Had a 14:00 tip of 18 pallets of flowerpots at Waitrose in Milton Keynes today. Got there on time and straight onto a bay, all going well until the tidy looking Polish woman said there was a problem with my load.
Due to the stock not being on Chep pallets they wouldn’t tip them the warehouse manager says unless I was willing to strip down all 18 pallets and re-stack them onto their Chep pallets 
Aye alright pal, you want me to do your job?! Tell you what here are the keys to the truck, will you go and pick up my back load while I sit here on my arse?
I think the smile on his face when he said it he must have thought id be daft enough to do what they’re paid to do but it soon was wiped off though. Rang our place and told them the situation and they agreed with me, it’s not in our job discription to become warehouse staff when we get to the drop. Plus as I explained it would be me getting it in the neck if I did it and any were damaged. I also said I could restack the pallets all nice and un-damaged but when I was gone they could knock a pallet over and then say I did it.
Does this happen at any other RDC’S? I’ve never known it or have any on here been asked similar? If the load would’ve shifted due to me not using straps or internals then I would’ve gave them a hand but not because the stock is on the wrong pallets.
But why is the stock on the wrong pallets ? Is it your company’s fault ? If so you are representing them so maybe you should roll your sleeves up and muck in, hard I know but crap happens.
What’s wrong with them stacking each pallet on top of a Chep one? Too simple?
We get it all the time at Snelshall Steve, the little Prick (with the funny eyes) comes to the window & says there’s a block missing from one of your pallets, do you want to restack it ?
No I say & take it away, to be restacked by someone else or returned to the supplier for them to sort out.
They won’t accept slave pallets as well, if we get a broken pallet & just put the whole thing (pallet & goods) on another good pallet, they refuse it !
Quoting Health & Safety !
I’ve told our lot not to do it, but they never listen & keep trying it on.
Waitrose/Khuene & Nagel are a Pain in the Arse, can’t wait until they build the new Distribution Centre at Magna near J13, then it’s going to be Waitrose running it in house. We never seem to get problems with Waitrose Bracknell or John Lewis, Mk.
They were on white pallets and they said they only accept Chep pallets even though there was a stack of whites next to a stack of Chep and Red pallets in the yard. They said they would be unsafe on their racking, don’t know why myself.
They had no intention of helping me restack them as they said, “If you strip them down and re-stack them then we’ll accept them”
It’s all good for is though as our gaffer will bill them who we did the load for twice and maybe even for not being able to get a backload.
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
Does this happen at any other RDC’S? I’ve never known it or have any on here been asked similar?
Yes Morrison are notorious for doing that, they’d ask you to come in & help split down your load in order to get your paperwork done quicker. Next they’ll be asking us to load it onto their trailers…
In fairness it it quite possible that it would cause a problem if their racking is designed to fine tolerances, but a lack of communication between supplier and customer should not be your problem. As usual no one is interested or cares about the driver until they need someone to blame or fix fit. They obviously didn’t learn the last time if there was a stack of incorrect pallets already there. Muppets.
I’m sure we’ve taken white pallets in before, perhaps it’s the quality of pallets, if they were light weight & not the same quality as Chep pallets, then they might not be strong enough to put on the racking. The only reason to not put the whole pallet on another Blue/Chep is room/space, but this is K & N, so they just quote H & S for everything.
Hope non of them get Tupeed into Waitrose, when it’s up & running !
I’ve never had a pallet fall over in transit but I’ve had a few situations where goods in have told me it needs restacking due to a damaged/wrong type of pallet and my stock answer is “you are the wharehouse, so you restack it. If you’re not prepared to do it stick it back on and I’m quite happy to take it away”.
They usually do reject it but look quite bemused when I politely thank them and take their “urgent” stock back out of their gate.
bald bloke:
But why is the stock on the wrong pallets ? Is it your company’s fault ? If so you are representing them so maybe you should roll your sleeves up and muck in, hard I know but crap happens.
How is stock on the wrong pallets the hauliers fault? Surely it is the fault of the supplier unless you work for a company that makes the product too. All suppliers are told what type of pallets the goods are supposed to be on usually find that saying “ok no problem we will return to the supplier and you can re order another day” works. This whole wrong pallet thing is a farce once lifted 7 plts of rejected cucumbers from Reynolds to take to Holland on asking what was wrong with them was told “they are on the wrong pallets” and this from a company that likes to blow it’s organic and green trumpet very loudly, yet will send 7 tons of goods back to Europe because of the pallet type.
Unless the goods have been damaged in transit then any problems are between the supplier and RDC nothing to do with the haulier
just out of interest, do you phone your company first to ask what is the best way to deal with the above situation or do you simply make the decision yourself and take the pallet(s) back? All this stuff you don’t get taught on your test. 
18 pallets to restack, with say 50 items to the pallet, would be somewhere between 3 and 4 1/2 hours work. I could take up a lot of space for a long time in their warehouse doing that.
I’ve had this. Been told I can help break down the pallet to get paperwork quicker or wait a bit longer, I chose to wait a bit longer, all of 10 mins. If someone speaks to you decently and asks for help, I’d do it. I’d had a rubbish run down in heavy fri eve traffic on M25. This place are vile in my experience with the attitude I encountered from the warehouse manager on first two times, so when asked to break down pallets on the 3rd time I delivered there, it was a bemused disbelieving laugh from me and a walk to the outside fresh air.
SteveBarnsleytrucker:
all going well until the tidy looking Polish woman said there was a problem with my load.
Oh matron!
martinviking:
Waitrose/Khuene & Nagel are a Pain in the Arse, can’t wait until they build the new Distribution Centre at Magna near J13, then it’s going to be Waitrose running it in house. We never seem to get problems with Waitrose Bracknell or John Lewis, Mk.
Martin,
As I understand it, the guys at Celestia have already been told some months back that they are moving over to Magna Park when it opens (in about a years time?). The MP site is supposedly Amb only. Not sure what the plans are for Brinklow, but driver speculation seems to be that the Frozen will come up from Theale to Brinklow, making it into a Chill/Frozen depot. Ill hold judgement on that for now!
TBF, Bracknell and Aylesford GI are pretty much spot on, pity the same cant be said for Leyland (where time stands still!)
That A421 J13=>MK roadworks is going to be a PITA for the next year thats for sure - busy at the best of times without the planned random night closures as well. I think J14 will be pretty busy for the next year as a result 
I’d tell them I’d have to OK with my employer first and if they said I absolutely had to do it I’d spend hours blocking their bay off.
I wouldn’t have even discussed it. Except to make it clear that I drive the truck. The only interaction I have with the load is to make sure it’s secure when in transit.
Any other issue I’m happy to report in. But at that point my responsibility ends. These tossers at RDCs need a kick up the arse. If they don’t like the pallet it’s on, take it up with the supplier, not the driver.
mazzer:
bald bloke:
But why is the stock on the wrong pallets ? Is it your company’s fault ? If so you are representing them so maybe you should roll your sleeves up and muck in, hard I know but crap happens.How is stock on the wrong pallets the hauliers fault? Surely it is the fault of the supplier unless you work for a company that makes the product too. All suppliers are told what type of pallets the goods are supposed to be on usually find that saying “ok no problem we will return to the supplier and you can re order another day” works. This whole wrong pallet thing is a farce once lifted 7 plts of rejected cucumbers from Reynolds to take to Holland on asking what was wrong with them was told “they are on the wrong pallets” and this from a company that likes to blow it’s organic and green trumpet very loudly, yet will send 7 tons of goods back to Europe because of the pallet type.
Unless the goods have been damaged in transit then any problems are between the supplier and RDC nothing to do with the haulier
I was meaning more along the lines of goods being picked in the warehouse and being put into the wrong pallets like when I went to Lidl Bridgend the other week with 1 of the pallets being a normal chep pallet and not the required Euro pallet so I had transfer the trifles over.
instantKarma:
just out of interest, do you phone your company first to ask what is the best way to deal with the above situation or do you simply make the decision yourself and take the pallet(s) back? All this stuff you don’t get taught on your test.
You always phone the office first, you are just a driver and as such you are not deemed clever enough to make a decision like that. Besides, whatever you do using your own initiative will be wrong. In this game it’s all about bottom covering.
I’m happy to tip myself, at Lidl etc, happy to restack the odd dodgy pallet or a couple of mixed pallets but restack 18 pallets? No chance, totally unacceptable in my opinion. Someone made a mistake and are trying to get it sorted on the cheap