Hiram B. Good's The Multi-Drop Drivers' Manual: 3

~ Contents ~

TITLE PAGE

PREFACE TO THE

2020 EDITION

SECTION ONE

About the Business

SECTION TWO

Operator’s Licenses

Work Time Directives

Vehicle Tracking

SECTION THREE

Diversity

Discrimination

Health & Safety

Manual Handling

SECTION FOUR

The Nuts and Bolts

SECTION FIVE

Doom and Gloom?

The Future

SECTION SIX

Electric, Electric-Hybrid.

Low Emission

SECTION SEVEN

Vehicle Categories

for becoming a Lorry Driver

BIOGRAPHY

COPYRIGHT

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

PREFACE TO THE

2020 EDITION

CORONAVIRUS

I have included a small reference to the pandemic as at the time of writing most, or most all drivers of delivery vehicles will already be aware of these new rules and regulations during this time. This manual was published July 2020. However, it would be remiss of me if I neglected to mention some of these changes, and for that I offer no apology, for this pandemic could be here right through the rest of this year and into 2021. For these I have referenced the UK’s H&S Executives web site and the UK’s gov.co.uk web site. For fuller and up to date information please refer to both these organisations for further advise.

Driver access to welfare facilities

All drivers must have access to welfare facilities in the premises they visit as part of their work.

Reports that some drivers are not being allowed to use welfare facilities when they deliver to some premises have already appeared. Preventing access is against the law, equally it’s not the sensible thing to do. Those who already provide reasonable access to toilets and hand washing facilities should continue to do so.

With the latest advice for hands to be washed regularly, failure to allow access to welfare facilities may increase the risk of the COVID-19 infection spreading.

Temporary and limited relaxation

of drivers’ hours rules

The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) have announced that there will be a temporary and limited relaxation of the enforcement of drivers’ hours rules in England, Scotland, and Wales for the drivers of vehicles involved in the delivery of:

food

non-food (personal care and household paper and cleaning)

over the counter pharmaceuticals

The H&SE are clear that driver safety must not be compromised, and they should not be expected to drive whilst tired. Employers remain responsible for the health and safety of their employees, other road users, and anyone involved in loading and unloading vehicles. These arrangements may change during this time.

Temporary relaxation of the enforcement

of the drivers’ hours rules: delivery of

essential items to retailers

Temporary relaxation of the enforcement of the drivers’ hours rules starting from 00:01 on 18 March 2020 and ending 11:59pm on 16 April 2020. This relaxation applies solely to drivers involved in the supply of food and other essential products to supermarkets. This includes the movement of such goods from importers, manufactures and suppliers to distribution centres. It does not apply to drivers undertaking deliveries directly to consumers.

Temporary relaxation of the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours rules: drivers supplying supermarkets

Temporary relaxation of the EU drivers’ hours rules for a 30 day period, for drivers supplying supermarkets with food and other essential items.

BACK TO PREFACE

I have a section on Operator’s Licences, Working Time Directives, and Speed Awareness. Many companies (not only delivery) are now going over to vehicles that are not only tracked for position in the world, but also tracked for road speed legal requirements. That is the driver’s speed can be taken at any point during the course of the day and recorded for insurance purposes. The time will come in the not too distant future (and I am talking single years) before vehicle speeds will be robotically controlled by global position satellites. You may also be aware from the press and television that automatic driverless vans and cars are coming. We may be a tad too far from that at the moment, but it will come. The use and need for heavy duty lorries and articulated vehicles being able to travel from one city to another without a driver will be innovative in the extreme (although not to the man that’s about to be made unemployed); and a future that operators of large fleets will grasp.

Sections for general help and information in the performance of your duties have remained much the same. From the van to the customer’s door is much the same as it’s always been; will continue to be so. However, having said that, certain information, for instance, Transport Working Time Directives issued by the Road Safety Authority that came under the 1998 regulations are more specific. If you are a manager, or in a position of responsibility for drivers, then you should make yourself aware of these and any changes. They can be accessed on line.

The government department responsible for information and guidance to those that hold Operator’s Licences can also be found on line.

If you are a driver you have your own responsibilities. In the various sections, where I have discovered additional information from the relevant government bodies regarding advice and recommendations I have addressed them. I have also updated telephone numbers for organisations.

Now just a word to the wise. Some companies are employing delivery drivers that are using their own cars or vans – even bicycles. And I know that’s been the norm for some time now, nevertheless, be they retired, work part-time, or whatever; and whether they like it or not, they all come under the same regulations as regular professional drivers employed by companies. That includes working hour directives, Health & Safety, overloading of vehicles, condition of vehicle, the right to work in the UK and or, whatever else they may think they are exempt from. They are not. If you are an operator, and your holding company turns a blind eye to casual workers, then the onus will be on you as the operator, as well they themselves. Corporate responsibility law runs deep now; and the UK leaving the European Union, will not render a free for all.

There are of course other businesses that use delivery drivers. Food home deliveries, supermarket deliveries, as well as builders, plumbers, freezer vans, in fact, just about every business going use vans of one sort or the other. Each will have its own ways of loading depending on the product. While most of the advice I have given here is relevant to all delivery businesses I am not in a position to actually go into the nitty gritty of each one.

For those of you that have ambitions to go beyond the world of multi drop into other aspects of the business I have included a section at the end of the book explaining licences with appropriate tests required.

I also have a Section going into greater detail regarding electric- and electric-hybrid vehicles.

SECTION ONE

About the Business

About the Business

The postal parcel business is still dominated by big names. Parcelforce Worldwide, DHL, DX, FedEx, TNT, and UPS, and now Hermes and Amazon. While inland, one way parcels, from own brand distributors are operated by a myriad of smaller companies. Some franchise, others part of national groups, it has become the fastest growing service industry in the world with an ever increasing demand for good delivery drivers. With the emergence in the home delivery market, from Amazon through the alphabet to Zara; from High Street to On line, the business has reached unimaginable levels in the last decade. A customer ordering On line the evening before, expecting a delivery the following day, has become the new norm. Where massive robotic hubs, the kind Amazon, Argos, John Lewis have in place, with the capacity to deal with Black Friday, with not so much as a blip in their system turns eyes. The time has come that unless a supermarket can deliver a customer’s weekly shop using the internet, is the time it will become a bit player. It won’t match the profits and growth over those that are on line. All good news for the people involved in hub handling the products, processing the logistics, and of course, a demand for delivery drivers: good ones. Professionals. Those that recognise they are not just ‘a White Van Man’, but someone that takes a pride in his appearance in his or her job, and the contribution he brings to an industry and the wealth of the country that really cannot do without him; but nonetheless recognise it as a two-way gate, each dependent on the other.

I should like to make just one small point. My mentioning of companies by name. In fairness to all, I have tried to include as many as possible. I have no axes to grind; they are all doing a good job; and contributing to the economy of the nation. And while I mention one company within a sentence, I should like to reiterate that the reader can take it as read that other comparable companies are available.

There is more to being a Multi-Drop delivery driver than just driving a van. And although without it the job would not be possible, the vehicle is only the tip of the iceberg, leaving the job description of van driver short on content. Take for instance, the paperwork. Virtually every move you make will bring it in. From signing-in to signing-out, there’s paper. Even with a hand-held delivery and collection computer device, there’s paper. It’s going to be