Having only worked for small companies or where trucks wernt the companies’ thing, i’ve been wondering what its like to work for say DHL etc. When i go to these big firms to deliever its a wash with health and safety posters and procedures for this and procedures for that, seems to me like you cant just get on with the job and be left alone to do it, always having to do it their arse about face way etc and being patronised by having signs up on the way out of the yardd saying have you checked your mirrors .
Is this the case, is it just hassle working for them or actually a good crack?
dhl - err well what i found , they love posters , campains , wasting money to show they are “elf and safety wize” , then send you out the door and dont care , untill a genuine thing happend , then try and stich you up
I worked for DHL since they took over from SOE I probably would still be there if it wasn’t for the money .I had a great boss and most of the lads were ok. I now work for TNT it’s totally different,a few things make it good, I only work 13 days a month and never on Mondays, plus the cab phone never rings and the money and benefits are really good .
I used to work for K+N, biggest load of ■■■■■■■■ ever.
You get trained in loads of crap to cover their arse, even got trained in how to get in and out of vehicles All great this H+S lark until you actually get on the job, the kits broke so you have to ‘make do’, but then if the ■■■ hits the fan they cover it up by saying you didnt use the correct procedure you were trained in,
I hated it, and I dont think its right to hate but I hated my TM/Depot Manager there, the place was definatly missing a good funeral.
You will be penalised if you try to use your initiative or be helpful.
Just do as you are told, exactly by the book, and don’t try any ‘clever’ stuff. For instance, if you’ve got a light out, whatever you do don’t try to repair it. If you tap the lens it might shatter and you could cut your hand. You will then get a written warning for endangering yourself.
If you work for Tesco, for example then you will be given a procedure for delivering to every one of their shops. You must do exactly what it says, follow the approved route etc.
If you’ve got the right mentality, it’s great. If anything goes wrong it’s not your fault providing you were doing exactly what you were told. Imagine being in the army in about 1950 and you’ll have it perfectly.
jimboy124:
I worked for DHL since they took over from SOE I probably would still be there if it wasn’t for the money .I had a great boss and most of the lads were ok. I now work for TNT it’s totally different,a few things make it good, I only work 13 days a month and never on Mondays, plus the cab phone never rings and the money and benefits are really good .
I work for a average size company we have 80 plus Trucks and we have more H&S than you can shake a stick at!!!
But for what it’s worth it is a very good company, they let you do what you want really as long as the jobs done, good benefits and excellent salary.
Good Trucks and good Hiab, any probs just go get it sorted…
I ve worked for small company’s and 1 man bands and to be honest for peace of mind I much prefer what I’ve got now. That’s not to say I wouldn’t work for either 1 man bands or small company’s again.
Full uniform, even got thermal underwear for winter. Week’s training course at Smethwick and put up in a decent hotel plus travel mileage paid. Good drivers canteen, everything done above board, no running bent, motors serviced on time. Good pay. No stress.
I work for Jewson, don’t know if you class them as a big transport firm or not.
As some have said above, drowning in health and safety bs. Don’t do this, don’t do that etc, etc.
On a better note, any vehicle defects get sorted straight away or the wagon doesn’t leave the yard. Got a new one last week, still haven’t been able to drive it yet because, despite having operated a remote crane for the past 10 months, I have to attend a 2 day familiarisation course.
But, on the whole, when you remove all of the above and the numpties out the office, it’s a pretty good number. Home every night, never gonna be weekended in the arse-end of nowhere, and a decent wage for the hours worked.
I work for DHL and we are awash with sign offs don’t do this, don’t do that etc etc. But every time we get a sign off telling you not to do something that’s common sense it is because some idiot somewhere has done it and come a cropper. I can’t speak for other depots but at ours they only want you to do the job the way you were trained. No making do. If a vehicle is defective it doesn’t go out, if something breaks on route a fitter comes out, no limping back to the depot. They never pressure you to do anything dodgy to get the job done, some people do cut corners and sooner or later something goes wrong and they find themselves in a DP. Plus points are as much uniform or PPE as you can throw a stick at and all our DCPC is arranged and paid for by the company and done in company time. They just tell us when and where and all we have to do is turn up, when digi cards first came in they paid for everyone’s cards, new TM so they won’t pay for renewals though, and all your medicals are paid for. Good pension scheme, they put in 2x what we put in. On balance the good outweighs the bad, but our depot is only a smaller one 80 odd trucks servicing one customer.
With the big firms, every depot is different, so you can’t say K+N are crap, or DHL are crap or Stobarts are crap, because every single depot is different.
I’ve enjoyed most of the places I’ve worked, but in both the big and small firms, there’s usually a ■■■■■■ to ruin it, but in the big firms they become a smaller percentage and you can avoid them easier.
I now work for a firm that’s not small in Scotland, but only has 8 employees where I work, and 1 is a complete muppet, 1 is ok, and rest are great, but try avoiding 25% of the firm just for a peacefull life
I have found much of the above is true though “This is how we would like you to do it, but it’s impossible in the real world, but if things go wrong we’ve told you how to do it and you’ll get screwed!”
Truckulent:
Steer clear and work for family type firms…generally a much better crack I’ve found.
Yeah I’ve worked for those. Remember one winter being told that using the night heater was a substitute for the normal heater because the heater matrix leaked and they wouldn’t pay to replace it. Finally got done when the boss had to take it out and froze to death.
Then there was the typical god complex ones.
And most of them throw a wobbly if you dare take a break.
In fact going back to the wagons, most of the motors I’ve driven for smaller outfits have been absolutely knackered and the job crap because they get nothing but the scraps the big companies leave. The only ones that weren’t were those who were owner driver.
Conor:
Then there was the typical god complex ones.
And most of them throw a wobbly if you dare take a break.
In fact going back to the wagons, most of the motors I’ve driven for smaller outfits have been absolutely knackered and the job crap because they get nothing but the scraps the big companies leave. The only ones that weren’t were those who were owner driver.
I’ve never worked for a firm in England with more than 25-30 trucks so cant comment on the differences but I’ve never had a knackered old truck and done scraps of work the big companies throw off the table. Never had a truck older than 3 years old, always had them from new or almost new and non of this flat roof, narrow cab most basic spec stuff you see at K+N, ND and many DHL trucks. Yes some bosses throw wobblies if you talk back, but you’ve just got to shout back louder and they always back down in the end.
Like the original poster, whenever going to depots of large companies like DHL etc their drivers areas are crammed full of endless BS about H&S, WTD, CPC and just about every other evil that prevents people being humans and tries to make us emulate the corporate clone qualities of a light bulb with the on/off yes sir/no sir switch.
Its horses for courses really. Some people like myself like to be left alone and to get on with the job in our own way with no guidelines and hinderance and others like and some even need the indoctrination of the large corporation.
It seems like it is what i thought it would be like then.
So say you have a night out then the next morning you find you have a headlight or brake light bulb out, what do you do, change it yourself and get going or wait for the fitter?
Saaamon:
It seems like it is what i thought it would be like then.
So say you have a night out then the next morning you find you have a headlight or brake light bulb out, what do you do, change it yourself and get going or wait for the fitter?
I remember an article in Commercial Motor a few years ago when they shadowed the fleet engineer of a big company around the CV Show.
The product he was most enthusiastic about was an aftermarket LED tail lamp.
“Every time a bulb blows it costs us £200,” he told the journalist…going on to say that the policy was that drivers must not tamper with their vehicle but if a fault was found then a factory trained fitter had to be called to attend.
That’s right DAFAid or whoever on a call out at emergency rate to change light bulbs…how the dealers must have loved him. You could lend someone like that free trucks for a year and still make a profit!
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Anyone with a decent hiab - not a ‘fishing rod’, expect a phone call soon.
