A Day In The Life: Mike Manning – HGV Driver / Transport Coordinator
March 11, 2023 | News | By Dalen Vile
As part of National Careers Week, we have interviewed a variety of our staff to hear what a day in their role consists of. Here’s what Mike our HGV Driver / Transport Coordinator had to say:
How does your day start?
My daughter Amara, who is nearly three, normally wakes me up. I get her changed and sort her out then drop her at nursery before getting into work for 0730.
Once I’m here the first thing I do is get my keys, start the truck to ensure it is running efficiently and do my safety checks. Then I look at my delivery tickets. If the manager isn’t here then I will coordinate logistics with the other drivers before loading up my vehicle depending on which one I am driving that day.
I often take the smaller van and my patch will be Town, St Martins, St Andrews, St Pierre du Bois and Torteval.
What do you enjoy most about the job?
This is coming up to being my 20th year at Norman Piette. I started when I was at school doing works experience. Then I joined full-time for what was supposed to be just a ‘stepping stone’. But, I really enjoy it. I started in the Shop, then the PSE Store, then Heavyside followed by Goods Inwards. The only department I haven’t worked in is Plumbing.
As you can see I like variety and with this role every day is different. I’m not stuck behind a desk. Some days I’ll be in the Hiab, on others I’ll have the small van and I’ll be out in all weathers. I don’t like the rain so much but the cold doesn’t bother me and in summer it can be hot. I deliver everything from boxes of screws, tins of paint to railway sleepers to staircases – literally anything and everything.
What is your biggest challenge?
Road closures! Depending on how you load your goods and set your lorry out determines the order you want to deliver things. It can be really frustrating when a road closure means you have to change the order in which you make the delivery. You have to change your whole route sometimes and that can be a challenge. 95% of the time I’m on my own but sometimes I need a partner to help with traffic when a gateway can be positioned in a difficult place such as close to traffic lights.
You get used to the narrow lanes and some of them can be a bit of a squeeze but generally we do fine. It can be an issue sometimes when a car comes the other way and it’s much easier for them to reverse into a gateway than it is for a truck.
How does your working day finish?
I like to make sure the vehicles are clean and tidy and ready for the following day.
What do you do after work?
I spend a bit of time playing with the little one. My partner and I like to go out for meals and I love to travel. I really like places such as Cancún in Mexico and Florida. When I was younger I enjoyed 18 to 30s trips in places like Magaluf but those days are gone I’m afraid.
