Each month we take a fly-on-the-wall look at Waltet’s most valued assets – our people.

In the hot seat for September is Andy, one of our grab drivers. We caught up with Andy to pick his brains on his six year career at Waltet and why he enjoys being the missing piece of the puzzle! 

Q: Describe your role at Waltet  – your job title and what the role entails.
A: I’m a Grab Driver here at Waltet. In short, I remove waste from sites in hard-to-reach areas. This can be at a residential site, commercial building site or as part of a wider contract such as the M27 Smart Motorway project.

Q: How long have you been working at Waltet?
A: I’ve been at Waltet for six years now, previously I was a refuse truck driver – so I’ve been in the waste industry for as long as I can remember!

Q: What’s the first task you usually tackle when you arrive at Bunny Lane? How do you prioritise tasks for the day?
A: I arrive onsite at 6.30am, grab a coffee and do my vehicle checks; this ensures that my truck is safe and road legal – it’s the most important job of the day!

I’ll then go and collect my paperwork from the office and plan out my route based on the jobs booked in for that day. I like to run my day effectively so my customers receive the best service – whilst also taking fuel consumption/efficiency into consideration.

If I get back to Bunny Lane for lunch, I’ll drop in and catch up with some of the other drivers. Driving can sometimes be a lonely job so having a bit of workplace camaraderie definitely lifts the spirits!  My day usually ends around 5pm. 

Q: What are your favourite aspects of the job?
A: I can be on a residential site one day, down on a sub-station at the docks the next and then at the Airport the next..so no two days are ever the same! 

Generally, we’re brought in to move materials from areas that others can’t – but sometimes we’re also hired in to alleviate pressures from other parts of sites. We did a job on the runway at Southampton Airport recently whereby I was loading up tipper lorries with waste, which meant they didn’t need an additional machine driver; this saved the contractor time, money and resource as it free’d up labour and machinery for other areas of the project.

I enjoy going back to sites, or residential properties, and seeing the results we’ve achieved as a team – I really feel like I’ve been part of the puzzle!

Q: What are the main challenges you typically encounter in your role, and how do you overcome them?
A: Driving isn’t a job for everyone – but I’ve been doing it for so long now I really can’t imagine myself doing anything else. It can get quite boring and lonely at times, especially when I’m called out to jobs with no one around – that’s why it’s important to me to be working alongside such a great team.

In terms of the job itself, I see ‘problems’ as challenges and love it when I manage to succeed at a job where others haven’t been able to; I enjoy the ‘problem solving’ part of the job.

Q: What is it like working with the team at Waltet?
A: The team at Bunny Lane (drivers and office) are a great bunch, and there’s a good balance of banter and support.

Q: Are there any opportunities for professional development as part of your job?
A: Waltet ensure that we keep up-to-date with driver courses and certifications which is good, it means we’re always on top of our game.

Q: In your opinion, what three words describe Waltet as a business?
A: Supportive. Reliable. Caring. 

Q: Share a fact about you that may surprise people…!
A:  By day I drive lorries, and by night I’m partial to a mix on my decks as a Rave/DnB DJ!

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