so I have an interview for an lgv position in Edinburgh tomorrow with Jewsons. Does anyone know what the role is like and what the pay/hours are like?
cheers
Drivers for builders merchants have been constantly required for years. That might be a hint.
Prob about £9 an hour, going down residential streets , with inches to spare to deliver goods hiab that builders think is a helicopter and you can land there stuff anywhere, i delivered to a Jewsons recently and the forkey said to me we all work for idiots, tells its own story realy.
When you applied for the job, did the ad not say what the role was, what the hours and pay was??
Herongate:
When you applied for the job, did the ad not say what the role was, what the hours and pay was??
Never said, just described the role and what they require
lost:
Prob about £9 an hour, going down residential streets , with inches to spare to deliver goods hiab that builders think is a helicopter and you can land there stuff anywhere, i delivered to a Jewsons recently and the forkey said to me we all work for idiots, tells its own story realy.
Spot on description, except I would be surprised if Jewson’s paid that much !
If your ‘out of work’ take the job if offered and use their lorry to go to your next interview if the job doesn’t suit. easier to get another job if your in a job.
or perhaps this will make it easier…
If yer oot o’a joab tak the oafer an use they’re lorry tae git tae yer next interview if the joabs ■■■■■■■■■■ tae git a joab if yer in a joab than naw.
an be canny driving aroond ma toon .
I went to an interview for them about 10 years ago,they were going to give me training on a residential course in Leeds.I told them that I was only looking for work over the school holidays.
I have done odd days driving for builders merchants in the past (through agencies).
Delivery to sites is ok, as there will usually be a forklift, or you can drop it right at the side of the truck. It’s when you get to some residential properties the hassles start. Handballing a lot of heavy blocks, or plasterboard where you can’t get the truck right outside, it damned hard work with often nobody there to help.
On the positive side it will be local(ish) work and you get to go home every night.
Jewsons will be £18/19k p.a, alternate saturday mornings 7.30 till 12 ( no overtime paid !!) branches vary in quality as to who runs them, rural branches steady away, town centre branches will run you ragged, with drops here there and everywhere especially now its reaching silly season. Somebody summed the job up perfectly on a previous thread “awkward loads to awkward places”, i work for another Saint Gobain builders merchant, but not for much longer.
When my children were born about 15 years ago I wanted to be at home more so I went for an interview at Jewson, the manager was visibly embarrassed to tell me what the pay was. 
I was offered 26k p.a for 0700-1630 monday to friday and every other Saturday morning, and that wasn’t that long ago.
It’s not easy when you start but once you get the hang of “your truck and HIAB” combination it soon becomes easy, because you won’t need to “try and land it here” or “see if you can get it in here”, because you will KNOW just by looking. The length on their hiabs on the newer wagons will put a pack of blocks far enough away, you don’t even have to get too close anymore.
Hot and dusty, yes, but once you get a system of working going with your loader, tell him how you like things stacked, wrapped, and on your truck, and it’ll soon get a lot easier. It’s a job where the more prep work you do in the yard before you go, the easier it is for you when you are on site on ya Todd.
My local Jewson driver only does 6-8 deliveries a day.
Good luck
Might not be best job but u will get ■■■■ hot at driving. Some of the streets are tight as. Good luck chief. Home everynight and never really pushed
Awkward loads,
Yes that was my post made some time ago…
‘Same as any builders merchant, awkward loads to awkward places delivering to awkward builders. The whole lot run by a load of awkward shopkeepers who have zilch understanding of lorries or their problems’
I have been doing this job for eleven years, sometimes can be fun. Getting around narrow residential streets & avoiding low telephone cables with the Hiab are only a couple of things you have to put up with. Retail customers are the biggest pains in the arse though, they don’t seem to understand what 26T of lorry can do to a driveway !
I started on Jewson’s and TP via an agency. I couldn’t stand it. Rubbish money for lots of hassle and a fair bit of responsibility working the crane in public places. Didn’t really feel like proper truck driving to me personally. Mainly because no one you worked with or delt with was involved in transport or had an appreciation of transport. The guys in the office though you were driving just a van and ran you like such.
You were dealing with grumpy house wives left with instructions whilst their husbands were at work. They spoke to you like muck on their shoe. Then the builders who got all bent out of shape because you wouldn’t balance a pack of bricks on some rafters. Lots of tiny roads, soft pavements and wires to watch out for! I couldn’t wait to get on general haulage. It was the only job going though and better than no job.
I enjoyed my time on Jewsons via agency escpecially during the summer was a decent job money wasnt great and yes some people can be awkward but your the driver the responsibility about were you can and cant go is all yours , feel free to tell em to do one. Any decent depot manager will back you in those situations.
One weeks paid training goes toward CPC and they will update your HIAB cert with a remote add on.
Some depot managers will try to push you to be quicker feel free to push back with a ■■■■ off! Down that path lies disaster especially if your in unfamiliar territory.
Jewsons seem to be in a process of scaring away its established & experienced drivers in favour of fresh faced new recruits.
If you look here : sgbdcareers.co.uk/ViewAllVacancies there are on average 60-70+ vacancies for LGV C HIAB drivers nationwide. Add to this their main supply agency Manpower is soo desperate to recruit drivers for the ‘cluster’ system that it is subbing them in from other agencies.
This is NOT because they’re expanding !
I too enjoyed my time at jewsons on agency & kept in touch with a few drivers who I occasionally bump into on sites. Moral is at rock bottom, the only ones looking to ride it out seem to be the ones with long service, pensions or the ones that were TUPED over with better contracts. As builders merchant drivers we share a closer affinity, I get a cheery wave from most drivers but increasingly from jewsons I’m getting flagged down for an “any jobs at your place” type chat.
Driving HIAB for a BM can be good fun if you last long enuff to learn the trade, the ‘craic’ that you share with the builders on site simply isn’t there on most other forms of transport. The drivers who stick it out & work for a good branch all seem to love the job & I’m puzzled to how jewsons think they can make it work by scaring them all away.
^^^^ This!!
What depot are you being interviewed for and who is interviewing you? I worked on the desk at slateford for a while.
There have been that many changes in the Edinburgh area recently that a lot of the old staff are leaving. Jewson have a revolving door policy!
If anything, it’ll be good experience on the hiab and if you like it then approach the local independents. I drive for Beatsons an love it. It’s a marmite job!!!