has anyone worked for them or know what i could expect as a class 2 driver? i have an interview on wednesday. they are offering £21k + £500 bonus per year for a 48 hour week
Well, I worked for them in a transit for a day…
They may be a non-smoking company (quite likely in fact).
You end up shifting a lot of crates of bread, and stacking them in your truck. It’ll likely be a 13/17t truck, with the emphasis on bulk over weight. It’s not bad, but not my thing.
scanny77:
has anyone worked for them or know what i could expect as a class 2 driver? i have an interview on wednesday. they are offering £21k + £500 bonus per year for a 48 hour week
Think of ■■■■■■■ bloody great bags of flour around small shops and you get some sort of idea. Although some of it is just pallet del’s from what I hear alot of it is 50kg bags into small shops and bakeries!!! Not my personal cup of tea, but the Class one work for them is money for old rope, one of the easiest jobs around here 
I’ve not worked for them myself, but chat to their drivers when I’m delivering.
They seem a fairly happy bunch on the whole. I think this is a good indicator of whether a jobs any good.
I’d guess they have a fair few drops on the runs because they always seem in a big hurry.
And have you seen the size of some of their motors - as allikat said - it certainly is bulk over weight. The rear overhang on them is enormous! Needs to be for the enclosed tail lifts.
i have been told its pallets of flour at a ton per pallet. mostly FLT drops but there is a possibility of handball. who takes a palletload of flour though? i dont remember seeing them at the local co-op 
for 21k, i can do it for a while at least. there is no much else around that i would apply for
thats not a lot of dough 
it is for the area Dave. some are offering £6 p/h. even on agency, i only made £18k last year working 6 days a week for 6 months. £21k for a 48 hour week sounds good for me til something better comes along
scanny77:
i have been told its pallets of flour at a ton per pallet. mostly FLT drops but there is a possibility of handball. who takes a palletload of flour though? i dont remember seeing them at the local co-op
for 21k, i can do it for a while at least. there is no much else around that i would apply for
From what I heard it is shops in certain areas of London, Most of them are ethnic food shops, not sure why they buy in bulk, Maybe they then split the flour down and sell it by the Kg■■?
Not trying to put you off but I have heard a couple of horror stories about having to lug the bags up stairs etc. But then for every horror story there is usually a good story so no doubt it is swings an roundabouts. As far as Ranks go to work for, I have done numerous agency jobs for them, Not a bad bunch, Most of the Bulk drivers seem to have been there for quite a while. Hope that helps and good luck with the interview.
cheers mate. i better find out everything i need to know at the interview. i dont drive to london anymore. i havent been there since the congestion charge was introduced and i have no intentions of changing that now. there is no way i am lugging a ton of flour up stairs either. driver, not shop labourer!
smcaul:
Not trying to put you off but I have heard a couple of horror stories about having to lug the bags up stairs etc.
Do what with them? No way, it would go back before I took any bags of flour up stairs.
if it just straight forward store work then it aint that bad.
they normally have more drops at the beginning of the week and as the stores place bigger orders for the weekends the amount of drops decline.
and looking on the bright side, you will never have to buy a loaf again.when i was on storework the bread lads would always give me freebies.
funnily enough i did deliver bread for six months to shops.
i forgot how much a loaf costs. its quite significant when you start paying for it instead of ‘finding’ the odd loaf, baps and buns in your bag 
Unless I’m mistaken,Rank Hovis are now the leading UK supplier of various types of flour,rather than bakers of bread.
The brand name Hovis,is owned by them,and they supply the flour,but the bread is baked by British Bakeries,(Formerly Mothers Pride,who I used to work for many moons ago at Newcastle.) who don’t have as many depots/bakeries now,like what they used to.Rationalisation,I think it’s called nowadays.
You may also find that your Class 2 work,will deliver flour to the smaller home bakeries as well,who buy x number of 25kg bags,for the local consumer market,and in my opinion,tastes far nicer than mass produced bread.
All in all,I would say,the job looks ok,and you won’t know until you try it.
Good luck.
Ken.
dave:
thats not a lot of dough
on form tonight dave
This Rank Hovis is actually the Flour Mill in Southampton Docks, So they don’t deliver bread. You can sometimes get the odd free loaf from the bakeries you deliver to, but the class 2 work is pallets of flour for small shops and small bakeries, Hence the having to lug the bags up the stairs. Not that you would catch me doing that, I have done my time on that type of work, Only do nice easy “No touch” loads now and the agencies I am with know that.
I did 15yrs for RHM, When I started they where 140lb hession sacks!!!
Then they went down to 112 lbs, then 70lbs, now I think they are 25ks,
They are not horror stories,we regularly delivered to bakeries where it had to go in the loft, up the stairs if no hoist,
You could guarantee the storeroom would always be at the furthest point,
through the shop, through the bakery and under the stairs.
Kept you fit though, that was in the 70s and 80s,so it might have changed a bit now.
Was never short of bread, remember the bread strike,
Just ask them does it involve “shopping” (20/30 drops) if the answer is yes
make a quick exit stage left,
i have been told its rigid delivering pallets. some handballing which doesnt bother me. i have been told that the deliveries are by the palletload at 1 ton each. 20/30 drops must be out of the question if i have to lug a ton of flour at some drops. 40 bags of flour would take some time and its a 48 hour week. the money sounds good though. some adverts here are for £6 p/h. 48 hours a week would not be anywhere near 21k a year at that rate.
i still wont go to london though 
thanks Ken
The knack of carring bags of flour is get it on your shoulder, dont carry them like the coalman used to on your back,
Face the pallet, grab the bag, pull it towards you, then turn round still holding the bag and it should end up on your shoulder.
Get it balanced right and you wont even need your hands, and with a bit of practice you can carry 2 at once, on the same shoulder, it cuts the delivery time in half.
With a sack truck you can get half a dozen on.
You will have sore fingers off the paper sacks till you get used to it.
And if you havent got the knack, you will end up looking like the homepride man
Graded grains make finer flour.
Or you may look like the pilsbury dough boy HeHe
Why wont you go to London, you dont have to pay kens CC yourself, or do you?
Graded grains make finer flour.
I’m too young to remember that saying.
Ken.