Attended for an assessement at Gist in Spalding this afternoon - passed!! Would have been a tad embarrasing if I hadn’t 
.
Had to laugh - he took me to Peterborough - my training area .
So now if I fancy a bit of driving it will probably be there - agency says it can guarantee work there whenever I want it. Now I just need to want it!
I like to keep my hand in driving when I can - but too many guys want to learn!
Congrats, there would be something wrong ifn instructor fails an assessment 
Good to see another driver in work to
I was in Spalding last week doing a trunking run from Gist Thatcham. The trailer park was a right ■■■■ hole, 2" deep mud. Easy run though, just drop and swap.
Congrats.
Thanks OllieNotts and English Trucker.
Trailer park was still at least 2" of mud - good job I didn’t clean my boots before I went there!
Apparently all Gist drivers are assessed every 2 years - but who assesses the assessor?
Smart Mart:
Thanks OllieNotts and English Trucker.Trailer park was still at least 2" of mud - good job I didn’t clean my boots before I went there!
Apparently all Gist drivers are assessed every 2 years - but who assesses the assessor?
Get you’re foot in the door and I can see an opportunity here for a man of your experience and qualifications
Smart Mart:
Thanks OllieNotts and English Trucker.Trailer park was still at least 2" of mud - good job I didn’t clean my boots before I went there!
Apparently all Gist drivers are assessed every 2 years - but who assesses the assessor?
POST DELETED mis-read OP.
Yea, I have 6 of my drivers going in for assessment this week, 1 has already passed
Smart Mart:
So now if I fancy a bit of driving it will probably be there - agency says it can guarantee work there whenever I want it. Now I just need to want it!
If it’s pertemps don’t believe everything they tell you, at Barnsley they’ve taken on so many no-one is busy.
not Pertemps, it must be John at Driverline as an educated guess
Most guys on the agency get offered a job at some point if they work for Gist all the time. I know Spalding drivers are paid quite a bit less then the depot drivers, they have a different pay structure.
I was on the old generation contract before I left in March. It’s about £9.83ph now on the old contract, basic 38hr week. Time and a half after 7.6 but same rate for a Saturday and premium rate (double time) on a Sunday. Final salary pension. New contract is over £12ph but I don’t know what the inns and outs are of that one. There were drivers at Thatcham earning £40,000+ before the 48hr week, but that’s a lot of rest day working and overtime for that.
No Graham it was ASAP actually.
I don’t get as many days purely driving as I would like. Too much training work to be done!
A lot of my trainees are a bit miffed when they find out that agencies won’t take them on without the ‘2 years’ experience. I wonder how many agency bosses realise just how hard the tests are these days and that anyone who passes at all is safe and usually very keen to work!
Did an assessment for Barnsley. Passed but got bored waiting for work. Very patchy in november. Found Gist drivers to be a good bunch of lads though which was nice.
Smart Mart:
No Graham it was ASAP actually.
Sorry my mistake
Smart Mart:
Apparently all Gist drivers are assessed every 2 years - but who assesses the assessor?
How far up that ladder do you want to go 
The assessors assessor etc etc 
There will come a time when the ladder can go no higher and those at the top on the same level would have to assess each other as happens now in police traffic.
An good assessor should be open to critisism of not only the way they assess but their own driving as well.
If any assessor says that their way is the only way then beware
I generally find that most assessors are just looking out for the numpties who do not have a clue or have an attitude which could be deemed as leading to unsafe practices.
Touching on that point Rog.
Gist has what is called TWI’s (training within industry). These are guys who are just drivers that do all the training for the newbies. When you start at Gist you spend a week with a TWI learning all the ropes.
Then you have the driving assessors, who are also drivers, but are the ones that you go out with on your assessment. I’m not sure how much training they have but I think they do go on a course.
Then you have the assessors that come in from an outside training company. These guys (mostly) are all ex traffic Police Officers and instructors. They take everyone out with a HGV licence including any of the managers. They assess the Gist assessors the same as the rest of us. They are doing this at Thatcham right now. I’ve done loads of these. Basically all you do is a normal run to wherever and the guy comes with you to the store and back. As you are driving they ask all sorts of questions relating to road signs and the highway code. He has a report sheet a bit like a driving test report (I assume) and ticks all the relevant boxes. They make a report and if they feel the driver needs work in certain areas then the Gist assessors will take you out and work on those points. They also test you on vehicle pre trips and reversing.
My only point of contention with these guys is that I’ve heard some of them haven’t got an HGV licence, which is a bit off as they are assessing you on a class of vehicle that they themselves cannot drive.
I think it’s a good idea, but a lot of the guys moan like hell having to do one. I look at it from a future employers view point. It’s better to have a guy turn up at an interview with a handful of positive independent driving assessments than it is to turn up with nothing. 
I wont be doing any as I’m now with an agency going into Gist and they aren’t covered. 
EnglishTrucker:
Touching on that point Rog.Gist has what is called TWI’s (training within industry). These are guys who are just drivers that do all the training for the newbies. When you start at Gist you spend a week with a TWI learning all the ropes.
Then you have the driving assessors, who are also drivers, but are the ones that you go out with on your assessment. I’m not sure how much training they have but I think they do go on a course.
Then you have the assessors that come in from an outside training company. These guys (mostly) are all ex traffic Police Officers and instructors. They take everyone out with a HGV licence including any of the managers. They assess the Gist assessors the same as the rest of us. They are doing this at Thatcham right now. I’ve done loads of these. Basically all you do is a normal run to wherever and the guy comes with you to the store and back. As you are driving they ask all sorts of questions relating to road signs and the highway code. He has a report sheet a bit like a driving test report (I assume) and ticks all the relevant boxes. They make a report and if they feel the driver needs work in certain areas then the Gist assessors will take you out and work on those points. They also test you on vehicle pre trips and reversing.
My only point of contention with these guys is that I’ve heard some of them haven’t got an HGV licence, which is a bit off as they are assessing you on a class of vehicle that they themselves cannot drive.
I think it’s a good idea, but a lot of the guys moan like hell having to do one. I look at it from a future employers view point. It’s better to have a guy turn up at an interview with a handful of positive independent driving assessments than it is to turn up with nothing.
I wont be doing any as I’m now with an agency going into Gist and they aren’t covered.
Excellent idea - bit like an apprenticeship
That would not be a problem if they were just looking at how a driver dealt with the hazards and complied with the law