hi guys/garnerlives,
im based in Leighton Buzzard , can work in Milton Keynes , Northampton , Luton , Aylesbury , that sort of distance im willing to travel.
unfortunately no HGV license , i have a little money saved up from my last job ( just over a grand) i was thinking about going for the HGV , but will probably need to save a little more yet. experience wise i have 3 years and just over 1500 hours incident free last time i saw on the computer at my old job driving DAF lorrys (7.5T license) , sprinters , and a couple of others.
thanks
del949:
No idea how many drops yuo are doing. but what i used to do a long while ago when I started was to go and sit with a coffee and put all the delivery notes in order of delivery, starting with nearest first etc (a problem if you have timed deliveries).
Then I would do each drop in that order, one job at a time.
I doubt if your new boss will give you a hard time over this as most appreciate that it takes time to work up a knowledge of the area.
That’s exactly what I used to do - spend time putting the drops in order first - except I wouldn’t start with the nearest if it was too near - no point in driving just a few miles then sitting there wasting time waiting for them to open up. Those “very near” ones would get done on the way back.
print off 2 application forms from TNT website
here http://cgi.tnt.co.uk/careers/recruitment_form.asp?passdepotname=Luton|B
Send one to Luton and other to Milton keynes
thanks ZigZag ill do that now
just an update , thanks for the parcel sorting advice , i knew where nearly all of them were when i needed them today 
i was inside my hour window all day! woohoo.
This story is all too familiar,it’s typical the way most agencies,and firms,treat drivers.
My son was made redundant in May after 4 years multi drop,a job that he loved doing.With nothing to drop straight into he invested his redundancy money in getting his DCPC,a Hiab ticket and his ADR so he would be more qualified for anything that should come up.
He went back to the agencies after leaving his CV with all the local 7.5 operators around here,and has had the odd day or two,but nothing of any duration.However,he has had several starts at jobs that were described as right up his street.
One was for the local council,through the agency,at the council depot,work described as,“7.5 tonne driving plus other duties”?
For a week,all he did was clean toilets and sweep the garage floor,they didn’t even have a 7.5 truck on the yard!Who was taking the ■■■■?,the council or the agency?
He did the work to keep on the right side of the agency,but is this a good thing,as then they think they can palm you off with any old ■■■■ job!
He has had starts at two other multi drop firms,with little or no training as to how they operate,and after two days busting his arse similar to our friend here,told he was no longer needed.
The last job was one he was promised because he’d got his ADR,delivering gas bottles to farms and outlying areas.He was told it was a 6 month “contract”.Although he found it hard to get into,he stuck it out in all the bad weather we’ve been having,getting stuck up farmers drives,but asked why he couldn’t get all the drops off before he came back in.
Apparently all the other drivers worked whatever hours it took to get all the drops done,and the few tacho cards my boy saw were not even made out correctly,and very few breaks shown!,but as a professional driver,he stayed legal,and he was the only one on the firm with a digi card for the only digi equipped truck they had!
After 3 weeks, he worked on Monday 20th December,but when he went in on the Tuesday he was sent home as the “contract” had finished!
My boy is now thinking of getting his class 2.With all the grief about having two years experience most operators ask for,I told him that the way things are going,it may be two years before you get a job in that class,by then you can quite honestly say,“I’ve had a class 2 licence for 2 years”.
I’m glad I’m semi retired and don’t really need the work,but there is plenty of work going on my firm,but it’s all class 1.
I feel guilty that I have a job I don’t have to do and my son can’t get a decent job,no doubt there’s more of you in the same position.
pretty depressing there bestbooties,
yea i must say , even thoe i did alot better today and was within my time window , they gave me enough drops to mean the time window finished 12 hours after i started… whats that about? especially when i dont get paid by the hour but get a day rate !!! i didnt dare question it because i need the work! but iv not had a brake once since i started , im just glad to see the time window shift back a half hour which makes up for all the farms and dodgy named houses that uses up my stop time allowance!
can your boy get a class 1 if thats where the works available? im not to educated on the whole driving class system
Joe89:
pretty depressing there bestbooties,
yea i must say , even thoe i did alot better today and was within my time window , they gave me enough drops to mean the time window finished 12 hours after i started… whats that about? especially when i dont get paid by the hour but get a day rate !!! i didnt dare question it because i need the work! but iv not had a brake once since i started , im just glad to see the time window shift back a half hour which makes up for all the farms and dodgy named houses that uses up my stop time allowance!
can your boy get a class 1 if thats where the works available? im not to educated on the whole driving class system
That is a very dodgy post my friend…all I’ll say is TAKE YOUR LEGAL BREAKS!!! my advice is either take your breaks or leave the job! Some people will say I’m stupid for telling you to leave again…but if you don’t have your breaks and get pulled by VOSA, you’ll be fined and probably lose your licence and be out of work anyway! If you take your breaks and start falling behind and the company then decide they don’t want to use you anymore, at least you’ll be able to get other work…better than losing your licence trying to stay on schedule!
When I was working for Tuffnells, I started at 0730 each morning…I just made sure that I had started a 45 minute break just before 0130…that way it covers both the Working Time Directive and the Tachograph regs…Its the easiest way to do it, but just make sure you start that break before 6 hours into your shift!
i dont think he is in a 7.5t. he will probs be driving a sprinter for DPD.
i went out with 8 drops+2 collections,round a area i know,drops i know,i managed just 4 drops 
[so you did o.k],ran out of hours,the following week i went out with 10 drops+3 collections[dreading it], and ■■■■■■ it,done and dusted in 10 hrs 
,its just how the job goes[4 hrs late away on 1 st week didnt help,+customer services telling me where to go didnt help either],2 nd week away on time and i did it my way.
it does get easier but on multis it can easily go ■■■■ up if you get there just at the wrong time,keep going.
n.b i wouldnt do em if i had a choice,but its gar fuel bonus on multis so i do em just for that
I worked on a Taunton UPS round last year. Averaged 100 drops per day.
I went in early, helped unload the conveyor belt. When my packages turned up. Removed from belt, into van in postcode areas.
So I knew where exactly on the van they were. It saved heaps of time.
I was never paid for turning in. Just used to finish earlier most days. Give and take! 
yea i am driving a sprinter at the moment , so no tacho and every1 works through there break, its a bummer thoe i can hardly go for a pee when i need to.
i am finding it easier thoe i had 47 drops the other day and i did all of them an hour ahead of schedule so i imagine now they will prob give me 60 next time 
lol. I am hoping to start 7.5T driving with them thoe, im not sure how it would make the job any different apart from being in a bigger vehicle with more pay per hour?
Joe89:
yea i am driving a sprinter at the moment , so no tacho and every1 works through there break, its a bummer thoe i can hardly go for a pee when i need to.
i am finding it easier thoe
Well follow my previous advice with regards to taking breaks when you start on 7.5t’s! I’d rather be out of time on my round than out of a job and a licence