Woo-hoo! Finally a development!
Obviously not with my works, who are the biggest bunch of knobs in the history of ever.
Our Robyn (my niece) said to apply to Jack Richards (hauliers) for some weekend work last year. At the time she was dating the son of one of the transport managers, so believed he would look upon my application favourably.
Anyway, my works said I couldn’t work my weekends off for anyone else, I was still thinking I might get taken on as a driver with our works and I didn’t want to risk giving up a full time job for occasional casual weekends.
When my works finally came clean with me (that they were never going to let me drive for them) I immediately started applying for anything and everything. Robyn gave me the number of the chap again. I didn’t want to ring him cold and say “Give me a job, your lad’s ex said I could drive for you”, so I went online. They had no jobs advertised but there was a standard application form. I thought it would do no harm to fill it in anyway. I was honest on it, putting that I had my licenses but no experience.
That was a few weeks ago. Out of the blue last Friday I noticed I had a missed call and message on my ‘phone from Jack Richards!
I rang them back on my break at work and arranged an interview.
I went for it yesterday straight from work.
The chap was almost apologetic about the job, and kept saying things like “you go away and talk it over with your missus, if you want to go ahead call me back”, and such.
The deal is; I drive with someone in the cab teaching me the job, for a week unpaid (which sounds frighteningly familiar!) then at the end of the week I go out for an assessment with the chap who conducted the interview. If I pass I get taken on,(with allowance made for my working my week’s notice) initially on three months probation.
This is the best offer I’ve had. As he suggested I’ve booked a week off work as holidays. He was saying to do it so I would have money at the end of the week but I think it is so I will still have a job to go back to if I fail the assessment.
Both reasons work for me.
The job I’ve said I would do (see under ‘anything, any hours, any contract’) is tramping. He said if I get taken on I would serve my probation without nights out while I got the hang of it, then after the three months move on to tramping. This would entail picking up my own truck (apparently the cabs are big enough to stand up in, so quite roomy!) setting off on say, the Monday, pick up, drop off until out of driving hours (9 or 10 hours a day, 90 over a fortnight, but much longer days as the waiting around and breaks don’t count towards your hours) then pull over and sleep in the bed in the back of the cab. Get up and repeat, possibly until Friday or Saturday when I return to the yard.
Not ideal, but as it’s the only offer I’ve got I’ll gladly take it.
Here’s a minute of advertising from Volvo on the latest model, shouldn’t be too different as the trucks in the fleet are all less than four years old.
Even in this idealised video it looks like I’m going to quickly go stir-crazy!
If I do get this job it raises serious questions about my ability to train for my Ironman. Are you allowed to leave your truck and bugger off for several hours running? How do you get cleaned up when you get back? (Assuming I don’t get lost and lose my truck!)
The only other news is that I’ve been put back in de-kit at work. Permanent 6-2, one weekend off in four. Ho hum.
Later,
Buck.
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