What agency are you with jt? I’m from harlow and was on with nova. Used to have the same agg with them. I didn’t want to go to waltham point when I could do Tesco. 20 mile round trip for max 10 hours or 4 mile round trip for as many or little as you want. I only wanted 12 hours a day, but sainsburys were limiting you 2 8hr shifts last year. Too much politics at the point. You must be at rye park if you’re happy then lol
Just Trucker:
tofer:
diggertony:
tell the agency the truth that is you dont like doing that particular job…agency will understand…
but if yer back on sains52mphburies thats a cages job aswell isnt it…go on tell emLot of difference between going to a supermarket that’s been built with having delivieries by HGV in mind to delivering to shops all over the place on housing estates and other places and having to get cages up kerbs and over paths and rough car parks.
your absolutely right Tofer, all you have to do at sainsbury’s is push them to the back of the trailer.
ah i see…jobs too hard for you…you just want an easy number…well theres an even easier one than sainsburies but im not telling…
I’d love an easy number but dragging the rollcages up and down the hills and up and down streets from the only place you could get parked is keeping me fit. 
Used to do agency for Nisa (and CoOp), It can be a bit of a challenge (driving and pushing cages), but I found it got my fitness up a bit and the other drivers (agency and permanent) were always helpfull. So don’t diss Nisa
When I was on agency they sent me up to Halesowen for the Coop delivering frozen in an 18 tonner. That was definitely a one-off for me.
Started off OK — decent truck, ready loaded and 6 drops. No problem I thought. So I find the first shop and park as near the door as I can get (usual stuff — parked cars, skips, rubbish in the way) and play tunes on the bell until [finally] someone opens it.
Now I am a great believer in the philosophy that a cheerful, helpful driver meets a lot of cheerful, helpful people; so I bid the guy a “‘morning mate” which he totally ignores, and he just walks off to leave me to it. They have five cages and I soon discover why the job is unpopular — The cages are heavy and wonky, the floor of the truck is slippery, and the tail lift has been badly bent by [I guess] fork trucks driving on it.
I don’t give up easy so I drag the reluctant beasts off the truck, down the alley, and park them outside the door, push about 10 empty cages back on (the regular drivers always like to leave them for the agency 
) — there is no sign of Mr Grumpy so I ring the bell again. He comes back and mumbles at me, while pointing inside. Eventually I get the message, that not only am I expected to unload myself, I have to take the cages into the shop and put them by the freezer.
Assuming that Mr Grumpy was not the norm, I find the next shop easily and the back door is not obstructed so, in optimistic mood, I ring the bell again. This time it’s Mrs Grumpy; she scowls at me as if I had just strangled a kitten, and wanders off to leave me to it.
The same pattern is repeated at each delivery except on the last one where half the shop’s staff are standing around in the rubbish littered yard smoking, chatting, and having a good laugh at my difficulties.
That evening I phoned the agency and made it quite clear that I would never be available to work there again.
Fascinating stuff .I’ve always been of the notion that HGV driving and manual labour are mutually incompatible.
Even when I was cutting my drivers teeth 20 years ago I regularly rejected supermarket work in favour of trunking as i find the idea that pushing overloaded roll cages into inaccessible loading bays is not a recipe for ‘keeping fit’ but more like a surefire guarantee of chairopractic problems many years down the line.
Genuine physical exercise as pursued in a gymnasium,is the way to proceed in terms of genuine strengthening of the musculature,however lengthy periods behind the wheel of a truck interspersed with bouts of hard manual labour is asking for trouble and don’t be deluded that it actually keeps you ‘fit’
I give you all a little tip about roll cages . it dont matter how heavy they are , how bent they are or how wonky the wheels are , if you pull off a loading bay without strapping them in they dont half come out the back off the trailer quick 
it was a long time ago though and ive never done it again 
Lucky ■■■■■■■■ Delivering to the small shop IN CAGES 
I did an awful lot of handball shifts delivering to Spars and Day today and also some independent newsagents.
up to 3-4 hours per shop, barrowing it to the back and stocking in the proper shelves with shopkeeper standing in your way and pointing his finger…
But as they say in Poland: if you don’t have what you like, you have to like what you have
To be honest everytime I see one of the 3663 or brakes boys out and about handballing stuff up and down stairs I thank god for roll cages and our policy of drop and run.
OVLOV JAY:
What agency are you with jt? I’m from harlow and was on with nova. Used to have the same agg with them. I didn’t want to go to waltham point when I could do Tesco. 20 mile round trip for max 10 hours or 4 mile round trip for as many or little as you want. I only wanted 12 hours a day, but sainsburys were limiting you 2 8hr shifts last year. Too much politics at the point. You must be at rye park if you’re happy then lol
Hi Jay, I’m actually at waltham point, which suits me cause i only need to do a certain amount of hours a week. I’m actually in Nisa tonight to do a trunk down to portsmouth so ill see how this goes!!!
tofer:
To be honest everytime I see one of the 3663 or brakes boys out and about handballing stuff up and down stairs I thank god for roll cages and our policy of drop and run.
You’re right there - Most of my work (agency) recently has been for brakes and I hate it with a passion, how on earth it ended up like it is is beond me - most places I’ve been have stock people or warehouse people and somehow the driver’s still expected to do their job. I delivered to John lewis today and had to drag 5 pallets off the truck, through their warehouse into a lift and up three floors then down a coridor to their kitchen Saying that though, I still think it’s marginally better than being watched and mumbled about - heckled at etc by the old witches in the co-op’s 
I’m hoping like hell getting my class 1 (soon with a bit of luck) will help to get me away from multi-drop but by the sounds of things it wont 
I wonder how many who have posted on here would love to work for stagetruck etc, and what they would think of some of the ins/outs on tour
darkseeker:
tofer:
To be honest everytime I see one of the 3663 or brakes boys out and about handballing stuff up and down stairs I thank god for roll cages and our policy of drop and run.You’re right there - Most of my work (agency) recently has been for brakes and I hate it with a passion, how on earth it ended up like it is is beond me - most places I’ve been have stock people or warehouse people and somehow the driver’s still expected to do their job. I delivered to John lewis today and had to drag 5 pallets off the truck, through their warehouse into a lift and up three floors then down a coridor to their kitchen
I’m hoping like hell getting my class 1 (soon with a bit of luck) will help to get me away from multi-drop but by the sounds of things it wont
i spent alot of my early driving career (started on artics) doing nisa (ambient) and i’m so glad i did, hated it to start with, but loved the driving challenge. succsessfully parked an artic where “you can’t get an artic in, this is a ridgid only drop” at least twice! had to climb out of the window because there wasn’t room to open the door, i think that was barker butts lane coventry, but could be getting mixed up, either way they did make it easier a year or 2 later. but it made me a better driver, i’m sure of that.
stevie
What type of harness did you wear when climbing out of the window?H.and S want details nowadays.
stevieboy308:
i spent alot of my early driving career (started on artics) doing nisa (ambient) and i’m so glad i did, hated it to start with, but loved the driving challenge. succsessfully parked an artic where “you can’t get an artic in, this is a ridgid only drop” at least twice! had to climb out of the window because there wasn’t room to open the door, i think that was barker butts lane coventry, but could be getting mixed up, either way they did make it easier a year or 2 later. but it made me a better driver, i’m sure of that.stevie
Fair point I suppose, personal prefferences and all that. I just cant seem to get on with multi-drop, any more than 6-8 drops and I really, really struggle - I’ve been given a run of 26 drops at one place and felt like looking for a new career by the time I was done 
Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoy getting into a challenging spot - I just dislike chasing my tail all day and a load of handball on top of it just makes matters worse if you see what I mean.
darkseeker:
Fair point I suppose, personal prefferences and all that. I just cant seem to get on with multi-drop, any more than 6-8 drops and I really, really struggle - I’ve been given a run of 26 drops at one place and felt like looking for a new career by the time I was done
I think I would be perfectly OK with multidrop if I introduced my invention:
Metal enclosed pallets on wired flatbed. When you drive, you put electromagnet on, and it’s secure, then you arrive to the place, turn the magnet out, forkie takes his stuff, you turn it back on, and go on.
No strapping, no curtains, no tailifts…
orys:
darkseeker:
Fair point I suppose, personal prefferences and all that. I just cant seem to get on with multi-drop, any more than 6-8 drops and I really, really struggle - I’ve been given a run of 26 drops at one place and felt like looking for a new career by the time I was doneI think I would be perfectly OK with multidrop if I introduced my invention:
Metal enclosed pallets on wired flatbed. When you drive, you put electromagnet on, and it’s secure, then you arrive to the place, turn the magnet out, forkie takes his stuff, you turn it back on, and go on.
No strapping, no curtains, no tailifts…
And when the electromagnet fails?
And the effect a very large magnet would have on certain delicate vehicle systems?
tofer:
orys:
darkseeker:
Fair point I suppose, personal prefferences and all that. I just cant seem to get on with multi-drop, any more than 6-8 drops and I really, really struggle - I’ve been given a run of 26 drops at one place and felt like looking for a new career by the time I was doneI think I would be perfectly OK with multidrop if I introduced my invention:
Metal enclosed pallets on wired flatbed. When you drive, you put electromagnet on, and it’s secure, then you arrive to the place, turn the magnet out, forkie takes his stuff, you turn it back on, and go on.
No strapping, no curtains, no tailifts…
And when the electromagnet fails?
And the effect a very large magnet would have on certain delicate vehicle systems?
Ha! A very good point! If, Orys had been serious…
I have done plenty of that kind of work in the past. When I was on the agency I simply told them I would not go back to a company, if I thought they were taking the michael. I could name and shame the really crap companies I did work for, but that would probably identify the agency I worked for and they were fair with me, so I would not want to cause them any hassle. Food companies are the absolute pits though and top piddle takers bar none.
diggertony:
Just Trucker:
tofer:
diggertony:
tell the agency the truth that is you dont like doing that particular job…agency will understand…
but if yer back on sains52mphburies thats a cages job aswell isnt it…go on tell emLot of difference between going to a supermarket that’s been built with having delivieries by HGV in mind to delivering to shops all over the place on housing estates and other places and having to get cages up kerbs and over paths and rough car parks.
your absolutely right Tofer, all you have to do at sainsbury’s is push them to the back of the trailer.
ah i see…jobs too hard for you…you just want an easy number…well theres an even easier one than sainsburies but im not telling…
[/quote]
that’ll be my job yr talking about then!! 