He's confused, he's talking about the second stage and getting his letter for Leeds, not people who have been, he is going to Leeds on the 8th
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Trainee drivers Freighliner HH
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He's confused, he's talking about the second stage and getting his letter for Leeds, not people who have been, he is going to Leeds on the 8th
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I wouldn't be that worried yet, at interview it seemed to me, that individuals had been earmarked for certain depots (those closest to their home address, even if it fell outside of one hours traveling), so the people who have been told are probably the first tranche and like you said maybe they had to give a months notice,and people who have to give a weeks notice can be told next week and still have enough time for the medicals etc , and be able to start in November. How else will they accommodate all the FLHH shunters and staff who have been successful. They wont just release their own staff without finding replacements and training them first. Lots of shunting jobs coming up soon?
bacooke1987
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Oh yeah sorry misread your post.
Beveridges
Established Member
Being able to work while sleep deprived (at times) is essential in this job anyway looking at the shifts
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DunfordBridge
Member
The same thought had crossed my mind but I was under the impression that shifts were managed to reduce the risk of fatigue. Although I was getting quite used to jet-setting (or train-setting) across the country for interviews, on this occasion, I wished that I had slept at home. It was quite a pleasant hotel in all other respects.
Beveridges
Established Member
There are a few restrictions in place through the so-called "Hidden Laws" but they do very little to be honest!
Examples:
You can still be asked to start work at 03:00.
You can still book off at 07:00 and start work at 06:00 the next day.
You can start work at 23:00 and finish at 11:00.
All these would not break the "Hidden Laws" that are in place on the railway.
How are you getting on with preparing for Tuesday?
WesternAccent
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How long is this interview to last for? I have no idea what I'm supposed to be researching. Depsite trawling these forums for previous examples.
They aren't laws, they're recommendations that more reputable companies have taken on board.
Fatigue index and management of such issues is a seperate subject and comes from a totally seperate set of guidelines.
bacooke1987
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Yeh not to bad Fergie just researching a bit on the website and going through mock questions. Theres only so much you can do though really, I think it's all down to on the day making a good impression. How about yourself?
Yeah I have pretty much done the same there are so many possible questions we can't prepare for them all. I think it's going to be more about our personality and if in their eyes we fit the role.
DunfordBridge
Member
I once spoke to a Cross Country driver at the York Rail Fest who reckoned to start at 1am sometimes, at Neville Hill I think.
notadriver
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I accompanied a friend to rail fest and I got the impression the staff showing people around the cab were technicians and not drivers for the most part. I asked the chap in the voyager where the isolation switches were from the DSD, EBS etc. He looked at me blankly and when I found them he told me those were strictly out of bounds for drivers - which they are normally but drivers need to know where they are, what they do and the effect of using them is....
DunfordBridge
Member
That sounds quite feasible Dunford, earlier this year I was assessed / interviewed for a TM role at XC Leeds. When we were waiting for our next interview during the day, we waited in the XC crew room. Chatting to the drivers , guards, rpo's, rsm's etc, I was told that a lot of the Leeds turns started at around 3 am even though first train out of Leeds was at 6am. Driver turns were earlier, as they booked on at NH & took the HST to York or Newcastle (cant remember which) to start there. I believe some drivers also booked on at Crofton, where the Voyagers were stabled.
Just phoned up FLHH HR to ask for an update (had my managers interview 2 weeks ago.)
Got told the lady who is dealing with this is out of the office now till Thursday. (Doing interviews I presume)
Guessing we will all hear at the end of this week.
F1Fan.
Got told the lady who is dealing with this is out of the office now till Thursday. (Doing interviews I presume)
Guessing we will all hear at the end of this week.
F1Fan.
I know the anxiety you feel mate. By the sounds of that we won't be hearing anything this week.....
Good luck to the couple of guys on here who have mentioned there Managers Interview is tomorrow
DunfordBridge
Member
Pardon my ignorance but three hours seems a bit excessive to prepare the train. The catering team must be baking the food before they set off. From what I have read elsewhere, the Cross Country drivers seem to be well rewarded for their troubles. Only snag is that they do not entertain trainee drivers.
Beveridges
Established Member
Neville Hill is NL not NH.
NH is Newton Heath. The premier depot of Northern England.
NH is Newton Heath. The premier depot of Northern England.
notadriver
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As you are someone who already in a computing job maybe you could convince Cross Country to take you on as you are already quite knowledgable about trains ?
Beveridges
Established Member
Suprised main line drivers prep trains on NL. At NH the MDDs do it, and because of this, the mainline drivers can start an hour later than they would if they had to prep. Most depot departures are rafts of 3 or 4 bog units. That would take an hour or more to prep. The earliest departure is 04:15! It runs to Preston I believe, to start a passenger service that kicks off at around 05:30.
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Pardon my ignorance sir Bev, I stand corrected !
DunfordBridge
Member
Thank you, always good to have your talents recognised. By the time I am ready to apply again, I should be even more knowledgable.
Sorry DB, only passing on what I was told. Why would an XC driver need to start at 1am anyway?
DunfordBridge
Member
No worries AT60, I have never looked into it before but it does seem pluasible for an early start if the drivers have to collect trains from near Wakefield if they have been in for a service, or if they need to take trains to other parts of the network in the absence of local depots.
I think the man who told me about the 1am start was a bit of an old timer as he quite merrily remembered the days when drivers worked their way up through the ranks as second men, etc. I am not quite sure if he approved of the practice of taking drivers off the street, or something along those lines. To my mind, it made trainee drivers sound like a bunch of graffiti artists.
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londonlancs
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Yep, no news on stage two here either. It took at least a week for my stage 1 results to come through though, so i'm not expecting anything until at least Friday for stage 2. Some others on this forum apparently had to wait a few weeks, so try to put it out of mind (yeah, it's that easy)!
interesting thought (although complex - i overthink things): at the assessment we were officially told that the tests were changing (to become harder i believe). if this is the case that should mean the number of people getting through the testing will fall dramatically, so as long as we pass this stage 2 we should be in a much smaller pool of drivers when applying for other driving jobs (if all freightliner jobs go before we can get there).
in the same thought process: does anybody else think it's strange there's an unprecedented nationwide job application literally just before these tests are supposed to change? i find this question genuinely interesting...
interesting thought (although complex - i overthink things): at the assessment we were officially told that the tests were changing (to become harder i believe). if this is the case that should mean the number of people getting through the testing will fall dramatically, so as long as we pass this stage 2 we should be in a much smaller pool of drivers when applying for other driving jobs (if all freightliner jobs go before we can get there).
in the same thought process: does anybody else think it's strange there's an unprecedented nationwide job application literally just before these tests are supposed to change? i find this question genuinely interesting...
DunfordBridge
Member
It does seem strange to me that there were many jobs on offer in recent weeks including the vacancies at Freightliner, DB Schenker, DRS et al, on a nationwide basis. Maybe a bit of a mad rush before some of the old tests are phased out.
Colas and Chiltern seem to be coming in with the new tests however.
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JoyDivision
Member
Any news on a start date gents?
Hi, no news yet. When did you take your medical?
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