What I Have Learnt From Being a Multi-Drop Delivery Driver

Are you thinking of applying for Multi-Drop Delivery Driver jobs? Putting your driving licence to good use and hitting the busy roads of cities and the quieter roads of towns and villages while you deliver goods to homes and businesses is an exciting career opportunity with lots of career potential.

Before you decide to apply for Multi-drop Delivery Driver jobs it is always a good idea to hear from the people already in the role and get a behind the scenes perspective. With this in mind, we interviewed Multi-drop Delivery Driver, Stephen. 

I have been driving for around 25 years overall and with Blue Arrow I have been driving for 4 years.

I have a licence to carry dangerous goods (ADR Licence) so I have been putting that to use in Multi-drop Delivery Driver jobs, picking up clinical waste from hospitals, tattoo studios, beauty salons and dentists.

Right now, I am doing Delivery Driver jobs that include picking up water, waste and soil samples from different parts of the country such as Birmingham, Manchester and Hull and taking them back to Durham. It is still classed as Multi-Drop Delivery driving but there is more distance between stops.

I fancied a change from what I was doing before and thought it would be a good career choice with lots of options.

Independence is the best part. Add to that seeing various places and meeting lots of people (in a safe way, at a safe distance). It’s not monotonous you know; you are in and out of the van quite a bit so time goes by quite quickly. 

Other drivers' behaviour and the actual roads themselves. It can be difficult to find parking space and there are so many things like road restrictions and speed cameras that can catch you out in a town or a city. 

When you are driving in the big cities you have to be so aware of people, drivers, restrictions and cameras can be mentally draining and it can test your patience. You just have to focus on what you are doing, stay alert and keep calm.

You are mainly concentrating on the road and on your surroundings. In the background I might have the radio on or maybe I am thinking forward to the next job or location so that occupies my mind. In this job you are meeting lots of people so even though you are on your own it is broken up with plenty of stops.

I listen to Talk radio or 6 music, I don’t really listen to audio books, but I have heard they are good.

I always pack a small lunch, just sandwiches, a snack and flask of tea. Lots of drivers pop into Greggs or McDonalds but it is not ideal for keeping a healthy diet, a packed lunch is usually enough for me.

I start my shift early, so I make sure I go to bed at 8.30pm. I need to be at the depot by 6am so I need time to get up and ready, drive to the depot, do van chores and paperwork all before hitting the road. My first pick up could be a couple of hours away so I want to be out on the road as quickly as possible. 

You need a good routine when you are driving for a living. Even as a Multi-drop Delivery Driver, you might not be doing the long miles on a motorway but it is still tiring and in a delivery van you don’t have a Tachograph telling you when to take a break so you can forget to stop regularly. 

Patience! This is the job to learn patience, and you quickly find that communication skills are extremely important too.

Make sure you are self-motivated, independence is great if you can motivate yourself. The job does have its ups and downs, you have good days and bad days, but part of the fun of the job is that you never know who you might meet, where you might go.

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