A Day in The Life: Nigel Vaudin – Transport Manager
March 6, 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 Nigel our Transport Manager had to say:
How does your day start?
I’m normally in just after 0700 each morning before the rest of my team are here at 0730. I turn on my computer, get the Digimap up and running, check if there are specific jobs that need to be out first thing.
My role is to oversee the work of the seven drivers and to ensure that all materials are sent out on time and to the right place. I also drive myself which I really enjoy. Each driver has a list of deliveries on their clipboards so I look through those.
When the drivers arrive we load up and get on the road as soon as we can to beat the traffic. We try and avoid anything in the Town area during rush hour if possible so will probably begin heading west but narrow lanes in St Peters and Torteval can be a challenge sometimes. We always try and deliver as close to the work site as possible but not all gateways are designed to accommodate our trucks.
What is your biggest challenge?
Getting things to clients on time. I hate disappointing people. Sometimes they’ll call to say they need a delivery that morning and we will always do our best. But it’s not always possible. After the pandemic the whole company was affected by supply chain issues. We were only being allocated a certain amount of goods but it’s not such a problem now.
I’ve been in this role for 35 years so I know many of our customers, they have my mobile number and I enjoy dealing with them in person. They often call me direct.
How does your working day finish?
We have a journey planner with all our deliveries on and I go through that to ensure the following day’s work is done as economically as possible and drivers head in the right direction so we don’t double up. I print out their lists before I go home and load my vehicle so I can get on the road nice and sharp. I’m normally here until after 4pm.
What do you do after work?
Golf is a big part of my life in the summer. I’ve been Captain of the Royal Guernsey Golf Club. I grew up there as a junior with my family and have been lucky to play for the island, have been Guernsey and Channel Island champion and when I was 58 I got down to scratch which I’m proud of. But now I don’t take it so seriously. It’s more of a social thing now, I’m just pleased to be out there with the lads and we really enjoy our golf trips away.
My wife and I relish our holidays and we love skiing and will be on the slopes again this year. We also like Italy’s Amalfi coast and went to Sorrento which was fantastic.
In winter, I put the golf clubs back in the garage. But I’m still out at L’Ancresse most days but that’s for dog walking which is great too.
I enjoy my job, I like my work colleagues and I enjoy my time out of work too. Life is good!
