HI all, I have just been made aware of a vacancy that involves a nightly trunk to Coalville. Any comments, good or bad, about what would be involved whilst there would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Usually double decker loads, tip and reload. Lots of ugly freight, machinery, food, building materials, steel, furniture, appliances…you name it. How long you’re there will depend on how far you have to travel back, the depots that are further away get priority. We’re a pall-ex member and I do day trunks occasionally.
The whole job for all of these pallet companies on the night trunks is utter utter crap no matter who you work for. The routine at all of them is the same - cram 5 times as many wagons as the depot can fit in, sit in the queue of despair waiting to get tipped then either try to find a non existent place to park up until you’re given permission to join the queue of despair to get reloaded or put the wagon on the bay then drop the unit off and again try to find a non-existent parking place. If more than one wagon from your company gets sent, be prepared to be shafted by the hub loading the wagon that arrived an hour after you before you. Because you’re paid a set amount per week, expect to sit there watching your hourly rate drop through the floor as they hold you back longer and longer to reload and to get wound up when the trunk after you gets loaded before you meaning you earn less an hour than he does that night for doing the same job.
If you’re getting hourly pay go for it but if its a fixed weekly rate, avoid. It’ll only wind you up.
Take your time if you are unlucky enough to be lumbered with one of the bays on the same side as the entrance my advice would be to watch how one of the old boys do it.
They are a PITA,seen many a grown man struggle when they are full of trucks.
You also need to have eyes in the back of your head as the forkies race around like no tomorrow,the canteen upstairs did a decent meal at night for you too which was reasonable priced when I did it many moons ago.
Oh and the yard man was a ■■■■■■!! 
Where will you be based? Trucks are reloaded roughly in order of distance travelled. Some of the freight will be for pre 10 a.m. delivery, so vehicles that need to get to Devon or Scotland will get loaded before ones for Sheffield. And yes, beware of the fork lifts. You’ll soon realise why so much stuff gets damaged, the FLT drivers are absolutely brutal. When you go for the first time, tell the gatehouse when you arrive and they give you a"first time" card to put in your windscreen. When other drivers see it, they’ll keep you right…and you’ll need help, because it’s chaos!
Well, thanks to everybody for the quick and enlightening replies,which is why I posted this on here. A fixed rate, and ‘about’ a 10hr night were mentioned to me, both of which seem loaded in their favour, I now understand. I’ll stay where I am I think, rather the devil you know etc. Thanks again.
The 10 hours a night would really depend on where you are based to be fair,how long would it take you to get there?
If your local-ish then it would be about right IMO.
sayersy:
Where will you be based? Trucks are reloaded roughly in order of distance travelled.
Thats what they say but that isn’t what happens. Trucks get reloaded roughly in the order of the size of the brown envelopes that pass hands. I’ve done Pall-Ex, Palletways, APC, TPN tonight and there’s loads of examples of trucks not being loaded like that. You see it all the time. Leeds loaded before Hull for example.
10hrs a night is possible for the first trunk from your depot but anything after that is a crap shoot. If you’re the last trunk from your depot then you’re there til may 10-20 minutes or so after the end of the sort which can be anything from 3am-6am depending on what night of the week and what time of the year it is.
Ive done it once, and from what I remember, you don’t tip and load from the same bay. You tip round the back of the building and load round the front. Someone mentioned the bays near the gate. Whoever designed them needs shot. Bay 1 and 2 looks best attempted from your blind side!:x Our night men load from bay 5 at night I think, which is still tight but manageable. The site speed limit doesn’t seem to apply to the tug drivers. They are loonies!!!
o:o
A couple if weeks ago I got loaned out to a local company to do a day trunk up to their hub. ‘Quick turnaround’ they said, take this dd up and swap it for a stand trailer that’s already loaded.
In reality, tip the one I had and reload it for another depot - was up there for about 5 hours, getting more and more bored. There was a right mardy cow in the office when I first got there, moaning because I didn’t know where I was going. A really helpful and pretty girl when I went back in though, which improved my mood a bit.
Got back to the 2nd depot late that night, and had a lovely night parked up at stansted airport watching the planes trying to land on my roof!
Still, it was an experience, first time I’ve pulled a double decker. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
Thetaff2:
Take your time if you are unlucky enough to be lumbered with one of the bays on the same side as the entrance my advice would be to watch how one of the old boys do it.
They are a PITA,seen many a grown man struggle when they are full of trucks.
When I first passed my C+E I did the night trunk into there for the company I worked for, loads of room on the tipping side, ■■■■ all on the reloading, whoever designed that place wants shooting. The bay we used all the time was something like 4 or 5. Think the best I ever done it was in about 6 shunts. It was character building for defo.
From what I remember it was built in the wrong place apparently there was a gas main running along the side of the building so that’s why it’s so tight around where the gates are,I use to load on bay 7 every night once you knew how to do it it wasn’t too much of an issue but you always knew when I newbie turned up as you could smell the distinct smell of a clutch burning!