Freightliner Various Trainee Drivers

[Cheggers]

Forget that last message, someone beat me to the question while I dealt with changing a nappy half way through my message

No indication at all just stated the starting salary. I take it they'll tell us on the course or when we get our formal offer as we've had to do our Medicals first. Hoping this weeks for formal offer. But then again it is the railway lol

 

[Bristol VRIII]

That is a really long wait! lol, I had my stage 1 the day before 23rd August and was asked to come for stage 2 on the 4th Sept but due to work commitments the OPC let me push it back to September 26th Thankfully,

So do you live in Peterborough?

That’s good for you then, this is the first time of applying for myself so extremely pleased to be through to stage 2.
I don’t live in Peterborough but 35 minutes away. I currently work around Peterborough.

How about you, are you from Peterborough?[/QUOTE]

Hey mate sorry for the late reply but yeah I live in Peterborough but am working in Cambridge atm, I have been speaking to a FL driver based at Peterborough and have been told you predominantly do HH with some IM thrown in, the routes can be;
go as far north as toten past Leicester, but can go further depending on requirements, Peterborough to Ely Peterborough to king cross Ely to Liverpool Street Ely to Ipswich Ely to Norwich Ely to kings cross Liverpool Street main line to Ipswich and Norwich North London lines South Tottenham lines Midland main line Then lots and lots of loops and junctions across the routes and diversions like Hertford loop and seven sisters loop, and branch lines like Felixstowe ect and being based at PBO you only sign class 66's
Hope this helps

 

[Nishhh]

No indication at all just stated the starting salary. I take it they'll tell us on the course or when we get our formal offer as we've had to do our Medicals first. Hoping this weeks for formal offer. But then again it is the railway lol

Where is it they send you for the medical?

 

[Cheggers]

Where is it they send you for the medical?

Liverpool

 

[Nishhh]

Liverpool

Wow! Wondering if they will send everyone there...

 

[GLENMAYE77]

Wow! Wondering if they will send everyone there...

I hope so....on my doorstep

 

[Stigy]

Wow! Wondering if they will send everyone there...

I heard they also send people to Watford too? Can’t remember who said this but it was in this thread somewhere.

 

[baz962]

I heard they also send people to Watford too? Can’t remember who said this but it was in this thread somewhere.

Watford is the opc office , I would think any candidate living nearer would go there . It's where I did my second day , just for a different toc.

 

[Stigy]

Watford is the opc office , I would think any candidate living nearer would go there . It's where I did my second day , just for a different toc.

At what point do the OPC undertake the medicals on staff? I kind of assumed they just did the assessments and the medical would be done by Freightliner themselves or by another company?

 

[baz962]

Oh sorry I missed the medical part , I thought you meant second assessment day . The opc don't do medicals , usually other third party companies that specialise in them .

 

[Diff]

What sort of stuff does the train driver medical involve? I take it it's similar to the HGV one but a bit more extreme? Eyes, blood pressure etc...

 

[Brooksy]

So anybody failed the stage two? Not that I wish it on anyone but nobody’s said they didn’t pass it

 

[baz962]

Eyesight , including colour vision , hearing , height and weight , ecg , urine test , range of movement and they ask you general questions about your health.

 

[Teddyward]

To add to the above I had to also draw two overlapping pentagons.

 

[Stigy]

Eyesight , including colour vision , hearing , height and weight , ecg , urine test , range of movement and they ask you general questions about your health.

I’ve heard somewhere that BMI could be a bar to appointment? I’m not morbidly obese, however my BMI is in the obese range (about 33), any idea if this would be a problem (if I got that far haha). I think it’s more taken in to account if you can’t move freely etc. I’m not a fan of BMI anyway as I don’t think it paints an accurate picture of one’s health but that’s just my view. I’ve done railway medicals before as I have Personal Track Safety (PTS), however I believe the driver medical is a bit more in-depth.

 

[Cheggers]

I’ve heard somewhere that BMI could be a bar to appointment? I’m not morbidly obese, however my BMI is in the obese range (about 33), any idea if this would be a problem (if I got that far haha). I think it’s more taken in to account if you can’t move freely etc. I’m not a fan of BMI anyway as I don’t think it paints an accurate picture of one’s health but that’s just my view. I’ve done railway medicals before as I have Personal Track Safety (PTS), however I believe the driver medical is a bit more in-depth.

As a military doctor once told me, Frank Bruno had a BMI of over 40 in his prime. I've always been over, even when I was young and lean. In my medical she just said I'm obviously not fat and my ECG, blood pressure and everything else was fine. And I managed to touch my toes lol. Don't even worry about it. I think the ECG is the biggy they look at.

 

[Cheggers]

To add to the above I had to also draw two overlapping pentagons.

Never had to do this on my medical. Interesting one that.

 

[Pete C]

Never had to do this on my medical. Interesting one that.

Yeah, odd. I've done a couple of railway medicals and never had to do that.

 

[Stigy]

As a military doctor once told me, Frank Bruno had a BMI of over 40 in his prime. I've always been over, even when I was young and lean. In my medical she just said I'm obviously not fat and my ECG, blood pressure and everything else was fine. And I managed to touch my toes lol. Don't even worry about it. I think the ECG is the biggy they look at.

Thanks, as I said, I don’t like BMI for the very reasons you mentioned. I’m not all muscle, and in my case, 33 is 33 haha. However, I’m active day to day, can ‘run’ if I need to and would be able to climb steps etc.

 

[Cheggers]

Thanks, as I said, I don’t like BMI for the very reasons you mentioned. I’m not all muscle, and in my case, 33 is 33 haha. However, I’m active day to day, can ‘run’ if I need to and would be able to climb steps etc.

Yeah you'll be fine mate. Wouldn't worry.

 

[Stigy]

Yeah you'll be fine mate. Wouldn't worry.

Cheers mate. Gotta get through stage 2 before I even think about a medical anyway haha.

 

[Lenny_1986]

Can anyone who has completed the process confirm if they ask what your current notice period is. My current employer requires 3 months but from what I’ve seen on this forum people who have been successful are being told they start courses within 4-6 weeks. Obviously if I’m successful, thanks.

 

[delticdeano74]

Can anyone who has completed the process confirm if they ask what your current notice period is. My current employer requires 3 months but from what I’ve seen on this forum people who have been successful are being told they start courses within 4-6 weeks. Obviously if I’m successful, thanks.

Hi mate,
Yes they do. It's asked at your DMI along with have you got any holidays booked.

 

[Lenny_1986]

Hi mate,
Yes they do. It's asked at your DMI along with have you got any holidays booked.

Thanks Deano. I know 3 months is a long notice period and I don’t want it to go against me with so many other good applicants attending.

 

[crebbs1]

I have been speaking to a FL driver based at Peterborough and have been told you predominantly do HH with some IM thrown in, the routes can be;
go as far north as toten past Leicester, but can go further depending on requirements, Peterborough to Ely Peterborough to king cross Ely to Liverpool Street Ely to Ipswich Ely to Norwich Ely to kings cross Liverpool Street main line to Ipswich and Norwich North London lines South Tottenham lines Midland main line Then lots and lots of loops and junctions across the routes and diversions like Hertford loop and seven sisters loop, and branch lines like Felixstowe ect and being based at PBO you only sign class 66's
Hope this helps

Thanks for the info, appreciate it.
Good luck with your stage 2.

 

[Bristol VRIII]

Thanks mate good luck to you also and everybody else due for theirs. Stigy im BMI 33 too got down from 35. Some of the "heavy" drivers I come across makes me not worry about that aspect lol i think as long as you have a good ticker along with the other essentials then your all good

 

[mumrar]

As a military doctor once told me, Frank Bruno had a BMI of over 40 in his prime. I've always been over, even when I was young and lean. In my medical she just said I'm obviously not fat and my ECG, blood pressure and everything else was fine. And I managed to touch my toes lol. Don't even worry about it. I think the ECG is the biggy they look at.

I'm always a curious so and so, so I went and checked out Bruno's stats for his first fight against Tyson - He was 6ft3in, 228lbs (16st 5) aged 28 which gives him a BMI of 28.6 - this purely because I thought the story of the military doctor saying Bruno was BMI 40 sounded too far fetched. FYI, Bruno would have had to have been 23 stone to be a BMI of 40!!

 

[mumrar]

It has now been just over 2 weeks since I got my email to say I'm through to the DMI stage pending a date. I'm wondering at what point do I contact Freightliner or the OPC to chase up a date?

I want to appear keen because I am, but also don't want to seem impatient either. Any advice?

 

[Stigy]

Thanks mate good luck to you also and everybody else due for theirs. Stigy im BMI 33 too got down from 35. Some of the "heavy" drivers I come across makes me not worry about that aspect lol i think as long as you have a good ticker along with the other essentials then your all good

Then there’s my eyes...

To be fair I’m fairly confident with my eyes. I wear glasses but have seen the medical standard for drivers somewhere before and if it’s the same, my uncorrected vision would have to be pretty much non-existant for me to fail. I’m jumping the gun anyway haha. Must focus on the interviews!

 

[Cheggers]

I'm always a curious so and so, so I went and checked out Bruno's stats for his first fight against Tyson - He was 6ft3in, 228lbs (16st 5) aged 28 which gives him a BMI of 28.6 - this purely because I thought the story of the military doctor saying Bruno was BMI 40 sounded too far fetched. FYI, Bruno would have had to have been 23 stone to be a BMI of 40!!

Ha bloody doctor trying to make me feel better. Mind you isn't a BMI of 28.6 still classed as overweight? Not that it really matters....