Relocating after becoming a qualified driver

[Unknockable]

If during the recruitment process you lived within the commuting distance of your allocated driver depot which was within 45 mins.

Sometime after qualifying you had to move area for whatever reason and this increased your commute time from 45 minutes to let’s say 1 hour and 30 minutes. Would your TOC acknowledge or maybe raise concern about your relocation?

 

[OneLowban]

As far as I’m aware they don’t care after, as long as you book on, on time.

 

[Stigy]

I would suggest, as long as it doesn’t affect your work and you’re not fatigued or constantly late etc, there’s not much they can do about it or care about it? It would be very difficult to get rid of someone after 2-years in the company, whatever job they do. You’ll naturally need to tell HR, but I doubt very much if they’d be concerned. I know of drivers who have done just this and commute far further than they did when they joined the company. I’d go as far as to say I doubt they’ll even ‘google map’ it.

 

[221129]

If during the recruitment process you lived within the commuting distance of your allocated driver depot which was within 45 mins.

Sometime after qualifying you had to move area for whatever reason and this increased your commute distance from 45 minutes to let’s say 1 hour and 30 minutes. Would your TOC acknowledge or maybe raise concern about your relocation?

Yes they will.

 

[bionic]

I don't see it being too much of a problem. Loads of new drivers on SE seem to lodge in the local area or be using a family members address nearby. As soon as they pass out you find they then suddenly are commuting in from Ramsgate, Hastings, Ashford, Medway etc. As soon as they've done their three years they put in moves to the coastal depots nearest where they live. You also get others who come from all over the country and are lodging locally when they start. They tend to do 3 years and then move TOC back home. Many don't even bother doing the specified 3 years. It doesn't seem to bother the company at all as long as you provide an address within the commuting distance when you start.

What I would say though, is if you are moving somewhere 90 mins away from your depot be very careful about fatigue issues. If you have an 0330 start you are leaving home at 0200 and that will be every day. 3 hrs extra every day. I know people who've had SPADs on the back of these kind of commutes.

If you are moving 90.mins away you are far better off looking to get into a TOC or depot much closer to home before you either drive yourself crazy or have a safety incident.

 

[Aivilo]

Depends how savvie your line manager is? They should talk to you about it because of the fatigue index and it's something you really need to consider personally.

 

[Stigy]

What I would say though, is if you are moving somewhere 90 mins away from your depot be very careful about fatigue issues. If you have an 0330 start you are leaving home at 0200 and that will be every day. 3 hrs extra every day. I know people who've had SPADs on the back of these kind of commutes.

Agreed. Even if it does slip under the radar you still have a responsibility to look after your own welfare. I personally can’t think of anything worse that a massive commute to and from work (probably more so on the homeward bound journey).

I suppose it also depends on how you’re communing? For example, if 90% of the time it’s by train, that can have its advantages, however if it’s mostly by road, do you want to be responsible for driving a car for 90-minutes after a shift driving trains? Seems very fatigue inducing.

 

[Aivilo]

Agree with stigy I've a friend that has seen both sides of the coin. He had a pleasant commute in on the wcml thanks to early services into London and no extreme shifts at his depot. He had also done a similar commute by car somewhere else and he openly talks about how much it took out of him.

In my opinion don't risk potentially losing your license or life over a journey to work. Wait for a move to your local depot

 

[387star]

There's a driver in Gatwick Express uniform who appears to commute from Barnham so not sure how that works but there might be a taxi agreement
People commuting fair distances into London or commuter belt depots will always be the norm

 

[387star]

Agreed. Even if it does slip under the radar you still have a responsibility to look after your own welfare. I personally can’t think of anything worse that a massive commute to and from work (probably more so on the homeward bound journey).

I suppose it also depends on how you’re communing? For example, if 90% of the time it’s by train, that can have its advantages, however if it’s mostly by road, do you want to be responsible for driving a car for 90-minutes after a shift driving trains? Seems very fatigue inducing.

Yeah on TL you get cabs so you can train up taxi back or vice versa plus shift swapping can sort things out
I've hardly ever driven to work