other work. While it may make you unpopular with the office if they decided to bring it up but if you’re looking to leave anyway it shouldn’t make that much of a difference.

(2) While the official rules and regs treat it as “other work/driving”, you have not been paid for it so it would not foul many companies work policies, the ones that stop you from working for an agency during your time off etc.

Many thanks for your prompt replies. The answer is be fortunate enough to work for a decent company that pay a fair wage. They are in existence but many seem to have chopped wages to £7.20 or £8 per hour if generous - that’s what is paid in this area… and one can always be easily replaced by a foreigner.

(1) Fair point but where I live they are not bothered who they employ - if they think you are likely to leave they’ll give you the shunt.

(2) I suppose the best explanation can be doing a day’s agency work as a favour. But “the cat’s out the bag” really. I’ve been sacked off an agency job when I was told to get out while I was simply putting the tacho on break after parking up.

I been driving Class 2 since May 15 and still trying to get a decent job - no points or incidents yet. In that time done 18T, 26T, 8W, skips, and dustcarts. Think commercial dustcarts was my best job… for polishing reversing skills anyway (bins are always in the most difficult of places). Thanks for your replies sorry if I appear a little cynical.

5

What one may also be struggling with, is one’s use of proper, or perceived posh grammar! :wink:
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Not a dig mate, but just the simple and honest truth that fitting in can be important in this game, and throwing a few Ugg’s or Ehh’s in might help… :smiley: Apparently I talk posh! :open_mouth: Not that you’d know it by my grammar! :smiley: And I’m aware this does alienate people and give them preconceptions, that I’m surmising you might also be afflicted by… :wink:

Where are you, as Minimum wage or even 8 quid is crap. :cry:

Personally I’d tell a firm up front that I’m going for an assessment, and let them sort out my weekly rest issues, or take a day’s holiday. Yes they might sack you, but if the job is bollox, who cares? :open_mouth: OK you need to ensure you have possible agency/limping options available to you if things go ■■■■, but I’d say it’s better than staying put and stagnating. It’s also easier if you’ve got a bit of money stashed away in a rainy day fund, and don’t necessarily need to worry about where next weeks wages come from…

Timing is also important, and yours I’m sorry is crap! :cry:
Now is the worst time to get and limp and do agency work, so maybe give it a couple months if money is a factor for you and you need security…

Best of luck and sorry I can’t be more positive! :neutral_face:

6

The OP does have a point.

Is there any industry other than ours where the candidate provides digital evidence to their current employer that they are actively seeking another job.
The job is by no means in the bag even if you’ve had a successful assessment, let alone if you fail, and no one should be encouraging getting work from parasite agencies if the current employer chucks his teddies out the pram and makes the job seeker’s life unbearable, and we all know or have worked for pig headed greedy bullies who would make life hard.

This is actually discrimination against commercial drivers wishing to seek new employment, and probably discourages many from actively pursuing alternatives.

7

Juddian:
The OP does have a point.

Is there any industry other than ours where the candidate provides digital evidence to their current employer that they are actively seeking another job.
The job is by no means in the bag even if you’ve had a successful assessment, let alone if you fail, and no one should be encouraging getting work from parasite agencies if the current employer chucks his teddies out the pram and makes the job seeker’s life unbearable, and we all know or have worked for pig headed greedy bullies who would make life hard.

This is actually discrimination against commercial drivers wishing to seek new employment, and probably discourages many from actively pursuing alternatives.

It may be discrimination but practice if different from theory. If you have been in a firm for a good few years then looking for a new job is rather different. Most employers I have come across are plain ■■■■ mean…

8

OP. Get your class 1 fella.

Too much ■■■■■■■ about trying to get a decent class 2 gig.

9

jessejazza:

Juddian:
The OP does have a point.

Is there any industry other than ours where the candidate provides digital evidence to their current employer that they are actively seeking another job.
The job is by no means in the bag even if you’ve had a successful assessment, let alone if you fail, and no one should be encouraging getting work from parasite agencies if the current employer chucks his teddies out the pram and makes the job seeker’s life unbearable, and we all know or have worked for pig headed greedy bullies who would make life hard.

This is actually discrimination against commercial drivers wishing to seek new employment, and probably discourages many from actively pursuing alternatives.

It may be discrimination but practice if different from theory. If you have been in a firm for a good few years then looking for a new job is rather different. Most employers I have come across are plain ■■■■ mean…

Get away from hire and reward, its always been hard work and/or long hours to make it pay.
Own account is the place to be, carrying your own goods.

10

Evil8Beezle:
What one may also be struggling with, is one’s use of proper, or perceived posh grammar! :wink:
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Not a dig mate, but just the simple and honest truth that fitting in can be important in this game, and throwing a few Ugg’s or Ehh’s in might help… :smiley: Apparently I talk posh! :open_mouth: Not that you’d know it by my grammar! :smiley: And I’m aware this does alienate people and give them preconceptions, that I’m surmising you might also be afflicted by… :wink:

You are right on that one I think. I used to teach and didn’t want to do it after nursing mother with dementia. As I had always enjoyed driving I did 7.5T once I had the CPC and then Class 2. I enjoy getting out and meeting people on delivery jobs.

Evil8Beezle:
Where are you, as Minimum wage or even 8 quid is crap. :cry:

Obviously you don’t live in areas swamped by immigration. I was speaking to a tanker driver a couple of months ago. 2007 he was on £25/hr and by 2008 it was reduced to £12 and now less than that. The referendum clearly showed how folk are affected. Scotland, London and NI want to remain in the EU but those are areas where immigrants wouldn’t be offered jobs - if my experience of living in London and Scotland is a fair assessment.

No offence but let’s just look at a wee sum - if 100 driver’s wages are cut by £2 per hour (50 hour week) what is the employer’s savings?
100 x 2 x 50 = £10k per week. In two months an employer has saved enough to buy a new truck!
Foreigner’s claim rent benefit and so are happy to take the job if they have kids. They are well aware of the benefits to claim because councils employ one of theirs to assist with the language problem. These folk come here without a UK licence test and even with umpteen incidents - still an attractive proposition for the employer. e.g. Kroker got 10 years… he simply was not a responsible enough individual to be driving. I won’t touch a phone whilst driving - I say the office can do a couple of rings (so it’s listed ‘missed calls’ and I phone back at the nearest layby (normally only 5-15 mins away).

I suppose now I am a racist - I’ve got Italian friends and Poles and they say the situation is ‘stark raving bonkers’. Worse still Brexit may well take another 10 years so I wouldn’t place much hope on a pay rise for a while. If you are not affected by it - you are fortunate but the longer we remain in the EU the worse it gets. If you or I are out of work and claim benefits you don’t get much unless you rent - even though you have paid tax for perhaps 30 years. Seems a daft situation to pay low wages and force the council to fork out for welfare benefit. Worse still agencies employ a foreigner for the lingo, then recruit foreign drivers and factory workers. Two driving jobs I’ve had the English were just 5%-10% of workforce. What can one do? I wrote to my MP and suggested they accepted £7.20 per hour until Brexit is completed (they would then have experience of the life of the “little people” they represent) - £80k is a good wage for so far doing little since June.

I worked in Italy when I graduated and it is good to have experience working abroad. It is good to work with foreigners and learn another language. But no one thought freedom of movement meant several million invading another country and the corresponding impact on its infrastructure. The government is having a house building plan and yet has no idea of the numbers they are catering for.

Evil8Beezle:
Personally I’d tell a firm up front that I’m going for an assessment, and let them sort out my weekly rest issues, or take a day’s holiday. Yes they might sack you, but if the job is bollox, who cares?

Thing is everyone is replaceable now. Immigration and agency work has removed any employment law from the workplace. My experience is once out on a limb it is that much harder to get another job. If one has a bump it’s bye - even if not your fault.

Obviously I do want to get Class 1 but haven’t the cash at present.

11

I can’t deny that mass immigration has screwed the wages for the common man/woman, but that’s the fault of our nose in the trough politician, not the immigrants. As if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn’t we do the same in search of a better life? It’s not just the driving game that’s suffered though, just about all low skilled work has been hit and why I believe we won the BREXIT vote. Whether it’s too late, or we get to grips on our immigration I don’t know. But I’ll stop there, as otherwise me old mate Krusty will get on one! :wink:

Sorry to hear that wages and competition are that bad in your area, but they are not great anywhere. Even down here you’ll be lucky to get £11 an hour, but wages/demand does seem to be showing signs of growth. As the Beaver says, Class 1 does give you better opportunities, but if you think you’ll be seeing the like of £25 an hour in the near future, I think you’ll be disappointed. Wages come down to supply and demand, and while there is plenty of supply, wages will go nowhere. So if you’re looking to get into this game to earn £25 an hour, come back in 10 years and you’ll probably still be disappointed, as by then you might find that some of the basic work is being down by driverless trucks.

Yes you CAN earn a good wage in this game, but generally only if you want to do 2 weeks work in a single week, often on a flat rate for all of it…

So in summary, if there is lots of competition in your area and wages are suppressed because of it, are you sure you want to pursue it? :open_mouth:

12

Krusty is getting in on it :smiling_imp:

Politicians didn’t take the country by force, enough people voted for these traitors and were quite happy doing less work (or no work) and living a false middle class life, whilst net contributing taxpayers subsidised the lot.
They didn’t care a jot as millions poured in, until finally it began to affect them too, it’s always been like this, few of the pseudo middle classes cared on jot when the miners for example lost their jobs and we imported subsidised coal instead, but those self same middle classes (who arn’t really middle class but think they are) soon started jumping up and down when their cushy office jobs started vanishing to India.

We the electorate made our beds and now we have to lie in them, its hardly rocket science, if you’re stupid enough to vote for traitors who bribe you with money borrowed in your name, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get exactly what you voted for.

The next few years will see whether Britons have regained their backbone, they voted Brexit not half or soft Brexit, if this same pro EU Tory govt welch’s on the deal, will those Britons have the guts finally to do what must be done, firstly sacking the govt and replacing it with something worth having, time will tell, see you on the barricades.

Krusty out :sunglasses:

13

Evil8Beezle:
I can’t deny that mass immigration has screwed the wages for the common man/woman, but that’s the fault of our nose in the trough politician, not the immigrants. As if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn’t we do the same in search of a better life? It’s not just the driving game that’s suffered though, just about all low skilled work has been hit and why I believe we won the BREXIT vote. Whether it’s too late, or we get to grips on our immigration I don’t know. But I’ll stop there, as otherwise me old mate Krusty will get on one! :wink:

Sorry to hear that wages and competition are that bad in your area, but they are not great anywhere. Even down here you’ll be lucky to get £11 an hour, but wages/demand does seem to be showing signs of growth. As the Beaver says, Class 1 does give you better opportunities, but if you think you’ll be seeing the like of £25 an hour in the near future, I think you’ll be disappointed. Wages come down to supply and demand, and while there is plenty of supply, wages will go nowhere. So if you’re looking to get into this game to earn £25 an hour, come back in 10 years and you’ll probably still be disappointed, as by then you might find that some of the basic work is being down by driverless trucks.

Yes you CAN earn a good wage in this game, but generally only if you want to do 2 weeks work in a single week, often on a flat rate for all of it…

So in summary, if there is lots of competition in your area and wages are suppressed because of it, are you sure you want to pursue it? :open_mouth:

I agree with what you’re saying - I was giving just £25ph as an example as tanker drivers I gather are supposed to be the best. I started driving and found I enjoyed it. Today I got a job to start on Tue which is £10ph. Trouble is now I have paid for Class 1 1-7 Feb so I am going to have to negotiate that. But the firm do have W&D so hopefully in favour.

14

jessejazza:

Evil8Beezle:
I can’t deny that mass immigration has screwed the wages for the common man/woman, but that’s the fault of our nose in the trough politician, not the immigrants. As if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn’t we do the same in search of a better life? It’s not just the driving game that’s suffered though, just about all low skilled work has been hit and why I believe we won the BREXIT vote. Whether it’s too late, or we get to grips on our immigration I don’t know. But I’ll stop there, as otherwise me old mate Krusty will get on one! :wink:

Sorry to hear that wages and competition are that bad in your area, but they are not great anywhere. Even down here you’ll be lucky to get £11 an hour, but wages/demand does seem to be showing signs of growth. As the Beaver says, Class 1 does give you better opportunities, but if you think you’ll be seeing the like of £25 an hour in the near future, I think you’ll be disappointed. Wages come down to supply and demand, and while there is plenty of supply, wages will go nowhere. So if you’re looking to get into this game to earn £25 an hour, come back in 10 years and you’ll probably still be disappointed, as by then you might find that some of the basic work is being down by driverless trucks.

Yes you CAN earn a good wage in this game, but generally only if you want to do 2 weeks work in a single week, often on a flat rate for all of it…

So in summary, if there is lots of competition in your area and wages are suppressed because of it, are you sure you want to pursue it? :open_mouth:

I agree with what you’re saying - I was giving just £25ph as an example as tanker drivers I gather are supposed to be the best. I started driving and found I enjoyed it. Today I got a job to start on Tue which is £10ph. Trouble is now I have paid for Class 1 1-7 Feb so I am going to have to negotiate that. But the firm do have W&D so hopefully in favour.

Why do you think you have any power to negotiate? You’ve already said that you’re in a poor wage area, which generally means there is plenty of labour to put bums on seats. I don’t mean to be rude but if they have an avenue to Class 1 work, even if it’s W+D, shouldn’t you just ■■■■ it up and use them in the same way they are using you? Do your class 1, get some class 1 experience and then move on, hopefully to better things…

As for fuel tanker drivers, yes they are generally on the better wages, which I believe is £16+ plus, but do you think the work is easy? They have to deal with LOTS of H&S rubbish, wear lots of annoying PPE kit, and are monitored more closely then most other work, Then there is the fact they don’t stop on their shifts as they are timed and expected at their drops (So no kipping on the bunk like other gigs) and have to stand out in all weathers whilst offloading. And if you get it wrong and cross fill (i.e. Put Derv in the Petrol tank) are probably down the road sacked! :open_mouth: Couple that with driving a mobile bomb, possibly now at more of a risk of hijack than ever, do you still fancy it? :smiley: So yes they earn more, but they earn it and deserve it…

Best of luck on the new job Tuesday though! :smiley: