Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong forum, but what are people’s experiences of Brakes? Whats the general opinion of them? Seen a local Class 2 job and pay seems to be reasonable.
Thanks in advance
1on4:
Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong forum, …
Hi 1on4,
I’ve moved your topic to where I think it will get more views and answers. 
It’s probably just me but I thought he was asking if “stopping” was optional.
I’ve got me coat already.
I worked there for 5 weeks.
If you like back breaking work, long hours with no ‘brakes’ if you want to get done for a decent hour with a little bit of driving thrown in, go for it!!
The actual company/people there are sound, its just the job thats crap.
I often found them useful…
…in an emergency 
My very first Hgv job was with these 19 year ago.
Very hard work carrying good in to shop up stairs to store room etc.
Pay was good then and I believe still is and I was always done by 3/4 pm…
Looking back now I wish I’d of stayed doing it but I wanted to be a big European trucker and gave my life up for it basically.
If my back would take the graft I’d go back and do it again now like a shot
Many thanks for all the (helpful) replies!
Take this how ever you like
I applied to.brakes Warrington.
Few days later had a missed call voice message.
Saying it’s brakes regards your application please ring me.
So I did fella was out so left a message with woman explaining I had a missed call.
I rang about 7 times over about a 2 week period.
All got was he’s busy ill.pass mesage on to him.
And I never heard anything from
I worked for them for two years and initially it was hard work. You get given set areas so once your settled in you get done quicker. I was newly qualified and they gave me a start. If your new I’d say go for it. It’s a good stepping stone. The money wasn’t that bad.
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The work at Brakes driving C+E was good enough, but we all got laid off late in 2018 in favour of making the business entirely about the C2 deliveries.
As seen, the pay doesn’t seem bad - BUT you will EARN that money.
A typical C2 job will start at 4am and you’ll do a round monday-friday, finishing about 1-2pm once you get the hang of it.
A typical “round” will consist of delivering to places like Schools, Cafes, and Tourist Tea Room type places…
Brakes still deliver to Prisons as far as I know.
When delivering to London, the work will be quite stressful, as you end up parking in such a way that Lambeth Council will give you a ticket every damned day, whilst you run up and down stairs, or around the side of a building with catering pack outers of food * drink, frequently with doors being shut in your faces like Black Rod on steroids…
The Customers of Brakes seem to have this mindset of “getting their money’sworth” out of their delivery drivers, and all this running about with packages under your arms - will run you ragged.
If you’re not fit to start with - you WILL be by the time you’re finished. Lifts are often “broken” or “not available to tradespeople”… If you suspect that you’re being lied to, you might want to start bringing stuff through the main lobby (if delivering to a hotel for example) - which often prompts the staff there to suddenly realize that the “back door near to where you parked” and the “service lift” - ARE working after all. 
You’ll also be collecting “Cash on delivery” at some places, where the customer has such a poor credit rating, that they couldn’t get the usual “30 day settlement account”…
Watch out at such places, as some of the staff at such a delivery point will occasionally “try it on” by, for example, - taking a box of product off the pallet you’ve just wheeled in, whilst you go back to get the next pallet outside… They’ll then claim that the order was “short”, and that you call your office to get a refund for that product thus “missing”.
You might even like to take a picture on your phone of each pallet you drop inside the customer premises - to discourage such “brudder” behaviour on the part of the “Customer”…
Working out of the provincial Brakes depots - is a far BETTER prospect, as you WON’T be delivering to LONDON - where all my bad experiences seemed to happen…
Provincial depots - include Thetford, Tamworth, Brighton, and Thorpe. Working out of one of these - won’t be any worse than being a Milkman with the associated “Round”…
The larger depots that DO deliver to London include Reading, Aylesford (where I worked) Harlow, and Premier Park (which is the only one of these actually IN London)
I do the…
Occaisional trunk for them. It’s possibly the easiest driving job I’ve ever known. I arrive on site, fill in the ridiculous 9 page, gazillion signatures declaration (don’t fudge it halfway through, I’ve had pen pushers talk to me three months later saying I’d missed a signature or date or something as just as trivial), go find your lorry which is already coupled up. Check it and wait in the motor till you’ve gotta green light and then head off to where ever you’re going. Tip there, have your break and drive back. What could be easier?
As already mentioned, the C2 boys do earn their money but, it’s like anything, once you get to know your run things get easier. I’ve never seen a C2 man later than 3pm in the yard.
Winseer:
The work at Brakes driving C+E was good enough, but we all got laid off late in 2018 in favour of making the business entirely about the C2 deliveries.
So they might…
Possibly engage the green death/DHL/Wincanton to do the trunk runs eventually?
yourhavingalarf:
Winseer:
The work at Brakes driving C+E was good enough, but we all got laid off late in 2018 in favour of making the business entirely about the C2 deliveries.So they might…
Possibly engage the green death/DHL/Wincanton to do the trunk runs eventually?
Aylesford kept One Day, and One Late out of the nine artic drivers they had. Paddock Wood-Corby-Aylesford for a flat 5x9 hour shift, and the early doors multidrop artic 008 that was 04:00-13:00 if I recall correctly.
One late, and one night 26t job was offered to the other 7 of us having had our trunk artic jobs taken away. If we made the decision to stay, then anyone not getting one of those two HGV jobs would end up on the C2 early rounds.
I cut and run. No Brainer, of course.
Other depots running into Aylesford - seemed to be double decker jobs from places like Harlow. I think the Yate and Grantham runs came to an end before I left.
Yearsley were running in there as “supply” drivers, but I saw no sign of any “contractor” trucks running there, simply because there wasn’t really anywhere near enough work for them.
I used to be the “floater” driver covering the night runs where someone was on holiday similar to when I was in there on agency. As for my own job - it started out running to Thorpe Depot on Late shift, and ended up running to Harlow on the night shift. I was always asking for overtime, which at first I got on the C2 runs the one day per week I might put up with doing them. After a while, the overtime dried up, and they started asking me to come in on my weekly rest day to do “more trunks” which seemed fine at first until it turned out they expected me to work this 6th shift for no extra money!
I was there 35 months, and I got underpaid at month end on15 of them, where I thought I’d get some overtime in my monthly pay - but alas no. Continually lied to about “getting it next month, honest”…
When I pushed a grievance - I got one chucked back at me “Turnstile data doesn’t match what is on your digicard” rather than actually deal with my grievance.
I suppose I was lucky to be jumping before I got pushed, in the end I suppose.
Oh, there’s no sick pay there neither.
Sick pay is at “Manager Discretion” meaning if you don’t play golf or socialize with the bosses - you don’t get paid sick pay. Period.
Might as well stay on agency than risk any bum full time contract like THAT again - eh?
Couple of mates worked at Brakes and the whole thing can be summed up with a couple of comments…
1… If you are out as a second man, your tacho is on POA. According to Brakes, that means you are not at work and it does not count toward your working hours.
2… ALL the lorries have in cab cameras and they will either discipline or fire you for the smallest thing! One bloke got dismissed for (and I have seen the footage!) picking up his phone and moving it to a different place. In their minds he had “Used his phone while driving” = Gross mis-conduct = instant dismissal!
THAT /\ is what Brakes are like!!
The people above who say c2 drivers all finish before 3pm. Try going to Hemsworth depot. Ive seen guys finish there gone 7pm having started at 5. And that is doing back breaking work, not a cushy trunk run!
As I said before, worst job ive ever had, and if you have a class 1 license dont even consider it.
Regarding the fitness aspect, its ok I suppose if you are under 30, if you are 40+ no chance!
Swordsy:
The people above who say c2 drivers all finish before 3pm. Try going to Hemsworth depot. Ive seen guys finish there gone 7pm having started at 5. And that is doing back breaking work, not a cushy trunk run!As I said before, worst job ive ever had, and if you have a class 1 license dont even consider it.
Regarding the fitness aspect, its ok I suppose if you are under 30, if you are 40+ no chance!
I can’t speak…
For the depots I haven’t driven out of work. Where I was, the C2 boys were all parked up by 3pm at the latest. Some of the regular drivers were well into their 50s and cracking on with with drop work. Horses for courses innit.
If I was starting out now. I would jump at the choice for a couple of years, it’s good experience for a new starter, it was generally the only way to get into driving, either multi drop or carry & deliver.
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The trick is to get in there on artics and boycott all the C2 work outright. Even then - the attitude of the management leads to the huge turnover of drivers one sees at any depot remotely involved with “running around London”…
Out in the provinces, on provincial runs - I’d argue the C2 work is quite cushy… Thetford drivers were telling me that they all live within walking distance of the depot, and are done with their monday-friday runs by 1pm on all but “Easter”, “Christmas”, and of course “Back to School” pressure periods…
Look at the positive side to class 2 multi-drop catering deliveries, lots of free food, teas n coffee, and the chances to talk to pretty girlys.
Well it was when I did fruit n veg delivery, in the oldern days.