Freightliner Various Trainee Drivers

[Bristol VRIII]

So were you expecting this email? So I'm assuming you were going to attend just for the stage 2, but they need you to resit the Group Bourdon because it wasn't enhanced?

Up until last last year I could have got up all the way for free (I think it was VTEC that ran to Crewe?) as I my TOC was part of Stagecoach group...

Most Guards are quite generous I've found, in terms of letting staff just travel for free (some even upgrade to 1st), but I've decided to get a PRIV just in case as I could do without the extra stress haha.

I sent an email asking for clarification as to what test(s) I was required to resit as the email suggested all of them then I recieved the email today which made me have a change of heart,can you buy tickets onboard LNER? if not then I best use the PRIV! lol

 

[Bristol VRIII]

(deleted)

 

[Stigy]

I sent an email asking for clarification as to what test(s) I was required to resit as the email suggested all of them then I recieved the email today which made me have a change of heart,can you buy tickets onboard LNER? if not then I best use the PRIV! lol

Result then I guess?

Technically can't buy on board I guess, as with most operators out of London, however the Train Manager will be happy to sell a ticket if need be. Depends where you're travelling from too of course. I have to cross London so will be joining LNER (I think) from Euston, meaning I'd have to have a ticket first anyway. If you board at an unmanned station obviously you'll be able to buy a PRIV as TVMs don't issue them. If I didn't have to use a large London Terminal with ticket barriers etc, I'd probably just board and speak to the Guard/TM.

 

[Bristol VRIII]

Result then I guess?

Technically can't buy on board I guess, as with most operators out of London, however the Train Manager will be happy to sell a ticket if need be. Depends where you're travelling from too of course. I have to cross London so will be joining LNER (I think) from Euston, meaning I'd have to have a ticket first anyway. If you board at an unmanned station obviously you'll be able to buy a PRIV as TVMs don't issue them. If I didn't have to use a large London Terminal with ticket barriers etc, I'd probably just board and speak to the Guard/TM.

I'll be catching the Cross Country from Peterborough to Nuneaton and the onwards to Crewe, I know I'll be fine getting to Nuneaton but not sure about the final leg, is Nuneaton manned?

 

[Bristol VRIII]

anybody assessment on thurs morning?

 

[Jay_t]

anybody assessment on thurs morning?

Thursday afternoon mine! Carnt wait to get it over with now!

 

[Bristol VRIII]

Thursday afternoon mine! Carnt wait to get it over with now!

Cool mate me too lol! what times yours?

 

[Jay_t]

Cool mate me too lol! what times yours?

13:00.. hopefully they wont leave us hangin on forever for the results! They must be after a fair few drivers if theres still people taking the vse online now!

 

[Ashkemp91]

Hello lads, new to the forum just been googling to see if there was anything on the Freightliner opc and came across this. I’ve got until 24th to do my online tests been practicing loads but nervous about actually sitting down and doing it I work for a ToC already and a few lads have been invited to Crewe that I work with already good luck everyone btw must be doing something right !

 

[Ashkemp91]

I applied for this role on the last day the advert was up (Friday) and today, a week later, have heard back lol. It says I need to take the Visual Search Exercise – 60 & M7 Situational Judgement Test – 60 mins by the 24th. I've never done these before and I'm new to it all so I've never practiced anything either. Is there anything I can do to practice or is their PDF sufficient?

Are there any computer requirements or is it just a simple multiple choice test?

I did the exact same thing and recived the same email I have until the 24th been practicing a few days now Wednesday morning I’m going to sit down and see how it goes

 

[Stigy]

13:00.. hopefully they wont leave us hangin on forever for the results! They must be after a fair few drivers if theres still people taking the vse online now!

I’m on Friday at 1300. Happy it’s later as I’ll have one heck of a trek lol. I know my TOC tells you on the day at all but the MMI if you’ve been successful. Hope it’s the same!

 

[Stigy]

I'll be catching the Cross Country from Peterborough to Nuneaton and the onwards to Crewe, I know I'll be fine getting to Nuneaton but not sure about the final leg, is Nuneaton manned?

Not sure about Nuneaton mate, sorry! Bit off patch for me lol

 

[Instructor_Guy]

Thursday morning at 9 for me.

 

[golla]

Hello lads, new to the forum just been googling to see if there was anything on the Freightliner opc and came across this. I’ve got until 24th to do my online tests been practicing loads but nervous about actually sitting down and doing it I work for a ToC already and a few lads have been invited to Crewe that I work with already good luck everyone btw must be doing something right !

Heh, me doing the same I am also totally new (as Diff). I am a scientist, fully employed, looking for a cool stable job, but I read some opinions online and I am not so sure now. Many drivers escaped in 2017. Do you think there is a chance before taking the job (if I pass of course) to spend few days on a train to see if this really suits me? I am on good salary, but the thing is that my contracts are short. Project finishes and you move around the world to new project (if you are lucky to be employed) which is quite tiring after 10 years. I would like to have a stable job, but the one I like and as everyone in the world I like trains so why not give it a go. Just the opinions I read about the management, artificial way of teaching, put me off a bit, especially that I have a good job and I would not like it to change it to something that I don't like. The offer sounds great - good salary when qualified, hours of working, benefits, holidays... is it all true? Did they change it to something better looking, because many drivers left them?

 

[Minnie113]

Just going through the revision material that has been supplied by The OPC. Just wondering if anyone could shed any light, the email states the below tests will be completed.

The Trainability for Rules and Procedures Test Part 1 and 2

· The Group Bourdon Concentration Test

· The Driver Fault Finding Test (DFFT)

· The Test of Everyday Attention for Occupational Assessment (TEA-Occ)

however the revision material seems to suggest a few additional areas listed below, also is a interview conducted on the assessment date?
WAFV Vigilance Tests,
ATAVT Perception Test
2Hand Co-ordination Test
Situational Judgement Exercise (SJE)
modal Interview (MMI)
Written Communications Test (WCT)

 

[Minnie113]

anyone also know the process if successful after the assessment day?

 

[Teddyward]

anyone also know the process if successful after the assessment day?

Second assessment day. First day paper tests, second day computer tests and multi modal interview. Then if successful managers interview.

 

[Minnie113]

Cheers Teddyward,

 

[Class323201]

Just going through the revision material that has been supplied by The OPC. Just wondering if anyone could shed any light, the email states the below tests will be completed.

The Trainability for Rules and Procedures Test Part 1 and 2

· The Group Bourdon Concentration Test

· The Driver Fault Finding Test (DFFT)

· The Test of Everyday Attention for Occupational Assessment (TEA-Occ)

however the revision material seems to suggest a few additional areas listed below, also is a interview conducted on the assessment date?
WAFV Vigilance Tests,
ATAVT Perception Test
2Hand Co-ordination Test
Situational Judgement Exercise (SJE)
modal Interview (MMI)
Written Communications Test (WCT)

Just concentrate on the tests they have asked you to focus on in the email. The revision pack includes all driver assessment materials for the next stage of the recruitment process.

 

[Pete C]

I'll be catching the Cross Country from Peterborough to Nuneaton and the onwards to Crewe, I know I'll be fine getting to Nuneaton but not sure about the final leg, is Nuneaton manned?

Nuneaton is manned, I was up there recently, it's a surprisingly big station actually

 

[Atishyou]

Many drivers escaped in 2017. Do you think there is a chance before taking the job (if I pass of course) to spend few days on a train to see if this really suits me? I would like to have a stable job, but the one I like and as everyone in the world I like trains so why not give it a go. Just the opinions I read about the management, artificial way of teaching, put me off a bit, especially that I have a good job and I would not like it to change it to something that I don't like. The offer sounds great - good salary when qualified, hours of working, benefits, holidays... is it all true? Did they change it to something better looking, because many drivers left them?

You've got no chance. How many jobs do you get to 'try before you buy', especially safety critical ones.

What do you mean 'is it all true?' - which do you think is untrue?

 

[casualdav]

Heh, me doing the same I am also totally new (as Diff). I am a scientist, fully employed, looking for a cool stable job, but I read some opinions online and I am not so sure now. Many drivers escaped in 2017. Do you think there is a chance before taking the job (if I pass of course) to spend few days on a train to see if this really suits me? I am on good salary, but the thing is that my contracts are short. Project finishes and you move around the world to new project (if you are lucky to be employed) which is quite tiring after 10 years. I would like to have a stable job, but the one I like and as everyone in the world I like trains so why not give it a go. Just the opinions I read about the management, artificial way of teaching, put me off a bit, especially that I have a good job and I would not like it to change it to something that I don't like. The offer sounds great - good salary when qualified, hours of working, benefits, holidays... is it all true? Did they change it to something better looking, because many drivers left them?

With respect if your lucky enough to pass all the tests and interviews and get a job I wouldn't start umming and ahhing and the fact you even say such a thing on here could probably be perceived offensive by some if not all who've spent years trying to get a train driver job.

 

[PaulBusDriver]

Heh, me doing the same I am also totally new (as Diff). I am a scientist, fully employed, looking for a cool stable job, but I read some opinions online and I am not so sure now. Many drivers escaped in 2017. Do you think there is a chance before taking the job (if I pass of course) to spend few days on a train to see if this really suits me? I am on good salary, but the thing is that my contracts are short. Project finishes and you move around the world to new project (if you are lucky to be employed) which is quite tiring after 10 years. I would like to have a stable job, but the one I like and as everyone in the world I like trains so why not give it a go. Just the opinions I read about the management, artificial way of teaching, put me off a bit, especially that I have a good job and I would not like it to change it to something that I don't like. The offer sounds great - good salary when qualified, hours of working, benefits, holidays... is it all true? Did they change it to something better looking, because many drivers left them?

I can't imagine you would ever be able to find out if you liked the job or not unless you were trained, but maybe you could try something thats similarly safety critical and repetitive and see how you get on?
I can't knock you for being lucky enough to feel you can pick and choose but its a little unrealistic to expect such accomodating employers I think.

 

[Bristol VRIII]

Not sure about Nuneaton mate, sorry! Bit off patch for me lol

Hey mate just found out I can travel free with West Midland trains so I can get all the way for free which is all good

 

[Timpg]

Heh, me doing the same I am also totally new (as Diff). I am a scientist, fully employed, looking for a cool stable job, but I read some opinions online and I am not so sure now. Many drivers escaped in 2017. Do you think there is a chance before taking the job (if I pass of course) to spend few days on a train to see if this really suits me? I am on good salary, but the thing is that my contracts are short. Project finishes and you move around the world to new project (if you are lucky to be employed) which is quite tiring after 10 years. I would like to have a stable job, but the one I like and as everyone in the world I like trains so why not give it a go. Just the opinions I read about the management, artificial way of teaching, put me off a bit, especially that I have a good job and I would not like it to change it to something that I don't like. The offer sounds great - good salary when qualified, hours of working, benefits, holidays... is it all true? Did they change it to something better looking, because many drivers left them?

I think what you’ve got to appreciate is the fact that, training an applicant up to be mainline qualified, a company invests a lot of time and money to get you there. 12-18 months of training in fact. It even cost the company approximately £600 per person to put someone through the psychometric tests, of which there’s no real gaurentee that you will pass! So from a company perspective, I doubt they would be willing to take someone on, who is not really sure if they actually want the job or not.

 

[Stigy]

Just a tip, which of course may be blindingly obvious to most anyway (but a method I believe used first time round and one that seems to work for me). In the TEA-Occ test, don’t be afraid to use your fingers to count anything you need to count (number of low pitched tones I believe it is). I felt a bit silly doing this before, and admittedly one only has a few fingers in comparison to how many beeps one is likely to hear, but it work d for me . As I said, probably blindingly obvious to most, but thought I’d share anyway lol.

It’s a few years since I sat this test the first time but I recall it sounding more daunting than it actually is.

 

[Stigy]

Hey mate just found out I can travel free with West Midland trains so I can get all the way for free which is all good

That’s good then....what would a PRIV have cost?

 

[Static65]

Just a tip, which of course may be blindingly obvious to most anyway (but a method I believe used first time round and one that seems to work for me). In the TEA-Occ test, don’t be afraid to use your fingers to count anything you need to count (number of low pitched tones I believe it is). I felt a bit silly doing this before, and admittedly one only has a few fingers in comparison to how many beeps one is likely to hear, but it work d for me . As I said, probably blindingly obvious to most, but thought I’d share anyway lol.

It’s a few years since I sat this test the first time but I recall it sounding more daunting than it actually is.

Is it the case that you can search for the symbols, stop and count tones whenever played and then carry on with the symbols or are the tones continuous all the way through the test?

 

[Stigy]

Is it the case that you can search for the symbols, stop and count tones whenever played and then carry on with the symbols or are the tones continuous all the way through the test?

You have to do it at the same time as the tones are constant whilst you’re looking through the phone book (the tones I think represent a lift going up several floors or something....) it’s not actually as difficult as it sounds but as with all th we assessments you just have to stay composed. That’s part two of the test anyway, part one I think is just tones?

 

[Bristol VRIII]

Thursday morning at 9 for me.

see you there mate