remy:
Any asda company drivers on here ? I know they have agency drivers but wondered if there has been any change to company drivers ? I just retired as a driver from wal mart in the US and they have drastically cut up the private fleet, in fact the general opinion by the drivers is that they are planning to axe their own drivers and give it to a logistics firm. Management call this a new direction, it’s not getting rid of drivers, mechanics and office staff but, as said by someone before, they use the term ‘streamlining’.
I hope not too many drivers get ‘displaced’ (another corporate b/s buzz word) from this merger but there always seems to be ‘collateral’ damage.
■■■■, i’m getting good at talking like management !
There will be job losses, Asda as far is I am aware have their transport in house and Sainsbury’s is contracted out.
Whichever way it goes there will be job losses as the merger is all about cutting costs, working for the big supermarkets in the UK is generally seen as a good job.
Out of interest how much on average would a driver in the US earn doing such type of work?
It pay’s well and wal mart was one of the best, my average pay was 1,175 pounds for about 65/70 hours a week.
remy:
Any asda company drivers on here ? I know they have agency drivers but wondered if there has been any change to company drivers ? I just retired as a driver from wal mart in the US and they have drastically cut up the private fleet, in fact the general opinion by the drivers is that they are planning to axe their own drivers and give it to a logistics firm. Management call this a new direction, it’s not getting rid of drivers, mechanics and office staff but, as said by someone before, they use the term ‘streamlining’.
I hope not too many drivers get ‘displaced’ (another corporate b/s buzz word) from this merger but there always seems to be ‘collateral’ damage.
■■■■, i’m getting good at talking like management !
I work for Asda and it’s far too early to speculate about job losses yet, our depot is relatively new and running at around 60% capacity so I’m guessing we would be reasonably safe but we are not expecting anything to change until well into next year.
Thanks BB, hopefully if WM losses control of asda their hatchet man will leave them alone.
Farm shops should be the way forward.I know it has dubious effete connotations but these guys need our help,nothing like them for veg and niche stuff.Bit spoiled here on the Isle of Wight with them i suppose; Farmer Jacks of Arreton being my first choice and Briddlesford farm nearby.Tried to organise a small scale van delivery situation a few years ago incorporating several farm shops but wasn’t ultimately a goer.Folks i think like the ambience and sense of connectivity to the landscape that the big 4 can never emulate.
manalishi:
Farm shops should be the way forward.I know it has dubious effete connotations but these guys need our help,nothing like them for veg and niche stuff.Bit spoiled here on the Isle of Wight with them i suppose; Farmer Jacks of Arreton being my first choice and Briddlesford farm nearby.Tried to organise a small scale van delivery situation a few years ago incorporating several farm shops but wasn’t ultimately a goer.Folks i think like the ambience and sense of connectivity to the landscape that the big 4 can never emulate.
You’re right that people like the idea of bring close to the land. In surveys they say support farmers and buy local produce. But they actually normally buy by price and after maybe one or two ethical purchases revert to the usually cheaper supermarkets.
Sainsbury and Asda both use outside contractors, Wincanton operate depots for both, DHL do Sainsbury, NFT do a lot of consolidation work for Asda and have moved into the Asda Rochdale site from Middleton to use the excess space at that site.
Sixties boy:
Sainsbury and Asda both use outside contractors, Wincanton operate depots for both, DHL do Sainsbury, NFT do a lot of consolidation work for Asda and have moved into the Asda Rochdale site from Middleton to use the excess space at that site.
Rochdale I believe are the only Asda depot using outsiders and that’s Wincanton. Actually I think Doncaster Is Wincanton too .
Carryfast:
Probably explains the drop in quality of Sainsbury’s stuff.I’ve given up on their previously superb pork products for example from bacon to ham to loin roasting joints.It’s now a case of would you like some over lean bacon and ham with all the salt and too lean ham and pork which is tough enough as a result to make truck tyres out of.Also stopped the ham on the bone on the deli counter in favour of only foreign moulded plastic looking muck.Their smoked salmon is similar too dry and salty and don’t even bother with their rib eye beef to make stroganoff now and who knows what happened to the delicious white crab meat when it’s now a case of also having to take a load of the dark zb which should go for cat food or leave it.Then you get to the check outs and find them all closed with no one to staff them except for one.If I wanted cheapo Asda quality and service that’s where I’d go to shop.
I somehow doubt Sainsburys management thought ‘great, now we are talking to Asda we can lower standards!’ Personally I find Sainsburys as good as ever, maybe you’ve just got a bad store
Maybe he should complain to the store manager and receive some vouchers I bet he wouldn’t complain then.
Sixties boy:
Sainsbury and Asda both use outside contractors, Wincanton operate depots for both, DHL do Sainsbury, NFT do a lot of consolidation work for Asda and have moved into the Asda Rochdale site from Middleton to use the excess space at that site.
Rochdale I believe are the only Asda depot using outsiders and that’s Wincanton. Actually I think Doncaster Is Wincanton too .
I wouldn’t worry to much, I would like to think that Avonmouth being a new depot and the fact its a chilled operation would be better placed than the Sainsburys depots nearby.
With chilled foods being time critical I would like to think Avonmouth would stay in house than to trust it to the likes of Stobart Wncanski or Downhill remember the shambolic efforts of Downhill’s short involvement with KFC, this would surely be in the minds of those who make these decisions.
Sixties boy:
Sainsbury and Asda both use outside contractors, Wincanton operate depots for both, DHL do Sainsbury, NFT do a lot of consolidation work for Asda and have moved into the Asda Rochdale site from Middleton to use the excess space at that site.
Rochdale I believe are the only Asda depot using outsiders and that’s Wincanton. Actually I think Doncaster Is Wincanton too .
I wouldn’t worry to much, I would like to think that Avonmouth being a new depot and the fact its a chilled operation would be better placed than the Sainsburys depots nearby.
With chilled foods being time critical I would like to think Avonmouth would stay in house than to trust it to the likes of Stobart Wncanski or Downhill remember the shambolic efforts of Downhill’s short involvement with KFC, this would surely be in the minds of those who make these decisions.
The nearest J S depot at Emersons is years old so yes like to think we wouldn’t be affected but the minds of the big wigs do work in mysterious ways at times !!
remy:
Any asda company drivers on here ? I know they have agency drivers but wondered if there has been any change to company drivers ? I just retired as a driver from wal mart in the US and they have drastically cut up the private fleet, in fact the general opinion by the drivers is that they are planning to axe their own drivers and give it to a logistics firm. Management call this a new direction, it’s not getting rid of drivers, mechanics and office staff but, as said by someone before, they use the term ‘streamlining’.
I hope not too many drivers get ‘displaced’ (another corporate b/s buzz word) from this merger but there always seems to be ‘collateral’ damage.
■■■■, i’m getting good at talking like management !
I’m Asda too, in an ambient depot. Nobody is particularly worried as yet, most think that the CMA will just kibosh it. As already mentioned Argos is a big part of this. From the ambient side we wouldnt be too unhappy with argos counters going into Asda stores, we already put a decent amount of online click and collect stuff into store as well as General Merchandise (Non food)
Been a big push on the click and collect stuff lately too, we do 3rd party stuff for store collection as well as our own lines for the likes of Decathlon, ASOS etc.
Far as I see it, we may loose some stores but I think we will gain work from closing Argos depots and doing their stuff into stores. Only problem I see is stores struggle for warehouse space as it is without Argos stock in there too.
Without blowing our own trumpet, we are very good and very efficient at what we do and it is a model that Sainsbury’s are apparently looking to emulate. When you have to wait until someone retires to get a full time gig somewhere it usually says the jobs a good one and those guys know exactly what they’re doing and do it well.
Fuzrat:
Without blowing our own trumpet, we are very good and very efficient at what we do and it is a model that Sainsbury’s are apparently looking to emulate. When you have to wait until someone retires to get a full time gig somewhere it usually says the jobs a good one and those guys know exactly what they’re doing and do it well.
The thing is mate… Sainsburys sites are exactly the same. I’m not talking about the ones which are run by DHL/Wincanton but the actual Sainsburys sites. Blokes do not leave. They are massively unionised and they are paid top money. The site I was on agency at hadn’t recruited in a number of years (apart from taking people from the warehouse). Guys who have been on agency there for 10 years have applied a huge number of times and keep being knocked back.
I’m not knocking you or Asda. Most of the full time supermarket drivers I met were top blokes with top skills (as were the agency lads who had the time to learn the ropes). When 75% of your drops are blindside into a yard full of cages which are not meant to be, you need to be a bit good. But the idea that Tesco/Sainsburys/Asda are any better than each other is a bit daft in my opinion.
I don’t really understand the abuse the supermarket lads get on here. I’ve done a bit of pallet/general and supermarket (and a few other bits) and by far the supermarket work was the most technically demanding. It was just let down by the total BS you had to deal with from the office.
I was more referring to the way Asda Distribution operates using the royal we rather than we the drivers are the better than the other supermarkets.
Its more to do with the cost savings and efficiency that Sainsbury’s are after, As far as I’m aware Sainsbury/Tesco etc do very little in the way of back hauled supplier collections. We do a lot,not only saving on having an empty trailer or just reverse (empty pallets/cages etc) coming back we save on delivery charges from suppliers too. This works very well when a big supplier is in our delivery zone, we pick up collections not just for our depot, but other adc’s as well. This means a full trailer being trunked each way between depots and again, very little empty running.
We do a lot of 3rd party stuff too, using our stores as collection points for Decathlon, Asos and more. This is a fast growing revenue stream that runs alongside our normal online click and collect so extra revenue for very little extra work.
