Job offer advice needed

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate your advice regarding a job offer I’ve received.

I’ve been offered a driving and delivery job with DPD, driving a 7.5-tonne vehicle. Although I hold a Class 2 license, this role is for 7.5t only. The pay is £28,934 per year, which works out to around £15.07 per hour based on a 40-hour week (excluding a 45-minute unpaid break), with some overtime available.

On the other hand, I also have an offer from DHL (Wetherspoon) for a Class 2 driver position. The pay is roughly £20.65 per hour on a 4-on, 4-off shift pattern, averaging about 42 hours per week, which totals approximately £41,633.52 per year.

I have 2 years of driving experience, and I’m trying to make the best decision based on long-term career prospects, pay, and work-life balance.

If anyone has experience with either company, or in similar roles, I’d really value your input.

Thanks in advance!

I would be asking a few questions:

Does 4 on 4 off suit you? Some love it but not all. Depends on your own circumstances.

How much physical work is involved in each job? I would guess the Wetherspoon job needs a bit of fitness for hand-ball? Nothing wrong if you are fit but again it isn’t for all. (Does save on gym membership though)

The 7.5 job is what? Larger door to door stuff?
White goods? If so that means a second man job. Could be good or a pain in the jacksie. .

The devil is in the detail.

With the 4on 4 off, have you been offered an hourly rate or a salary? Will you definitely earn £41,633, or only if you work 42 hours. The reason it is 42 hours is because 4 on 4 off works out at 3.5 days per week over an 8 week cycle. If the shifts are 12h then that’s where the 42h comes from - 3.5 x 12. Is it “job and knock” and the 12 hours is a guide or will you always do 12 hours? If you are on an hourly rate but only actually end up working 10.5h per shift, you’ll earn less than £41,633. But check your maths because 20.65 x 42 x 52 is £45,099. To me it seems a very good wage for days. I do 4on 4off and I love it.

Hello Mike, is the DPD position a multi drop for small to large parcels or is it for larger and bulkier items that will need a tail lift and pump truck to unload the goods to private addresses and businesses?

Note for farm deliveries, narrow rural lanes and tight access to the farm.

The delivery address won’t be where he wants his stuff dropped at, he may own other farms and want it there.

When you arrive the farmer will have a bad back and can’t assist in the unloading or loading process or very conveniently has gone to the market, he knew full well I was coming.

Top tip to make life easier to unload a heavy pallet, if the vehicle comes equipped with adjustable front or rear suspension via a control button inside the cab, raise the front end then lower the rear end, let gravity do all the hard work to get a heavy pallet off that can weigh half a ton to a ton, a bulk bag to an independent brewer, I nearly had that fall off the tail lift, that weighed a ton.

Compost, turf, patio slabs, garden stone, shingle, Aga ovens, cookers, used car engines, horse pellets, haylage, paving stones,fertiliser bags, sowing machine( She asked me to drag that up four floors), an old fashioned one with the foot pedals and the desk,and tree bark, are all the delights of being a multi drop driver to deliver to people who will say :” Well, the last or regular driver always does this and does that !”

It’s a kerb side delivery only, not hand ball it up the garden path to the garage or out house, or 12 pallets of compost over a garden fence, this customer complained when I refused to do this, by me not breaking down the pallets.

When buying online she was told it would be the case, so she moans at the garden centre.

Customers pay a low price for delivery via a pallet network but expect a first class personal service.

A customer who lives in Truro can order by 17.00 and by 08.00 am the next day the goods that originally came from Scotland arrives via the overnight hub to hub process.

Bearing in mind as an example the van drivers for any parcel courier company can expect 120 to 150 drops or more per day over the Christmas festive period, for a lorry I’m not sure how many drops it would be per day at peak times.

For the Wetherspoon position, some of the pubs can be quite tricky for access to unload, the cages will be heavy for crates and bottles of alcohol and frozen food, some premises may have steep and uneven floors to access the rear of the delivery sites.

When I did pallet deliveries to pubs, hotels and restaurants, some of the chefs and managers expected me to strip down the pallet on the pavement outside to then break the pallet down by a hand ball delivery in to the premises or up and down the stairs to a basement or cellar, they then may say take away several pallets and packaging from the previous deliveries.

For me personally in your position, the Wetherspoon job would be the one to go for.

I’ve seen the DPD, Evri, FedEx drivers of all types of vehicles and they seem to be running around like a headless chicken and look stressed and exhausted.

I witnessed a road rage incident with what Evri used to called for a Hermes driver dishing out racial abuse to a bus driver over a parking space at a bus stop, this was in a busy street with families walking past to hear verbal abuse and threats of violence to the bus driver.

Depends on your situation but I’d do 4 on 4 off anytime over a month to Fri job.
If you don’t mind working weekends go for 4 on 4 off as for wages over year will roughly be the same.
As for job prospects the future long term end day always jobs out there nothings every guaranteed.
I’d go for DHL wetherpsoons better work life balance
going to at DPd be all over the place trying find houses farms warehouses etc.at dhl. Be wetherpsoons and over time your get know where they are make life easier.
Unless I’m missing something thought gxo delivered to wetherpsoons?
Or is dhl doing beer deliveries?

Used to go in the JDW at Daventry, I’m sure it was DHL but could be wrong. Dropping off their frozen chicken curries lol

Aye I’d go for the spoons one. Purely for the shift pattern. Both dog :poop: work imo :smile:

Each to their own. Known start and predictable (mostly) end times. Not much chance of being stuck up the road on an unplanned night out. Keeps you physically active.
But not the lure of the wide open road nor duty-frees on the ferry.

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I got the duty free on the Woolwich over night ferry, due to bad weather the vessel was diverted via the Bay of Biscay.

I have never understood why people do the 4 on 4 off pattern especially on nights.
Week 1 mon tues wed thurs
Week 2 tues wed thurs fri
Week 3 we ghurs fri sat
Week 4 thurs fri sat sun
Week 5 fri sat sun mon
Week 6 sat sun mon tues
Week 7 sun mon tues wed
Week 8 mon - thurs

In an 8 week cycle there are 4 weeks you will only get 3 days pay. If you can live on three days pay (just under 600 nett less anything else like pension) fine. However when you come to get or renew your mortgage you will have issues with a fluctuating income. Even pay day loans wanted to take my lowest income to work out my affordability.

If the job is nights then you only get half the weeks to see your mates on a friday night.

If its a salary paid job then 4 weeks your worth 20.65 ph then your worth27.53 ph which is it.

The long and short of it is 4 on 4 off only works for the company as you can work max hours and still average 48 hours a week.

Do you get bonus points for clearing the customers car when you go flyimg over the top of it with the goods and pallet truck buried in their windscreen

Will you? Really?
Or do you imagine someone would have problems?

I admit it is a long time since I applied for a mortgage, but when I did I was asked if I had a regular job and what my annual income was.

Really?

Really?

I am only surprised you aren’t mentioning breaking your back after being used as human forklift!

We were told if we get a runaway pallet to let it go and not try and stop it, the insurance will sort it all out later.

As i said when i applied for a loan working on agency no one would touch me. They pay day type loan companies would only take into consideration my lowest income.

My friend whos wife was self employed at the time couldnt get a mortgage renewed and ended up having to go to a specalist bank and paying a monthly membership fee.

And showed payslips to prove it im betting…orbhave you got a 10 million pound mansion on a road sweepers wage?

Yes really do the maths. On second thoughts dont you will try and tell us were wrong 4 is bigger than 6.

Thats my bad i didnt put in 6 foot neon lights “this is a joke”
Having said that i do know a driver it happened to. Second delivery of the day. He had told the customer it wasnt safe as it was a narrow dead end road on a steep road. Customer was insistant he would help ended up soon as the pallet was off the deck it was out and off the taillift like a rat up a drain pipe. Ended up with the goods on top of the customer and my colleague 6 feet down the road flat on his face.

As to the carryfast comment i dont do handball i have always worked on fridges since class 1

Yes. But were they interested in how much you earnt per hour? Or per minute?
Or even per week?
I would bet they would be interested in yearly or monthly pay, as per contract of employment.

Yes. They obviously wanted proof of regular income. Not one week. They saw how much was basic and how much was overtime or bonus. They were mostly interested in the basic. That seems perfectly reasonable and normal to me.

Well yes…because a lot of agency work has no guaranteed hours, no regular hours, no regular income. Regular does not mean exactly the same every day does it? So why should it mean the same every calendar week? So long as it is predictable they should be happy.

But you left out the other bit didn’t you? “It only works for the company”
@driveress has said that it works for her. Others have said the same thing.

If above is right about wages being different every week might struggle get a mortgage etc. unless it’s changed
But Going back 10 years was on agency regular work .
Wanted renew mortgage rang up asked who worked for said driver hire .
Had explain it’s agency been working full time for over a year with them. Was told not classed as permanent wages will fluctuate. Can’t offer you best cheaper deals. Your at risk of missing payments so have to go on a higher rate.
I argued with them said your saying am at risk of missing a payment so you want me pay more each month. Be better put me on cheaper rate which I have a better chance of paying.
So yeah might not get cheaper deals .

A permanent job 4/4, or 5 /2, or any work pattern, is different to agency work.

You’ve got the wrong C, mate.

Dunno…
More than one C on here…

Some think I am a c… :wink:

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Do those doing 4x4 get penalties for the weekend work?