guys I’m new driver and have my first job next week. I’m excited but nervous at the same time, I’ll be on my own on a night job. I’m looking for advice on when and how should I take my break’s. Should I split the breaks, or take one 45 minute? And any general advice new drivers will learn from, on the first day.
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DoverCally:
guys I’m new driver and have my first job next week. I’m excited but nervous at the same time, I’ll be on my own on a night job. I’m looking for advice on when and how should I take my break’s. Should I split the breaks, or take one 45 minute? And any general advice new drivers will learn from, on the first day.Sent from my J8110 using Tapatalk
I would try to take a 45 roughly half way through your shift if work commitments and driver laws permit you to do that
DoverCally:
guys I’m new driver and have my first job next week. I’m excited but nervous at the same time, I’ll be on my own on a night job. I’m looking for advice on when and how should I take my break’s. Should I split the breaks, or take one 45 minute? And any general advice new drivers will learn from, on the first day.Sent from my J8110 using Tapatalk
Just curious-
Is it agency work or for a company?
What sort of work is it?
A lot of night work has built in breaks at the drop or they’ll tell you when and where to break. At least that’s my experience so far.
DoverCally:
It’s class 2 delivering for Hermes. I think it’s delivering from a warehouse to local depots. Still not actually sure what the job entails.just wanted to get as much advice as possible, as I’m a bit of a worrier.Sent from my J8110 using Tapatalk
Congrats on the first Class 2 job !
I’ve done Class 2 nights at Hermes for 6 months.
The points Conor made about stopping and needing codes is more for the Class 1 trunking stuff and less relevant to the Class 2 local sub-depot runs
As a brief walkthrough: - First no matter what, find the name of the manager on duty and get their mobile and the depot’s landline phone numbers
Turn up a couple of minutes early, to figure out where the timesheet is, or clock in/out cards are (Yes, my local Hermes still used those) and take a photo on your phone of the clocked in card - In case it goes walkies through the night.
You’ll be assigned a vehicle with keys and there should be a walkround checks pad in the cab. Fill in the details and do the checks, use this time to get acquainted with the tachograph and pop your card in, also use this time to get comfy, set up your phone charger, sat nav etc. You might need to get your walkround checks sheet counter-signed by a manager to “ok” the vehicle is all set. They will expect you to take 15 minutes to do these walk round checks and get settled etc. - The office staff expect to see 15 minutes of “Other work” shown on the tachograph before that vehicle is moved so don’t rush and don’t let anyone rush you. At this point, it is worth checking to make sure you have a fuel card in the cab for refuelling later on, assuming you get the vehicle with a full tank of fuel
During this time, it would be a good idea to have a go with the tail lift and ask another driver if you’re not sure. Most drivers generally started around the same time at my local Hermes depot so they’ll be someone around to ask. Off the top of my head, there’s at least 4 different types of tail lift I’ve come across and with the Christmas rush just finishing, there might be lease vehicles with completely different types of tail lifts to what you or the other drivers might be used to.
Loading was done by opening the back up and the pallets would be fork-lifted into the back. You climb up into the back, by the pull-out ladder on the side and you would use a pump truck to move the pallets around in the back. There were no curtains to deal with
Strap the load down, usually a strap or 2 across the back and close the rear door/shutter. My local depot never used seals for the Class 2 vehicles but that might have changed. Class 1 used seals.
When you get to your sub-depot, you probably would have been given keys, where you’ll be unlocking the sub-depot, which will be un-manned, unload your truck and lock up afterwards. You wont be quick unloading as you’re probably getting used to the tail lift and using a pump truck and moving pallets on and off the tail lift etc. If a pallet begins to tip or fall off the lift - Let go and let it fall. Hermes certainly aren’t paying you enough money to put your health at risk
Some sub-depots have toilets and even kitchen facilities, so a chance to refill your coffee cup etc… Some are more basic and almost impressive if all the lights work.
You might or might not be expected to pick up stacks of empty pallets and take back to the starting depot
Rinse and repeat.
Ask the manager at the beginning of the shift when you might be expected to take your break. Pretty much all the drivers used to take their breaks about 5.5 to 6 hours into their shift for an hour or two at the main depot, as you might be waiting around between the last artic coming in and those parcels being sorted before your truck is loaded with the final stuff to go to your assigned sub-depot on your last run. There might be some additional paperwork on the last run - If they give you a scanner, tell them clearly you don’t know what that is and have no idea how it works - You are then no longer responsible if the scanner doesn’t work or you can’t get it to work correctly etc. It is down to management on how those things work and what to do if they act up - In the mornings it’s usually a bit of a rush and they wont have time to show you, so if you play dumb, someone will get the job of sorting the scanner crap out for you and you get to focus on driving - Which you’ll want to do on the first shift. You can deal with scanners and crap later on when it’s a bit more natural
When you finish, remember to fuel up at the end of your shift - There should be a fuel card in the cab - Never ever use your own money, regardless of what anyone says. Make sure the Ad-Blue is at least 3/4 full and there’s screenwash in the reservoir. Do a quick walk-round check to make sure lights still work and there’s no additional damage. Remember to unload any empty pallets too unless you’re told otherwise. Take your tacho card out with any paperwork etc and hand them back in, downloading your card too. Make sure to clock-out and again, take a photo on your phone of your timesheet/clock in-out card. When I did Hermes on agency, they would pay you down to the minute of clocking out - So make sure that is the last thing you do on site.
Hopefully that settles any worries.
I personally found nights a lot less stressful than days, you’re left to get on with things and you’re reloaded when you return to the depot. On days you might end up delivering to courier’s houses etc where a 12tonne truck isn’t always suited to residential roads.
If you get your breaks wrong and have to take a break while out, stop at a manned sub-depot or a services/petrol station, ideally when you have no work onboard (Empties don’t count) as it will then look as if you did the responsible thing to keep legal while keeping any risks low - Which is what the office staff want at the end of the day. Lastly, ignore any moaning ■■■■■■■■ drivers who are direct Hermes employees - Hermes don’t pay great and this is known. If those drivers have settled for those jobs, there are reasons for that. Hermes are one of the least picky companies when it comes to points, accidents on record, load becoming damaged and also don’t CRB check their drivers - Or didn’t when I worked there on agency anyway. The agency would send new passes to Hermes and drivers that wouldn’t pass a criminal record check (CRB check) - Look at it as a stepping stone to better things when you have some experience
PS Don’t forget your gloves and Hi-Viz. Hermes wont supply a thing and will expect you to have a Hi-Viz usually if you’re working via agency.
There will be a fair amount to think about, so take your time as you work things out. If you are opening places, this is also an extra responsibility, so double-check you have followed the procedures. When you have finished, take a minute or two before driving off again to work things through in your head. Have, you strapped the load, locked the door, put the alarm on etc etc? If you are new to driving a large vehicle, also think about the height and weight of your vehicle and look out for signs.
In terms of the pallet truck, it would be handy to actually observe how taking pallets off on the tail-lift is done. I don’t know if you will be carrying a pallet truck or just using the ones provided at the depots, but if you are taking one, think about how it will be secured. Possibly ask someone what the usual practice is before you leave. These things should be covered, but you never know, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has turned up and been handed keys and a runsheet and told to disappear.