I got a new job as a multi drop driver in a 18t only have 6 pallets a day but I struggle to get them all off in a day (9 or 10 hours) because they never trained me and I don’t know where the stores are where to park or where to unload so it takes me a while but I try to make it easier like calling stores and looking on google maps but the transport manager is always calling me why havnt you got to this store what’s taking so long etc…
when I try explaining that I don’t know where the stores are or where to unload and stuff he just keeps saying it’s not good enough and I need to hurry up or don’t come back next week but what does he expect it’s my 3rd day on job with no training am I just doing a bad job or does he not understand
Normally a half decent company would send you out with someone the first couple of days to show you the ins and outs. Class 2 multi drop work can be brutal, but once you get the hang of it (couple of weeks) I’d expect to be dropping 1 or 2 per hour depending on distance and time of day, plus getting between 2 and 4 collections done.
Normal day for me used to be loaded to the back doors on a 26t, plus a few hand ball jobs thrown on top (14 pallets roughly) I’d organise my route, all CM, IP, NR postcodes so I’d know I can get to places before lunch breaks and peak times (also so I got my own actual break! Not squeezing in 15’s unloading etc which is the norm doing this work).
If you’re really struggling that much, say to transport manager please have someone show me the main regular drops and who to speak to on site etc, get in 15mins earlier a day and go through your paperwork and have a look on google maps to familiarise yourself with landmarks or companies so when you get near you’re not running around like a headless chicken worried about driving in or reversing etc.
Most importantly, remember don’t kill yourself if people aren’t willing to help you and stick to working time and driving laws above all else doing multi drop. It’s your license and these [zb]s will load you up all day regardless of laws if you’re foolish enough to work like it.
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It is hard when you first start out driving, i struggled to get 6-10 drops off when i first started, i saw everything as a delay that all cost a few minutes each, sounds daft but they all add up.
You should get quicker over the coming years but probably will still struggle, i now find 15-18 drops to be the perfect number to get off in one day which has taken me exactly 3 years to speed up.
A word or warning though, as said before, class 2 multi drop can be brutal, no matter how much better you get and how much faster you can go, some company will want you to go faster, like how i now think 15-18 drops a day is the perfect number to get off in one day it doesn’t stop companies wanting 35 drops out of you each day, putting you right back to where you first started weather you are now faster than you used to be years ago or not.
I had 3 years of this before i realised i was fighting a losing battle and needed to get onto class 1 for an easier life, i now start class 1 training in less than 2 weeks from now.
It’s very easy to want to throw it all a way and give up, but why should you just because of greedy companies wanting to throw more work on you, if you got into this work because you love driving then save up some money and get yourself onto class 1, you cloud find yourself doing a 1 drop trunking job to a RDC.
I hope you don’t give up on driving for a living, i came close a few times and now been less than 2 weeks away from training am glad i never, remember, the smaller the vheicle, the more drops you’ll do, move down to 7.5 tonner and you’ll have even more drops than you have now, move down to 3.5 tonner and you’ll have even more drops than that, if you want to win this battle of multi drop, you’ll need to move up vheicle size.
Good luck.
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A tip you could use for the time been could be to try and get on class 2 tippers, it’s pretty much impossible to load a bulk tipper up in such a way to carry out multi drop duties, yes you may very well be running backwards and forwards to and from sites loading up and unloading but you won’t be running round crazy chasing your tail and you’ll only do the amount of drops that it’s possible for YOU to complete in one day and the stress i found, had been completely removed.
Most days i found i only had 2 long distance drops, load up on a morning, 85 miles to first drop, tip, 85 miles back to load the load up site, 85 miles back to make second drop at the same site, tip, 85 miles back to the yard and home.
Plus on tippers loading takes about 3 minutes, tipping takes seconds, no time wasted mucking about with heavy pallets or opening curtains or wasting time going up and down tail lifts also trying to find a parking space outside of the shop/premises is completely removed.
I found i was doing 95% plus driving and 5% or less other work, i think if you check your tacho printouts you’ll probably see most of your day is wasted doing other work, that’s what used to eat up more time than anything else combined for me.
Down sides, it can be difficult to get your big break on tippers, a lot of companies want 2 years experience on tippers but not all.
The job itself is very easy though.
Going back to what i was saying earlier in my other post, the smaller the vheicle the more drops you’ll do, 3.5 tonners and 7.5 tonners are used for going round the doors, it doesn’t take long to drive from one place to the next like that and therefore you’ll have more drops.
Class 2 can be used for home deliverys and delivering to small shops so you’ll get plenty drops.
Class 1 is intended for motorways and longer distances which take more time, normally used for full loads or 2 half loads meaning you’ll normally only have 1 or 2 drops, yes sometimes companies might want you to do long distance “store deliveries” so you might have 4 drops, but most class 1 jobs are for full loads or 2 half loads.
I can drive as fast as the next lorry driver on the motorway (56mph) but as i said before it was always other work that was taking up more time tgan anything else combined, take out most of the drops and you’ll have more time driving and more time left over to make the 1-4 drops you might have doing class 1.
Good luck.
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A well known fact in the lorry driving world is, the faster you can work and the quicker you can get drops off the more drops companies with put on you, but by the same token, don’t slow down and dilly dally or you’ll find youself out of a job.
The only way to over come this is by distance, no matter how good somebody is, it takes us all the same length of time to cover the same distance on the motorway, the greater distance between drops the less drops you’ll have to complete, people can speed up and make other work fatser but it’s impossible to travel long distances on the motorway faster than somebody else.
I know it’s easier said than done, but you want to be aiming for at least 100 miles between drops, is that possible to demand or ask that from a class 2 employer, probably not in most cases, but class 1 on the other hand, by it’s very nature is very easy to achieve this and even much, much futher.
Only in early 2019 i thought i had made great progress and had sped up since i first started out, i then landed a job where 35 drops per day everyday was the norm, and boy did i struggle, and in most cases didn’t manage it and left shortly after only to land myself a job doing 32 drops per day, i couldn’t manage that either and went to a company 40 miles traveling distance away from my home only to find it was 30 odd drops a day, so i had 3 different jobs within 4 months and failed at all of them.
The more a company can put on you to complete the more money they save, the less drivers they need, the less lorries they need, equals massive savings, as said above the only way to over come this is with distance, massive distances can not be covered quickly.
Land a class 1 job and i’d very nearly put money on it that you won’t do more than 2 drops per day, class 1 is made for distance motorway runs and is not cut out for residental deliveries or a few miles to each shop.
Good luck.
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Booking in times - don’t worry about them, get there when you get there and don’t stress over them!!
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Class 2 multi drop work needs to be treat like a race, like a compertion, don’t ever speed or take risks on the road, it’s not worth your licence and it’s not worth killing somebody for, always, always stick to the speed limits and drive safely, but once you reach your delivery point, it then becomes a race.
Don’t stop off for a sandwich or a pie on the way there, you’d be surprised how much of your time this wastes, use your breaks for this, click it onto break then leave the vheicle to get a bite to eat.
Knowing where you are going and how to get there without going down dead ends and turning around is a great way to save time but takes planning, looking at maps and google maps wates massive amounts of time so keep it to 2 minutes or less.
Knowing which shutter door you need to deliver to and where abouts you need to park is vital in saving time, remember it’s a race once you arrive at the place you are delivering to.
Having the paper work in your hand and ready to jump out as soon as you get there all saves time.
Knowing who you need to speak to in order to get your delivery off is key and where abouts on the premises they are normally located.
After you’ve given them the paper work, don’t waste time waiting for them, turn around and open your curtains or open your back doors.
Knowing where their goods are located on your vheicle and the quickest way to get them off is vital, when been loading up on a morning get a A4 sheet of paper and draw each pallet on the sheet of paper then name each one as to who they are for, write on the drawing if it’s on the left side or the right side, this will help out in been on the corect side at the delivery point.
After the goods are off don’t waste time while waiting for your paper work to come back, close your curtains or doors and look for how best to get to the next drop, spend about 2 minutes looking for the best way there.
If your paper work is not back to you by this point, don’t stand about waiting for it, you’d be surprised at the amout of people who sign paper work and then just leave it on a desk or on top of some boxes for you.
Get in your vheicle and don’t mess about in leaving.
Now switch race mode off for returning on the road and drive within the speed limits, only turn race mode on after turning off the engine.
After doing all of the above i never noticed any difference in speed what so ever in getting drops off, but slowly over time what i did notice was i was able to get more drops off in a day, a tell tale way to know i’d improved but it never felt faster to me at least, but it had to be.
Never switch on race mode on the road, it’s not worth it, but it’s super important to treat it like a race once you have arrived.
Like i say, on class 2 it’s pretty much all a waste of time, the faster you get, the more drops you’ll be given until you have 30 odd drops per day and you’ll be back where you started.
Maximum distance between drops is the only way to win this game of multi drop.
Get class 1 and you’ll be laughing all the way down the motorway to you 2 drops.
Good luck.
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Edited :- spelling.
the jurys out on this one…anyone else?
if…genuine,then if your no better by the end of next week,then its not the job for you and back to maccy d or kfc as a colleague for you as your productivity input is pathetic.
you should be able to do 6 drops a day using a wheelbarrow.
im thinking someone will take the hook about not being trained and the other hooks like not knowing where anywhere is and being a classic snowflake in respect of " im useless but its everyones fault" till we see where this one goes,but if genuine,then get off multidrop and get a different job even if its still driving that your capable of doing.
most traffic offices tend to want you to be productive,and its not unreasonable to tell them to sod off,but this is assuming your doing a days work to start with.
if its a proper job,then work with them,if your a limper and your as bad as you say,then nobody will care and you can just work somewhere else with whatever shifts you can scrape.
aint it sad that you think the worst of 1 off posters when it reads like this?
It sounds like you’re blaming the company and you’re right to a small extent. But you need to be as efficient as you can be, ask yourself if you’re being as productive as possible.
As has been mentioned, 10 minutes dithering here and there will all add up.
Don’t sit there thinking where is this drop, I best call someone etc.
Get stuck in 100%, don’t dither, just own it like. It sounds like you’re over thinking, perhaps being a bit meek and it’s costing you time.
Get to the drop and take it from there, don’t pre-empt it too much would be my advice. In terms of whether it’s the job for you, you need to be honest with yourself and evaluate if you’re making progress or not.
You need to give yourself more time than 3 days before coming to that decision though.
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Another big no, no is standing around talking at ANY of your drops, that is THEE WORST thing you can do, standing around talking for 10-20 minutes each could see you lose 2 hours over the period of just 6 drops, that would normally be enough to complete another 2-3 drops, seriously once you get to your drop you need to start rushing around as if your hair is on fire, you have not got a second to lose, it’s amazing how all these seconds and minutes very, very quickly add up to hours just over the course of a 10 hour shift, if you are not rushing around once you get to your drop you are doing it wrong.
Like already said, it’s going to take longer than 3 days to see if you can speed up, finding the right company can go a long way to helping out but they are few are far between and can take years to find a good company that just wants their products delivering safely and it once piece rather than been delivered fast but smashed to bits.
Good luck.
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You will get quicker once you get used to the drops, if possible try and find out your run the day before so you can suss it out on google maps at home and look for places to park near drop, where the loading area might be, places to turn round etc.
I started my new job Monday this week. Class 1 granted, but the company found work for Mon and Tues that was 2 trailer loads or collections at each place.
They sent me and another guy in another truck so he could show me the ropes.
Being a brand new class 1 driver, this helped immensely. Was out on my own from Weds, I’m really grateful for those 2 days shadowing someone. Made all the difference.
Being thrown in at the deep end and left to sink or swim ain’t good.
New or not, my fault or not, if I was struggling but doing my best and someone rang up and said what they said to you “hurry up or don’t come back next week”, I’d have told them to shove the ■■■■■■■ job up their arse. And Yes I have actually done it and without regret, Wincanton got their truck driven back to the yard half full after a similar event recently where the office wally kept on until he found my limit. Now I have a far more enjoyable job where management supports and encourages rather than bullies and berates. 
Taking any job when you’re new is understandable to get that experience but if it’s going to get you stressed out and rushing to the point that you have accidents, accumulate fines, constantly falsify breaks and start to regret ever getting your HGV licence then it’s time to try elsewhere with a different company.
How are you getting yourself around? sat-nav? map? winging it? and how far apart are they?
Is this on agency or directly employed?
+1 How are you getting around, maps, Sat Nav etc?
With a Sat Nav, when you arrive, save the exact unloading spot as a Point Of Interest, so you can load it up in your History or Favourites list. That should save you some time on each run.
The number of drops vs how long you take becomes irrelevant if the distance between drops isn’t known. You can knock out 35 drops if they’re next to each other but if you’re covering 4 or 5 counties each day, then perhaps 4 or 5 drops might be more realistically achievable.
Everyone is slow for the first week or 2. By the end of the second week, if you are going to regular places, you’ll take less time as it will become more familiar.
You’re a new pass, they know that and they are probably paying you accordingly. As long as you finish the day without crashing the truck, without damage and without injuries, it’s a good day.
Are the drops known drops or is it pallet network type deliveries?
If it is pallet network, where the addresses are quite random, including residential etc, then the transport manager cannot possibly say on the basis of 2 or 3 days whether you are fast enough.
Transport offices see a newbie a mile off and will say these kinds of things purely for their entertainment. Yes, someone with local knowledge and who knows how to handle the back of the truck, including tail-lift, pallet-truck etc will be able to cut quite a bit of time off, but any transport manager worth his salt should know that. Bear in mind that nothing would be good enough. If you got back a couple of hours earlier, all you would get for your efforts is the possibility of being sent out again.
So far there’s no information at all.
6 pallets means bugger all, is that a pallet for each delivery ie 6 shops or 56 shops, handball or forked off, do you need to break the goods down on the pallet, are the drops in one town or spread over 6 counties.
I’ll assume the OP is not genuine at this point, but any new lads reading this ignore the previous poster suggesting you rush around like your arse is on fire, that is the sure way to have accidents and gain points and fines and earn a bad reputation before the ink on your licence is dry.
When you start a new job set your stall out from day one, work at a reasonable sustainable pace, keep calm at all times, you will get more efficient at a regular job as time goes by and thats fine but don’t think you are doing yourself any favours by being the fastest kid on the block, all you will do is make a rod for your own back eventually causing your undue pressure so your end up either leaving voluntarily or having a crash and getting the push.
Juddian:
I’ll assume the OP is not genuine at this point, but any new lads reading this ignore the previous poster suggesting you rush around like your arse is on fire, that is the sure way to have accidents and gain points and fines and earn a bad reputation before the ink on your licence is dry.
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my sentiments exactly…there were at least 3 hooks dangling in the first post.
if not that,then we should be seeing a new version of this shortly.
Just a follow up to answer a few questions
it was basically 6 drops per day on average delivering to nationwide retailer but we was only delivering 100 miles from depo at most and it could of been as many as 8 pallets per store ( on average 2 )
so it was 2 trips to depo and back out but some stores was high street some was bays etc etc but I was responsible for unloading using tail lift or hand balling it into the store
also some stores was caged the address was ok for outside shops but when it came to shopping centres etc it was hard using the addresses as it didn’t take you to the delivery location
I was using my Tom Tom pro 620 I think it’s called ( its pretty good) to guide me there but also using my phone for google maps before I set off to see where it was
i might be unloading and sometimes calling the stores before arriving just telling them I’m new to the company where do we normally unload normally
a average drive between shops was 30 minutes but could be a 1+ hour drive to get in rough area it agency work so he didn’t have time to train me because I was covering a other driver but on my 4 and 5 day half the stores was repeated so I knew where to go and what to do saved me 15m per drop not getting lost and asking questions so he offered me a part time 6 month contract through agency
after that maybe he just had a bad week?
But my agency put me else where but my first week the way he was going on saying why am I taking soo long etc
I thought i was probably a lot worse than others on there first week but couldn’t work out how as I was trying my best
One point of confusion may be that you said 6 pallets in the original post.
All I can say is to stay true to yourself. You attempted the drops in good faith. There is no comparison in terms of time compared to someone that has been to all the shops before. Given what you have said 9 to 10 hours seems okay to be honest. So someone can do it in less time, so what? Not your issue as an agency bod going in to help out.