I was sent to a Tesco RDC today in Milton Keynes.

I was dreading it because , as drivers will know. RD C's are horrendous.

They are often unforgiving places with cold,humourless staff, petty rules and regulations that dominate your visit.

Time also often stands still.

There is always a barrage of signs to navigate, controlling every step you take, including (if your lucky and they allow you to use them) your toilets breaks.

It seems from my experience that the bigger the company , the worse the RDC. They all fail in some area, even if they get some things right.

The Tesco I visited today was an example of getting some things right but still being a horrendous experience.

Ill explain the whole procedure from the front gate so you get an idea of how things work there.

I pulled up at the gate and rang the intercom to gain access.

After a few minutes I was asked for my reference number and booking time.

I was booked in at 9 am but I had arrived early, it was 7.45.

This is the best way to make your stay a whole lot longer because they seem to get really annoyed when you are early.

I was told to find an empty parking lane and write the lane number and phone number down on the notes and hand them into the office.

I was given a pager and told to wait in the truck until it went off.



At 10 30 it went off.

That's 2 hours and 45 minutes after I arrived.

This had given me time to make use of the facilities on offer and I have to say the whole site was dirty and messy.

This pallet of wine was rotting away on the front.

The toilet was out of paper and the sink was filthy and out of soap.

This lager was also left abandoned out in front of an empty bay.



I was guided by the yellow lines to the drivers room where I found a coffee machine and a TV showing Jeremy Kyle.

I think that us drivers must be a changing breed because the coffee machine was sold out of Cappuccino, Latte, and Mocha chocolate.

The only drink left was white coffee and tea.
Even the hot chocolate and the soup were empty .


I have been wondering if tuning the TV into Jeremy Kyle was done on purpose or a cruel act thought up by a disgruntled employee to exact revenge on an early driver.

By the time I took the photo This Morning had started.Evil !

I was beeped at 10.30 and told to go to bay 24 and hand my keys in at the office.

I was still sitting in the truck, keyless and clueless at 11.30 and nothing had happened.

20 minutes later and there was movement on the rear of the truck.
The sides of the loading dock started inflating and wrapped around the rear of the lorry sealing it.

After a few moments the sides deflated again and a loader asked if I could open the curtains up because the truck was too low to fit on the dock.

I was in the 10 ton Iveco which usually fits on most docks, but there is always a first time for everything I suppose.

I had to wait for the forklift driver to come around the front and unload me or side tip me, to give it its technical term.

This made it even longer until I could leave.

The boss was now ringing me, asking what was taking so long and I didn't really have an answer except , I'm at Tesco! Its what you expect to do at a Tesco.Wait.

I mentioned humourless staff and I have to admit that today they were all OK.

I'm not saying anyone smiled or commented on the weather or made even the slightest attempt at polite conversation but they did their job to the minimal requirements with at least courtesy and efficiently. which is all they are required to do I suppose.

I did feel a little bit embarrassed by the facilities because there were several foreign drivers including two immaculate looking french drivers waiting, and they looked less than impressed.


I was finally given a code and released at 12.45.

I have posted about RDC's before and they never come out very well which makes me think that they must all be crap.

I went to one that bucked the trend once It was penguin book warehouse known as Pearsons. the staff were really friendly and helpful and the coffee was free.
See how easily pleased we are ?

A long day made longer

I wrote this post just after I got home from work and I was pretty pissed off at the time.

I didn't post it on the night because I wanted to reflect on how I felt and I didn't want to say things I didn't mean, well I have reflected and I still want to say these things.

I have no hard feelings against work though and I would never be deliberately disruptive or awkward. I just want to stay legal.


This is the original post

A long day is made a lot longer when you are not appreciated.

I will tell you about my day and why I am feeling pissed off.

Its the first time I have felt like this since starting this job but its my own fault and has been coming for a while.

I was meant to be at a very important customer of ours in Norwich for eight and that means me leaving the yard in Leicester at 4.30.

I usually get there at about 7.30 and have to wait for the staff to arrive.

I am asked (told) to leave the truck on break while tipping ,which usually takes about 2 hours.

I picked up a Pallet of returns from Norwich as well as the nine empty ones from my delivery.

I set off at 10 o-clock to Lowestoft to deliver One pallet to a plumbers yard.


Straight out of their yard and on to PTS in Attleborough.

I was there for about ten minutes and then I had to get to Cambridge for an important collection that was due on an aeroplane for Friday.

This was the train crossing at Attleborough.
This was a sign for self pick Strawberries , what else?



This was the view from the cab at Snetterton.


I spent 15 minutes at the Cambridge collection and put it on break again, even though I was tipping for nine of those minutes.

I was very low on driving time by now so I rang the office and explained I was going to be 30 minutes late for my Corby collection.

I was meant to be there before 3 pm because that's when they close.

I rang the office and explained but the manager told me to go for it and get there for 3 o-clock

Like a fool I did. It put me five minutes over my 2nd 4.30 hours driving period.

I was really low on fuel and had to ring in for a fuel card pin number and drive a little out of my way to get to a BP garage.

I was asked to collect 2 plts from one of our regulars.

I went back down the A14 and up the M1 . Just as I was about to Join the motorway , a few miles from my drop, the same TM rang to berate me for choosing the wrong route and asking why I hadn't gone across country through Market Harborough.

I have been both ways before and I know that the main road is always faster, so why would he even bother trying to piss off a driver who has flogged himself all day and only had a 30 minute break on a 13 hour shift?



Sometimes this job( Lorry drivng) is shit!!