Hi, I’m new here. Nice to meet you all.
See bottom of Post for images
Apologies if it’s a little too much. Everything you are about to read is 100% the truth.
Am I an idiot for walking or should I have left with my head held high?
I had my first ever job as a class 2 driver today after passing my test in July this year and I was quite concerned throughout.
To start off, I was invited to an induction this morning, as all companies do, I’m sure.
I’ve been to a few inductions and this was by far, very unprofessional and in my opinion, not a good place to work.
I was asked to sit in a room and read a few documents. I thought, OK…health and safety, training documents, contract info etc etc.
There was a booklet on manual handling. (I told the inductor I’ve done it recently as he asked if I’ve ever done manual handling training before) and he skipped it.
I then spent most of my time hanging about outside while the inductor did other things. Afterwards he said he will take me out in the truck to fill up with fuel ready for the morning. (this is where the alarm bells starting to ring)
The inductor told me he had been using this truck for work last week. He didn’t even know where the bonnet catch was. I asked him if he had filled in the defect/vehicle check sheet, he said he didn’t have to, he’s the site supervisor. Lol!
The truck was a 2006 DAF tanker.
He informed me that it had previously had a lot of work done to pass the MOT. I think it should have been scrapped.
Before we went out. No defect sheet was completed. No checks were carried out. (I assumed he checked it off before I arrived.) No documentation present in the truck. I didn’t drive, the inductor did. He also hit the mirror of another lorry while passing on a main road and blamed the mirror moving.
In the yard.
The side shelves were rusted so bad, debris was falling off onto then floor.
The nearside repeater looked like it had been knocked and was not working when I checked the lights.
The offside mirror was badly damaged and was loose. To keep it in place, the inductor put a small screwdriver in the side of the bottom mounting point to keep it erect, which fell out when he showed me. He also told me that a previous driver hit something and the mirror closed and smashed the drivers window. He said it happened quite a while ago. But there was glass everywhere inside the cab. The floor, on the dash, between the seats, on the seats, in the gear stick gator and around the handbrake, in the door card compartment…you name it, the glass was there.
(before I saw the glass he asked me to hop in and get a feel for the truck, I got in used 3 points of contact and I got glass stuck in my left hand from the seat after feeling it because I felt something sharp stab me in the arse cheek.)
The brake liner warning light was present and when he drove around , he pressed the brake nothing happened for about 2 seconds then it would slam on. (he told me it’s because the truck has air brakes, they are totally different to your car brakes) I smelled BS straight away.
I was also told that any defects I found I was to goto a shop and use my own money to pay for the parts, fit what parts I’m capable of and I’d be reimbursed. (I was not prepared to do that and I told him that).
The guys I met including the inductor was as nice as pie, but the condition of the truck and what they expected of me was too much for me to risk losing my licence and/or being fined.
I refused to drive the truck as I thought it was unfit for the road. At the same time I thought I was going to get the boot. But I stood my ground and refused.
So in the end I decided to walk and tried to explain my reasons to the manager but he was not interested and asked me to drop off anything I was given back at the office. (PPE)
After 6 hours of being there I didn’t want the job.
Thanks for reading.
/Lee
ibb.co/B6QXqKC
ibb.co/d58B5LH
ibb.co/Y39ccG5
ibb.co/p0NpJ8H
ibb.co/G7KLbZM
ibb.co/jRvp0kG
ibb.co/nCHWfVQ
ibb.co/z7M7wpR
Sent from my P20 Pro using Tapatalk
they sound like a right bunch of chancers