Any thoughts or experiences about either?
A local Howdens are looking for CE night trunkers, which sounds appealing to me.
It is listed as permanent / full time, I asked if that was temp to perm but got to wait for a call to confirm on Monday
Calling Connor in 3… 2… 1…
Our resident Trucknet patronising know it all will give you the benefit of his infinite wisdom on this. 
But it can’t be that hard can it?.., but I’ve heard the money aint too brilliant appparently. 
As someone with zero experience apart from shunting in our yard I can’t afford to be too picky.
However, it would be a nice wage rise for me compared to what I’m on now as a warehouse supervisor!
robroy:
Our resident Trucknet patronising know it all will give you the benefit of his infinite wisdom on this.
But it can’t be that hard can it?.., but I’ve heard the money aint too brilliant appparently.
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji2961][emoji113]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe if you say an area instead of a local Howdens you could get more options?
Northamptonshire
Stussy:
Northamptonshire
In on the Northants/Warwks border. There’s loads more than Howdens that will give you a start.
Top of the head you’ve got Brackmills which has DHL and Maritime which will both give you a start. Grange Park there’s a few more, DIRFT there’s more.
I’m over near Kettering. My biggest frustration at the moment is deciding if I want to work for agencies with no guarantee of work every day
Stussy:
I’m over near Kettering. My biggest frustration at the moment is deciding if I want to work for agencies with no guarantee of work every day
That’s up to you. Me personally I consider the fact that my bills don’t stop coming through the door just because I can only get one or two days work but there are others that live by it. I want the guarantee of a wage coming in though.
I’m the same, which is why it’s so frustrating when nearly all jobs are agency work!
The lack of work this time of the year is what causes the most frustration among the agency drivers, my shift tomorrow morning has been cancelled (allegedly the delivery has been cancelled) so I may as well get down to pub for a few beers. Then tomorrow step up my efforts to get off the agency merry go round
That’s the thing I fear, as above, I’ve still got bills to cover and can’t afford to have work cancelled randomly
Stussy:
That’s the thing I fear, as above, I’ve still got bills to cover and can’t afford to have work cancelled randomly
Forget agency work altogether then and start targeting full time employment
You’ll be starting bottom rung of the agency ladder and they’ll have no second thoughts about dropping you with no notice and any work you do get will be because everyone else has already said no
It isn’t permanent, the agency are lying to you. You won’t be offered a permanent position any time soon, they stopped doing that from agency a few years ago when they opened their own in house driver training scheme where they take applications from warehouse staff. The only glimmer of hope is there is talk of doubling the size of Raunds in the future but given how long it took to build the current one it won’t be quick. New CEO who took over last year is on a cost cutting exercise at the moment so we’ll see how things pan out with transport. Transport is running flat out but whether he decides its preferable to have agency over permanent is to be seen.
No idea what the pay is at Raunds on agency but I reckon it’ll be somewhere in line with what their drivers are getting unlike Howden where they’re able to pay less because the going rate in the area is much lower however come April 2020 we’ll be on parity pay so you’re looking at roughly £15/hr when that happens.
On nights you’ll be offered work on a day by day basis usually finding out around teatime the night before, on days you’re given a number of shifts for the following week on the Thursday or Friday. It is extremely rare to get cancelled, in fact I can’t recall when I last was. Those who have been there the longest will get offered work first so they’ll be in full time or almost full time when it is quiet. I think I’ve had maybe 10 days without work but I do both nights and days and I know from November until 2nd/3rd week in January nights were dead. I’d been on days since summer and was glad I had been after their busiest trading period in October.
The job is very easy, your biggest headache will be road closures on a night. Trucks are well maintained, all trucks apart from rentals have truck sat navs fitted as part of the Microlise system, everything is expected to be done by the book - nothing leaves the yard with even a blown bulb unless driver isn’t doing the job properly and can’t be arsed to sort it. On nights there are probably no more than 8 places you could be going to as you won’t do the Hexham, Penrith and Lockerbie runs we do and the planned times for doing the runs are extremely generous, often an hour more than you can normally do it in so there’s no need to charge about - you can go to say Howden, drop your trailer, go to transport office, get a cup of tea before picking up your next trailer, no need to drop, swap and get out the yard in 5 minutes. Longest run is a triangle where you’ll go Raunds-Runcorn-Howden-Raunds or same in reverse and that’s an 11.5hr shift. Health and Safety is a big thing there, most of what they have in place is as a result of a serious injury or someone being killed. Other than strapping loads down which is only when you’re doing chipboard which Raunds don’t, it only involves checking and retightening internal straps warehouse have already put in place. Biggest pain in the backside is when you go to Runcorn where almost all reverses in the trailer park are blindside in a dark yard with lights placed in the wrong place, not helped by the space we used to be able to pull forward to get straightened up being taken over and filled with crap by manufacturing.
If you’re a new starter its a fairly easy job to get the hang of it, just don’t expect many other places to be run the same because unlike regular transport companies Howdens don’t make their money from the transport so they’ll not do things that many transport companies will tell you to just ignore like going out with tears in the curtains, blown bulbs, less than secure loads.
I told the agency I wouldn’t be signing anything unless it was guaranteed full time and permanent. It clearly states both on their advert, so will be interesting to see what they say if they call me back.
Raunds is definitely expanding, they are already building the new one.
The first didn’t take long to build at all, I know this because I watched it being built from DSV next door!
After it was built it sat empty for ages, there were even some organised car shows inside it before Howdens took it over. Then after they did it took them ages to get up and running.
Advert text:
ADR Network are currently recruiting Class 1 (C+E) LGV Drivers for Night Trunking work at their client, Howdens Kitchens in Raunds.
This role involves Trunking between depots, with no interaction with the load.
Start times range from 1730 to 2100, with either short or long shifts available, depending on what you are looking for.
The benefits of this role are;
Easy Trunking work.
Large new depot.
High quality vehicles.
Flexible working.
Once registered with ADR Network you will also have access to all of their other work. ADR Network is the UK’s largest agency supplier of professional LGV / HGV drivers. Supplying to major nationwide retailers and distributors, our teams manage the total supply solution on behalf of clients and provide drivers with regular assignment opportunities and other added benefits. We offer huge flexibility to our Drivers. With full time, part time, week day and weekend shifts to suit the individual.
Candidates must hold a valid Class 1 (C+E) HGV licence. No prior experience is required. You must also hold a valid CPC card and digital tachograph.
Click Apply to this role and someone from the local office will be in contact. Alternatively, visit our website to view all opportunities with ADR Network, or call them directly on 01604 210298.
Rates quoted are typical of the rates paid by our approved contractors. Each payment model has different tax, National Insurance and contributory benefit implications. If you require more information, you should seek independent advice.
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Temporary, Permanent
Salary: £13.50 to £16.50 /hour
toonsy:
That’s up to you. Me personally I consider the fact that my bills don’t stop coming through the door just because I can only get one or two days work but there are others that live by it. I want the guarantee of a wage coming in though.
That basically comes down to what state your personal finances are in. If you’re younger you’re unlikely to have enough money in the bank to allow you to but as you get towards your 50’s where I am hopefully you would do so it doesn’t matter so much. Also when you’ve been doing agency a while you get to know the seasonal aspect of the work so you learn to bang in all the hours you can when it is busy, put some aside and then you can continue to live without any worries when it is quiet. Took me about 3/4 years to get to the point where I could sit there in Jan-March sat at home in the nice warmth not worrying about what the crappy winter weather was, doing the odd shift if they came up and the weather wasn’t too bad, living on what I’d earned the rest of the year.
Stussy:
I told the agency I wouldn’t be signing anything unless it was guaranteed full time and permanent. It clearly states both on their advert, so will be interesting to see what they say if they call me back.
I’m what is classed as a “core driver” there. Core drivers are a small group of agency they know they can put on any run, days or nights, who are in there pretty much any time they’re wanting agency. Even core drivers are not guaranteed full time.
Raunds is definitely expanding, they are already building the new one.
The first didn’t take long to build at all, I know this because I watched it being built from DSV next door!
After it was built it sat empty for ages, there were even some organised car shows inside it before Howdens took it over. Then after they did it took them ages to get up and running.
Was just going to say that. Part of the issue is they’re still tied into a lease at Northampton.
Advert text:
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Temporary, Permanent
Ah yes. Those are effectively key words, what is what they put in in order for their advert to appear in as many search results as possible. So anyone whether they’re only wanting part time or full time or temporary or permanent will get that job advert appearing in their search results. It doesn’t mean that the job is full time or permanent. You should never ever treat any agency job advert as either full time or permanent.
I fully understand their use of keywords and the facts it’s probably crap, however I will press them about it and ask why it says it if they don’t mean it. That’s false advertising in my eyes
Stussy:
I fully understand their use of keywords and the facts it’s probably crap, however I will press them about it and ask why it says it if they don’t mean it. That’s false advertising in my eyes
Maybe theyll argue the advert is saying that ADR are offering full time jobs, but not saying those full time jobs are with that particular contract? Youre right to be sceptical.