Depot Driver

[Beveridges]

Close but no cigar. We are in 35 hour week, our salary is just shy of £34k and there is no training wage. We get paid time +5% for overtime which is very little difference.

this makes it even more confusing then as when Allerton Driver Opp jobs were advertised Internally they advertised it as a 37-hour week with a lower training rate of £24k plus all the other things I mentioned. Hence no qualified MDD's were interested in moving there, even the ones who could have saved time off their commute.

In that case their T&C's must be different to both east and west. I just assumed they had east conditions because they are certainly very different to the T&C's I have on West!

 

[shedman]

this makes it even more confusing then as when Allerton Driver Opp jobs were advertised Internally they advertised it as a 37-hour week with a lower training rate of £24k plus all the other things I mentioned. Hence no qualified MDD's were interested in moving there, even the ones who could have saved time off their commute.

In that case their T&C's must be different to both east and west. I just assumed they had east conditions because they are certainly very different to the T&C's I have on West!

That is strange yeah. Although when I was at EMT the NL lads had slightly different T&C to the newly made positions at EP and NM. Maybe Northern has picked the things they want from both sides T&C for Allerton. To be honest I would not be surprised

 

[b4zza]

The advert for Allerton on Northerns website states:

Vacancy InformationClose

Y2013/39 Depot Train Driver (shifts) Allerton
Knavesmire way
Y2013/39 Depot Train Driver (shifts) Allerton
Salary - £24,056 per annum increasing to £32,075 per annum upon completion of training

So it seems this is different to both east and west Ts & Cs? Submitted an application today so looking forward to hearing back now.

How long is the training? Is it done at the depot or elsewhere? Cheers

Close but no cigar. We are in 35 hour week, our salary is just shy of £34k and there is no training wage. We get paid time +5% for overtime which is very little difference.

There is going to be vacancies coming up very soon at Neville Hill so if anyone is interested then keep an eye open.

 

[Beveridges]

How long is the training? Is it done at the depot or elsewhere? Cheers

Mine took about 6-7 months. Very little classroom training - Just the rules then thats it. 90% of training is done at the depot, on shifts, with a "minder" depot driver.
Expect to be on nights regularly by the time you get to week 6 or so.
Training on depot will include traction in great depth, radio communication, depot train handling (difficult - especially when "swingers" and half-units are involved), depot route learning & depot protection (easy), DP course, ground shunting plus maintenance tasks like fuelling, engine oil, coolant, tanking.

You become competant at the maintenance tasks quite early on so you can sometimes be pulled off your training to do fuelling or engine oil/coolant for the night. Especially if the depot are short staffed, or if the minder driver is not in.

 

[tiptoptaff]

depot train handling (difficult - especially when "swingers" and half-units are involved)

If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is a 'swinger' unit?

 

[TDK]

How long is the training? Is it done at the depot or elsewhere? Cheers

Basic training is 15 weeks so I believe, however it usually takes longer than that.

 

[Legzr1]

If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is a 'swinger' unit?

Defective/isolated/no brakes.

 

[Beveridges]

If you don't mind my asking, what exactly is a 'swinger' unit?

A unit that has had its brakes isolated. Normally requires haulage or propelling by another one.
These moves are hard. Especially if you get one on your final passout with the DTM watching. The pressure when I had it was immense, far worse than any of the psychometric tests.
Not only do you need to use your traction knowledge to good effect (knowing what to isolate and when & all the other numerous problems that can arise), but when propelling these things you'll need 100% communication with another MDD acting as ground shunter. Often required to propel these swingers into shed buildings, and due to space constraints, propell it up to within inches of a vehicle on jacks or derailers to speeze as much units into the shed as possible. All the Fitters are also there waiting and watching you closely so if you mess up everyone will know. The front of the train is about 140 foot in front of the cab your driving from, so you can hardly see what your coming up to, and the train handles different due to brakes being isolated, and when the person on the ground asks you to move it something outragious like "2 inches" not easy to judge at all. It gets easier after 4 years of doing it but it was hard at the beginning.