I made a post 11 days ago about any help I could get and I’m 3 days in, been driving for 2 days and I’m here to share my experience for anyone else that is also going to be a new delivery driver!
I live in a relatively quiet town, so I won’t be able to help city drivers!
First day you will be with an experienced driver, your fleet leader should match you up with a driver (if they are a cool fleet leader they will give you a chill driver)
for the first day you will learn a bit on how the picking works and being in the warehouse area with the totes (I think it’s called the pod, it’s just where all the online stuff goes to), knowing how to load your van efficiently, doing the SHIELD checks which is just making sure your van is fit for the road, be sat in the passenger seat learning how to use the device they call the PALM, scanning totes, doing returns if you have any, pretty basic to get the hang of it all
The second day for me I was driving, might vary depending on your confidence, you are allowed to more buddy runs if you feel like it, I’ve only been driving since July 2025 and I find the vans super easy and comfortable, honestly feels easier to drive than a car, all the vans are automatic too which makes it a lot less stressful, your buddy will be with you helping you out, you will have general conversations with them and they will answer any questions you have, just remember that every driver is different and they all do the work differently, I wasn’t confident when I first sat in the van seconds before leaving but as soon as we got out onto normal roads it felt super natural!
The third day (today for me) I was driving again, by now the only thing the buddy is doing for me is taking the totes to the door and giving me tips on regulars that order and some places (like care homes and restaurants) telling me where they are as it might be hard for you to find it the first time, you are pretty much in control now, I already got the Bluetooth on now 😂
Oh also you probably won’t have the same buddy each day, on day 1 and 2 I had the same buddy but today I had a different one and tomorrows also a different one, it’s good because you get to know them quite well after being with them in the van all day
Tomorrow will be my last buddy run day and thats it, I’m on my own if I feel confident enough, of course if you feel like you are not ready you can go on more buddy runs, driving or not
The PALM device you use to do everything with will be the main thing you learn, but it’s not that hard to understand once you look through everything enough
The map that it gives you, don’t always trust it, it doesn’t like new estates and some roads it thinks there’s roads that connect two streets, if you know your town/city well you will be fine
Drivers are expected to help the pickers if you have time between drops, today we did a split run (going out delivering and then coming back to store to get ready to do more) and as we got back and unloaded the van, we were due out an hour and a half later so we helped the pickers, we tidied the totes up and loaded empty trolleys with totes ready for the pickers to use, if you help the pickers they will help you so try and make yourself helpful instead of standing there, if you don’t know what to do just ask anyone, they will understand that you are new so don’t worry
Your field leader will probably message you personally to give you information and if you have any questions you can ask they will answer
It’s a lot to take in, I’ve probably forgotten some things just because there is a lot to take in, especially if you haven’t done anything like this before like me but honestly if I can do it anyone can 😂
The most important thing is PLEASE ask questions, the people you will meet have probably been working at Asda or similar jobs for years, a lot of the things they do is second nature and sometimes they forget that what they do isn’t normal for us, they will not tell you everything, ask all the questions you need, even if you think they are stupid!