Many years ago I worked for a company called “John Menzies” driving a 3.5t van delivering newspapers to shops first thing in the morning. Not sure if they still do that or if it’s suitable for you. Just another idea.
Isn’t John Menzies part of John Lewis/Waitrose, or am I thinking of someone else. Is` this the right John Menzies, have vacancies at Luton Airport 30 hours pw, tho was looking at 15-20 ideally and then doing more, just previously I’ve had health issues, but want to return to p/t work and eventually f/t.
Plenty of driving work out there with agencies. Just can’t be fussy and you have to take anything because you can guarantee someone else will.
adam277:
Plenty of driving work out there with agencies. Just can’t be fussy and you have to take anything because you can guarantee someone else will.
Until you prove yourself, you’ll probably only have the crappy work as an option…
Why would an agency risk upsetting their better clients with an unknown Newbie? 
Evil8Beezle:
adam277:
Plenty of driving work out there with agencies. Just can’t be fussy and you have to take anything because you can guarantee someone else will.Until you prove yourself, you’ll probably only have the crappy work as an option…
Why would an agency risk upsetting their better clients with an unknown Newbie?
Its how we all started.
I know as a newbie I’d most likely get the crappier jobs, still tell myself that if I prove myself things will improve!!!
PottyPott:
I know as a newbie I’d most likely get the crappier jobs, still tell myself that if I prove myself things will improve!!!
Just because your a newbie doesn’t always mean you get the short end of the stick. When I first passed I did find myself in a few good agency gigs but they don’t last long.
PottyPott:
Isn’t John Menzies part of John Lewis/Waitrose, or am I thinking of someone else. Is` this the right John Menzies, have vacancies at Luton Airport 30 hours pw, tho was looking at 15-20 ideally and then doing more, just previously I’ve had health issues, but want to return to p/t work and eventually f/t.
I don’t know about the John Lewis link, but they did do a lot of airport work when I worked for them.
I think maybe I’m miximg up the names, I’m not quite sure where I got the John Lewis connection from!!!
Radar19:
Evil8Beezle:
adam277:
Plenty of driving work out there with agencies. Just can’t be fussy and you have to take anything because you can guarantee someone else will.Until you prove yourself, you’ll probably only have the crappy work as an option…
Why would an agency risk upsetting their better clients with an unknown Newbie?Its how we all started.
speak for yourself with your dodgy limp, your egg stained t shirt and your spanking new hi-vis! 
EWWW at least wash the egg stains from your t-shirt.
I worked as a home delivery driver for Ocado or CSTM as they call them for just over three years. I began at Coventry and then after 2.5 yrs it was announced that they would be moving to Dordon (CFC2). At this point I started looking for a new job and left after being at Dordon for roughly four months.
The 3.5T job is as easy and as simple as you want to make it. My advice is stay below the radar and do everything by the book. They constantly have drivers in on disciplinary charges for the most minor of things. Some break their necks to get back early by going out 30-45+ minutes early and working through their breaks only to find the last drop not in until the scheduled time over you get back early and there’s twenty van waiting for the wash in front of you so say goodbye to that early finish. I was happy to run 15-20 minutes ahead, no more.
If you get a Birmingham city centre route with 20+ drops you’ll have fun with no parking, blocking the road, tower blocks etc but they are quite few and far between. If you look on the Ocado site you’ll always see the CSTM job open for applications because it has a very high turnover. Alot of people can’t deal with the stress of going behind and handling customers. I never had a problem but I kept ppl informed in advance.
I had a good friend at Ocado who went on to get his class one just after I left and is still there driving class one now almost three years later. I’m aware of four former CSTM’s that have now got their class one, all paid for by Ocado, and there is probably alot more. Don’t expect to get put forward for it straight away. The ppl I knew who got their class one had all been there three years plus, one was female and part time which I think you would be so it could be a way to get the licence but not a particularly quick way.
I’m not sure if they ask women to work the PM shifts. When I was at Coventry none of the women CSTM’s worked the PM shift as one got jacked. If you can just do part time and days that would be a pretty good deal. They offer a quarterly bonus, I used to get about £260, which depends on customer feedback, damage to the van, attendance, punctuality etc. Money for old rope. In the end I got very bored of the job just slinging totes around for ppl who think their royalty and the relocation was the final straw. Working every saturday and most sundays did’nt help either. When I joined sunday deliveries were’nt an option but Ocado brought them in to compete with the other supermarkets. You’ll also have a camera monitoring your every move but if you have’nt got anything to hide then I did’nt see the issue, some ppl had a big problem with them
Hi Dakota,
Yep I am female, and it was a p/t post I was initially going for. Re Ocado I was informed of two shifts working there early and late early possibly being a 05.30 start and the latest finish at around midnight. I gather us females wanted equality so we’d be expected to work the same hours a man would. I gather if you inform the customer of any delay most are fine with it. I did have Asda turn up 45 mins late once, just that morning I had an x-ray and booked a later than usual delivery, but not a problem as driver explained his delay. I’ve often accepted an order an hour or so early, if I’m here then I might as well take it in.
I know Ocado from a video on their webby will take shopping through to the kitchen for a customer, I gather maybe the driver is allowed descretion over whether to do this or not. I don’t know quite what you mean by “jacked” but I gather it’s from hijacked, so assaulted/raped maybe based on this meaning Urban Dictionary: Jacked. I know one of the questions I was asked is what would I do if I acidentally broke a bottle of red wine and it went over a customer’s cream/white carpet. I replied phone depot, and get them to arrange a professional cleaning service with customer. I personally don’t see who would want their food delivered at stupid o clock at weekends, just I prefer to have my food here daytime or early evening certainally no later than 9pm. Tho supermarkets with physical stores are open 10-4 on Sunday I really can’t see there’s much demand for some weird hour delivery to the customer, but hey I gather it keeps folks in employment. I can see why much of the delivery to the stores is done overnight. As re cameras I don’t know are they in the vans to stop you having a sneaky smoke (not that I smoke, unless you count e-cigs) or are they there to capture interaction between yourself and the customer? Are they cameras there more for staff protection than anything? So if I apply to Ocado again and am successful there’s a chance they might fund my HGV , tho it could be quicker if I fund it myself.
Captain Caveman 76:
Many years ago I worked for a company called “John Menzies” driving a 3.5t van delivering newspapers to shops first thing in the morning. Not sure if they still do that or if it’s suitable for you. Just another idea.
I did this, it was the ball ache of doing the paper sorting and bundling first that did my tree in. The driving part only made up a small part of the shift, well it did for us anyway.
PP … Keep trying, just because you got a knock back here, doesnt mean it still wont happen for you, just keep knocking on doors 
You don’t get paid while in the yard. Avoid like the plague.
PottyPot. The in cab camera is for the driver’s safety but it can work against you. I had a friend at Ocado who was given a straight final written warning as he had both hands off the steering wheel for a split second and the camera happened to catch this.
The camera faces both forwards and backwards so it can monitor the road ahead and the driver in the cab. It records on a thirty second loop, if it does’nt get set off then it records over the thirty seconds of film and so on. If it gets set off it has one minute of footage as it records for a further thirty seconds. If you drop down a kerb it will set the camera off or go round a roundabout a bit sharp etc.
I think without doubt the best thing about the job is that you get paid for an 8 hour shift if you finish after say 6 hours and you can go home too. I often got home whilst at Dordon and was still being paid and that was with a 26 mile drive home.
I also delivered to some amazing houses and even a castle and a few Z list celebs. The tips were good at christmas and the benefits decent inc pension which they match, if you pay 5% they pay the same. If you live close it would give you a good idea of what driving for a living is like.
Doing the deliveries in the dark is way harder as most houses seem to not have a number, I just got a torch which a very powerful and long beam. I heard that a woman driver got ■■■■■■■ in the back of the van and after that the women stopped PM routes. Maybe this has changed now. I was always very aware of my surroundings esp at night and I’m male. I went to a few dodgy areas but on the whole the houses are in decent areas. I loved The Park in Nottingham next to the castle and also the Cotswolds but Oxford opened and we lost that area
I gather there’s good and bad about cameras in the van, tho will you get penalied if you happen to take one hand off, say if you need a glug of water or you happen to sneeze.
I can see how a camera is useful for insurance or in the event of a prang then maybe it can see who caused it (good if you’re not at fault). So on a late shift that could be working 'til midnight 1am, IO can’t imagine customers wanting deliveries much after 10.30-11pm. When I shop at Asda online I usually get a 10am-midday slot, or sometimes early evening if I’m out during the day. I don’t know maybe I associate Ocado with being more expensive, maybe as I know previosly they had a partnership with Waitrose, tho I know they do deliveries for Morrisons.
A army veteran friend did show me a wau to hold my keys esp at night , between my fingers with the end sticking out, to stab anyone with them should they invade my personal space, not that I’ve ever needed to use it. I think carrying a powerful torch is useful for deliveries , finding houses.
I know my mum taught me about stranger danger when I was young, I know sometimes as a teen I walked a couple of streets from a friend’s house to my parents as a teen and nothing sinister ever happened. I think maybe standing tall and not scuttling along like you shouldn’t be there helps.
A castle does anyone live in castles these days apart from royalty? Maybe the castle had been converted into flats or it was owned by some entity like the National Trust, and maybe they have events on. I know in local papers I’ve seen Hatfield House have Elizabethan style banquets, or maybe some of these castles/stately are licenced for weddings, or they can be hired as a venue for say a wedding reception. Just I’m curious about who lives in a castle or may want food delivered there.
Those Dotcom vans are prime targets though, especially around Christmas time because they can be stocked with a lot of alcohol. When my dad worked at Tesco he told me a story where they had one of their Dotcom vans nicked, the scrotes used the in-cab phone to call up the office, tell them they had nicked everything out the back and where they had dumped it. It was later found smashed up and reeking of pee.
I gather you can’t always predict an eventuality like that. Hoe did the scrotes knoiw where the Tesco delivery van was if it was on the rounds, maybe they’d been watching for a while, or maybe they happend to see the van and give it a go. I think there’s one of you, but is more of them, whilst you don’t want that to happen to you on a round it’s probably better to let the goods and possibly van go than to try and fight them off. I gather the only way to prevent against theft is to have someone sitting in the van as a deterrent, but I don’t think the supermarkets would employ two on a run.
They are easy to spot, the closer to Christmas it gets the more you see them. As for the scrotes themselves, don’t ever confront them. Your life is more important than the load you’re carrying. If you happen to spot someone having a nosey, start the engine, move forward or if needs be drive off, card or no card.
Most of the thefts from Dotcom vans are due to drivers leaving it unlocked. You may not always get a drop where you are right outside the front door, many drivers get lazy and don’t bother locking up before going inside or away from the van. Common sense is the biggest thing to beat thieves.