Looking for full time Hgv work, have been told that Royal Mail in birmingham have vacancies, are the jobs worth applying for?
I worked on Royalmail/Parcelforce for 7 years, Wages arent the best in the world, but jobs are usually easy and gear is all kept up together. You would not have to take a unit out if you felt it was not 100%, Good place to start if you need expierence, but it will never make you a millionaire!!!
has parcelforce not been taken over by royal mail now,? due to them running at a loss
The last time I did some agency work I spent a few days working for Royal Mail. I can honestly say it is the easiet HGV work I have ever done!!
The kit was in good order, the job simple, straight forward and easy and I got fed well & cheaply (NDC canteen) and was paid to look at the back of my eyelids for 2½ hours!! 
Parcelforce has always been part of the “postoffice” group of which Royalmail is also part of.
Another good thing is that they work on British Domestic Hours, so you can run for 10hrs without a break LEGALLY, which means in general that you can do a job with overtime on it and be home in the pub b4 your overtime even starts. I used to get paid for 4 hours at overtime rate to sit in the pub drinking. cant say fairer then that 
I’ve just completed 3-4 weeks with Royal Mail with an agency and I found it to be good from the point of view of manual work, it wasn’t too heavy and the equipment was kept in good order. The trucks could be either well past their best or nearly new, but there was certainly no pressure to take anything out you weren’t happy about. I wouldn’t fancy doing what I was at for long, it was a bit boring, but that might be the case with Christmas temporary work. An agency guy I spoke to there was just about to start full time with them and I was surprised how low the wages were, but one of the biggest talking points was the credit union which all staff seemed to make great use of. It struck me as a business which had benefited from a very strong union.
Gordy
All the runs are given the Ok by the unions, so that means they are all preplanned, have a set amount of time allocated to them and it also means that you only do what is on your run. If you get asked to do anything else you can say no as it is not your run. I suspect it is still like that, it certainly was 3 years ago b4 I took redundancy. It really is a lazy job, but as i said earlier money is crap, many of the drivers are on family support the wages are so low. In fact i remember in the london central depot they even had the income support forms on site to fill out there and then 
Armchair job, and they’ll have you driving anything and everything, so be prepared not to get class 1 work. This is by experience!
tiggz:
Armchair job, and they’ll have you driving anything and everything, so be prepared not to get class 1 work. This is by experience!
if you are with an agency tiggz and they want you to do other work ie class2 or less,you tell them it’s class1 rates or find someone else.
kitkat:
tiggz:
Armchair job, and they’ll have you driving anything and everything, so be prepared not to get class 1 work. This is by experience!if you are with an agency tiggz and they want you to do other work ie class2 or less,you tell them it’s class1 rates or find someone else.
Whenever I’ve done any agency work, irrespective of what the job/vehicle was (including fork lift), I have been paid as a Class 1 driver. That’s what the agency ‘took me on’ as and so that is what I get paid as.
And now the downside
It would appear the depot I’ve been going to are really short of postmen and are trying to force drivers to do the job or else!
I turned up for a shift last saturday and was told the jobs were either doing a postie run or warehouse work, no driving. I decided to do the warehouse stuff and got some driving in the afternoon. On monday it was a different kettle of fish. A really agressive manager type came and told the 5 or so agency drivers what postal delivery routes we were to do. I pointed out that I had been sent by the agency to do driving only and was told in no uncertain manner that the job was postal delivery or nothing and if I didn’t like it I could go home and wouldn’t be asked back. Talk about being made to feel like a schoolboy! I went home and phoned the agency. They had another job for me for 2 days. Yesterday they phoned me about doing sat and monday at the Royal Mail again so I reminded them about the stooshie. I haven’t heard back!
My question is, do agency drivers have a leg to stand on when they are the victims of workplace bullying?
I think not 
Gordy
As far as I’m aware, you have the same rights as any other worker. Also you could have quite happily gone home and claimed eight hours for the shift .
Cheers
Ian.
I hate it when theydo that, I would have done the same as you and gone home, but made it clear that I would be charging them for 8 hours. You are employed to be a driver not one of their skivvys. Apart from that it does sound very much like bullying and I would have reported him to the senior manager.
If the agency hadn’t offered me another job for that day I would have claimed some hours 
As it was it turned out a good week, nipping round in a wee van for 2 days delivery specs, then a day in a flat bed for a builders merchant, finished up on friday in a gulley cleaning tanker thingy, only supposed to drive it, but took pity on the operator who was in fact one of the managers and was extremely knackered after lifting drain covers all day, so I gave him a hand.
Thank you Royal Mail 
Gordy
Gordy:
finished up on friday in a gulley cleaning tanker thingy, only supposed to drive it, but took pity on the operator who was in fact one of the managers and was extremely knackered after lifting drain covers all day, so I gave him a hand.
I used to find that, if you are on a job with a machine operator/porter/whatever. If you jump in the back and lend a hand, instead of sitting in the cab reading (or whatever), you very soon become ‘one of the lads’ , instead of ‘that blooming agency driver’. When you arrive the next time, the coffee will be in the cup and the kettle will have enough hot water in it. You are invited to sit with the team instead of directed to the agency drivers table. The day also passes a lot quicker because people talk to you and the operation, at least to you, is something new and so interesting (ish). It is frequently knowledge which may come in handy somewhere else. For eg. I learned about demountable boxes on an agency job where I was employed purely to drive.
Several years later, working for a totally different company, I was asked to move a demountable rig to a site, wait there for a driver who was being sent to meet me, he would do the box swap, then we would go our separate ways. Later on, the other driver was delayed, so I did the box swap on my own (after clearing it with the office) and when he arrived all he had to do was double check everything was OK. That saved him a lot of time which saved the company a lot of money (and earned me a nice little bonus 
). If I had simply sat in my cab and left them to get on with it when that was all I had to do, years before, I would have had to wait, because I wouldn’t have had a clue where to start.
Gordy:
And now the downsideI turned up for a shift last saturday and was told the jobs were either doing a postie run or warehouse work, no driving.
Gordy
I’ve had that from a few companies when I was on agency work. Mostly it was linked into warehousing. Went as a 7.5t driver but the chap I was replacing was well enough to drive so I went out as the driversmate. Next day I was told I would be driving as previous chap was ill. But that day I was told it was only the warehouse, and I wasn’t prepared to that at the time as I’d hurt my back. Driving I could manage as with this company it was there and back, no major lifting, so I told them this. Rang the boss and that was me for the day.
But did you get paid for the day you went home Smeserver?
When I did agency work, when I was sent to do a job and the job fell through for whatever reason after I got there, I got paid for an 8 hour shift. If I then did another job, I got paid a minimum of 8 hours for that as well.
Simon:
But did you get paid for the day you went home Smeserver?When I did agency work, when I was sent to do a job and the job fell through for whatever reason after I got there, I got paid for an 8 hour shift. If I then did another job, I got paid a minimum of 8 hours for that as well.
Yes, I got paid 3 hours - travelling time. They didn’t offer it but I put it on the timesheet and when I handed it in I explained what it was for, ie, that the customer was wasting my time being a driver not working in a warehouse. If I wanted warehouse work I’d be up at Lutterworth on £8 an hour working for Disney!!!