Since I was made redundant last year I've passed both HGV class 2, 1 and an ADR certificate....
Since this time last year I've been with an agency... now I'm getting pi55ed off with them.
They advertise every week for drivers for the local Coop yet I sit around the house waiting for a call.
This week. at last, "Hello, Coop for 6 days, start at 1400?" "yes thanks"
So, Thursday out 1st day, then the phone rings.. "can you do the shunting please?" "yeah, I'll give it a go"
Give it a go for 2 days then last night they wanted me to work 13 hours.. so, I told them I agreed 8... to cut it short I nearly told them to stuff
it...
Anyway told the agency today I had had enough... reply? "Hello. can you do the shunting tonight from 20.00 to 0845?"
A polite "No thanks"
then it comes back... "OK, can you do DBC at 6am?"
ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHHH.. they know I dont do DBC.....
What the f*&%! I now know I'm going to be sitting in the house while they start new drivers for the Coop.
Anyone want to take a chance on a mature bloke with a new class 1??
Merry xmas!
Steve
What's DBC?
if you can drive a petrol tanker, stick an application with BP i would love to have more drivers!
[Edited on 5/12/10 by omega0684]
quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
What's DBC?
Have I missed something? Why haven't you contacted the Co-op?
Dead Brain Cells.
Steve, probably not what you want to hear& please don't think I'm being rude or taking the wee, but I think in the current job market
you've got to be prepared to bend over backwards. I'm not sure of the correctness/legality of doing a 13 hour shift, but I assume that it
has the required breaks spaced within that period, I would have thought a lot of people would look at a 13 hour shift with Xmas coming up & say
"Yes, please!", likewise with the DBC stuff, if it doesn't need specialist training why wouldn't you do it - presumbly you earn
the same in either type of work? All IMHO of course!
hi m8 my girlfrined is a recrutment consultant for a agenc called temp team her office is at newtonacliff but there is a office at durham she said she will ask for you m8
Stuff the job climate i said i would do anything till i went to 1 garage in thurscoe took one look at the conditions and hours and thought stuff it i
will wait for something else got a temp job in a nice clean modern garage till i found a permanant job which i did 3 months later been there ever
since may 2009 the start of the so called reccesion 
So steve stick to you're guns
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
Steve, probably not what you want to hear& please don't think I'm being rude or taking the wee, but I think in the current job market you've got to be prepared to bend over backwards. I'm not sure of the correctness/legality of doing a 13 hour shift, but I assume that it has the required breaks spaced within that period, I would have thought a lot of people would look at a 13 hour shift with Xmas coming up & say "Yes, please!", likewise with the DBC stuff, if it doesn't need specialist training why wouldn't you do it - presumbly you earn the same in either type of work? All IMHO of course!
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Since I was made redundant last year I've passed both HGV class 2, 1 and an ADR certificate....
Since this time last year I've been with an agency... now I'm getting pi55ed off with them.
They advertise every week for drivers for the local Coop yet I sit around the house waiting for a call.
This week. at last, "Hello, Coop for 6 days, start at 1400?" "yes thanks"
So, Thursday out 1st day, then the phone rings.. "can you do the shunting please?" "yeah, I'll give it a go"
Give it a go for 2 days then last night they wanted me to work 13 hours.. so, I told them I agreed 8... to cut it short I nearly told them to stuff it...
Anyway told the agency today I had had enough... reply? "Hello. can you do the shunting tonight from 20.00 to 0845?"
A polite "No thanks"
then it comes back... "OK, can you do DBC at 6am?"
ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHHH.. they know I dont do DBC.....
What the f*&%! I now know I'm going to be sitting in the house while they start new drivers for the Coop.
Anyone want to take a chance on a mature bloke with a new class 1??
Merry xmas!
Steve
"BUT I don't need it...."
Ah! Now that's the whole point - in the current job market it's easy for them to find someone desperate enough that does need it!
Hence the job market becomes devalued - as I said Steve don''t get me wrong, my sympathies are with you & if you can afford to give
the job a miss if you don't want to do it then good luck to you - but somebody else will be prepared to do it!
"This current job market" shouldn't be an excuse for employers to bend us over.
I'm doing my class 2 early next year and I've already stated I won't be doing nights as I'm currently struggling to stay awake for
the whole night (or I have about 5 pints of coffee keeping my body in "red alert" mode and therefore jittery) and being responsible for many
tons of vehicle in either state is going to be dangerous.
Let's see how often I have to explain that to people and still have to argue...
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
"BUT I don't need it...."
Ah! Now that's the whole point - in the current job market it's easy for them to find someone desperate enough that does need it! Hence the job market becomes devalued - as I said Steve don''t get me wrong, my sympathies are with you & if you can afford to give the job a miss if you don't want to do it then good luck to you - but somebody else will be prepared to do it!
quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
"This current job market" shouldn't be an excuse for employers to bend us over.
I'm doing my class 2 early next year and I've already stated I won't be doing nights as I'm currently struggling to stay awake for the whole night (or I have about 5 pints of coffee keeping my body in "red alert" mode and therefore jittery) and being responsible for many tons of vehicle in either state is going to be dangerous.
Let's see how often I have to explain that to people and still have to argue...
Had my class one for 21 years now and speaking from experience, you need to get used to getting Firked around its part and parcel of the job, if all you want is 8 hour days hgv driving may not be the right job for you. as others have said there is always someone who wants the extra hours and i know for a fact where i work ( Next ) the permanent jobs always go to the guys who do whatever is asked of them, when you get the job you can then start mumping about the hours !!
All I'm saying is I'm not working nights on the basis that I'm not falling asleep at the wheel. It's bad enough in a car
i was made redundant from my 12 year job in march, got another job 1 week later but knew the company had a large staff turnover. After my 3 month
propation where they took me on full time i so wanted them to say no as it made the choice for me, but i managed another 2 months before i couldnt
take it anymore a left.
What got me wasnt the increased hours and less money than my other job, but the fact they didnt Manage any engineering projects comming into the
design office and just gave a deadline which from my 12 years of experience was asking the impossible, their answer was to give me 3 warning for not
doing enough overtime!
I couldnt grasp that they didnt care about a thing other than not getting the blame in the department, it was encouraged to bodge it and sort it out
later! this is an Engineering firm!
But i havent had work since and stand by why i left. Dont get bent over backwards if u let it happen where do you draw the line?
ps, they didnt even pay overtime either. and it was like 10 hours a week they wanted for a staff job with no sick pay.
Stuff them.
[Edited on 5/12/10 by Moorron]
try the mercury agency. Not saying they are any better than any other, just know the recruit drivers in the midlands and some depots in other places.
quote:
Originally posted by jase380
Had my class one for 21 years now and speaking from experience, you need to get used to getting Firked around its part and parcel of the job, if all you want is 8 hour days hgv driving may not be the right job for you. as others have said there is always someone who wants the extra hours and i know for a fact where i work ( Next ) the permanent jobs always go to the guys who do whatever is asked of them, when you get the job you can then start mumping about the hours !! [/quote
I'm with you there, I'm after some experience of DRIVING, not shunting. Any thicky can do shunting... I not bothered about how long I'm on the road. Ideally I want a nice night work trunk.
I want some class 1 trunking to get used to reversing and I want to use the £££££ ADR cert!
What pi55isd me off was the way the transport manager went on, demanding 13 hours when I thought it was for 8!
coozer - 5/12/10 at 09:47 PMquote:
Originally posted by thunderace
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Since I was made redundant last year I've passed both HGV class 2, 1 and an ADR certificate....
Since this time last year I've been with an agency... now I'm getting pi55ed off with them.
They advertise every week for drivers for the local Coop yet I sit around the house waiting for a call.
This week. at last, "Hello, Coop for 6 days, start at 1400?" "yes thanks"
So, Thursday out 1st day, then the phone rings.. "can you do the shunting please?" "yeah, I'll give it a go"
Give it a go for 2 days then last night they wanted me to work 13 hours.. so, I told them I agreed 8... to cut it short I nearly told them to stuff it...
Anyway told the agency today I had had enough... reply? "Hello. can you do the shunting tonight from 20.00 to 0845?"
A polite "No thanks"
then it comes back... "OK, can you do DBC at 6am?"
ARRGGHHHHHHHHHHHH.. they know I dont do DBC.....
What the f*&%! I now know I'm going to be sitting in the house while they start new drivers for the Coop.
Anyone want to take a chance on a mature bloke with a new class 1??
Merry xmas!
Steve
think your well out of order ,
there are 1000s of guys who would love a job and get exstra hrs also
i know a number of guys who havent worked for over a year and are always asking me for a shift.
theres my rant back
When I say I DONT need it, is purely down to to the need.. I don't owe anybody any money so I don't need to work my arse off. Get it?
However,if I can find a decent paying job its all in the pocket eh?
sonic - 5/12/10 at 09:57 PMI think as somebody said above why don't you contact COOP etc direct?
Give them a quick ring,also have a look round as you are out and about take the names/telephone numbers of the haulage companies you see and call them.
You have to remember these agencies charge a small fortune to companies to find or supply people and that is money they could be paying you!
A mate of mine is a HGV mechanic (made redundant) and wanted to use his class 1 and go driving,he rang the local companies and asked if they wanted holiday or sickness cover at short notice to give him a call,he suddenly became very busy!!
spaximus - 5/12/10 at 11:26 PMAs an employer I look for adaptability in any staff. They asked you to do 13 hours paid work instead of 8 if you cannot do it then fine, someone else will. It is not about doing staff down it is about getting the job done.
But, from your explanation you have no experiance, do you think that any company will trust you with £75k of truck straight away? Agency is the way to gain experiance across a broad range and will lead to a job which may give you what you want. The big issue is what you want, steady run and hours, 90% of the guys want so they go to experianced drivers with a proven track record.
HGV driving is not an easy job hours are not regular even with the best companies. I applaud you for getting skills but you never start at the top. relying on agencies to get you a full time job is not a good idea. They make money out of short term hire, if they place you they get a one off fee, 10 -15% of yearly salary, they can make that in a month if you are out everyday.
Good luck but be reasonable and you will get on quicker
coozer - 6/12/10 at 11:43 AMThe problem was they told me it was a 13 hour shift 6 hours in.. then when I explained I was under the impression it was 8 hours the team leader said "if you go home after 8 hours we won't pay you"
Do all you employers think that's fair?
sonic - 6/12/10 at 12:46 PMWas the work arranged through an agency?
If so they should have known and advised you accordingly,so not the employers fault.
Not an agency then you should have clarified exactly what the hour where and what was expected of you,if you did and they changed the goal post half way through then were you knotified by the person who took you on that you had to work extra or by somebody else in the company? as there may have been a breakdown in information within.
Most people i have worked for in the past have always been very helpfull especially when you do a good job for them.
scootz - 6/12/10 at 03:59 PMquote:
Originally posted by coozer
The problem was they told me it was a 13 hour shift 6 hours in.. then when I explained I was under the impression it was 8 hours the team leader said "if you go home after 8 hours we won't pay you"
Do all you employers think that's fair?
LOL... you wouldn't want to work for the Police (who would I suppose!
How many times in a 30 year stint does a cop get to knocking-off o'clock only for the radio or phone to burst to life and them to be told to go to a fatal accident or other serious incident... "hello dear... yes, just me... yes, I know we're supposed to be on our way to your mothers funeral, buuuuuuuuuuuuut... ".
Or have that conversation... "erm you know that trip away this weekend that we've had planned for ages... well, it's not going to happen... days-off have been cancelled... no dear, you already know from the last time (and the time before that) that there will be no compensation for the deposits lost"!
Then there are Court appearances... what a farce they are! Thousands of man-hours eaten away by standing around waiting for the trial that never goes ahead... usually on your planned day-off... even though you've let the Court know WELL IN ADVANCE of what days you will be unavailable and why! I once had the PF's office telling me that I couldn't go on my honeymoon to the Indian Ocean the following week because a trial date had been brought forward. It got pretty heated and I eventually told them that I would be returning to X airport at X o'clock on x date and they could have me arrested then for failing to appear! Thankfully they backed down.
Then there are Inspectors and above who don't even get paid overtime... they are salaried. All well and dandy for the Chief Inspectors onwards and Inspectors who work in cosy offices, but you wouldn't want to get get a job as a Detective Inspector!
I remember one of the DI's being on-call for a fortnight where there were all kinds of crisis's kicking off. The man was in night and day and was knackered! Murders, rapes, robberies, he'd had them all! The morning where the pay-slips for that month came in, he was particularly miserable... he'd worked it out and that month he had paid less than the minimum hourly wage!
Despite being a lower rank and salary, it was not unusual for a DS to be significantly out-earning their DI due to the paid overtime they were getting, that the boss was not!
Ah... fond days... NOT! Thankfully no more!
Ninehigh - 10/12/10 at 01:31 AMActually Scootz you raise a good point here. Being a Police officer is your life (same with the military, your own business and Maccies) whereas what most people want is a job.
I have a job. I go in, do what I need to do (12 hours) and bugger off home. Once I've left the place can burn down for all I care (in fact it can happen while I'm here, it just means I've got to get my stuff out quick)
When it's your life, it takes precedence... And that's what most (of my) managers appear to think the employment is for everyone.
You know what, damn right I'm going to demand no more night work. It's a job and I'm sick to death of some godawful minimum wage waste of my skills making me put this entire year on hold because I can't plan anything because I'm expected to drop everything in case manager finds out he's effed up the rota